The Sartorial Freshman

Manufacturing

2012-01-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

Well, a manufacturer has our dresses. Summer 2012. I think it's actually happening. Crazy. One small step for Sharon Charles. Hopefully more small steps to come!

ALMOST THERE!!!

2011-12-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

Jenny the seamstress is mailing me the sample dresses today. OH MY FREAKIN' GOODNESS. I might actually get this done. And she made 2 of each!!! I thought she might only have had time to make one of each, which could have been problematic because I need a 2nd sample to send to the manufacturer. But she said she was going to make TWO! I am so stoked. I cannot tell you. And I am also so very nervous. Holy Hannah, we might actually manufacture for real. I can't believe it. Let's hope the samples are cute.

My First Real Deadline

2011-11-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Retailer wants the samples by Dec. 15th. Fabric is ordered and pattern with adjustments are on their way to the seamstress. We'll see if we make in time....

Working On It

2011-09-26T13:34:00.001-07:00

We are moving forward. I still am not sure this is going to go all the way, but I'm planning and working as if it will. In any case, things are happening now that have not happened before. For one thing, we have a retailer who's willing to carry the line. The only downer is that they're not willing to invest in it. WE have to do that. And the other downer is that they still take a hefty profit margin. The other new development is that we actually have manufacturers that we're talking with. They have been really hard to find up until now. Yeah!

I'm hopeful that I can leverage the fact that we have a retailer with other retailers and get more orders. And I'll work on that more voraciously after 2 things happen:

1) we get the new fabrics picked out (we are currently sourcing new fabrics designed for Summer 2012).

2) we get the new samples, with the new fabrics, made and photographed.

I don't know how many of the dresses we will do. Either 2 or 4 from the line, is what it looks like right now. A lot of that depends on how the finances work out.

But let me tell you, I LOVE working with new fabrics. It makes a dreamer out of me. Playing with all the different ways these could turn out is so fun! We are altering the pattern of one of the dresses, so that's going to be interesting. But it shouldn't take too long. I'm crossing my fingers we can pull it off and that things continue to be encouraging.

Our First Offer

2011-08-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

I swear, I don't know what I am going to do to celebrate if we actually sell some dresses. Perhaps you can all tell me what's most appropriate.

We have received our first order! It's not all signed and ordered and done quite yet, but it is highly plausible that dresses from Sharon Charles will be on the market and purchasable by the masses very soon. Can you believe it!?!?!

What's in a name?

2011-08-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

What's in a name? Well, perhaps destiny. It turns out, I've been a designer for a long time. Or, at least someone with my name.

Check me out! HERE

It's me in name only, of course. But it's a little uncanny, no?

They Want to Meet Us!!!

2011-07-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

You know how it goes with courtship. You find a tasty prospect. Then you make your initial approach. And then, you wait to see if they approach you back. The waiting game is such torture!

Well, we waited for a couple weeks after our initial flirtation. And they've finally contacted us back. And the response was..... positive! They want to see us!! Of course, as is true in dating, they haven't committed to any kind of a relationship, or even date #2, so it doesn't mean much yet. But they want to meet us!

They want to meet us!!! I'm so excited. I'll let you know how it goes.

Another Critic, Another Blog, Another Season

2011-06-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

We have submitted our designs to another vendor to see if they are interested in collaborating with us to actually bring any of our dress designs to market. Is it possible to wait anxiously and patiently all at the same time? If so, that's exactly what I'm doing. So, maybe I will hear back from them within the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I feel inclined to start another blog. I know, I know. Shouldn't two blogs be enough? But the first one is just for all things me. And this one is for all things dress designing and Sharon Charles related. My new blog, while still geared to fashion, is for a different purpose. It is more for fashion appreciation, resources and advice to the prudish dressers of the world like myself. I just started the template today, but have not started on building content. I really only have an outline for what KIND of content to have.

And I am still thinking of a blog name and address. My first inclination is to title it, "Closet of A Muse". The logic behind this title is that it would mainly contain pictures of people on the street, advertisements and other sources of inspiration which reflect my conservative sartorial preferences and love for all things pretty and flattering. Each of these things serve as a muse in their own way. And the blog itself serves as a "closet" where I can collect them. But if you have any other ideas for a blog title or some content you might want to see there, please feel free to put your two cents in. For now, sans content, the new blog is here. (in case you want to check it out)

Rumblings

2011-06-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

It's been LONG while. But there are rumblings. Both Jefita and I miss the dress business terribly, as brief as our dalliance was. And we are itching to get back.

Good news. We have one lead. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, I am almost done with my MBA program-- December 2011, baby. Once that is out of the way, it's a new phase with a new focus. And let me tell you, I am SO ready to be an entrepreneur again. Stay tuned. I hope to have some updates soon. Sharon Charles is coming back. I can feel it.

In Comeback Mode

2009-11-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we didn't really go anywhere. If anything, we went away. But we're coming back. I swear. Charlie, my delightful partner, did have a big interview with a group that buys formalwear for a lot of high end boutiques and department stores. They loved us, but thought we needed a few improvements before we'd be a sure-fire sell. I'd have to say, I'm surprised and delighted we even got an interview with them. And their feedback was priceless. But the reality was, despite all of our mailing blasts and cold calls and efforts, we were unable to make a sale with our first line.

Are we now defeated? Survey says.... NO! And I am just ITCHING like crazy to get back in action. How I miss the dress business. Charlie misses it too. So, I'm back to designing. And we're saving up our capital. And we think the economy is on an upswing that makes it just about ready to receive our new lines, when we're ready.

So keep your eyes open and be looking for updates. We're coming back. Just you wait and see.

It's going. But, " Going where?" is a better question...

2009-03-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I are hardfast at work to sell, sell, sell. This is it. Make or break. We both are making calls and playing the field, emailing our look book to every dress shop we can find who might look at it (ok, not EVERY dress shop, but, well, it's less dramatic to give the long answer of every dress shop that fits our clientele, image and price point. Just not as concise to say. Or cool sounding.)

Well, it's a tough game, I tell ya. Especially in this economic climate. I'm hopeful and skeptical, still, and all at the same time.

For the most part, we've gotten a warm response from most buyers. They really like the dresses. The "but" comes in when they tell us the economic times are such that they're cutting back on formalwear or lowering their price point right now or just can't afford to pick up any new lines. But to let them know when the next season comes and hopefully they can buy us then.

