It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been hibernating and decided to take a short break from Facebook, sketching, blogging and all things fashion. I literally placed a "DO NOT DISTURB" profile pic on FB. Once Paris fashion week ended and I had my fill of all things fabulous and forthcoming for fall, I slowed my roll.
[Burping with fashion indigestion]
By no means am I back in full force, but merely peaking my head out of the cave and seeing if I like what I see out there. Did the groundhog see it's shadow? What the deuce? Maybe I’m a little depressed or stressed?
On one hand the corporate job is demanding and my boss can be a challenge. I have a surprise presentation due early next week in front of Senior Management and I’m nervous. On the other hand the factory wants a production order very soon and I am nowhere close to being able to afford that right now.
To top it all off, I went to a mix and mingle recently and a business mentor basically told me that my handbag prices are too high. In my mind this is what I replied "Ahh durrrhh, they don't look cheap and I didn't just whip up a square piece of leather with straps and give it to you now, did I?
In one statement, she shook my bedrock and all the fundamentals that I held on to thus far. She said to me "It's easy to design a beautiful $1,200 handbag, but difficult to design a beautiful $50 one. Now that is your challenge". After that, I went on life support____/\___/\___/\____
So buried in Power Point and Excel getting ready for both my boss and the factory, I have been a little stressed and decided that putting on a pretty dress and heels usually makes the rain go away. And it helped. My little dress is quite snappy and it gave me a shot of vitamin B, short in the front, long in the back and tight to PERFECTION.
While my mini photo-shoot didn’t solve my impending challenges, it gave me hope, made me feel powerful. Like I could grab the world in my hands & make it mine. And whether you recognize that or not, fashion can have that impact both on the wearer and the observer. I feel like a super-hero in this dress, like a member of the "Justice League" even. If you're lost or rolling your eyes at that reference, then piss off you pissy wanker.
My PowerPoint is done. Now I'm swallowing my pride & taking a big gulp, slowly revising the pricing on my line sheet. And it's difficult because I have worked SO VERY HARD on my concepts and I feel they are worth every penny. But this is inherently a business and I am inherently a businessman.
LESSON: The difference between you and every other douche bag is how you approach your challenges. Either you can face them, conquer them and ask for more. Or curl up in the fetal position and play possum. I’m still learning this.
To top it all off, I went to a mix and mingle recently and a business mentor basically told me that my handbag prices are too high. In my mind this is what I replied "Ahh durrrhh, they don't look cheap and I didn't just whip up a square piece of leather with straps and give it to you now, did I?
In one statement, she shook my bedrock and all the fundamentals that I held on to thus far. She said to me "It's easy to design a beautiful $1,200 handbag, but difficult to design a beautiful $50 one. Now that is your challenge". After that, I went on life support____/\___/\___/\____
So buried in Power Point and Excel getting ready for both my boss and the factory, I have been a little stressed and decided that putting on a pretty dress and heels usually makes the rain go away. And it helped. My little dress is quite snappy and it gave me a shot of vitamin B, short in the front, long in the back and tight to PERFECTION.
While my mini photo-shoot didn’t solve my impending challenges, it gave me hope, made me feel powerful. Like I could grab the world in my hands & make it mine. And whether you recognize that or not, fashion can have that impact both on the wearer and the observer. I feel like a super-hero in this dress, like a member of the "Justice League" even. If you're lost or rolling your eyes at that reference, then piss off you pissy wanker.
My PowerPoint is done. Now I'm swallowing my pride & taking a big gulp, slowly revising the pricing on my line sheet. And it's difficult because I have worked SO VERY HARD on my concepts and I feel they are worth every penny. But this is inherently a business and I am inherently a businessman.
LESSON: The difference between you and every other douche bag is how you approach your challenges. Either you can face them, conquer them and ask for more. Or curl up in the fetal position and play possum. I’m still learning this.
I think you can do both Ms Toes, especially when you are a superhero with a dress like that. Look at it this way: Somedays you can spend the whole day putting something to wear together and it just doesn't work, or finally after hours it does. And then other days, no matter what you put on, you feel and look great. It may be the same with designing a handbag. What is scary is when we are very happy with a design and then, by some turn of events, we get a critical call for change and we resist it in the core of our being. We pay attention. Is it the other person's idea of perfection, of success, or our own? Good reflection always serves us. I think if the great artists of fashion all went home to revamp when they were 'evaluated', then no barriers would be broken. And I'm sure you know what barriers do, to keep us all looking the same, same solutions, same old same old. The pioneers are the super heroes because they break those barriers, and NOT the critics.
ReplyDeleteSo here's my suggestions: keep making what you think is divine. Even if out of cardboard, or drawing...keep inventing. Don't stop. Keep showing your designs to as many people as you can. And in between the moments of a day doing the un-edited styles, make one that fits the criteria of less cost. You can do that as easily as the next high-end masterpiece. Because you are a designer. You can do both. But never sacrifice one for the other, or else you are beat down to the lowest common denominator. So get at it. Design both, and in the middle somewhere, when you least expect it, your life will bloom.
Love the dress, the caped back in the wind is wonderful, but most of all, the accessories, yes! Keep up the good work, and don't forget: we can look to heaven for all the answers, but it's when we fall in love with solid ground, we really make it happen! Now get busy! xx
bulgy....
ReplyDelete