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?

Day 24 - Shut the front door!

Whew!  Yesterday was busy.  We were absolutely beat by the time we got home...but you know, that means it was a great day.  Here is what we accomplished:

1/ We have narrowed down our fabric selections to 3 qualities.  2 programs will get stretch silk; 3 programs will be made in non-stretch silk charmeuse; 1 will be a jersey blend.  We purchased two of those yesterday.

2/ We found our hardware and purchased that.  We LOVE the hardware.

3/ We've chosen our strap quality and hope that this will serve as a standard feature throughout the OM line. 

4/ And, after really pounding the pavement, we found 2 lace suppliers.  This is was our most challenging task on the to do list for yesterday.  We swatched a bunch and spent hours searching the garment center for the right price, the right colors, the right availability and the right qualities of lace.  Finally, in an unlikely storefront, we found Emily.  And in another spot, we found our second supplier.  Best news?  The lace is readily available, reorderable and DYABLE, which we discovered once we got home...after Jerry desized the lace with fabric softener and then dyed it with coffee...yes, that's right coffee.  Why not?  Coffee is a natural dye. No different than tea dying.  Even better?  AND, the color was PERFECT.

5/ We spoke with our web developer and that's on a roll.

6/ Update on the showrooms. It seems that most of showrooms will be back on Monday, Jan 3.  Fair enough.  Everyone needs their break! So we'll have to be patient for a few days.  Crossing our fingers that we have some interest. 

Today?  Well, we're headed back to the garment center to find our last 2 major components, that being the jersey knit and lace, plus a few functional needs like serger thread and elastic.  I need touch base with Squirrel Media again today.  Jerry will likely get started on putting to use all those goodies we bought yesterday.

See you tomorrow!

Day 23 - Delays, delays, delays

Tiny hang up...sickness set in during my time at home for Christmas.  Back on track now and ready to get movin'. 

Monday, Dec 27: Kylee met me at my parent's house in New Castle to re-fit a few pieces.  Everything looked great!  Thanks goodness.  We have 1 style which is giving us a bit of grief but Jerry and I are fully confident that we'll work it out.  The photos here are from our second fitting. 

Right after the fitting, Michael and I were back on the snowy road headed East toward NYC.  Thank God I took the week off.  No work until Jan 3rd.  Fabulous!

Yesterday, Dec 28: Jerry and I spent finally narrowing down the list of showrooms we felt most comfortable contacting.  Yep, I'm behind schedule.  Who knew that Christmas break would get so hectic?!?  We're ok though, just a few days lost...now need push harder and play catch up a bit.  Jerry and I spent the day reviewing each showroom carefully, checked out the other lines they carry, and settled on a handful.  We hope at least a few will find some interest in what we have goin' on with Overton Monroe.  We are confident in our product, we just need the support of a showroom to get the sales.

Today, Dec 29: Jerry and I will spend the day hitting the pavement, walking the streets of NYC's garment center to select our fabric and trimmings.  This is it...the big day!  We are well into the heart of salesman sample making now.  Basically, cut & sew.  The hard part is done...well, at least as far as designing, editing, fitting and selecting is concerned.
We have butterflies though, to be perfectly honest.  Will ANYONE like what we have to sell?  Can we get the quality to be perfect and finish in time for our photo shoot?  Are we choosing the right fabric and lace?  Will that website be done in time for market?  Are we even following the right calendar for this product for the FA11 market?  Are we 100% certain we can fund this entire project once (if) we gather sales?  Can we handle this?  Can I handle this with a full time job simultaneously? 

We are fairly confident in all of this, that we have answers and are prepared to overcome these challenges.  But....are we forgetting anything majorly scary?  I think we're afraid of the unexpected.

Day 22 - Put on the brakes!

As I'm typing, my husband and I are cruising across the mountains of Pennsylvania, en route to New Castle for Christmas. I'm putting on the brakes just a bit to celebrate the Holidays with family & friends. But not too much! Still lots to accomplish before heading back to my 9 to 5er...back to the grind on Jan 3rd.

As it turns out, I've got 4 samples to fit on Kylee sometime over the next few days.

Today's tasks:

1/ I'll spend the afternoon working on emailing as many showrooms as possible.

2/ Gotta contact our chosen web developer, with whom I spoke yesterday. We are all a go with Squirrel Media, found on guru.com. Now we're rollin on that!

Jerry is staying back at our place in NJ. Layin' low and focusing on correcting the remaining patterns. He's planning to start swatching self fabrics and lace. And next week, we'll make our final selections, buy all the raw materials, and get prepped for sewing salesman samples starting the first of January 2011.

Hang tight ya'll! We're in for an exciting ride. Come January, we are boogieing for a good 6 weeks straight. Taking tomorrow off. See you on Monday!

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Day 21 - Don't laugh!

So, here's where we stand. 

Business side of things:

As of today, I'm still trying to finalize a web developer and the font on the logo.  We've narrowed the web developer down to 3, two of which are quotes found on guru.com (freelancer's website).

1/ Squirrel Media - $750.  I just emailed them this morning.  If they confirm that the timeframe is not a concern, we'll probably go for them.  Hoping to get them on the phone asap so we both feel better about the project.

2/ Stylmix - $700. I like their sites but they are based out of Uzbekistan.  So the distance is little concerning, although their sites are pretty darn cool.

3/ Garrett - $1000.  The cost is higher than the other 2 but the benefit is that they are based in Pittsburgh and my bro and dad have worked with them before (check out http://www.uncle-jimmys.com/ and http://epiphanysws.com/). Spoke with them on Monday and all three guys are totally stoked about the job.

For the font, we realized yesterday that we need to be careful by choosing clear/legible lines...so we wanted something a little more handwritten looking but the reality is that we need something that can be either printed for hangtags/marketing materials OR woven for the main labels.  Thank you Annette for calling that out (she's my cousin who happens to be an amazingly talented graphic artist...for hire if anyone needs real talent).

We'll figure these two points out within the next day or so.

Oh, one MAJOR task on the "to-do" list!  How dare I forget!  I need to email a list of showrooms!  I'm starting here to establish our list http://www.modemonline.com/fashion/.  From this, my plan is to email the showrooms, then follow up next week with phone calls to start scheduling a few meet & greets. 

Design side of things:

Jerry has corrected a couple of fit samples, which I'll need to re-fit at home in New Castle during my Christmas break.  Just hoping that Kylee (our fit model) is available, especially since the first fitting ended up being 2 hours longer than expected!  It's ok I hope....I have a little gift for her.  Yes, that's right...it may be a bribe but she's sweet and adorable and I'm sure she'll be ok with fitting 2 more samples...quickly this time!  We don't want to take advantage!  Hey, she'll get a free portfolio out of the gig and, who knows?  Maybe launch a fit model career? 

While I'm hangin' with the family for the next few days, Jerry will be relaxin' at our apartment in NJ.  Well, not exactly relaxing.  He'll be choosing fabrics, lace and sewing salesman samples with a little Housewives of Atlanta in the background.

I'm including a couple of proto fitting pics here.  DON'T LAUGH!  Protos are always ugly.  We are sharing our deepest ugliest moments with you;-)  This is the idea right?  We are creating a blog focused on the process, not just the beautiful result.  Included here are the works in progress.  Don't turn away!  We have a vision and, come hell or high water, that vision will be realized.  Know what we're are making yet?