Day 45 - Ellen "A" Wins - Next Up...Lucy Skirt

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday, errr...

So Ellen "A" wins!  Let's look at the Lucy skirt.  We have here narrowed down to 2 photos.  In this one, we're looking at the skirt specifically.  What do you think?

PHOTO A:

PHOTO B:

In the meantime, we accomplished some things over the weekend.  Firstly, Jerry got some flat sketching done.  We needed to rework some of the sketches to include on our merchandising line sheet.  So we're almost ready with that.  He is also reworking that darn Shirley program, well, mainly the skirt needed to be re-sewn.  So, that's in work too.

From my side, I worked out our WIP (which is a work in progress excel chart).  This document is meant to track the entire season's production calendar, costs, consumption calculations, profit margin, etc all in one place.  So that's all set up and ready to go.  We also put together the line plan and now just need to pop in the sketches.  I created a separate chart for trims and fabric to calculate our total needs in order to place enough bulk raw materials to smoothly go into production.  Just as soon as we get orders, we're ready to rock & roll...

Lastly, we received an email from a showroom expressing some interest.  Can we get them on board?  Will they represent our line?  We need a showroom to get this brand off the ground.  Please say a little prayer for us!!! 

A domain!

Day 44 - Betty "B" wins! On to Ellen...

Selection 1 - Check!

Ok, before we move on to Ellen, just wanted to give you a quick idea as to where we stand with the next steps for Overton Monroe.  Right now, Jerry and I are working on making our photo selections for the Overton Monroe look book, with your help as you know.  This is CRITICAL in order to get our look book completed and really get things going with a showroom partner.  We are also working on choosing photos to make our video story, which will be the opening to our website.  The site is all set and ready for the pictures to be inserted...thank you Squirrel Media!

And now....Ellen!  We find her very sexy;-)

PHOTO A:

PHOTO B:

We'd love your votes please!!

Day 43 - Your votes please!

So we all pretty much fell asleep around 9:30 on Saturday night.  I mean...we absolutely hit a wall.  But Jerry woke up throughout the night to sew a little here and a little there, sleeping in between stitches.  Finally at 7am, the army was up & at 'em. My mom, Jerry and I hanging around the dining room table handsewing our last little pieces together.  And, we did it.  We got it done just in time.  We fudged a little but eh, that's ok.  We'll fix it up for the showroom samples.  The immediate need was satisfied and we were good to go for Day 2 of our photo shoot.

Back to the studio.  Met the team there at 9:30am and started shooting around 10ish.  Once again, we were amazed.  We started with Kylee wearing Betty in front of a simple mirror set. Thereafter, we moved into adding our male model, then through Ollie, and finally Shirley before a handful of fun group shots, which will be used for our website's video clip.

Running right up against our 5pm mark, we were in a hurry to pack up and head back to my New Jersey condo to celebrate with a yummy buffet of food, champagne, and to watch the Steelers beat the Jets....remember, I'm from a small town outside of Pittsburgh.  So my hubby planned a little get together for all the Overton Monroe team to chill and watch the game, while Tamara, Jerry and I hung out flipping through all of the photos.  So, celebration #2 with a win for the Stillers!

After the game, we got our models & design assistant back into the city for their 11am departure back to home to New Castle.

We still had a 21st Birthday celebrate. Baby Jaclene is all grown up now.  So, at 11:30pm, we headed to Hoboken for our 3rd Celebration of the day!  And we had a blast, even though we were only out for a couple of hours. 

Ok, I'm attaching more photos here.  Here is Betty in the full slip version.  Are you feeling Photo A or Photo B?  If you would please respond in the comments box below that would be great!  The photo with the most votes will end up in our Season 1 look book.

 PHOTO A:

PHOTO B:

Thank you!!  And stay warm!  The snow is piled high today.....

Day 42 - It was happening!

We spent the next 6 hours moving around the studio, looking for different backdrops, setups we could put to use.  The most amazing thing about the space is that we could lift and shift and move all the furniture, antiques, props, and artwork around the room just about as much as we wanted. So each set was unique to each look.  We needed to capture what we had in our minds.  It's rare that it actually happens...but we were lucky to have a great team all picturing the same dreamy images in their minds and IT...WAS...HAPPENING!

