Video Episodes
Updated: 11.07.26
Welcome to Video Episodes. Every so often I sit down with a piece from my shop and tell its story in my own voice — who made it, where it came from, and what makes it special. You'll find Texas studio pottery, mid-century ceramics, vintage designer fashion, and other design finds here. A new episode is added each time I record one. Most are about pieces in my shop at Designs & Finds by Alice — and every so often, one is a story from my travels, with nothing to sell — just a story worth telling.
Jump to an episode:
Episode 5 — Fillous Bowl
Episode 4 — Alaïa Corset Suit
Episode 3 — Mugler Moto Blazer
Episode 2 — Harding Black Bowl
Episode 1 — Chief Ouray
Episode 5 — Fillous Bowl
I found this bowl in a Houston resale shop, and the name carved underneath — FILLOUS — turned me into a detective. Florence Y. Fillous (1912–1997) was a Cleveland studio potter who studied privately with Viktor Schreckengost, one of America's great designers. In this episode I follow the paper trail — her own words in Cleveland Museum of Art records from 1957 and 1974 — and show how the Butler Institute of American Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art helped me confirm her mark.
See the Fillous bowl in my shop
Episode 4 — Alaïa Corset Suit
Some clothes are just clothes; this is history. Azzedine Alaïa trained as a sculptor before he ever made a dress, and you can see it in this black wool corset suit from his Fall/Winter 1987 runway collection — seamed panels, a nipped-in waist, and a back that closes with a column of tiny hooks and eyes. French size 38, 100 percent wool, with its Alaïa Paris labels in the jacket and in the skirt.
Episode 3 — Mugler Moto Blazer
Thierry Mugler built his house on tailoring like this — sharp, sculpted, powerful. This black wool moto blazer comes from Casey Cadwallader's years as creative director, 2019 to 2023, when he brought the Mugler silhouette roaring back: a motorcycle jacket cut like a tailored blazer, fully lined, with little star charms on the zipper pulls. The star has been Mugler's emblem for decades. Size medium, in excellent condition.
See the Mugler blazer in my shop
Episode 2 — Harding Black Bowl
Harding Black, of San Antonio, Texas, taught ceramics at the Witte Museum and spent his life studying the great old Chinese glazes — the oil spots and crackles — working out, firing by firing, how to bring them back to life. This signed stoneware bowl, dated 1981, is heavy in the hands, with a glaze that runs from deep plum into turquoise around a copper-red pool at the center. Black's own collection and archives are now kept at Baylor University.
See the Harding Black bowl in my shop
Episode 1 — Chief Ouray
This was my first video, made in Ouray, Colorado — the mountain town that carries Chief Ouray's name. Ouray (1833–1880) was a chief of the Ute people. He spoke Ute, Spanish, and English, and used every one of them at the treaty table, believing negotiation, not war, was his people's best hope. With his wife, Chipeta, he made this valley his summer home. The bronze in the video was sculpted and donated by artist Jim Opdahl in 2009. There's nothing for sale in this episode — it's a story from the road, and the one that started this series.