Of course I oblige and say I'll keep them on my list. But really.... if noboby buys, the truth is there won't be a next season. See how that just bites us in the butt?

Jeff has a big interview with some group tomorrow and we're hoping we might have a bite there. We'll see. I don't really know what these buyers are looking for or if they see our vision. And honestly, I don't know how impressed I should expect them to be by our line. They're nice, but I made them and I always slight myself when I do things. My logic: If I made them, they may be nice, but are they really THAT nice? Eh.. not so sure. :) But despite this mental blip in my psyche, I think they may be very nice.

Anyhow, if they don't bite, all my hope is still not lost. I just have to work a lot harder.

And then, of course, we still have to pin down our manufacturer. One step at a time, people. One step at a time. We don't even know if we NEED a manufacturer yet, in reality. Yipes! Wish us luck. Or perhaps I should say, "wish us MORE luck." :)

Something more?

2009-02-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

So, maybe we have something more to announce....after a whirlwind trip to Cincinnati (we all know how I LOVE whirlwind trips!), we finally have a completed lookbook....yes I know, shocking it may be, but alas, the lookbook is complete. If you didn't get one, want one, and feel left out wondering what a lookbook is, drop a line, leave a comment, or just harass us on the phone and we'll send it to you!

Something

2009-02-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't have much to report. But I do have SOMETHING.

For a night out on the town, on Valentine's Day, I dared to wear one of the Sharon Charles dresses to the ballet to give it a bit of an early perview, and to see what kind of reception it got.

I confess, I did a miserable job of showing it off. What can I say? It was cold. The only time I was caught without my coat on was during intermission. On my way to the ladies room to "primp", I heard from the long line of ladies waiting to use the facilities a woman whisper to her friend, "Look at THAT dress." Enter my big smile. :) Of course, maybe they weren't talking about me. But I'd like to think they are.

Later, I tell Ben about this little interlude and he has a confession to make. As two ladies were headed down the elevetor, he caught one of them staring at me and my frock. Hmmm... again, good. But nothing conclusive.

The tell-tale? Here's the ringer! As Ben and I were leaving the venue (my coat is on at this point), a woman actually STOPPED Ben and I, just to tell me she loved my dress and thought it was beautiful.

I'd like to remind you, NONE of these people new the dress was my design and I wasn't even feeling all that good-looking that evening. I thought I looked a little frumpy (me, NOT the dress). If, on a night like that, the dress has such a warm welcome and from such a brief viewing acquires so many admirers, this bodes well.

Now if I can only get them to market!

Nothing But Good News

2008-12-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's a day after the shoot. And I think Jeff and I were both exhausted by the end of the day. As for the shoot, it was FABULOUS! Really. Granted, we weren't completely satisfied with every person who worked on it, but the end product -- the pictures -- are gorgeous and therefore, it doesn't matter so much. I am, however, amazed to find that I could have done a better styling job than a stylist who has worked for Vogue magazine. Seriously, we were WAY disappointed. And the hair dresser wasn't very creative. But besides that, everybody was great. And it's amazing how good just about everything looks on a 5'11 1/2", nothing but legs and lips, model.

I sadly forgot my camera. :( But here we have a few off moment shots done by the photographer:

See how she just towers over everybody? I think the hair dresser was about 5'6" or 5'7", so that gives you an idea in comparison. It's what happens when you put a girl who's six feet tall in 6" platform heels, I suppose. Just amazing. You'd never geuss she's that tall in the pictures of just her.

And I was delighted to finally get a response from our fashion illustrator yesterday too, which means she has not gone AWOL. That's always good, right?

Let's see how fast we can get these pictures touched up and onto some marketing material! I have hopes (though I still safely expect to fail miserably in this whole endeavor) that we can actually sell these dresses. And I just did a fashion shoot. How cool is that!?

I think I like this job.

Shooting........now?

2008-12-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

Well, as an update....our fashion shoot is scheduled for the December 16th...exciting stuff I dare say...well, I am really excited about it. I think it is going to be fantastic. The dresses look amazing, the girl is exquisitely beautiful, the photographer is extremely talented, edgy, and has a great eye, and I, well, I am thrilled to be involved! Yeah!

Shooting for January

2008-11-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

We have the dresses done. We also have all of them made. I know, I know. You're amazed. It's only taken....7 months. We are getting two of them made again, one size larger this time, so that a single model can wear all of them without having to morph from a size 2 to a size 6 in one fashion shoot.

WE are then going to HAVE a fashion shoot and get these darned dresses on the market! And like I said, we're shooting for January.

And now we're in October!

2008-10-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I've been neglectful. What can I say? While doing wedding things I didn't drop the business, but I did drop the blogging. I've been busy! Now we are in October and the dresses are 85% but not completely done, and we are having to readjust our time line and business plan.

There are so many things that can go wrong with dresses! Next time, I might take the pains to fly out and sit down with my pattern maker before having her work on the dresses, just to save some time, muslin-making and miscommunication later on down the road of developing the sample. There have been many "redo's" to get the dresses just right.

That being said, after all that redoing, our dresses are looking MY-T-FINE!!! I had a friend try on a couple and they looked SO good on her. I love our fit! Of course, I originally had all the sample dresses made up in my size so that I could try them on and check the fit. But somehow, between muslin and sewing into the actual fabric, almost all the dresses went up a size. If not two! So, I THOUGHT they looked good, but I couldn't really tell till my friend tried them on who was the right size.

Anyhow, we have had a couple of snafu's with fabric. Some have needed lighter weights to be able to be sewn well with the other fabric that was on the dress. one we recently found out can't be sewn in the fabric we intended because the pattern needs 60" wide fabric and we had a fabric that was 45" wide. All things to take into consideration when we do the next season as far as the process of development goes. And we are going to have to delay our sales (in light of the fact we were supposed to start selling mid-August). We have yet to determine if we need to just get started when we have it all ready or wait for the official beginning of the next season.

I hope it all turns out. I really just have no idea.

August Ends

2008-08-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

It's the end of August. Okay, it's ALMOST the end of August. And where are we? Well, as usual, we're not quite as far as I'd hoped. However, to my relief, we're very very close to that far.