At 4pm, we were beat, starving and ready for a drink.  We all walked just down the street to 27th & 3rd to grab a bite to eat.  Everyone was feeling good.  Most of all, my mother.  Keep in mind that she's been sewing off and on for the past week, usually spending all night in our living room sewing till the wee hours of the morning. One drink and she was rocked.  Ended up sleeping on the sofa in the bar.  She'll kill me for telling you that! But hey, that's the fun of writing my own blog!  She only woke up when we brought chocolate cake to her.  Just to add a little light-hearted birthday fun, we grabbed a chocolate cake from a little bakery around the corner to celebrate two birthdays in the group!  My little sister's 21st on Jan 24th and Donnie's birthday from Jan 19th.  So fun!  We spend a couple or 3 hours at Rodeo before heading home to CRASH.....finally, sleep...

Oh, but wait!!  We still had Shirley waiting in the wings!  She wasn't even completed yet!!  God, we had 3 more styles to sew in time for Part II of our photo shoot first thing on Sunday morning.  UGH!!! When the heck were we gonna get it done?

Here are a few more photos!  More to come in the next several days.  Let's make it fun!  Starting tomorrow, we'll be posting "A" and "B" photos.  If you could be so kind to choose between A or B, it'll help us edit and choose the most popular to use for our look book!  Sound like a plan? 

Day 41 - And...

Sorry about that....I was supposed to fill you in last night but I just passed right out!  I was running on empty and needed to catch some zzzz's.  I need to be on my game at work.

Here's how it went:

Friday afternoon, Jerry met the girls at the hotel in Chelsea.  I met him after work and we conducted our final fitting, tried on the shoes, determined any last minute adjustments, had a drink at the bar and headed home to get ourselves pulled together for Saturday.  Jerry, my mom & I spent all night finishing up.  Not that we had THAT much to do...but it was kind of helping us to release our nerves a bit by staying up and calmly working through everything left to do.  At 1:00am, there was a knock on the door...who showed up?  My brother Tommy, my little sis Jaclene and her little friend Jackie.  At 1am the day before our shoot!  In all the hustle & bustle getting prepped for the weekend, we still had a 21st birthday to celebrate!  Princess Jaclene's long awaited birthday.  We got everyone settled, made the beds and continued sewing.

Right at about 5:30am, we went to bed only to wake up 2 hours later.  Now the pressure was on.  We needed to be professional, be on time, get the girls to the shoot by 9am, meet up with our photographer Donnie, Tamara & Lisette (hair & makeup) and keep it cool at the same time. We did just fine.  Somehow, once we walked out the door, we felt relieved and ready for the weekend, albeit very tired.

We officially started taking photos around 11am or so.  Kylee was our first set and honestly, we were speechless.  She needed about 5 minutes to get warmed up.  That's it.  From that point forward, we were stunned...

More to follow tomorrow!  Have a great day!

Day 40 - Magic

Honestly, took my breath away.  I actually had a tear in my eye.  For Jerry and I, it was absolutely dreamy.  And to have the entire team of serious talent working on our very first collection proved to be much more than we could have ever hoped for...here is the result of all that support, all the talent that helped us make the weekend magical...

So much more detail to go into.  Check back tonight please........Thank you for reading!

Day 39 - And.....STOP!

Alright!  Well, we're done.  I should say, almost done.  We have just a tad bit of finishing to do.  Fitting this evening upon the girls' arrival just to make sure we're all set with the garments and shoes.

Our models are crossing Pennsylvania as I type.  They made it on the bus in the 3rd big snow storm of the season!  I was a wreck about 10 minutes ago thinking that bus would either be canceled or they'd miss it. But, yet again, we are safe!  They made it and are en route.

The jewelry arrived yesterday...all I can say is WOO HOO!!!!  It's gorgeous.  Perfectly in line with the whole aesthetic. We love it and guess what?  Even more jewelry is arriving today.  Icing on the cake really.

Another bit of unexpected news.  We received our main labels yesterday!  The samples anyway and they look great!  We totally love them.  Thank you Label Kings (http://www.labelkings.com/)!! Totally didn't think these would happen BEFORE this weekend...I was thinking mid-Feb.  Filip and his team did an amazing job.

To do list:

• Jerry to buy a bit more Mokuba grosgrain.  We're running short a little.
• Jerry to meet the girls at the hotel around 3:00pm to welcome them and start the fitting.
• Annie to buy extensions for the model's hair (after work).
• Annie to meet Jerry at the hotel for fitting (after work). 

