So, this weekend was one of firsts for me. I organised my very first photo shoot; stayed up beyond midnight twice in a row with early morning starts to follow; had a full on diva strop with my location manager (aka ‘mother’) AND had an espresso dessert that sent me off the wall. I mean- totally- off the wall. Be proud people, I am clearly well on my way to becoming a fully fledged fashionista.

Now, call me naïve but I don’t think I realised just how hard it is to take good photos than just getting ‘snap happy’. I was fortunate that my chosen model has beautiful skin and hair, and so getting her to beauty base zero (thank you for that phrase Hunger Games!), was relatively easy and then colour just acted as an accenting feature. I did, however, discover I have nil inventiveness when it comes to directing models. I mean I had a whole bunch of images in my head that looked amazing… but strangely they didn’t quite translate… (clearly time to review my strengths and weaknesses before the next photo shoot in a couple of weeks!)

The website is taking shape slowly and if I may say so myself, is looking awesome! I’m spending my evenings selecting the best images from god knows how many hundreds and then getting my photographer to make them web ready. From the research I’ve done, one of the key points that has been emphasised over and over again is the importance of stellar shots to really show the product to advantage. Some of the images I’ve selected thus far are incredible and it’s an awesome feeling knowing that the pictures have captured what I’ve created and shown the items off so very beautifully.

As I mentioned previously, this first collection is going to be a sample only. I’ll be spending August designing and making up samples for the Autumn/Winter collection which will be the first full collection. I am so excited about the designs I’ve already come up with I can hardly wait to begin working on them. In my head they are fully realised creations- all I now need is to get reality to match.

The learning curve so far has been steep and undoubtedly about to get vertical, but hiking up this mountain has so far been such a fantastic experience that even if it was all to crash and burn ultimately, I won’t ever regret it. (On a tangent, I kind of want to shout, ‘freedom!’ a la Braveheart at this point, but it seems a little OTT. Not that I’m against OTT per se… But I suspect William Wallace MAY have been fighting for a little more than freedom from humdrum routine. Just saying.)

Anyhow, just to tease y’all a little bit, check out the sneak pics of some of the fabrics and prints I’ve been working with for this inaugural collection. Do let me know if there are particular prints you like. Audience feedback is always always helpful and much appreciated. 

Frantic!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. As you can imagine it’s no easy thing starting up a company from scratch and I have a number of other calls on my time so I’m working around those commitments. It’s a pretty steep learning curve and I have little (translate as ‘nil’) experience in the practical world of business and so am having to REALLY do my research to ensure I’m not doing anything illegal or forgetting to do boring, but vital things like book keeping (snore).

The first thing I wanted to share with you is a picture of my workspace. As you can see, apart from the colour scheme (which I adore), it’s looking a bit bare. I have a couple of cool notice boards to go up soon, but any ideas for what might liven it up a little would be much appreciated.


 

In terms of progress, I can tell you that the designs and samples for my summer collection have been finalised and approved by my genius ‘Division Heads’ (aka ‘best buds’), over a ‘strategic planning’ lunch and I am now just working on producing stock. My thanks for all their faith, help and support without which I would most definitely be in dire straits.

My logo is almost finalised (think wings!) and will be sent to the printers for labels this week hopefully and the website is in the design stage. I’m working my web designer hard, but he’s due to swan off to some foreign party capital tomorrow, so I will have to crack the whip when he returns (you know who you are- be warned!)

I will be scheduling a photo shoot for mid July, so desperately hoping for some decent weather to really try and capture a more summery feel (or at the very least not penny sized raindrops- so y’all upstairs if you could sort that out, I’d be tres grateful!). If you’re interested in building your portfolio by modelling for me, do inbox me with a recent picture of yourself and I’ll get back to you (females only please. I have a feeling my clothes won’t really suit males… but who knows? I’m open to suggestion- convince me!) The remaining time will be spent on testing the functionality and attractiveness of my ‘web window’.

This is currently a time of discovery for me and one of the things I’ve discovered is I LOVE being up in my attic. Bizarre maybe, but I’m beginning to question what those princesses were complaining about when they were stuck up there for years on end. Three cheers for the ivory tower I say! 

The Inception of Halo

As I announced yesterday, my fashion label, going by the name of Halo Clothing is officially incorporated- cue jump up and down excitement!

So, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about the name and where it came from. My decision to name my fashion label ‘Halo’, came from a desire to come up with a name that would reflect the base ideas that would inspire my designs. For most people clothing is a strong signifier of individuality and personality and when wearing something you like, you feel good. Hence ‘Halo’. I want to design clothing that makes you feel good, which in turn will make you look awesome! (Well, that’s the idea.)

Keep an eye out for my website which will be up and running soon (address tba). I’ll be producing only a limited collection for summer. A light selection of maxi skirts, tops and cardigans and maybe… some accessories (I have a little secret brewing up my sleeve, which if I can pull off will blow your socks off!). I will also be launching Halo Bespoke, where I will take on commissions to produce fantabulous dresses to order. But be warned, these will be strictly limited and as I have already been approached regarding said commissions it seems likely there will be a waiting list.

I’m planning my first full collection for autumn/ winter 2012. Expect unusual fabric combinations: tweed and jersey, silk and leather, meat and telephones… Okay, okay, so I’ll probably leave the latter to Le Gaga. But, I AM designing as we speak… er… write… you know what I mean!.

Now, how to keep my own paws off the collection will be my next big challenge. Ciao folks and watch this space!

