For Emmy Award winning actor Carolyn Hennesy and Ivey Abitz, it was “love at first shirt.” Here Carolyn is wearing some of her favourite bespoke pieces from Ivey Abitz Collection no. 64.
This is Lori looking positively stunning in her bespoke Blanchefleur Frock, Baudelaire Duster Coat, and a Blanchefleur Sash wrapped around her head.
Lori Wearing her Ivey Abitz Bespoke Clothing
We often receive photographs of our clients wearing the bespoke garments we make for them. This year we have resolved to share more of them with you.
This is Lori looking positively stunning in her bespoke Blanchefleur Frock, Baudelaire Duster Coat, and a Blanchefleur Sash wrapped around her head.
We asked Lori if we could share the note she sent along with the photograph. Here’s what she wrote:
OMG!!!
this is perfect.. fits perfectly. i feel so happy in the outfit. i want another one!!
this made my day and then some. thank you so much. i now finally have the best outfit ever!!!!
my cup runneth over with happiness.
Lori
Notes such as Lori’s inspire us to keep creating and doing what we do. Send us your photos and comments by replying to this email – you just might inspire someone to acquire their first Ivey Abitz garments.
Kaye, an Ivey Abitz master seamstress, at her sewing machine in 2012.
We have some sad news to share with our dear clients.
Kaye, one of our longtime master tailors and friends, died peacefully in her home last week.
We know most of you were not able to officially meet her in person, but you knew her through her fine sewing. She worked for Ivey Abitz from 2009-2020, and she has sewn thousands of bespoke garments for us. If you have several Ivey Abitz garments in your closet, then you most likely have special one-of-a-kind garments that were sewn by Kaye.
Our other dear and incredibly talented tailors have also learned from Kaye over the years, and thankfully her legacy carries on through them with their attention to detail and dedication to mastering my challenging and intricate designs.
I will miss working with Kaye in her impressive Brooklyn sewing studio she dedicated to Ivey Abitz since 2009. I will miss her dozens of calls while she was working on projects for us from her sewing studio and I was in my design studio. Phone calls were her versions of texts and emails — she was proudly “old school.” I’d put her on speaker phone, and we’d go over things together. Our dogs know Kaye by the sound of her voice; they knew her as Auntie Kaye. She knew how to stop Artie from barking. She knew how to turn Harry’s head by singing an impromptu Broadway tune. She knew how to spread love and joy through everything she did — especially through a sewing project.
Her sudden death has admittedly shaken me to my core, and it will take awhile to process the enormous loss. I truly loved Kaye. She wasn’t just a coworker. She was a friend. She was part of our family. I will miss her quirkiness, talent, and love. But I have to trust, just as she believed, that she isn’t gone—she’s just gone on before. She’s now with her dear dog/daughter Mandy who died in 2009. She mentioned her often, and she missed her so much. The thought of this brings a smile to my face and gives me peace.
Scattergood Shirt Jacket in Unity Velvet Vine on Silk Chiffon; Scattergood Frock in Unity Floral Silk Velvet; Scattergood Duster Coat in Unity Washed Linen (draped next to top hat). Location: Pool where Winston Churchill swam when vistiting Val-Kill. Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site.
Above: Ivey Abitz Collection no. 64, Look no. 5. Photographed with permission beside the Stone Cottage pool at Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, NY.
Our new Scattergood designs are featured at the pool where Winston Churchill swam, sans his famous top hat, when he visited Eleanor Roosevelt’s cottage in Hyde Park, New York.
Winston Churchill, sans top hat, taking a swim in the pool beside Stone Cottage during one of his visits to Hyde Park, New York. Photograph courtesy National Park Service.
Alliances were discussed as the world sought unity. Eleanor’s humble idyll and gracious hospitality helped bring about that world peace.
We celebrate Eleanor’s work and words about unity and peace in our new collection, shown above in our newclient favourites, the Scattergood designs, featured in our new Unity palette and weaves.
The designs’ intentions — to scatter good wherever you go — tip a hat to the historic meetings that took place at Eleanor’s cottage where world leaders determined how to scatter good worldwide.
