Things for spring!

Tonight I got to go to the Art Institute of Indianapolis's fashion show this evening, and while I got to see some fabulous designs, and all of Indianapolis's fashion who's who were there- I got to conduct some business as well. 

After the show, the fabulous Ian Stikeleather showed me a series of dresses for a starting point to develop dresses for the spring line!  I'm very excited about our jumping off point- and am even more excited about our Tuesday meeting we've got to talk about it more after tossing some ideas around tonight for a little bit tonight. 

Besides that- I got to talk to Jeff Long - who is another big deal in the making- and one of his business partners- Paul- about some clothing that will be developed for all kinds of projects he's got up his sleeves.  This will give me the opportunity to creative direct an even more involved line, as well as do some styling for some pretty fabulous clients.  

After I met with these couple of fabulously creative minds, I got myself a pumpkin spice latte- no whip- a napkin and a pen and just started sketching things out, and list making.  Let me tell you what- I couldn't write fast enough.  The line that are going to come out of these mergers have the potential to be pretty sick, and I am BURSTING with ideas!  The vision is coming together very quickly- which is a good sign.  Whenever you're creating and its forced, it isn't organic, and your customers can tell.  They end up being things that don't sell, and people hate because you tried to hard. 

This next month I'll be releasing shirts in limited quantities and as they sell through, I'll release more, and then by Thanksgiving, Christmas shirts will be ready for you :)  Then, start getting that spring break body in shape, because T.Party is going to have some gear that will be MUST HAVES to rock on those early spring vacays. 

So excited to be getting to styling, creative directing, designing, marketing, and writing- I couldn't have planned this life if I wanted to <3 I'm so blessed with the people I've met over the last few years- it's all been a dream in the making. 

Til next time my lil t.partiers- Cheers!

We picked a printer!..and some other fun stuff..

Yesterday, I met with Jared from The Art Press in Castleton, and am very excited to be working with them! We found a company that fits our style AND budget, besides that they're local- which makes it more accessible.

Now...to make final decisions on the actual shirts for the first order! I feel like my brain is swimming with style numbers and manufacturer names.

Big meeting number 1 aside- it's time to kick of the weekend of fashion, business, and fun. I'll be attending Ai's design student's show on Thursday at the Scottish Rite at 8p ($25 gen ad- or $10 for students with ID) to support some of the amazing up and coming designers in Indy!  It won't be all just for the fabulousness of it  though, I'm attending with Jeff Long of Movement Nation, who among his many talents- does some pretty sick wake boarding alongside some of his pro wake boarding friends when he's in FL, and we've got some business to talk for all of our amazing wakeboarding/skateboarding/etc fans out there- more details later :)

This half meeting/half fashion show will be followed by talking with the fabulous Ian Stikeleather- who along with being a design student, is the president of the Indianapolis Fashion Collective and a marketing/networking guru - who is potentially going to be the collaborative designer of T.Party dresses for the spring line. We are looking at sketches and working on the specific concept.  I'm VERY excited about this, for as much as I love t-shirts, anyone who knows me personally knows that I ADORE wearing dresses...all the time.

Busy, busy, busy week!

Wish me luck

xo
KK

By the way, the website should be up soon, we are just working out the last bugs, and I obviously can't have you guys order shirts I haven't finalized yet! :) Soon my lovelies, soon!

The T.Party Official Launch Party 9-30-10

So, it’s been a few days, the emails are going out, the orders are coming in, the pictures are being compiled, the footage is being reviewed, thank you notes are getting written, my pit of an office- well, that’s still a pit- but the debut of my clothing line- T.Party- is DONE.

I, Kaitlin Elyse, held a launch event at Blu Martini on Thursday, September 30th for my t-shirt line, T.Party Clothing. This included an opportunity to donate clothing to the homeless in Indianapolis, a raffle with items from several local sponsors, and a fashion show to debut a sampling from the currently released collections, announcement of the first faces of T.Party, and a release of the limited edition tees.

While I’m elated that it is finished, I’ve been doing a lot of rewinding in my head. Considering all the things that went into that night, what could’ve been done, and what went better than I expected.  I'll share it all here, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the fashionable.

I got my hair and make up done, but it should’ve been done earlier so that I would’ve had even more time to spend with my guests. I didn’t have them start it until it was planned to start the model hair and make up because I wanted to give my MUA/Stylist team enough time to eat, set up, etc. So, mistake number 1. Next time, I’ll have one MUA scheduled to come in early with me and take care of getting me ready.  I did get to spend time with several guests who got there early for sushi- it was great to just get to sit and visit, definitely something to put on the list of "things to do again."

