Friday, July 25, 2014

Love to see how your wear it!




Of course most of the fun of making clothing, is seeing how our fans wear it! So here it is! Morgan sent us this of her outfit for work. So cute with flats. She ordered the skirt two inches longer because she's very tall and that kept it work appropriate. Beautiful! 

Until next time, I'm designer dreaming. 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Happiness and Watercolors




So here is our latest creation. Also, I wanted to talk about why I keep two separate blogs. First the blog explanation. I keep a blog right on our website, www.rumandcouture.com, and that is for our customers to keep updated on our upcoming designs, sales, and just general line information. I like to post things that we do like trunk shows and events. 

And then there is this blog. This is a less formal keeping up with Rum and Couture space for my family, friends, and of course customers as well. But the biggest audience I have had for this blog is the one it was originally intended for. The designer who is dreaming of one day making it big. I feel like I can speak more of the making it as a designer side of the line then of the line itself. I love to share with those who dream of designing clothes the way I'm doing it and hope to inspire others to follow their dreams as well. 

Moving on to this skirt. I love the water color print. I went searching for a summer floral a few weeks back because through customers and friends I got the idea that this is what they were looking for. Even though it took me a long time to find the right fabric, I think I found the perfect fit for this style skirt. The navy, white and green spoke to me of sailing on the water. 

I'm also happy to be working, not only because my production partner is amazing, but also because the space that we get to walk out on when we take sewing breaks. That is why that mannequin ended up where it did. I was enjoying the view so much I didn't see why she shouldn't too. 

Until next time, I'm designer dreaming!


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Office Spaces


Here's a little love from the office. The joys of being self employed is that I can work as late as I want, come in early if I please. I love that if I want to work on something another day, then it's usually a possibility. If creativity strikes me, I can switch projects. I am so thankful to be doing what I love. 

Coffee, always so wonderful. It's my thank you to myself for working late then I do. I however am working from a remote office. It's a rainy day and I decided I needed a change of scenery to keep the motivation going today. It's nice to change it up. Keeps things exciting and my brain working full speed!

Enjoy this day! I will be posting some beautiful pictures of our new wrap skirts as soon as the sample is done. I can't wait to share them with you. 

Until then, I'm designer dreaming. 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

No, I'm not just reading for pleasure...


Part of being in the fashion industry is being aware of what is currently trending, what is not, and what could possibly be the next big thing. Although some companies don't care because their style doesn't hinge on those things, we all care to know. Why? Because that's where you get inspiration. That's the big news in our industry. I happen to love, even though I don't tend to wear many, all the new and rotating trends. They inspire me to create my own. 

I have always been obsessed with fashion magazines my whole life. I used to use my grade school libraries archive of fashion magazines to keep current on everything. I still subscribe to at least a dozen. I love the feeling of the glossy pages. I love the stories and backgrounds on the designers we all love. I like to see the industry's take on what we will wear the next season. So even though I'm not just reading for pleasure anymore, it is always a pleasure to indulge in one of my many magazines. 

Just a little industry reading at the office...

Until next time,  I'm designer dreaming. 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

New Studio!




Welcome to our new studio. Let's call it home. Because I have never felt more at home in my work space than I do now in this new one. The room is very vintage. A throw back to a simple time where things were pretty and everything was natural more natural. The exposed painted brick in my favorite part of the entire studio.

So we moved in a small retail space and saved the remainder of the studio of our GIANT, and I mean biggggg, cutting table. Also, we have a small office space where our intern will be working. You'll have to meet her soon. She's amazing and will be working on the PR for our line this spring. That's a post for next time though!

If you want to stop by and see us, we have moved to the second floor of the historic Cortland Corset Factory. We have now officially occupied the address 75 East Court Street, Cortland NY 13045. So stop by and say hello!

Until then, I'm Designer Dreaming.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Follow up and Exciting News!





Here are some pictures of the event that I was sewing like a manic for. I found that all the holidays prevented me from doing the blog work I needed. Then when the holidays were over we began a big project that I didn't want to tell ya about until I knew that we were going to be 100% in on it.

So...here it is. Rum and Couture, my designer line, will be 100% online now. We decided to close the boutique and find studio space and work on growing our online business! I really am excited about the big move. When we first started the brand it was out of my college dorm room. Then I moved into a space inside a salon to show my clothes. I then opened a full boutique on my own when finishing my schooling.

Now to the big world of ONLINE! I am so excited that we will be focusing on reaching a bigger audience than just the surrounding area of my shop. The biggest change will be that I won't be interacting with customers face to face anymore. All of my customer service will be online or on the phone.  I will miss that. But, dressing a bigger audience will be great! I feel like reaching out to more people will be very rewarding. I can't wait to share our designs with the world!

Next week we sign the lease! So March 1st we will be in a new stuido. I will be posting pictures of that for sure as we move it! Also, my intern will be working on marketing this semester and you'll be seeing some of her work on here!

Until next time, I'm designer dreaming