What we choose to wear each day is a declaration. What will your declaration be?
Find your voice in the new Ivey Abitz Look Book. Your declaration, in the form of bespoke garments, will be made just for you in New York and shipped in a few short weeks.
“If unity is important for a nation, we must realize that it cannot really exist unless we can bring about unity between the groups which make up that nation.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
The unity palette from Ivey Abitz.
Here at Ivey Abitz, we look to our better angels for inspiration and guidance.
Our Unity palette and new collection featuring our new Vanetten designs represent Eleanor’s wisdom and declaration for us. What we choose to wear each day is a declaration. What will your declaration be? Find your sartorial voice at iveyabitz.com.
Photographed with permission in the walled garden at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site. Photograph in the quote courtesy FDR Library.
Eleanor Roosevelt votes in one of the first elections in which women had the right to vote. New York, November 3, 1936. Photograph courtesy FDR Library.
A Personal Note from Cynthia
This is a reminder to all of our clients in the United States: if you haven’t done so already in early voting, remember to vote on November 3rd.
Eleanor Roosevelt, along with her friends, worked very hard a hundred years ago so that women could have the vote in the United States. They have passed the torch on to us to make certain EVERYONE is treated with respect and equality.
Cynthia stands in line to vote during the pandemic, 100 years after the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States. New York, October 30, 2020. Photograph courtesy Josh Ivey Abitz.
I thought about Eleanor a lot as Josh and I stood in line together, waiting to vote in the rain and unusual autumn snow squalls yesterday here in New York. For the hour and forty minutes we were in line, there was a sense of reverence from the people waiting. Everyone was masked for the pandemic, respectful and kind while exercising their civic duty. It made me hopeful that a world can continue that honours civility and kindness—one that Eleanor reminds us will only happen if we make it so.
She once wrote, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
An important part of the work is voting, so please remember to vote.
If you plan to wear your Ivey Abitz garments when you vote, please send us photographs of you in action. We’d love to see images of solidarity and hope as we exercise our right to vote.
Gabled Duster Coat in Sunnyside Washed Plaid; Idyll Brooch in Rose Garden Silk Weaves; Gabled Frock in Yellow Days Washed Stretch Weave. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Read What Clients are Saying
Collection no. 63, c. 2020 – Sartorial Sanctuary
Ivey Abitz clients are wonderful. They are some of the kindest people we’ve ever met, and we’re so grateful for them. Oftentimes, they take the time to write us after receiving an order from us and upon a new collection debut. Here are a few excerpts of our favourites that we have recently received during the new collection, Sartorial Sanctuary.
— I treasure my Ivey Abitz wardrobe, not only for its versatility and comfort, but also for its sturdiness, and the meticulous craft and care in its design and seamstress-work that go into each and every garment. I know this wardrobe will last me a lifetime, and my first purchases are my favorites to wear, due to the softness and ease that comes with wearing and enjoying them often. They are my Sartorial Sanctuary indeed!
Porte Cochere Shirt Jacket in Yellow Days Stripe Cotton; Porte Cochere Frock in Yellow Days Floral Weave; Gabled Frock in Yellow Days Stretch Weave. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Hudson Duster Coat in Herb Garden Petite Stripe Linen; River Frock in Natural Plaid Open Weave; Hudson Frock in Sunny Seaside Washed Plaid. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Porte Cochere Shirt Jacket in Yellow Days Washed Stripe Cotton; Porte Cochere Sash in Watercolour Silk Weave; Idyll Brooch in Yellow Days Weaves; Hudson Frock in Herb Garden Washed Linen. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Covante Frock in Rose Garden Patch Plaid Voile; Fairholme Sash in Rose Garden Plaid Patch Voile; Chevallier Cardigan in Herb Garden Soft Ribbed Knit. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
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— It is the most stunning collection and photo shoot you have ever done! I leave my booklet out on my table so I can look at it again and again as I wait for my garments to be made.