It worked out with me being backstage a lot though, I was able to check all the model’s first looks, watch as their hair and make up was being done to make sure it was as I wanted it, etc. It was also easy for people who had last minute things to drop off could actually talk to me for a second, the first Nightlights coverage could be done with me there- and some of my favorite bloggers could snag some pictures and info from me before I scooted off into the party.  I would probably even in the future invite the bloggers/writers/media to come early and have time where they can take care of that business early- maybe during the time that we ate dinner.  That way it'd be out of the way and I could give them my full attention.

When I finally showed my freshly made up face officially, I was immediately greeted by some of the team from IndyWired. It was actually some fellow fashion students - Elise Lyon and Damian Pearsal who had (unbeknownst to them) grabbed one of my hostess/models- Khara Sinclair.  They wanted to take some “before accessories” pix, and “after accessorized” pix - showing that a tee is boring before you dress it up. My EXACT theory behind my line. I loved that they spotted this!  She was in one of the limited edition tees that said "Dubstep Is My Drug of Choice," some black liquid leggings, a fun chain belt with some huge crystal flowers on it, 10in drop earrings, and fabulous 'do from the style team. 
Besides the fashions for the evening, we had a basket for people to donate fall clothes.  It was met with quite a response - even though it wasn't as well publicized! One thing I regret is that it wasn’t more easily visible or marked. Next time, I’ll be sure to have a large box rather than a basket- so that the outside of the box can be labeled like how the Toys For Tots bins always are. I’m very happy that so many people donated so much to Indianapolis’s homeless- we might not be able to cure the homeless population, but we can make their winter a little better especially as the temp is really dropping lately!

Our sponsors gave us some great things, and I compiled a few other items from local businesses for one lucky guest to receive! Instead of buying a big roll of tickets, I had had sheets for people to sign their name and phone number, and a number would be then picked at random by one of my team. I had forgotten to print out the official sheets that had been made up, and so that was another thing that wasn’t as clear as I would’ve liked it to be for the guests, and I apologize. We did still have several pages of entrants, but next time I will make it easier, by posting someone at the door with the cliché “admit one” tickets. I hope that our winner enjoys all the goodies from HotBox Pizza, Melissa Fath (Hairstylist), and the goodies I picked up from Flying Cupcake, Silver in the City, Just Pop In, and Mass Ave. Wine Shoppe!

As show time grew closer, I hustled backstage, checked over my models, and coached them through a final run through. After seeing the crowd, I actually changed up their path last minute. People were seated both at the bar, and had filled all of the tables facing it- so I asked them to go ahead and walk the L that is the main drag of Martini, instead of just the straightaway from the back hallway. This was a fabulous idea... except that when the show started, the people sitting on the second leg of the L got up and crowded the end, even so that the models couldn’t walk as far as originally intended.

Next time, I’ll either use the actual elevated stage, or actually mark off the entire route on the floor and have someone at ground level to help people know where the models are going to be coming through if it isn’t originally clear. Thank goodness my fabulous models saved me by coming out after the show so that people could the shirts/accessories/etc. up close where they missed it during the actual show.

The part that gave me a heart attack though was that there was a HUGE pause between the first and second half! I know next time to definitely have some walkie talkies so that I can communicate with my dresses backstage incase they can’t hear me. I think that the problem was because of the level of the mic vs. the music- she probably couldn’t hear when I was done MC'ing the raffle info. At least DJ Stewbot had some good jams to fill the space with. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was definitely enough to make me sweat.

My models did a fabulous job- and I breathed a sigh of relief- I had picked out a great team.  There was the occasional walking too quickly, but I did throw in a last minute change up, and then change up again. They looked amazing, the hair and make up were exactly as I had pictured it, -bedhead Mohawks, and bold Gaga style make up.  They looked sexy, stylish, and confident- in their tees, simple black underwear, and fall accessories (jewelry by Cheeky Couture, some of the shoes by Eimaj Designs, ties by Derrick B., purses by Caralyn Glass).  At the end of the show, I even got to reveal the fact that Amy Beers and A.J. Jones are going to be the official faces of T.Party! I was very excited to make this big reveal that night, and can’t wait to work more with them.

All in all, I was very happy with how it all turned out, some things were amazing, and some things need work to be better next time. 

If you were in attendance I hope you enjoyed yourself, and if you missed it, there will be photos for you to peruse through very soon, maybe even some video links!

Until next time my lovely T.Partiers....Cheers.