anatomy of a skirt/school holiday madness

How does Stella McCartney get any thing done. Doesn't she have four young children?

How did Vivienne Westwood do it as a single mum with two small boys?

Well I have no effing idea.

School holidays are here and a whole term has flown buy. I have made four samples and attended a hand full of seminars and achieved not much else.

And to make me feel worse I watched the brilliant 'Paper Giants' last night about the amazing Ita Buttrose. She started Cleo magazine when her daughter was about 4, and her heartless husband left her when she was pregnant with their second child in the middle of it all!

I have no excuse.

I am booking in to do a Yarraville Market in May to test out my little girls range 'Sunshine & Daydreams' so at least I have something definite to work towards. 

And so an ambitious attempt at a making a sample  amongst the craziness of two little over excited girls was achieved today. Phew.

I wonder if Stella or Vivienne ever do laundry or entertain children when designing their ranges?

I have to make do with our dining table to cut on and slow domestic machines, as all my industrial machinery was sold when I closed Cicciolina down.

Anyway, I now have 5 samples done, so fingers crossed I can do it all by May.

Wish us luck.......

Thanks Julia

Thanks Julia for the bagels.

Thanks for the seminars and the workshops and for granting funds to TCF Australia so that I can learn( for free) all there is to know about online marketing.

TCF Australia is running free workshops for small business operators throughout Australia. If you have a fashion business you may be eligible for the free bagels too. Check out their website at www.tcfaustralia.com

And so I have been embarking on some intensive re training. I've learnt all about Meta Tags, Google Key Words, Search Engine Optimisation, Cloud computing and all sorts of software options I've already forgotten.

They say that the state of your desk is a reflection of the state of your mind.

But there is so much to do and so much to learn, but I'm not complaining. I'm loving it!

So now I just have to start trading and earning some money so that I can pay dear Julia back.

on the street in Yarraville

Look what I found on the streets of Yarraville.

                                        

Scott is wearing,
Calibre suit jacket
Chiodo T shirt
Evisu jeans
Calibre summer sandals
                                        


Come on guys, its not hard to put a little bit of thought into your casual outfits is it?
Women like resting there eyes on attractive things just as much as men do. Give us something to admire.
Scott had extra pep in his step today. He felt good about himself, and he loved the extra attention he received.
It's not vain to care about how you present yourself to the world. It's smart.
Obviously with all the horrible things happening in the world today, fashion is not at the forefront of most peoples minds.
But, making you feel good about yourself and making other people feel good about you can all help to make your world a nicer place.

After all ..... who doesn't need a bit more pep in their step?

Friday round up.

I drove to all the way to the end of the earth on Friday, well Elsternwick , to source some fabric. 

    I've stuck the swatches above my large WORK sign to remind me of what I'm suppose to be doing.

I found some beautiful silk georgette for the big girls cocktail frocks, and floral cotton  for the little girls.

 OOh, la la!

I'm inspired.

Twirl-ability

Twirl-ability=the ability to to get air up your skirt after too much green cordial and or champagne. Very important when designing party dresses for big and little girls. Doesn't the striped dress look better on?
And I'm looking forward to a photo shoot next week end with an actual model, and finally a couple of samples.

Mrs Brady

While looking for the news last night I caught the end of The Brady Bunch and found myself longing for Mrs Brady's life. A life  of swanning around doing nothing while her house keeper and husband did all the work.

I'm sure I'd go mad from boredom, but a housekeeper could be useful.

But my modern Mr Brady certainly, and rightfully expects a little bit more from me
(we do only have one child not six) and is sending me articles on how to get your business mojo back while making sideways glances at the lack of progress being made in my work room.

So I have dug out my well worn copy of Michael E. Gerber's The E Myth and I'm putting my systems in place.

First off, I will blog my progress every Friday, and set tasks for the following week.

Task number 1. Make appointments with fabric wholesalers
                      2. Logo for Sunshine and daydreams
                      3. Business cards ordered
                      4.Work room organised
                      5. One big girl & one little girl dress sample completed.
                      6. Get better at taking photos.

A dress fit for Mrs Brady? It looks great on -really it dose.

When Jennie gets time, I'll put up a better photo and you will see....

fashion as art

I have latched on to an interview I found on Style.com with the popular philosopher Alain De Botton.

Click on the link below to hear him talk about how fashion is much more than mere frivolity. It is art, and an important part of 'the good life'.

.http://www.style.com/video/guest-directors/guest-directors/1896809785/the-deep-end/29831951001

I just wanted to share this with everyone as it makes me feel better about being something as frivolous as a 'fashion designer'.
It has always sat a little uncomfortably with me when people ask what do you do.
"I'm a fashion designer" seems silly and lightweight. Especially when talking to someone who actually does something important or worthwhile.

But we can't all walk around nude, and we need to protect ourselves from the wind\rain\sun, so we may as well put a bit of effort into our appearance.

And psychologically, taking care of yourself, having self respect and an interest in how you present yourself to the world is very important.

What I don't agree with is his theory that fashion is closer to cooking than architecture as a dress only lasts a shot time. 

Well made clothing can last for centuries.

I took the above shot at the 'Australian Made' exhibition at Federation Square. Isn't it beautiful? It is over 100 years old, and I have never heard of anything edible lasting that long.

And so that brings me back to Cicciolina and Sunshine and Daydreams. Beautiful well made investment pieces, to wear and wear again and then pass on to be loved and worn by someone else.

Photos of new pieces coming soon.