During the last photo shoot we finished up the Spring 2012 images and there was enough to make another  video. It takes a long time to put together, so I've employed my twelve year old son, Chase to make the next one for Fall. Crossed fingers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwSa8NTINVU

Fall 2012 Photo Shoot

Done! I think we photographed nearly 30 dresses.  Lara was amazing. She took so many great images. I can't wait to post them.

Here are two of my favorites:

1. Alicia in the new silk dress- Fall 2012.

For our 7' Coterie poster we like to show a print dress against a print "wallpaper."
Here I am getting the wallpaper ready- silk twill taped to foam core, leaning against Jody's wall at the end of her drive.

And here is a shot of Alicia in the dress in front of the fabric wall. I can't wait to see Lara's final image.

I LOVE this dress. The print is called Malibu Dusk but we don't have a name for the style yet. Suggestions?

2. Alicia in Trudy Black/White knit dress- Fall 2012.

The neckhole on this sample was tight and we didn't want to ruin Alicia's hair, so we cut apart the dress at the shoulder. To cover it up, I put my cardigan on Alicia. I think it works.

I used one of the silk ponchos as a scarf, it was a last minute idea. We really don't have much planned in advance. We just bring everything we can and throw it together in the minutes before the shot. 

We all went outside to the VW camper where Dottie was ready to go! I had to wait behind the hedge because Dottie kept trying to run to me. 

I'm already thinking of the next shoot which happens in July. I'm ready to hit the road (or rather just cross the bridge) in an RV and go to San Francisco to get some city shots. Curtis and I are browsing the internet for a something to convert into a mobile studio....

Photo Shoot Checklist

1. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lara Rossignol- love her. check.

(included- all of her vision and inspiration- hairstyle idea below)

2. LOCATION: Jody's house. check.

Can't beat it. Her house is to die for and she let's us all tromp through without a second thought. What a dear friend. I know it's an imposition but she acts like it's nothing.

3. MODELS: Alicia and Page.  Love them and they complement each other...hiccup...NOT check.

All was set as of last Thursday...

Lara (in email)- CALL ME!!! Page just shaved her head!

me (in my mind)- YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!

Lara (in email)- Do you think we can work around it with a scarf or a wig? I'm calling Josh (H&M guy) to see what he can do.

me- Really?? 

me- (30 seconds later after looking at the reality of the new do, which was truly a mohawk)  NO way. find someone new.

Lara quickly called the agencies and thankfully found a lovely replacement, Alexis. whew.

okay, starting over-
MODELS: Alicia and Alexis. all set, last minute switcharoo, check.

4. HAIR and MAKE UP: Joshua. (used him last time- cute, sweet and talented- booked him) check.

5. STYLIST: Laura. (day job- in charge of sales and tons more at LE) check.

In fact, at the moment she is out shopping for all the stuff that we need. She's a great shopper and has THE BEST taste, so we are in good hands.

6. CATERING: Erin. check.

She has put together a perfect menu and I am so happy to not be doing it myself, which I did last time.

7. PROPS: Candes and Jody. check.  

Candes is gathering from Lara's list all the essentials- parasol, chess set, and so on. Really it's a like scavenger hunt.

Jody has gone around the neighborhood scouting out cars and more locations. Nothing stops her. Just a knock knock, Jody here! and acquisition complete.

 This is one of the cars she has set up for us- dreamy. 

8. DRESSES: me. almost check.

Fall 12 (below- a few that are ready, but still sewing) and some more Spring 12 (pulling from the production line)

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but I'm at the hair salon and need to talk about my hair color, or rather lack of,  so this post is over!

The Tree!

Can I just say, I HATE shopping for a tree.  It seems we all disagree on which one to get. We debate as if we are buying a sofa that we plan to keep for 15 years or more. Seriously, can we just get the tree already?? 

In previous years we've been known to drive around from lot to lot comparing, contrasting, arguing. I like a 7-8' Noble Fir with lots of space between the branches. That way there is space for the ornaments to hang.   Curtis likes a perfectly shaped full, fat tree. Will just wants tall. The taller the better. And thankfully Chase is agreeable, but tends to side with Curtis.