I had two dress samples finished last week. Result: I learned not all sample makers are equal. I also learned that the fit of the dress changes when you're using dupioni silk instead of muslin. What does this mean? Well, one of the sample dresses is good enough to go, save for a few minor "improvements" another sample maker is going to make to the dress so it looks more finished. The other dress, however, needs a few more significant adjustments and I want it made in a completely different fabric, so we will have to get it redone. Not the end of the world. We knew this whole venture would be a crap shoot. And it's good to have a sample maker goof on a dress I would have liked to have redone anyway, if we have to have a dress goofed on.

Patterns: we have actually done fittings for ALL of the patterns! Finally a box I can check off. :) We've even done 3 fittings with a few of them. They are just waiting to be adjusted by the pattern-maker. She said she might be able to finish the changes this week! If not this week, however, I am positive they'll be finished the week after.

Samples: two dress samples are being made by a lady in Orem that should be done this week. Two or three more dresses (I can't remember which) will be done by the sample maker who has been working on fittings with me. If you're good at math and have been keeping track, you'll know this means I should have at least 5 dresses by the end of the week in sample.

Fashion Shoot: This is all very good, because we are planning to do a fashion shoot with the samples we DO have the following week, on Sept. 4th. I still have to confirm that with the photographer AND the model, but it should work out to be there or AROUND there. And that will be quite amusing. I've never done a fashion shoot! Cross your fingers for me.

Business cards: we ordered them but I still don't have the blasted things! Seriously how hard could it be? And the SADDEST part is I just learned I'm moving. So, though my phone number won't change, once we DO get business cards I will have to have to reorder them very soon to reflect my new address. At this rate, I will have accurate business cards in my posession by about our 5th season. Funny, but exasperating.

Updates and End-dates

2008-07-25T12:48:00.001-07:00

Here's the progress we've made so far:

We somehow managed to find an excellent pattern maker. Thank goodness!I have checked the fit on a muslin made for one of the dresses. It needed a couple of adjustments. Overall, however, the dress looks amazing and the fit is excellent. And Bernie, the patternmaker, has already made the necessary adjustments to that pattern. She shipped me 2 more patterns and there are only two more to make after that. We've reached the homestretch!

I am going to go down to Salem, UT (where our sample maker lives) this evening to look at 4 more muslins. If you are good at math, you'll know that equals 5 muslins, which is 1/2 the dresses for the season. It's not all of them, but I'll consider halfway there a wonderful success!

We have officially ordered the print job for the business cards. Hallelujah!

Our fashion illustrator, Lynnsie, is working on the fashion illustrations for the dresses and should have the lookbook (which is our key marketing piece; consider it an artistically rendered catalog) with all of her illustrations, done within a couple weeks!

On my to-do list:

-- get the rest of the patterns, as they come, to the sample maker, work on fit, and then get the sample dresses made.

-- make arrangements for the photo shoot. Along with an artistic rendering of the dresses, we will have photos of the dresses on a model, so the actual dresses can be seen on our website and for buyers.

I'm crossing my fingers that we can do all of this within a month. Wish me luck!

Crazy Thoughts

2008-07-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

This whole dress business is nothing more than a business venture. Or is it? I get confused sometimes. Why? Well, for one thing, it's quite miraculous that Jeff & I have been able to do things as well as we have so far. I mean, really. What do we know about making dresses?!

And then, we have all the little helping hands and people we've stumbled across who've been there to offer experience and talent where we lack. For example: I just happen to work with an amazing top graduate and fashion illustrator from FIDM and she happens to want to gain some experience and help us out. Huh? Really. Sweet! And then we have the family that no one I know has seen in YEARS and my brother happens to run into the parents this summer and their son happens to have been working in the fasion biz for 15 years and happens to be wanting to give us some words of wisdom about our business model. Interesting. And THEN, in the middle of wedding season, when every dress maker in the world of Utah is altering wedding & bridesmaid dresses, one of them HAPPENS to miraculously finish her last wedding early and is available the very week we need someone to make samples for us... Uncanny!

Not that this all means we will be successful. Or that it means it is meant to be. Or that we don't still have our fair share of obstacles and trouble-shooting to do. But it is kind of interesting how things work out, don't you think?

Conference Call

2008-07-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Jeff & I were very thankful this weekend to a family friend who took the time to talk with us about our dress business. He's been working for a label for the past 10+ years and working in the fasion industry for 15+ years, so the wealth of experience and insight into the business he had to impart sent me drooling.

Before Jeff & I chatted with him, Jeff asked several times about what we wanted out of the conversation. We both came to the consensus that, really, we were doing fine so far in our business plans. This is very good because if we were relying on anyone to make our business successful who isn't on our pay roll, I'd say we have big problems. Our analysis (or at least my analysis) so far is that the information and research we did in drawing up our business plan was actually substantial enough to send us in the right direction and make it possible for us to construct a functional process with which to create a clothing business. This is the most literal experience I've ever had as proof that education & reading isn't a total waste of my time. :)

But it's always nice to hear advice from someone who's been there. Right? So we talked with Kerry for an hour or two. And I am glad to say Kerry also didn't seem to think we were off our rocker with our business model and the steps we had taken so far. It made sense to him.

However, that being said, he did have some warning & concerns for us in a couple of areas: cautionary statements, if you will. And for this, I am INCREDIBLY grateful because it's good to know what's really important from his perspective. I could go insane and OCD about covering all aspects of the business (and I really have gone a bit OCD on a bunch of things, at least momentarily). But you have to know when to chill out and not be like that. And you also have to know when to be anal. And to hear from someone who knows about what it is important to be OCD about is just nice. I feel like I have been given permission to be OCD. And so I shall. Let's hope I am sufficiently up to the task.

So Close I Can Taste It

2008-06-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have successfully identified sample makers. Yeah!!! We will be using a few of them locally to successfully make the 10 dresses. We were going to have the manufacturer do them, but that ended up being impractical because they are having everything made in China and the costs of shipping and the time it takes to get stuff back from China makes is too much and too long . Then I called a few outfits in Manhattan, thinking it might be good to have the samples at least NEAR the manufacturer, but they're way overpriced. Here, we can have them made for around $150 per sample dress. There, we're lucky if we walk away having only spent $500 per dress. Very lucky. I think $1000 was more what they were thinking. YOUCH! The initial start up costs, between getting the fabric, getting the pattern done and producing a sample for one dress is quite a cost! There's a reason mass production is a business's best friend. Small units are hard on a budget and a price point.