And that's about it!  Next week?  Whole different story....now that the samples are made and the shoot will be done, we have to get this line sold!  I'm good with the production side of things but need to secure sales, plan bulk, etc, etc, etc....

Monday?  Well, that should be an interesting post!  See you then and wish us luck!!!

Day 38 - 2 Days & Counting...

Yesterday was a pill.  Jerry had a lot of trouble with our last program.  To be frank, Shirley has been a bitch!  I can't say I have hands on knowledge of that since I spent the day at work in the City....but I know, I sense Jerry's frustration.  I mean, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the sample goes flying across the room, that's not usually a good sign...  A little breather and some rest, I'm sure he'll be ready to get her done today. 

We did have some great news!  Hair and makeup is secured, the last piece of the puzzle is complete!  That was stressing us out for sure.  Tamara is tremendous and, once again, we feel lucky.  She completely "gets it" which is fabulous.  One after the other, all of the talented & creative individuals involved have really just been perfect.  We absolutely feel like someone is placing people right in our path. And most important, everyone involved is as excited about this thing as we are!  That's of key importance.  I mean, you want people to be interested right?  So that it's not just another job.  We want people to be into it! And fortunately, this is indeed the case. Check out Tamara's site, www.tamaramakeupartistry.com/.  I'm certain you'll be impressed.  We are in love!

Update on the website.  I spoke with Mike from Squirrel Media, www.sqrlm.com/.  He's got our website in great shape, although he needs a bit more information from me with regards to the "content" plus he'll need all of the photographs as soon as possible after this weekend.  Otherwise, he's ready to rock & roll as soon as those details are passed to him.  Last night, I passed quite a bit more of the content so he'll have something to tide him over until the photos are passed (hopefully early next week). 

Here's where we stand with regards to sampling status:

Ellen Full Slip – straps/buttons

Ellen Cami – straps/buttons

Ellen Skirt – waistband elastic

Lucy Full Slip – straps/buttons

Lucy Cami – straps/buttons

Lucy Skirt – waistband elastic

Betty Full Slip – straps/buttons

Betty Cami – hand sewing of lace at hem/straps/buttons

Betty Skirt – waistband elastic

Shirley Full Slip – NO COMMENT...

Shirley Cami – NO COMMENT...

Shirley Skirt – NO COMMENT...

Ollie Full Slip – straps/buttons

Ollie Cami – straps/buttons

Ollie Skirt – waistband elastic

Our jewelry is en route!  We are dying to see it!  Michael Campbell really kicked butt for us.  He sent a pile of handcrafted vintage-inspired creations and we can't wait for the package to arrive!  You'll love it.  He has a Facebook page called Wayward Wearables and he's selling on Etsy also.

Ok, but we're kind of a wreck....we have another big snow storm coming from Pittsburgh directly toward NYC.  And Bill Evans (for those outside of the NYC viewing area, he's our ABC meteorologist) just announced that this weekend is going to be "brutally cold."  And our girls are crossing the state of Pennsylvania via the Megabus first thing tomorrow morning, uh oh.  What happens if they can't get on the bus?  What if it's booked completely?  OMG!  Now I'm getting nervous again...

Day 37 - In a Hurry!!

Very quick post today!!  The days are just flying by and I need to get to work!

The OM studio completed 2 more styles yesterday. We have 4 more to go and 3 days to get it done, plus finishing.

The hair/makeup is being finalized but not yet confirmed as of this morning.

Jewelry is in transit and expected to deliver tomorrow.

Didn't have a chance to speak with our website guy yesterday.  Will do so today.  Also need to plan our meals throughout the weekend....lesser priority but VERY important!

See you tomorrow!

Day 36 - The Light at the End of the Tunnel

We are almost there!  Kicking butt over here in the OM studio (well actually, my apartment).  We had the craziest, busiest weekend and I think we're still recovering! 

As of Monday evening, we have 9 samples constructed.  We are closer but not "finished" with them yet.  We still have to add straps and buttons.  But we are damn close on those first 9 samples.  The balance 2 programs (Shirley and Ollie) are on deck. Shirley is all cut and Jerry's planning to sew her today.  Ollie is not yet cut but my mom is planning to tackle her today too, just as soon as Jerry has a chance to cut her out.

