Look what I found when I went exploring in my basement!
Velvety Bolero and Velvety Comfy Pants By Monika Turtle and vintage Elizabeth Garver scarf
Imagine has a large collection of vintage clothing— absolutely gorgeous fabrics and timeless styles! I'm talking about pieces that are 20 to 25 years old, never worn, still with their original tags on. Remember Monika Turtle, Panache, Barbara Wells? How about Judith Bird wovens, Sally Ryan velvets and Elizabeth Garver silks? I know many of you still wear classic items by those artists, and that many more you have acquired over the 30+ years we have represented the American craft community—because you have told me so!
Monika Turtle and Elizabeth Garver
“Oh, I love Monika Turtle!” That's the universal response I get whenever I mention Monika Turtle's clothing. Pictured here is her Velvety Bolero in Citrine in medium, $300. We also have the Velvety Comfy Pants in Citrine in small, medium and large, $159. Also, one pair of Comfy Pants in Smoky Topaz (it’s kinda gray) size large. The scarf is vintage Elizabeth Garver, $179.
I do not know what Monika is doing now. But she has been spotted still in the Philadelphia area by friends recently. I remember a fantastic party I went to at her house back in the 1990s. Maralyce Ferree was there. I remember dancing with silk painter Michael Murphy (he was a fantastic dancer). It’s a fond memory.
And, at Monika’s party, I remember Maralyce and I had a huge giggle over my telling her that Hobbes’ 15th birthday party was the highest grossing sales day in Imagine history. Still is!
Elizabeth Garver has closed her studio and decamped from the midwest to the northwest coast with her husband. Wishing them peace in their new surroundings.
Maralyce Ferree sold her Maine-based business many years ago. She and husband Chuck relocated to Bisbee, Arizona years ago. However, she couldn't stay away from retail and opened a shop in Bisbee. So I still run into Maralyce at New York shows from time to time.
Left image: Elizabeth Garver; Right image: me and Maralyce Ferree
Handwoven jacket by fiber artist Judith Bird; Pant by Barbara Wells; and hand-dyed silk scarf by Leni Hoch
Judith Bird, Leni Hoch and Barbara Wells
Before there was Monika Turtle or Barbara Wells, there was Bonnie Durant, Judith Bird and Leni Hoch. This is an early handwoven jacket by fiber artist Judith Bird. Shown with a Leni Hoch hand-dyed silk scarf and Barbara Wells pants. Judy has been a frequent guest at Imagine events from our very beginnings. And Leni, too, has come frequently for trunk shows and scarf tying demonstrations over the years.
Judy was a Baltimore-based artist and Leni has always lived in Philadelphia. Both are still featured in current collections at Imagine.
Judy has travelled the world to be inspired by the textures and colors of other cultures. She now lives and teaches in Port Townsend, Washington. Leni is also a world traveller and mentors and works her color magic in her home studio. I met both of these fine artists at American Craft Council shows in the beginning. Both visited with me, at different times, in my new home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I learned this very interesting fact from their separate visits. They once created a line—called Elyssa—together of clothing and some of those clothes ended up in a showroom window at Bergdorf Goodman in New York! Leni has woven the fabric in a rayon boucle.
I can also tell you that all three of us are avid gardeners. We have travelled the craft show circuit from Boston to New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC for decades now.
Judy took these photo of a fox curled up in my chaise lounge on my deck at Potomac Creek Estates in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
A fox curled up on my deck.