We haven't been able to get the measurements & sketches for the last few sketches to the pattern maker as quickly as I'd hoped, so we won't make our July deadline for having samples available. That's a bit sad. But we do have a mechanism for getting them made and I have hope and am optomistic we will have the sample dresses done in August. That should be within good time. I hope.

Now that we have the construction and production of the dresses taken care of, at least in planning form, our next piece is going to be marketing and sales. THAT will be interesting. But it might be easier than I think. They say a good product is one that sells itself. Well, we don't even have the dresses yet and whenever I talk to people about them they are asking for them. It's kinda crazy. I called a woman to help with samples last week and she talked to me for almost an hour about how much her dress clients (she usually helps people fit into prom dresses & alters wedding gowns) need what we are making and how sad the current state of conservative formalwear is. And she's not the first person to tell me that. Why hasn't anybody else exploited this opportunity? I'm not really sure. But I'm SO GLAD.

So, I think the dresses will sell, as long as I manage to make them well. Knock on wood. Jeff told me today he is counting on my good eye. Well, that makes two of us.

The Pointer Sister's Had It Right

2008-06-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

I am SO excited! Wow. This is totally starting to become something! It's amazing! I really really can't believe it. And it's so stinking fun.

Jeff asked me once if I would be willing to leave my current job for the dress business. He envisioned that he would just be a partner and that the business would in the end be a full-time endeavor for me (He's kind of visionary like that. And he's got lots of stuff he wants to do and doesn't want to be tied down to a dress business completely.I, on the other hand, could be quite happy here for a long time. I think.). When he first asked, I kind of paused at that and wasn't sure I wanted to give up my cool nonprofit stuff and fun PR-ness and all of that.

However, if it's as exciting as THIS -- I am SO all about that. That is, of course, if the business is actually ever big enough and financially sustainable enough to be a full-time job. And it doesn't hurt that my current boss is kind of crazy and incompetent and drives me crazy. Details.... But that's all a bit ahead of where we are right now. Just a wee bit. We might first have to actually make dresses and then actually manage to sell them.

Anyhow, we now have SIX dresses -- count 'em, one, two, three, four, five, SIX -- to the patternmaker. And we are going to have the measurements and sketches for the last four done by Wednesday. Talk about feelings of accomplishment! I can't believe it. Did I already say that? That was the one missing line in the Pointers Sisters' song. I'm sure they found it all very unbelievable too.

I am still waiting for three shipments of fabric. But one of them called today to confirm shipping details, another one said they'd ship it out this week, and the third -- well the third still makes me nervous but I think they're coming. I hope! They are supposed to be sending us the prettiest, most fun crinaline in the world. In relation to the dress we intended for it, of course. I'm sure there's other cute crinaline.

And Jeff is meeting with our potential manufacturers tomorrow. Oooh. Somebody who actually knows how to make the dresses. Very cool. That could be important, right? Let's hope it goes well.

Time to shift to a higher gear

2008-06-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I am hoping we really have found our manufacturer. Jeff is going to go visit them this week and check them out to make sure we like their samples and their prices. The guy who works there, Isaac, was SO NICE and explained the whole process for me, timing, how to coordinate everything. And I feel SO MUCH BETTER after that.

Since having gone through what needs to be done & how long it takes, I realize we may be a little behind schedule in getting the patterns made. My fashion illustrator and I will have to step it into high gear so that we can get the measurements for the rest of the dresses sent to Bernie in time for her to make patterns in time for Isaac to make the sample dresses in time to have the samples sent to us by some time in July. Lots of steps there. And July is not very far away. I may decide to reset my deadline for August. :)

I love how all these relationships are so personal so far. I don't work with some big Alta Moda Design Pattern, LLC. I work with Bernie. Bernie calls me when she has questions. We resolve problems and then she mails me samples and patterns. Just me and Bernie. And with the Manufacturer, while they are huge, I just talk to Isaac. Not Miss Big House's Dress Inc. Isaac. Isaac walks me through everything and answers all my questions. And Isaac calls when he has questions for me. Who knew the fashion industry would be so intimate and friendly?

Now that Isaac has educated me on how the dresses get made, I really feel like this could work. At least getting the dresses made, that is. Selling them... well, we'll see how that goes.

This is, of course, if I don't totally screw things up. I already did once. We indicated on our notes that a certain dress was to be made in stretch fabric and so I had the pattern made for a stretch fabric. But going back over our orders and what has come in, I realize we made a last-minute decision at the fabric show to order fabric that is NOT stretch, and in fact have non-stretch sample fabric for that dress. Woops! That one will need some changes for sure. Let's hope I don't do that a lot.

We are still waiting for a few more shipments to come in. Anxiety! I am surprised how much I have to check back with the fabric vendors regarding the orders. Shockingly enough, they don't always get things right. You can't hate 'em for it. I don't either. I just have to check and double-check whatever I get from them. C'est la vie.

Moving right along. Ready or not.

In Process

2008-06-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

This venture still seems like child's play to me but every few weeks, we approach deadlines, large shipments of fabric come to my house and I have phone calls coming in from the patternmaker, the picture changes. It's like the movie, Enchanted. One minute they're in a cartoon existence and then suddenly they fall down a tunnel and BAM! They're in the real world.

Well, my tunnel is a bit longer of a trip and not so sudden, but little sections of my picture are suddenly becoming more real, while others are still stuck in a cartoon world that has not yet met reality.

We have sent FOUR,--- count 'em: one, two, three, FOUR, of the ten dresses to the patternmaker. We are still projecting to have actual, real dresses, all sewn up, in our hot little hands in July. Some time in July.....

I discovered, when searching for a manufacturer, that about 95% of the shops in the US that deal with dress making have gone out of business. THAT was a little disconcerting. But we found one who sounded like they could do the job and I'm hoping it works out so we can use them. I would just prefer the simplicity of having the dresses made here. China and Vietnam just seem so far away.... and complicated.

Pattern Makers

2008-04-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Oh my. I have successfully been able to find pattern makers. Hurray! Now, my problem is to pick which one to work with. Or which "ones". I can't really interview them as they all live in Alabama, Florida, Oregon, Manhattan and who knows where else. I really haven't the slightest what would be best.