The balance 2 programs (which equals 6 samples) should go relatively quickly.  Then we'll move back to deal with the finishing on all samples in time for Friday afternoon. We believe we're in good shape with the status of samples.  With a little luck, we'll not have a need to pull any all-nighters! 

We bought our shoes last night.  Thank goodness. We are covered on that front and have a back-up plan if, say, the shoes don't fit.  Here are our Plan A options:


We spoke with our models, got the snapshots for 2 of our 3 models (yes, we have only 3 now but that's ok).  Best news of the day?  They are coming up early on Friday afternoon!  Thank God!  We can fit at a reasonable hour...rather than midnight like we thought would be the case.  Thanks to the girls for that!

This is our updated plan for this week:

• Tuesday thru Thursday - Continue sewing.
• Tuesday: Still need to secure hair and makeup.  Today is the day we need to pull the trigger.  We absolutely need to get this done immediately.
• Tuesday: Jewelry is shipping today from Mississippi. Jerry's very good friend Michael is offering his pieces for our shoot.  Thank you Michael!
• Tuesday: Touch base with our web developer. We are working out the final details and he is prepping the site so basically, we just pop in the photos once the shoot is done on Sunday.
• Wednesday/Thursday: Order food, wine, champagne.  Plan a celebratory dinner for the OM team.
• Friday: Fitting with the girls, make necessary alterations, and style each look.

I know yesterday I mentioned that today, I'd share images of the samples....since we're so close and the samples are still being finished, I want to hold off on new pictures for now.  Let's see what happens by end of this week, sound ok?  I'll post Shirley & Ollie once they are constructed.

So great to have the long weekend but I'm back to work today and I need to get focused on that.  Jerry and my mom will take care of everything... Wish us luck!!  For the next several days, OM is running at full capacity. 

Thank you for following!

Day 35 - Inspired

What a weekend!  Inspiration a plenty.  We spent Friday evening researching photographs for hair, makeup, feeling, content, and creativity that aligns with the aesthetic we want to achieve in next weekend's photo shoot.  We created our story board, at the suggestion of our creative partner, Donnie Myers (http://www.donniemyersstudio.com/) and prepped for our Saturday meeting with Donnie & Olivia.  Brunch at noon to talk about where we stand, where we're going and what needs to be done within the next 5-6 days. 

Here are our key inspirational photos:

As a group, we confirmed that a 2 day shoot is our best bet.  So we secured the studio for 2 days - Saturday and Sunday at an incredible rate!  Only then, did we disover amazing news....the hotel shoot is definitely not needed. It is out!  Why's that??  Well, Donnie & Olivia found the most amazing little diamond in the rough, a studio filled with antiques...furniture, backdrops, paintings, props and interestingly enough, a full line of handmade sunglasses and headpieces.  We hit the jackpot.  We really understand now that this whole thing is simply meant to be.  Too many good things all in a row.  So many great people offering their talent and support. 

Just after we found ourselves practically speechless at learning of all this, we decided to visit the studio to see for ourselves.  This entire project is really much more than we ever expected...in a good way, that is.  We can't wait to get in there for the shoot!

The next several hours were spent meeting up with my good friend Cori to pick up the Italian tights she bought for us in Venice (on one of her many trips to Italy), purchasing a little more lace, dye, notions, eyelashes, nude panties for the girls, additional fancy pantyhose for next week (from The Sock Man at St. Mark's Place - http://www.thesockman.com/), shopping for shoes, etc, etc.  We bought all the little goodies on our shopping list...except for the shoes.  Just couldn't decide.  Do we suck it up and buy the expensive shoes?  Or forget about it and get something basic that doesn't draw attention away from the clothes and cheap enough to help keep within budget?  Still not sure about that...

Sunday was spent sewing.  ALL DAY LONG.  As of the end of day on Sunday (1:45am on Monday morning actually), we had 9 samples sewn with just a bit of handsewing/finishing left to do such as straps, buttons, and buttonholes.  We also booked the hotel for our models and posted a Craigslist ad for hair & makeup.  3 hits on that. 

Monday's "To Do" List:
1/ Finish all hand sewing 6 of the constructed samples.
2/ Get in touch with our models to reconfirm plans for next week.
3/ Secure hair and makeup.
4/ Get snapshots of each of our 4 models to share with the hair stylist & makeup artist.
5/ Order food, wine, champagne for next weekend's shot.