I’ve uploaded a picture of my workspace for y’all to see. It’s a freshly cleared out corner in my attic. I’m loving the idea of working up there with all that light flooding in from the skylights. I do wish they were a little bigger, but hey you can’t have everything can you? I’ve chosen a big solid beech work table to put directly beneath the skylight which will hold my sewing machine and overlocker. I’ve bought a funky hot pink swivel chair that matches with the table not at all, BUT does loosely go with the colour scheme in the room. Plus pink, despite the frilly Barbie connotations, is such a female colour and I think the darker tones are grown up enough to avoid any girlish influences. A good sized notice board on the wall can be used to keep track of the things I need to remember. The room has an en suite too, so all I need to make things complete is a mini fridge and a kettle and I can stay up there indefinitely!

I’ve uploaded a picture of my workspace for y’all to see. It’s a freshly cleared out corner in my attic. I’m loving the idea of working up there with all that light flooding in from the skylights. I do wish they were a little bigger, but hey you can’t have everything can you?

I’ve chosen a big solid beech work table to put directly beneath the skylight which will hold my sewing machine and overlocker. I’ve bought a funky hot pink swivel chair that matches with the table not at all, BUT does loosely go with the colour scheme in the room. Plus pink, despite the frilly Barbie connotations, is such a female colour and I think the darker tones are grown up enough to avoid any girlish influences.

A good sized notice board on the wall can be used to keep track of the things I need to remember. The room has an en suite too, so all I need to make things complete is a mini fridge and a kettle and I can stay up there indefinitely!

My Daily Grind

For those of you following me on tumblr, I’ve started a new blog called shmdailygrind.tumblr.com which you might enjoy. Thanks for looking/ liking/ sharing!

Here, at the end of it all…

As many of you know, it was a landmark moment in my life yesterday. It was the day that will go down in the history of myself as the day I left teaching. I don’t think I fully comprehended the enormity of my departure from the those who can/ can’t (delete as appropriate) profession. It doesn’t seem quite real yet, and I think it will be some time before it truly kicks in and I realise I may never need to interact with a teenager ever again. I may never need to SPEAK to a teenager ever again! The mind boggles. What will I do without daily doses of teen angst and hormonal mood flips in my life? It’s extremely odd, but (around 12 years too late) I feel as though I’m finally leaving school.

So now I’m here, knocking on that little window called Opportunity and desperately hoping it’s been left on the latch. I have a month of exam marking to get through and then it’s MY time. My ‘diem’ has finally arrived and I will be ‘carpe-ing’ it for all I’m worth.

The bell has rung for round two. I’m a little older; a little harder and with a far greater understanding of the real world. What hasn’t changed is that bone-deep excitement at facing the unknown. When it arrives, watch me, I’ll be standing here with a twinkle in my eye and a smile on my lips, daring it to bring it ON! The future is now people. (Insert crazy wolf like holler here.)

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8 working days. The end is nigh!

On cut tongues and chafed cheeks

I’ve begun the process of getting my braces put on and have been in some considerable discomfort this past week. Most of my back braces are in, but those wonderful bottom teeth of mine (fused to death), have reluctantly shuffled only enough to get separators in and not the braces (they clearly are not going to make this process any easier.) I am pleased in a way, because I guess it saves me from a whole lot more pain. Especially considering the fact that with just these top ones in I’ve managed to chafe the insides of my cheeks to the point that I feel there’ll be a hole appearing on the outside soon AND I’ve managed to cut my tongue.

From this experience, I’ve learnt a few things about myself: a) I have a low pain threshold; b) I talk A LOT; and c) I arguably have the smallest mouth in the history of womankind.

Now, I knew about the first and I suspected the second, but I really did not know about the third. I mean, it’s hardly something one gets measured is it? What I suspect it does indicate though is that where in a normal human sized mouth (as opposed to child sized on an adult face), the braces would look fine; in my dimensionally challenged gob, they’re going to look HUGE!

Oh. Dear. God. What have I let myself in for?

I Love Leather

So, (I really need to stop watching Will.i.am on The Voice. I’m prefacing EVERY sentence I write with ‘so’). SO, I’ve decided that I want to try my hand at working some leather into my designs. Now, before y’all get over excited, let me qualify that last statement. I am not talking any KF here (and certain people out there will know exactly what I mean by that). What I am talking about is little touches: a strip down the back of the neck, a loop at the cuff, a pocket. I’m off to purchase me some rawhide, stamps and a wooden mallet… (I’m fighting the urge to say ‘yeehaw’ at this point, but that wouldn’t make any sense would it?) 

Excuses Excuses

So, I’ve had a bit of a break from y’all and it hasn’t been intentional. In fact I’ve missed the discipline of sitting down and letting my thoughts drip out on to the page (a little like Dumbledore’s ‘Pensieve’ in the Potter books). I’ve noticed how difficult it is getting back into the writing too. This (relatively) short post is taking more time than one of my longer ones did when I was posting every day. I guess writing is like a muscle that needs exercising frequently in order to stay limber, otherwise you stiffen up. Bearing that in mind, I suspect I won’t let it go so long before posting in future.

In the hiatus I’ve made two new items: a top and a dress and I’d really like some feedback… but I haven’t gotten around to getting myself snapped wearing them yet. Busy me, busy son, busy busy photographer husband. Plus, these past few weeks have been tremendously stressful and so excusesexcusesblahblahblahboring. There’s also the fact that I went through a ‘feeling fat’ phase (you all know what I mean), and so I couldn’t possibly be snapped in that mode.

This little interlude, however, is destined to be short-lived, as I am now to do a phone-tutoring session and then we’re going to see Jack Dee in Leeds. Phew- this ‘living’ business sure takes it out of you!