And I've had such different advice from them! "Only make 5 dresses." "Pick one type of fabric to work with." And then, "Oh, it doesn't matter how many types of fabric, you just slightly adjust the pattern for the fabrics." "Five dresses would be very limiting." "You should budget for $1000 per pattern." "it costs $195-$300 per pattern." What!?!?!? It suffices to say, I am a bit perplexed on how to take these people. One industry, very opposite answers, and in an industry so quiet about their operations, these are the only people so far I have found who WILL talk! Bless my soul and let's hope I pick a good one. or good ONES.

Here's The Winner

2008-04-18T12:06:00.001-07:00

The Last Day

2008-04-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

So, the last day of the tradeshow was very productive. Culminating, you might say. Jeff and I got the tradeshow around 9:30 or so. When we got into the market, Jeff realized he forgot his badge in the car (they gave us badges the 1st day we registered). When we went up to the 13th floor to buy fabric, we discovered that they are quite exclusive and careful about letting people in because despite the fact that Jeff & I had been there for 2 days straight,ALL DAY BOTH DAYS, the security guard at the door gave Jeff a hard time about coming in. At last he let us in, but told us if we left then we couldn't come back in again without the badge. Talk about a stickler!

Once we got in, our work that day was made very light due to the fact that Jeff had written down all the ID numbers for the fabrics we had picked out the day before and which vendors they came from. He's just so handy to have around sometimes. So, we just went around and ordered all the fabric! Bam! Done! I dropped a lot of money in a small amount of time. Just like that. We also ordered samples of a few other fabrics we found that day that we just wanted to experiment with. And one of the dresses calls for buttons, so we ordered a couple varieties of buttons. They're gorgeous! If anyone needs some formal black buttons, let me know. We ordered at least six more of a certain kind than we will need and you'll never find them this good at Joann Fabrics. Trust me.

We are waiting for the fabrics to arrive, which should take 3 - 5 weeks. In the meantime, my job is to find patternmakers to make the dresses. No small job, in actuality. But I'm on it like butter's on bread.

Jeff and I had a bit of a standoff about what would be the hardest part of the venture. I voted that getting the dresses produced would be the hardest part. He voted that getting them sold would be the hardest part. Since then, my thought has been that if we do a bad job at the 1st task, Jeff will be right. And if we do a good job at the 1st task, I'll probably be right.

We also just got the logo submissions finalized. We did that this morning, in fact. Yeah! There was some tweaking going on that has taken longer than we anticipated. But now it's done and the business cards are in the process of being designed. I know, I know. It's about stinking time. I will post the logo as soon as we have a finalized high-resolutions version of it.

Fashion Tradeshow, Days 1 & 2

2008-04-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I have been in LA for two days, spending the greater part of each day perusing all of the booths at the LA Textile & Fabric Tradeshow at the California Mart. It has been an interesting time.

There are beautiful fabrics here, lots of vendors, trims... we couldn't ask for anything more. Except one fabric. I was hoping to find a nice "wet black", heavy fabric. No such luck. So we're going to wait on the dresses we were planning for that fabric. I think we can find it at another show at some point, and I'd rather make the dresses as they were intended. Besides, we needed some help whittling down the line. I'll just consider that the divine intervention we needed.

We started with 18 ideas for dresses for the spring line. We have now gotten down to 10 that we are going to buy sample fabric for and have made. This is 2 more than Jeff wanted and about 5 less than I projected initially. It's a good compromise and I hope it doesn't make us go broke. Each dress will have a pretty penny attached to the cost of getting the pattern made, as well as the cost of the fabric. Yipes! I keep telling Jeff we're crazy. He just agrees with me.

The most pleasant surprise has been the fabulously low minimums for most of the vendors. Most of my reading has warned me that small start ups that are ordering small quantities of fabric will be unable to purchase from many of the fabric vendors because they require you to buy a large order of at least 300 or 500 yards in order to use their fabric. We did find this with a couple of the vendors, but I'd say about 85% of the ones we talked to were within reach for us. Good news!

Some of the fabrics were PRICEY! We were checking out one beautifully beaded fabric until we found out it was $60/yd. Ouch! It was hand-done in India. No shocker that I found that fabric. I've always been drawn to ridiculousl high-priced merchandise. But in an effort to have our dresses be in the ballpark of affordable, we bypassed that particular fabric.

We have successfully pinned down just about all of th fabrics we are going to purchase by now. Day 1 was spent walking around and just taking it all in. Day two we stayed in the hotel for a couple hours in the morning going over the nitty gritties of what colors and exact types of fabric we envisioned for each of the dresses and projected about how much yardage we would need to get the samples made. Then we went to the tradeshow and went on a hunt for the fabrics. It's so nice to have found everything. OUr feet were killing us by the end of both days, as it was a lot of walking and standing for a good 5 - 6 hours. This stuff is hard work! So, if nothing else, at least the success of the finds felt good.

I was hoping there were going to be more vendors here who were actual manufacturers of the clothing or production houses or whatever you call them, trying to court the different designers. No such luck. There were a few at a seminar we went to, but they were sourcing people internationally, and we'd really like to stay contained within the US (at least for now). It's honestly not a whole lot cheaper to go international. And it's incredibly complicated.

Tomorrow is our last day here at the trade show. We intend to actually purchase the fabric and then high-tail it out of here. I am about to be receiving some very large shipments at my home! I can't even believe we're doing this. I know that stupider people than I have managed to make clothing. But I can't imagine they were less experienced. If we pull this off with some good quality dresses and don't totally blow our budget, I am going to be so amazed.

Udpates in April

2008-04-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Well, things are still moving. I met with our fashion illustrator on Saturday. She had drawn a few of the dresses more "to scale" or, more accurately, had taken my stick-figure drawings and made them into art. She is SO GOOD. And with her rendition, those dresses look SO GOOD. I decided to take one of the dresses I had tossed out of the collection and put it back in because she made it look gorgeous. I couldn't believe my eyes. My crappy idea looks that good?!? She also has some great ideas of her own to embellish and enhance some of the designs.