Cover of the Ivey Abitz Look Book for Collection no. 63, c. 2020 – Sartorial Sanctuary.
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— Thanks for the kind note and the lovely packaging on my new capsule wardrobe, it really created a festive atmosphere. My daughter, in particular, quite admired the Fairhome Frock and the Wildefield Frock. I am wearing that very outfit now and I am throughly impressed with not only the quality of the construction of the garments but also the extreme comfort, better than sweatpants or pajamas, to my surprise.
Chevallier Cardigan in Herb Garden Soft Ribbed Knit; River Frock in Natural Plaid Open Weave; Hudson Frock in Herb Garden Washed Linen. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Porte Cochere Shirt Jacket in Yellow Days Washed Stripe Cotton; Blanchefleur Sash in Yellow Days Floral Weave; Gabled Frock in Yellow Days Washed Stretch Weave. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Gabled Shirt Jacket in Sunnyside Washed Linen; Porte Cochere Sash in Yellow Days Soft Floral Knit; Gabled Frock in Yellow Days Washed Stretch Weave. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
Gabled Duster Coat in Sunnyside Washed Plaid; Campanella Frock in Gracious Green Washed Crinkled Linen; Idyll Brooch in Rose Garden Silk Weaves. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
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— I had to take a moment and tell you how amazing you are.I don’t know how you keep coming out with new designs, new collections, amazing fabric and combinations and just nail it collection after collection with everything going on in the world. The fabrics are so amazing and the designs are delightful and you are magic.
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— My dear….we both know I’ve seen a number of look-books during our time together.However, this collection, these fabrics, your pairings are without question the most astoundingly beautiful notions I’ve seen spring from your brilliant mind.
Every photo is just…silly beautiful.The back cover ensemble is “transportational.”
Well, well, well done you.
Featured on the back cover of the Collection no. 63 look book: Montmorency Wrap Jacket in Sandy Embroidered Silk Organza; Wrennie Frock in Watercolour Silk Weave; Fairholme Frock in Peony Washed Plaid Silk; Cilla Slip Frock in Peony Soft Ribbed Knit. Ivey Abitz at Boscobel House and Gardens
When we read the first news article about nurses and doctors in the NYC area in short supply of masks, we reached out to our clients in the healthcare profession to see if we could help in some way. They confirmed that the need was great.
Ivey Abitz is donating many yards of our finest and sturdiest natural fiber fabrics to create masks that can be washed and sanitized again and again.
Our dear tailors have each made dozens of masks for the initial surge in our area, and we will donate more as needed.
More masks are being sent out this week, and we will continue to donate masks to healthcare professionals as they need them.
Cynthia Ivey Abitz walks her dogs on the cover of Authentic Everyday Ivey Abitz Journal Volume 2 cover
Cynthia Ivey Abitz, clothing designer, walks the beach with part of her shih tzu pack. Please spay and neuter your animals! As featured on the cover of Authentic Everyday, an Ivey Abitz Journal, volume 2.
Authentic Everyday, Volume 2, brings you together with five women who have something unique in common – they love rescuing animals and wearing Ivey Abitz clothing.
In this magazine, you’ll enjoy fine photography from Ivey Abitz as well as several other photographers. You’ll see Ivey Abitz clothing on unique women in unique settings, all of them authentic to the core.
You’ll meet dogs galore, and the Ivey Abitz cat, Camilla. You’ll see some of the faces behind the fabric and design names in the Ivey Abitz bespoke clothing collection.
You’ll meet extraordinary women. From Emmy Winning actress and radio show host Carolyn Hennesy in California, to Forbes Top Financial Advisor Nora in Texas with her horses and rescue dogs, to Lorraine in New England living her dream in an historic home with her rescued cavaliers.
Cynthia Ivey Abitz, clothing designer, walks Lake Huron with her rescue dogs. This image is from Authentic Everyday, Volume 2.
You’ll go on a walk with Cynthia Ivey Abitz to some of her favorite places with some of her favourite four-legged creatures.
You’ll get a glimpse of what inspires the Ivey Abitz clothing collection.