Thanks for following!!  Garment photos to follow on Tuesday.

Day 34 - "Here We Go"

She's heeeeere....

Our sewing queen arrived at 12:45am this morning.  Just in time for our big and highly anticipated extra-productive weekend.  Right on time. 

So now we have a mini workshop. Jerry is cutting, Marcie is sewing.  Jerry has one program left to cut, but he can't to that until I buy the dye.  We are short by just a bit in one lace also, of course the most expensive one.  But that's ok...I'll pick up 1 more yard today if I have a chance or tomorrow for sure.

What else?  Well, we have a very important creative meeting tomorrow with our photographer.  This meeting is key.  It's a turning point in order to properly prep for next weekends photo shoot.  Looking forward to a tight, meaningful and progressive brunch with good friends.

Shout out to my cousin Annette for her suggestion to update our logo on the web so it's much clearer.  Interesting the things you learn along the way.  This may sound dumb but I didn't realize that a .gif would give me a clearer digitial image than a .jpg.  You know...I was wondering about why it looked so blurry. 

And finally, apologies to my husband in advance for taking over our living space this weekend during the Steeler's AFC Divisional playoff game.  He may be sitting at the bar while we're sewing our little fingers to the bones.  But hey - as my grandma would say..."Them's the breaks!"

Happy Friday everyone!  Enjoy the holiday weekend...have a drink for me!  We'll be downing coffee to keep us going...

Day 33 - Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Jerry and I had a late night meeting to talk about our current position.  The result?  Well, we actually feel pretty good about it.  I mean, the anxiety is still there just a tad but at least our outlook for the next couple of weeks is a positive one.  Achievable, that is.

We have 3 more styles cut and ready for my mom to sew.  That really puts us over the hump in the area of sample making.  Great news there!  We have 2 programs left to cut, which equals 6 styles.  Shirley is on the table today, Ellen is slated for tomorrow....just as soon as we buy the yellow Rit dye that we need to color match Ellen's fabric to the rest of the programs.

Friday night, we're spending the evening creating our storyboard for next weekend's photo shoot.  We will be pulling photos, magazine inspiration, cuttings of the fabrics and lace, plus photos of furniture and/or settings to use as inspiration for our backdrop.  We are also planning to buy the shoes for our shoot...just as soon as we decide which model is wearing which style/color so we know what color and size to buy in her shoes!

Saturday, we are meeting with our photographer/set designer. We also need to book the hotel rooms but depending on if we forgo the hotel room photo shoot as the backdrop for the second part of our photo shoot, we may or may not need a fancier hotel room....so we have to first wait to meet with our photographer to get direction on which hotel to book.

Sunday, sew.

Monday is a HOLIDAY!!  WOO HOO!!  So, need to make the most of it.  If we don't find a hair/makeup person to help us out, we'll be doing it ourselves.  That means buying the tools to achieve the look we want for hair/makeup.  PLEASE, OH, PLEASE....if you know someone willing to help us out for hair/makeup, let us know!!  We are offering credit on our website and all the photos to use in their portfolio.  Pay?  Well....maybe next season when we are turning a profit (we hope).

Tuesday, sew.

Wednesday all sales samples should be complete.  We need this to happen.  We MUST get photos out to the showrooms asap if there is any chance we'll have representation for the Fall 2011 market.  Really holding our breath on this one....

Friday, we'll have a late night fitting with the models, just as soon as they arrive.

Saturday is our BIG DAY!  Then it all continues rolling from there....

See you tomorrow and thanks for reading!

Day 32 - The Heat Is On!

Ok, so no snow day.  That's cool.  We'll be fine. 

Here's the good news:  Jerry was able to cut 4 more styles yesterday.  That brings us to 3 styles done, 4 in work and 8 to go.  Once my mom arrives, she's all set just to get sewing on those 4 styles.  Hoping today we can get 2-3 more cut and ready for her.  Really, once everything is cut, the actual stitching part is relatively quick. 

Our website is fully functionally and easily navigable...i.e. the nuts & bolts are finished.  We are very satisfied.  We had about 4 minor comments, regarding scrolling, font color, font type, and one minor layout thing.  Once our photo shoot is over, it's a matter of swapping out the sub photos for the real ones. 

My stomach is in a knot though....at least until the end of next weekend.  I know it'll be fine but alas, I'm a little nervous still.  Mostly, about the hotel room & the hair/makeup.  If we could just iron out those details, I'd feel MUCH better.