We expect to be producing 8 to 10 dresses our first season. However, I have only been able to narrow down the collection to 18 dresses so far. We will most likely have maybe 12 or 15 different styles of sample dresses available for buyers (meaning buyers from retail stores and boutiques) to choose from and then narrow it down to the 8 to 10 that will be produced en masse based on their orders.

Jeff and I should be able to take care of narrowing things down the options when we go to LA next week. We are attending a fabric & textile tradeshow to pick out fabrics & trims for the dresses. I also hope to network a lot and meet some of the manufacturers we might contract with to produce the dresses. I'm quite excited about it. They offer seminars there too on the business and trends and stuff.

The logo is an ongoing work. We are SO CLOSE to having it done, though. A couple more tweaks from the graphic designer and we will be set. I will be doing a happy dance for a week once we have that done. Maybe longer.

I'll be sure to provide a full report after the tradeshow to let you mnow how it goes. Exciting times!

Clarifications

2008-03-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Beth, asked a couple of very good questions which I have neglected to clarify. First of all, Sartorial Freshman is just the name of my blog. Sartorial, for anyone who doesn't know, means "of or relating to clothes or tailored clothes". The title was inspired by The Sartorialist, a well-known fashion blog by Schott Schuman, who has worked for years in sales and marketing for women's designer clothing. It's a blog for anyone who likes to look at cool pictures of people on the street wearing great outfits. I assume, if you're reading my blog, the reason for the word "freshman" is obvious. :)

And yes, the clothing line's name is Sharon Charles. So, a bit of both of us.

As Time Goes By

2008-03-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

When Jeff and I talked last fall and decided we wanted to have our company up and running by January 2009, it sounded like it was coming REALLY SOON. Time, from my perception, almost always flies fast. I feel like I'll be 35 by tomorrow, and I still have about 7 yrs to go. So I may be a bit extreme. In any case, time does fly and I knew from the get go that this year was going to fly right along with all the others.

And so it is. But still, it's time that is passing like any other, that leaves an imprint and in which things happen. It's interesting as it goes by. I find myself incredibly grateful that we've given ourselves as much time as we have. For one thing, when we do start selling, we can legitimately say we've been in business since we got our business license -- which, currently, is almost 2 whole months YTD. Ooooh. Granted, we aren't selling or producing anything yet, but its nice to be able to claim you're not totally new, even when you really are. You just don't want everybody else to know that.

I am most grategul, as I keep reading more and more and I keep finding more and more stuff I don't know, to have the time to settle into the idea of being in this business and am glad to be legally established for a while. It adds to my solidity and I believe my conviction grows while, counteractively, the vast gulf of inexperience and lack of expertise disintegrates my rope of confidence from the other end. I keeps things balanced that way, I think.

And to that end, as it is more firmly rooted, I would like to express my conviction and foundation in the sound business plan that Jeff and I are venturing into. I know fashion is one of the riskiest businesses to get into. And I know that only 5% of start up businesses actually survive. And we may very well waste all our money and totally fail. Sounds like a good idea, and you want to invest, right? Yeah, thought not. Despite these harsh realities, I'm encouraged.

I'm encouraged because I am of the opinion that I have style, a great eye and an ability to flatter people's figures and make them look good. I understand fit because it is an obsession of mine. You can't fake that or buy that. So, that's a good item to have checked on our list. I also have a passion for this. Thank goodness! I almost thought I'd never find it (does/did anyone else have that concern, that they might never find something they would have enough passion for?) I've listened to a bunch of CEO audios from fashion designers and other start up businesses that have succeeded and the big theme is that you need to go into this with a passion-- and not a passion for money. A passion for the work. I totally do! It's great! I'm so excited! Check! I think about this risky idea, and the only think I can imagine is that it's perfect! Brilliant! Can't wait to do it! Okay, so it does help that there is a potential to make money. But I'd be happy doing it without being rich.

However, to a large degree, I am a woman of passions and it's not the first time I've loved something. I love many things. But I don't have the same drive to turn everything into a business. So, I would not run into this venture on passion alone. (I think Jeff is grateful for that.)

The difference is there is a market for this passion. From my experience in having sold clothes in a high-end retail store for the last year and a half, I know that there are multitudes of women who walk into stores looking for something and walk out empty-handed because they can't find it. I am one of those women. I know that the hardest thing to find for a woman is most often a formal dress. And I know, from most personal experience, that finding a formal dress with sleeves, a neckline that is higher than my navel, and a back that ends before my crack is nigh unto impossible. (sorry for the graphic nature of that statement, but I don't think there's a prettier way to say that. It's just that terrible). Especially if I don't want to look like I was casted for the show "Little House on the Prairie." Why has no one yet considered that women who do not wish to look like a two dollar hooker might still like to look fashionable?

Even still, with the knowledge that I know the customer, have a needed product that can sell and also the talent, passion and work ethic to do it, I STILL would not even get near this if it were not for one more key component: my business partner. He's the guts and the brawn behind the whole venture. And not too shabby on the design and fashion savvy end of things either. But he's definitely more the business smarts and I am more tuned into fashion, the industry and the trends. As we get our hands a bit dirty and become a team, adding people here and there as we go, its' fun to see how this project take life, and I believe it could soon be one beyond that of the original visionaries. In its infancy, it's great to see that Jeff and I we have congruent visions for the focus of this line and can work well together. But this venture takes more than Jeff and I have to offer it. As I have seen happen thus far, I think we will find the right people to fill in along the way.

And so, Sharon Charles has begun. Our business cards are STILL not done (it may be the bane of my current existence), but are in the process, and we are coming upon the time when real producing and purchasing and marketing plans will take shape. Lots will be happening within the next two months. Stay tuned for real news. :)

We're Getting Closer

2008-03-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

I opened up a business account yesterday afternoon on my lunch hour. The bank asked me a lot of questions which I fortunately had answers to. And, um... so there you have it. I am risking my own money to do something as nutty as start a clothing line. It's already in the account, waiting to be spent. Yup. Wow.

Our logo contest ended Sunday night. Jeff and I have yet to converse about who we will choose as the winner. I have four our five favorites. It's such a tricky thing to pick a logo. I was visiting a designer dress website yesterday and there were links to several designers from the homepage. I didn't know any of the designers and so I pressed a button that led me to their collection solely based on their name and the look of their logo. What makes a person press on one logo icon before another? I have some suspicions, and I just hope I don't forget them as we choose our design. We should do that this week so we can then order our business cards.