Here's what we settled on this year: 8-9' Noble Fir, fuller than I'd like.  And it only took 45 minutes total. Whew.

 

Now the next debate- colored lights or white lights.

Spring 2012 Photo Shoot VIDEO

I just finished my first video. During our Spring photo shoot last August I carried my Flip in my back pocket and pulled it out when I had a moment. Then I watched the tutorial on iMovie, downloaded what I had and spliced in the amazing photography by Lara Rossignal, and here is the result.  I hope you like it!

and here is the link to a higher res version on YouTube-
http://www.youtube.com/user/LesleyEvers?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/xt_1QZbAua4

Dottie L.O.V.E.

This afternoon a couple of friends dropped by to pick up kids and ended up staying for dinner. Jody (http://aboutlastweekend.blogspot.com/) shared they have decided to get a dog despite her reservations. Alison and I are both dog lovers and immediately launched into all the reasons why this is a brilliant plan.

In fact Alison's dog is the reason I have Dottie. I loved her little Lucy so much I begged and begged Curtis for a dog for probably over a year. Finally he agreed in a moment of weakness and the next afternoon Dottie was mine. I am smitten with this dog and she goes nearly everywhere with me. This photo, taken at my house by our fashion photographer Lara Rossignal of Piewacket, is my ALL time favorite. She looks so regal, doesn't she?

8 months since my last post...

I haven't posted in MONTHS! I don't have a good reason other than it's a bit against my nature to write and then just put it out there in the world. I feel like I am starting from scratch since it's been eight months.

Coterie went really well in September.  Here's a picture of me, Laura, Karen and Becka selling the line. Three days at the Javitz Center is tough- no sunlight, no healthy food, and high heels all day.

Here we are at the end of day at a hotel near the Javitz- Ink 48- for drinks and dinner. I think Karen had the waiter take this with her iphone and it was dark. It's fuzzy, but I still like it. I had on the Marley in Blue Skies with white pants from J. Crew. It was my favorite outfit that week.

We had drinks on the rooftop before dinner. On the way up we squeezed into a small elevator with another group. By chance we were with the buyer from a store that was on our wish list. Everyone always wants what Laura wears, so naturally the buyer said to Laura (who was wearing the Miranda dress in Cobalt)- "great dress!" Luckily, I had a postcard with our booth number in my purse (usually I am unprepared).  I handed it to her and she came and bought from us the next day. It was a magical moment!

The Swiss Chalet

For Spring Break my mom's best friend, Trina, let us have her vacation house in Carmel for a few days.  There aren't any numbers on any of homes or businesses in Carmel. Everything just has a name. This little house on the left is The Swiss Chalet. Home of the Seven Dwarfs might even be a better name it's that darling.

Swiss Chalet is on the left and and Snug as a Bug on the right.

Here's a photo of Will through the kitchen into the living room. 

The boys helped me with this little project. The first one we made washed away before we were done so we worked quickly to reassemble this one. It was a gorgeous day and a really fun beach project.

And of course some Monopoly. ugh. Why do this kids love this game so much? Maybe because they haven't learned some of the lessons the hard way. I don't know. My littlest is obsessed. Mortgage, rent, bills, pay taxes, go to jail, etc.  ugh. I lose interest so quickly!

Although the weather was still cool, we had so much fun at the beach. Here's Chase and Curtis the last day right before we headed home. All of us were happy with our little getaway.

Piles and Piles

The dresses are on the way. We start shipping to stores in February. It's such a busy time and so many things to think about- making sure everything is just right. Scheduling cutting and sewing, ordering more trim, extra this and that. In fact the other day my car was broken into and 1500 snaps were stolen! (along with my GPS, Curtis's checkbook, and Will's backpack and precious collection of ugly doll key chains.) Ridiculous. The snaps are probably in a dumpster somewhere. And the Ugly Doll keychains? I hope they are a treasure for someone who needs them. Well, I ordered more snaps and progress continues....

Photos for Spring

We have spent several days on photography creating images for Spring. Now that we literally have thousands of images, the hard work is sorting through them and pulling out what to use. QuentinBacon, the photographer, has paired several images on his blog from the shoot that I like very much and wanted to share.

