HodgePodge

Things that don't relate to each other, AKA Brain Dump

*I have 11 magazine subscriptions. Do you have any idea how many wrinkle cream samples that amounts to? In a grand experiment I've stopped discarding them and am instead using all of them in the order in which they were received. I'm calling it a grand experiment, but it's possible that I'm just cheap. If I look younger in 5 years I'll report back. 

*Recently I've taken to impregnating my own zucchini. That is not a euphemism. Why do the birds and the bees get to have all the fun? No foreplay is required but first I like to drink a glass of chilled white wine and put on my gardening teddy. (Hey, niche market!)  Now pluck the male blossom from its stem. You will know him by his long stamen. Carefully peel back his petals and insert the stamen in the female blossom's -for lack of a better word, 'cup'. Swirl it around to make sure the pollen from the stamen sticks and then toss him in your compost pile; his work is done. Mother nature can be a cruel mistress as they say. Wait 4-8 days and you too can be happily munching on your own delicious zucchini babies. I watched this adorable video to get the basic idea.

pic on the right: I pollinated this baby only 2 days ago.

*I'm just now going through some pictures from my trunk show at Hamptons Heartbreak. Here's a look. I'm interested in doing another trunk show this summer, anyone have suggestions as to boutiques in the area that would be interested in hosting? 

left to right clockwise~ Me wearing a dress I made 7 years ago
~Liz admiring her new WearMena dress
 ~Perusing the racks at Hamptons Heartbreak
~Wearing her new purchase. You can get that same tank here!

*On a recent road trip to Palo Alto we found this angry peacock roaming the parking lot. His feathers were ruffled about something. Maybe 6 STRNGS stole his app idea because Mr. Peacock attacked his car for quite awhile. Realistically he was most likely fighting with his own reflection. In any case 'ANGRY BIRDS II, who's the fairest of them all?' is bound to happen and this poor bird probably won't see a dime. It didn't look like it was doing any damage to the car so we stayed out of it. You got to know when to intervene on natures behalf and when to back away slowly....

that is all for now, MR

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

Let's be real for a minute.

BRANDING

I hate that word.

I make what I make because it appeals to me at the moment.  Humans are complex emotional beings and as such I am inspired by every single fucking thing that drifts past my senses. Packaging that up for others I find constricting and a tinge insulting.

Spending a good chunk of my artistic life living in an artist collective was obviously creatively nurturing. No one questioned the WHY. Everyone is encouraged to just create because that is how you learn. Whether someone was building a sculpture out of found objects, painting 5 foot tall lemon slices on the wall, cooking an epic 5-course meal or sewing LED lights onto a furry coat so you can look cool at Burning Man; there wasn't a whole lot of accountability there. Just freedom. In only 4 years of living there my skills in design, pattern making and sewing skyrocketed because of that freedom.

Enter the real world. I've honed my skills and I'm ready to graduate. I'm not a fine artist. My clothing isn't avant-garde nor subversive, unless you consider a hot pink contrast lining to be treasonous---> in which case your name might be Kim Jong Il. That's just not me. I create a tangible attainable product because basically I love 'pretty' things and I'm compelled to create. Though fashion can be art, and starts as such, it is essentially commercial. I understand that.

Jumping from a creative position to a commercial one has been challenging. Separating myself and my emotions from my business is a struggle, I'm not going to lie. When you're not a tech wizard and you've spent a week building a website only to have someone say to you,"Eventually you're going to have to move to wordpress. Katie won't even look through a site that's been built on Wix", your feathers might get ruffled a bit because who is Katie and why should we give a shit about what a  22 year old thinks? We should give a shit because Katie has about a billion Tumblr and Instagram followers and this is the fashion Business.

Women wear my dresses because they are joyful, and when they slip one on they feel beautiful and sexy and strong. They understand that femininity and feminism aren't mutually exclusive. They don't buy my dresses because the ABOUT page on my website spun them some glittery story or because my web host is 'cooler' than another. If I must BRAND I do know that it's not built on pretension. It's built on real women with class and humor. Real women like my girlfriends who are creative, smart and beautiful and make me laugh from deep in my heart.

All of that being said, I want my business to succeed and I am going to do my darnedest to merge the two worlds without losing my soul and my mind.  I have two wonderful people on my team who are helping me and challenging me to take my business to the next level. They have my best interests at heart and I hope they know how much I appreciate their input. My job is listen, to learn and most importantly to be honest with them.

As far as 'Branding' goes:  I'm going to make sure that what I put out there is consistent, I'm going to make sure it is true to myself. I am going to continue to build professional relationships that are centered around mutual respect and I am going to continue to raise my eyebrows at bullshit.

And after all of that
I'm still optimistic. 
huh.

I just had to put that down to understand why I'm rebelling against it so much. Thanks for reading this long ass rant!

>^..^<
meow, Misty