Busy week and it's Wednesday already.  Time is ticking...the heat is on, even IF the snow is falling outside...

Day 31 - Snow PLEASE!

Meteorologists are predicting another big snow storm tomorrow!!! PLEASE, OH, PLEASE!  Yes, I'm praying for snow.  That would give us an entire day to SEW, SEW, SEW! 

Our day this morning started with a review of Betty.  Poor Mr. Jerry.  He spent all day yesterday perfectly handsewing the last bit of trim on Betty.  Not a stitch can be found on this beautifully handsewn trim!  The only trouble is that the trim is sewn on upside down!!  How's that for a motivating morning!  At least we're laughing about it but it is oh so sad....DAMN IT!  Ok, we'll fix it.  Task #1 for Mama Marcie when she arrives tomorrow (or maybe Thursday depending on that snow storm).

Have a look....

The good news is that we're crossing off the tasks on the to-do list.

10 Days and Counting....Here's what we have to do:
Sample Making
3 done
12 to go
Nothing more to say at the moment, only that we're in the thick of it and plowing through as best we can.

Photo Shoot
We've divided our shoot into 2 parts:
- First, we're shooting here in NYC at a studio with our fabulous and very generous friend.  He'll be taking all the photos in studio of each of our 15 styles.
- Second, we're hoping to shoot on location in a fancy hotel bathroom.  That venue is TBD.  More details to follow on that once we secure a hotel with just the backdrop we're looking for.  I'm a little nervous about this.  However, worst case scenario, we forgo this altogether for our inaugural season and intro for next season....but we still really want to do it. Most likely, one way or another, we'll figure out how to make it happen.
- Still working on hair stylist and makeup artist. 
-No need for lighting now since we're in studio.  Once we secure the hotel, we'll determine if lighting is needed and what exactly we'll need.
- We still need shoes....very much later on the priority list.  We're going for clean, 5" heels.  Gorgeous in the simplicity of the shoe.
- We've arranged all models to get to NYC.
- Pantyhose are all good.  Waiting for the status on jewelry, but we believe we're gonna be fine on that.

Showroom
We've STILL got to get someone on board.  Just a few more samples done and we can feel better about showing a fair representation of our line.  Still on edge about finding a partner to sell our stuff.  Back up plan....we hire a vibrant little sales girl named Jackie to hit the pavement! 
 
Website
Just pushing through on this one.  No new reports.  This goes hand in hand with getting a showroom on board.  Once the samples and the site are in better shape, we can feel better about presenting something solid to showrooms, buyers, etc.

Main Labels
In work as well.  Hoping to see samples soon.  This is a later priority as we do not need labels in the garments for our photo shoot.  These can come during the first ten days of Feb.

Breathe....deeply.  This is FUN!

Day 30 Non-stop

I was up until 2am last night working on stuff for my day job.  Tired today!  That's ok.  A little coffee and fresh air on my way to work and all will be fine! 2 more weeks of heavy workload like this and, at that point, all samples will be made, photo shoot completed then onward toward success in market!  Sell, sell, sell, or so we hope!

We have a pesky little credit card bill to pay, the Amex we've been swiping to take care of our development needs.  So we needed to open the official Overton Monroe banking account.  One more thing off the list.  All set up for receivables and payables.

Later that day, I thought to myself...."We don't have a Facebook Page! Or Twittter account for that matter." Check on that too!  All set in the communications department.  You can now choose your preferred mode of collecting news and updates from OM.  Check us out on Facebook or on Twitter @OvertonMonroe.
(http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Overton-Monroe/166656616711735)
(http://twitter.com/#!/OvertonMonroe)

Yesterday was a day chock full of work stuff for me and sample making for Jerry.  We got 1 more sample done. We were hoping for 2 but, you know, things don't always work out as planned.  We're covered...come this Wednesday, we're bringin' in the troops!  The sewing master herself, the only person I know that can burn the midnight oil longer than me....my mother.  Jerry to cut everything, my mom to hit it on the machine.  So there!

OH!  Almost forgot.  Here are the pics of our little "Ollie".  She's a silk jersey knit in dark nude.  She's still in work but a little trim and finishing and she's gonna be gorgeous.  The fabric alone is like butter...I think I'll have an Ollie for myself...one in every color!