The blues make this a perfect pairing. The old car is in a shed at the ranch in Napa, where we did a shoot last Fall. The hula hoop image from Jody's house in front of her lovely blue wall. 

(Tess dress is Birdseye green, coming in February to the website)

These are obviously "behind the scenes" shots. I tend to avoid the camera but Quenting got me while my back was turned. Candes and I are pulling creases out of the dress before the shot.  And Curtis is trying to tell Dottie what to do...and hands off treats to the model. 

(Grace dress in Rockridge Blue- popular dress in the London boutiques, 

 Mimi in Taupe Links, both available mid-February)

 Of course I love the one below, on right. Will, my little ragamuffin. 

(Dottie dress in Black Lattice- limited available now and more coming late February)

The images all make me so happy because it looks like everything 

has come together, which is far from how I feel.

Printing Day

Curtis, the boys and I took a road trip this week. We did the drive down Hwy 5 to LA so that I could oversee the printing of a lot of fabric.  I have to admit that I feel very comfortable in factories. I love to see how things are made. This was no exception.

This is the medium that the dye is mixed with so that it smoothly glides across the screens. It's hard to realize scale in this image, but this tub is HUGE. 

This is the dye, mixed and ready to be added to the medium. At first glance I thought it was a juice bar, and then thought, how odd! Really just a second later I figured it out.

Here is my Tumbleweed screen in place and ready to go.

This is the guy who worked on my job all day. He was very nice, but not a word of English.

This is a photo during production. The worker here is checking

 to be sure that everything is lined up properly.

And here it is coming out of the heater right after getting printed

Next the fabric is piled into a bin which is wheeled over to the washing machine (this machine is 30' long!). Then it's rolled and stacked on palettes until the trucking company picks it up, drives it up Hwy 5 right to my office. 10,000 yards, on the way. whew.  It's a lot of work and the sewing hasn't even begun!

Piewacket Magic

These are my dresses!  Lara Rossignal is an amazing fashion photographer and I  love her blog, http://www.piewacketblog.com/. I sent her a box of dresses and look what she sent back!! She really added some glamour.  It started a big debate at the office. Do you people want to look at images they relate to or that that aspire to? Does this strike the perfect balance?

Chicken Little

I left the factory this afternoon and walked around the corner to my car and look who I passed! I just had to take a picture and share. Last week was the hustle and bustle of New York City (Coterie- I know, I still need to post about it), and this week back to my same old same old. I actually really enjoy my daily routine and the unexpected things, such as this chicken, that come my way.

 

ME at the photo shoot

 Thought I'd share a bit of what I did.... 

1. Standing in for the model.  Quentin needed to check the lighting and the model was still getting ready. It's a tough job. Can you tell how hard I'm working??

2. Looking in the model's magnifying mirror at my wrinkles. 

Thankfully the light is so bright in the photo that they have been blurred away. Note #117 to self: DO NOT look in magnifying mirror with reading glasses. Ignorance is bliss.

3. Fixing the collar on the model's dress.

Note #118 to self:  Never wear anything that resembles the model's dress! I had on the Hope dress in Platinum Tumbleweed (Spring 2011 sample- I was giving it a test run. And by the way, I think I need to add an inch to the length). The model had on Kelsey in Platinum Tumbleweed (Fall 2010). 

Let's just say it wasn't working out in my favor.  

4. Making wind, at least trying to.

This was my pathetic attempt at making wind so that it would appear that Lauri's hair and dress were blowing in a summer breeze. In the end Quentin traded places with me. He set up the camera and told me to push the button while he actually made the summer breeze.  He can do anything.

5. Pinning fabric.

Even the extra small is a bit big on Lauri. Tall and thin just looks good in the photos.  Let's be honest, it just plain looks good. 

6. Tucking in Lauri's turtleneck. Doesn't everyone need a tucker inner? Also carrying spare camera and spare scarves. I'm such a multi-tasker!

7. Reflecting on a perfect day in a beautiful place working with a team of people I adore.

 Thank you Quentin! 

and Donna, Curtis and Lauri! xo