I keep saying we're going to get the business cards done. That's because I would really LIKE us to get the business cards done. That little itsy bitsy peice of cardstock is lifeblood for networking and being taken seriously. And so, I anxiously await the time when we shall have business cards. Maybe my next post will be an announcement of that! A girl can dream, can't she?

I also ordered a couple more books online which came highly recommended by my fashion illustrator friend, Lynnsie. I can't wait to get them. I know I said I was done reading. But I figure that's okay. I'm in no danger of knowing TOO MUCH. Ever.

Pieces

2008-02-27T08:48:00.001-08:00

In conversations with my business partner, I have come to find that how quickly the business is going to be in full swing is a new realization for him. I've been pretty aware I was going to be neck deep in this stuff by May -- but I don't hink he realized it was coming up that fast until.... last night? Ha ha ha. Funny. Kinda. Take into consideration that his sound judgement and reassurance in this venture is 99% of the reason it's even happening, and then come to find I'm the mastermind catalyst during this time -- it might make one worry that the brainless one is taking a lead... which makes me wonder if he thinks it's such a smart idea to move so quickly. I mean, really. We just got our business license. And our logo isn't going to be pinned down for a few more days, which means we don't have business cards or our website up yet either. And we're supposed to be selling dresses in July. Hello!

And yet, I found myself on the encouraging end of the conversation when these realizations were taking shape. "It won't be a better time later than it is now." "We might as well." "I think we can handle it." "It's perfect timing." Okay, so I really think there is no such thing as perfect timing. There is only doable and undoable. And I usually can't tell the difference between the two unless I've tried and failed, thus making things "undoable."

But things are coming together. I am in the "process" of getting us registered to go to market in April. How fun!

The ultimate godsend is I found a fashion illustrator. She's a top grad from FIDM, an amazing artist, is more than happy to help me make line sheets and put all of my patterns on a CAD program (which, seriously, I don't even think I was sure I had to do. Bless her.) and is itching for an opportunity to get more experience and get into the business. Right here in Salt Lake City. How cool is that?

I also started working on 2nd drafts of some of the designs that Jefe and I had looked over in LA and had made some suggestions on how to revise and improve. I must say, the 2nd go-round totally looks better. It just makes me more and more excited.

LA

2008-02-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! I can't believe how excited I am about all this stuff. And tense. And nervous. I'm starting to lose sleep because I can't stop my mind from racing.

I went to LA this past weekend with Jeff and we got to get down to business on a lot of things. We finished applying for our business license. We talked about business. We talked about production. We also went through all of my designs, picked favorites and made some suggestions for revisions on the line.

I took a trip down to the Fashion District in LA. I went to the marts there and got business cards and catalogs of what designers are housed where, who is willing to rent out space during their fashion markets, how much that costs and calendars for when they have fashion markets. It was great to just see all that. And I got to see the show rooms for a lot of the designers we carry at the clothing store in Park City, like Isabelle Fiore, Robert Rodriguez, Rock & Republic, Rebecca Taylor.... very fun for me. It was very wonderlandish and kinda like I was walking in the secret places -- that special land where our store buyers go when the go on buys for the new season. He he.

It was great to see all of the designers on Rodeo Drive. Props where props are deserved: Valentino makes absolutely gorgeous dresses. And seeing what Prada, Versace, Ferragamo, Gucci and Gianna Franco Ferre had to offer was very enlightening. I saw my first display of Louboutin shoes at Barney's( I love them). I also saw my first displays of Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik (with those, I'm honestly wondering what all the fuss is about.) For"research" purposes it was a total a gold mine of an opportunity to walk into the Pre-Grammy Celebration. Seriously! I was delighted. I couldn't stop critiquing and gawking at people's dresses. I saw "the fabric" I've been dreaming about designing with on one of the dresses. a woman was wearing. Very cool fabric. What can I say? When I'm focused, I'm very focused.

My reading: I finally finished reading my big textbook last night. Thirteen long, laborious text book chapters. Good news! It was the wealth of information I hoped it would be. And since I'm so into the topic, despite the fact it was boring reading I breezed through and absorbed it like a sponge. One negative -- the book was very oriented towards how large labels manage things, so it made me wish we had enough start up capital to buy every production-streamlining software program out there. Unfortunately, we're a start up and we can't really justify costs like that till we know people are going to be buying are dresses (aka they already ARE buying out dresses), so my legwork on the first couple of seasons will likely be more complicated than it will be later on down the road when we can afford to get this technology and make my life easier. For now, I will have to dream.

I have another couple of books to read before I feel like I've done my research in that regard.
Mostly on marketing. But that will wrap up my book education pre-startup ( I expect I'll find things I need to learn more about after we get going, so I won't say it wraps up all the reading I'll ever do). I'd still like to talk to a live person about some real-life perspective on some of the production and pattern-making aspects. Speaking of which, a good friend of mine was kind enough to contact a pattern-maker she knows who said she'd be willing to talk with me about the business, her experience and offer me some insight. I'm SO excited about that.

So what else to do? I've got a lot of action items right now:

I have had a million and a half visions of "the theme" for the first spring line, modifications for the dresses and new dress ideas. So, I need to start drawing all of that, as well as making revisions that Jeff & I discussed in LA. Basically, I need to take a break or two from reading and fit in time to draw, draw, draw.

The logo contest ends this month, so once it's done we need to make business cards.

I need to review my calendar of when things are happening and what I need to be ready for once I've bought fabric.

I should probably start calling and checking out potential contractors who can make the clothes for us and figuring out those costs and whether or not we-re going to be partitioning off parts of the production or going with an outfit that offers "full-package" services. That should be interesting.

Now that we have our business license, we have an EIN number and I can start to register for fabric trade shows and then plan my next trip to LA to go to those. .

This is going to get busy. And complicated. I can feel it.

What a Silly Girl I am

2008-02-07T10:50:00.001-08:00

So, this whole dress business thing, I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but it feels like a total farce to me. For this reason, when I talk about it with other people, or tell people about it, I feel silly. Ridiculous, even.