Day 29 - Things are looking up...a little anyway

Really quick post today.  Much more optimistic, maybe because it's Friday?  Yeah...that sounds good.  Looking toward the weekend to really get caught up after this extra heavy week.

Attached here are photos of Betty.  She's still in work a bit but, have a look.  We love her and are excited to see how she turns out after today.

Also attaching here the start of our tech packs.  All are created but they need a little massaging and more info to be added.  Just about 60% complete. 

We're canceling our photo shoot in Western PA.  Unfortunately, the support we need just isn't there.  No biggie, we'll relocate to the Eastern PA or NYC area.  We're in fine shape. 

Oh!!  Also including a sneak peak of our website layout.  This is a mapping of the layout.  Really basic and all the pics are subs but you'll get the idea of where we're going.

Enjoy and see you on Monday!

Day 28 - Ugh...

Yesterday proved to be challenging, at least as far as forward progress is concerned. 

Our business cards came in....awful.  We'll have to spend the time to deal with that and get them remade.  Who wants to do that?  But if we don't, we won't have business cards, so we'll have to deal with it.

Still can't get the venue's director on the phone and no reply on email either.  I'm so confused about that.  All the other employees at this place are excited about the photo shoot! Why won't he even call us back?  It's not that hard to say "Hello, I'm 'Mr. so & so'...we don't want you here!" or better yet, "Hello, I'm 'Mr. so & so'...you have free reign of the entire resort.  Enjoy and let us know if there is anything more we can do for you."  Errr.....sometimes it's worth it to stick to New York.  For sure, you'll get a reply...may not be what you want to hear but these people get shit done at least.

Photographer....well, we really wanted this girl from here in NYC, a friend of a friend, who is building her portfolio and whose photos are amazing.  Unfortunately, doesn't seem that she's gonna work out.  So sad.  But, that same mutual friend is offering up her boyfriend.  He is AMAZING, happens to be a set designer among other talents and...his portfolio is killer!  Can we get him??  God I hope so.  We need him!  We have one other good friend up our sleeve, but she's kinda tied up....so I don't want to screw up her plans unless we are DESPERATE enough to ask her to change her plans and spend the evening taking our photos!

Hair & Makeup....also nothing firm.  The good news?  Well, my mother was a hairdresser back in the day.  Jerry and I, as you know, are theater people (or used to be anyway).  We can get the dramatic makeup down.  But still, we'd rather have the skills of someone who does this regularly. Know what I mean?

In short, our photo shoot is looking pretty darn sad.  We had a great plan and we're now a little on edge about it.  Can we forego the shoot altogether?  I mean, I guess we could.  We can take all the photos with a great backdrop on a dress form and be done with it.  BUT, our shoot idea is super cool and we really want it....  It's ok, we can revisit the shoot in our second season.

On the other 3 fronts, we're still working on securing Showrooms, or at least 1 showroom.  Back up plan?  We'll peddle the goods ourselves.  I have no problem with that. 

Our website is in work and going strong.  Just passed somewhat of a layout to our designer last night.  He should be well on his way to get it done on time.

Final and most critical task, sample making is smooth.  Jerry is kicking butt and moving right along.  Thank goodness one of us is able to carry our load. 

I need to catch up!  This week has kicked my ass...new boss at work (he's terrific!) but this newness comes with lots of meetings and lots of things placed on the back burner, and I don't like having things carry over from day to day.  If I can't cross off everything on my task list in a day, I start to feel pressure. Definitely a task driven person....give me to-do's and it'll get done.  Wait a minute!  Stop! Channel my mother's energy....channel my mother's energy.  Focus, stop feeling overwhelmed, and get this stuff done!  I need to revisit my "to-do" lists.

Photos of "Betty" to follow tomorrow along with our tech pack.  Stay tuned!

Day 27 - And.....GO! One down.

Just three updates to report today. 

Most important...we have our 1st sample!   Almost anyway.  We still need to add the straps, press her out and correct the finishing just a tad BUT the garment is made.  Her name is "Lucy" and her style number is FA201113, her description is "Easy A-Line with shirring at the bust". 

That's 1 down...2 to go this week!  Jerry is starting on our "Betty" today. Between you and me, she's my favorite;-)

Secondly, we've got a label manufacturer working on our main labels.  I forgot to put that on yesterday's "to-do" list.  Since I failed to get the venue's director on the phone, does it count that another task took it's place?  I'm going with YES.  At least it's forward progress!  Basically our label is a woven version of our new & improved logo.  Filip is awesome and hopes to pass something for us to see by the end of this week.  We have a little time on this, as we really can wait until production before adding the labels.

Thirdly, all Tech Packs are created with fit comments, photos and details about each garment. Once they are a little bit cleaned up, I'll post those pics so you can see what that looks like.  Tech packs are the map of the garment, it's the blueprint and you can't make production without it really, I mean unless everything is being made in house.

Today's plan (although I have a SERIOUSLY busy day at my 9-5er...hope I get it done!):
Get the venue's director on the phone - TUESDAY TODAY
Finalize our photographer - TODAY
Finalize hair stylist and makeup artist - TODAY

See you tomorrow!

Day 26 - Get it Goin'

Nerves setting in just a bit.  We have lots to do but as long as we stay on task and push forward each day, we'll be fine.

Since our raw materials are all covered, it's just a matter of sewing up each piece. Well, Mr. Jerry has that under control.  He started yesterday.  We have a definite 15 styles for our first season planned (18 if we find that we're sitting around twiddling our thumbs...unlikely). 

Our deadlines for the next 3 weeks:
Sample Making
Produce 3 samples by Friday....that's 4 days from today. 
Hopefully 2 over the weekend. 
Next week, 5 samples.
Following week, the last 5. 
That's 15 total. 

Showroom
We've got to get someone on board.  Of course, we'll need to show them something first.  We'll get there!  We're very confident.  But who?  Who will pick us up?  Goal - Secure showroom appts by end of next week.

Website
We spoke with our guy last night.  He's all over it and expects to produce something for us to see by Thursday. Our needs are fairly simple.  We're looking for clean, simple, easy navigation for the user.  No excess bells & whistles.  Cut to the chase.  Website complete minus photos by 1/18. Photos added by 2/1.

Photo Shoot
Get the venue's director on the phone - TUESDAY
Finalize our photographer - WEDNESDAY
Finalize hair stylist and makeup artist - WEDNESDAY
Buy lighting - SATURDAY
Buy shoes - SATURDAY
Arrange transportation for the models - SATURDAY
Double check that all accessories are A-OK (jewelry & pantyhose) - SATURDAY

Day 25 - Back to the Grind

Jan 3rd, 2011, boy it's gonna be tough to get back to the real world today.  Christmas/New Year's break was fabulously successful for Overton Monroe.

More updates: Last Thursday, as you know, Jerry and I headed back to the garment center to buy our lace and jersey knit.  We just arrived on 42nd Street when I had an epiphany!  To Jerry, "Let's just swing by this little place on 40th" never thinking we would be able to afford it in our margin.  Lo & behold!  They were JUST what we were looking for.  So we put Wednesday's source on hold, spent 2 hours at our magnificant little gem of a place and purchased all our lace (minus that for 1 bugger program, which is driving us up a wall).  Success! Major task - CHECK!

All giddy, done slightly ahead of schedule with the lace, we were off in search of our silk jersey knit.  Up & down 39th street with no luck.  Finally, one little guy said to us "Go to Mood" and so off we went.  Mood is like walking right into heaven for people obsessed with doing what we do.  It's a dream come true.  Everything you can imagine all in one monster place.  Of course, you pay for it but at least you know there's a good chance they'll have what you're looking for. 

We found our silk jersey....but at $25.00/yard, less expensive than most of our other options and all of our color needs satisfied.  But, just didn't set right with me. Not a bad price, considering silk jersey at 54" cuttable width and at retail pricing.  Just not good enough though.  We need that quality at a more affordable cost.  Ironically, that same bugger program awaiting the correct lace (mentioned above) happens to be the same for which we need the jersey.  Should we scrap this program altogether?  I mean, it's a possibility.  After all, it's our line so we can pretty much do that if we so choose.  We still have 15 other styles to show for market.  But we really want her.  She's a special program and if there's ANY way to make it happen, we will. But we need to get started on the others as first priority.

Ok, bear with me, lots of progress since last Thursday's blog.

Yesterday, we re-designed our logo, developed our hangtags, developed and ordered our business cards.  We also secured the "landing page" for our website http://www.overtonmonroe.com/.  Now we just need to get the new logo up there.

Here's a sneak peak of the new logo.  Better, right?