"Yeah. I'm going to LA tomorrow on a business trip to make some contacts and visit the marts for my dress business." In my head, this statement is comparable to, "Yeah, I'm going to Houston tomorrow to present my proposal to NASA about my new my space ship idea and an expedition to Mars." And I feel like the people hearing it are thinking, "Interesting. That's so out there. Sounds nice... You're really nutty, aren't you?"

It still doesn't seem real. And I'm afraid all the dresses we'll be making are going to shrink horribly after people buy them, we won't be able to deliver anything on time and I'll try using fabrics for slips and linings that make no sense and ruin the design of the dress., or that we are on the verge of producing the ugliest dresses on the planet and the business will be a total flop.

Then, I have positive thoughts, like this is going to be an amazing success, the market for this is huge, and I have fabulous designs that people are going to LOVE. It's in the bag. We're brilliant!

But then sometimes, like now, it just freaks me out. I don't even think it's really going to happen and I think I might be a total wack job. Of course, that last bit freaks me out less, as I've known I'm a total wack job for quite some time. But having OTHER people know is so different. And A LOT of other people is worse.

The Logo Contest & More Books

2008-01-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

The logo contest is totally exciting! I love it! We've already received over a dozen entries and it's only been going for a week. I was surprised how opinionated I am about the logo design. I had lots of feedback for designers. The contest still has about 3 more weeks, so I think we should get quite a few more submissions. I'm definitely glad we are hiring this out. These guys are coming up with ideas that are way better than anything I could have done.

I also got a couple more books to read. One of them, while it looks like it'll be a total jackpot of information, is also a total textbook read. Exciting and yet not exciting. Let's just hope it lives up to its Table of Contents potential. I'm hoping to glean a little more information about the nuts and bolts of how to create a line for a season and also some marketing strategy. Jeff may be savvy in marketing, but I haven't had any formal education in that area. One of the textbooks is entirely dedicated to fashion marketing. I can't wait! Somehow, I feel like I'm back in school. But not.

The Beginning

2008-01-24T12:42:00.001-08:00

Most blogs start with a beginning. So do businesses, coincidentally.

To truly begin on my journey through fashiondom, I believe a B-log is required so to chronical the advent and evolution of this splendid and remarkable venture in the making. It's also to help me realize, "No, Sharon, this is not imaginary and it is really something you're diving into. Dress design. Welcome to your calling."

I don't know why it seems so foreign or so daunting to me. I was talking to a friend of mine just last night at work, and she mentioned that she worked for a line of clothing that was being produced by a bunch of kids out of high school. So, you'd think a girl with a master's degree and a guy with his juris doctorate might be able to figure out how to run the business. Right? I hope so.

Things are often less tricky than I imagine them to be. But the real "trick" is fitting it in with all of mine and Jeff's other obligations. I think THAT is the key point right there.

But the venture has begun, frightened, excited, surprised, inexperienced, busy and gung-ho as I am. What a state to be in at the start of an entrepeneurial endeavor. Am I an entrepeneur kind of gal? I guess we'll see.

There are so many bases to cover. We have a website to design, dress designs to choose, patternmakers to find, a production place to hire, business cards and licenses to get, and fabrics, trims, zippers and buttons to shop for.

What we've done so far:

Lots of talk and business planning. I love formal dresses. Jeff loves shoes and handbags. However, I think we have more of a niche with the type of formal dresses we're making. Everybody makes shoes and handbags. So, though they're fun, my greatest excitement is due a great deal to the fact that we are going to be filling in a gap in the dress market that is needed and that no one else is really catering too. It is SUCH an opportunity. In a world where everything has been said, done, seen and photographed, I have found a virtually untouched niche. What a treasure. Not that shoes and handbags wouldn't be fabulous and not that we don't have something to offer those markets. But we just don't have th startup capital to do everything at once. It will be key to be tailored in our goal and the dress line in the beginning when we don't have the means to produce 5000 things. So, formal dresses it is.

We have the brand name and the website domain as well. That, in my mind, gives things a little bit of structure. I've even received my first email at my new business email address! Ok, so it was from Jeff. It still counts. Things still seem very fluid and intangible to me. But I think I'll feel like we have a bit more structure once we have a business license. For now, a website address and an email account will just have to do.

Homework. I have lots. I've already read a few books, but I should get a few more in the mail soon, so I can get as complete an understanding of the industry as possible. I also need to read a marketing book. My good friend, Erika, mentioned how much that element of the business was underutilized in her position working for a clothing manufacturer and I am all for learning from other people's mistakes. Jeff's pretty savvy about marketing stuff and I think, in general, we both have a great deal of business savvy. But I always feel more confident after I've read a book or two.

Jeff is currently setting up a contest online to have someone create a logo for us. It'll be exciting to see what people come up with. And once we have the logo, we can make business cards! Yeah! I'm really excited about that. It'll help out with the website to have the logo as well, but we really need business cards for when we go to trade shows and whatnot, which should be coming up in April. So, best we move quickly.

I have already designed just under 40 dresses. Once the Sundance Film Festival is over and I am working a few less hours at the clothing shop, I should have time to design a few more. Then we can pick and choose which ones to make 1st.

And then there's a business trip. A little early for that, you say? Perhaps. It's not just a business trip, but it should be helpful in that regards all the same. And when your business partner lives across the country, I think it's necessary to meet up every now and again to conference. It brings momentum and energy and synergy and excitement and all that good stuff. At least, that's what I think it will do. On the business trip, I plan to visit the Mart in LA and scout out some potential spots to sell our line and make some contacts. We'll also spend that weekend picking the final 12-15 dresses to be made. And we'll have fun. I'm spending a weekend in LA with my brother, after all.

Overall, I'd say Jeff and I have a pretty good business plan. I think the key is going to be that we make goals and deadlines and we meet them. We haven't been as on top of time lines as we could be. Granted, we both have full-time jobs, and his is actually his own, new entrepeneurial endeavor of a startup all his own, which requires a lot out of him. But I trust that we both have the discipline and work ethic and the commitment needed to make this happen.

The rest is a bit of a waiting game. The fashion industry, depending on what you're making, runs on a calendar. For a great deal of our startup efforts, go-time won't be until April. So, in some ways, I am getting all worked up in anticipation for April. But it's coming pretty quick. And we need to be ready.

So here's to the website! Here's to the blog! Here's to finding something you love to do! Here's to hoping it becomes a reality and not just a dream! Wish us luck. I'll keep you posted.