New favorite drink

I first encountered this drink when I was having lunch at Google. It's yummy!

How to shine your silver without silver polish

I'm not a huge jewelry person. Most of the jewelry I own was gifted to me. I'm a pretty low maintenance person in general, so I don't really think about what kind of jewelry I should wear too often. If I wear jewelry, I'll usually keep wearing the same piece for a while. Since it's summer, I have toe rings that I'll wear most days (usually don't take them off unless I have to put on shoes that render wearing toe rings uncomfortable, including my rock climbing shoes). I have a couple of rings that I'll wear consistently too, although recently I haven't been wearing them as much because I'll take them off to go rock climbing (I don't like the way my skin gets pinched by the rings) and forget to put them back on. I also own a few nice earrings given to me by friends and my mom (although I tend to lose one pretty easily), but if I do wear earrings, I'll usually wear cheap ones I get at Forever21/St. Mark's/H&M because then if I lose them, I don't feel so bad.

Anyway, one piece of jewelry that I have on almost all the time is my Tiffany's Elsa Peretti cross. Two of my friends gave it to me for my 16th birthday, and I like it not only for its religious symbolism (I'm Christian) but also because it's a simple, elegant design. I just checked the price -- it's now $150. I'm pretty sure when I received it (over 12 years ago), it was half that price. Oh, inflation and luxury goods companies artificially inflating the price of their goods...

It's silver, so it tarnishes. One thing that stuck with me from my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Black, was the lesson that you can use toothpaste to polish silver. Amazing, right?

OK, maybe not, but if you don't feel like going to the store to buy silver polish, you can just take some toothpaste, smear a lot of it on the silver, rub it around, and rinse it off. I took an old toothbrush and scrubbed at it, which is probably NOT good for the silver, but definitely got the job done quickly. I took the above photo with my iPhone camera, using the ToyCamera app on the High Contrast B/W setting to get the above effect. Now my necklace is nice and shiny!

Dear woman-who-purposely-did-not-move-so-I'd-bump-into-her,

I'm sorry that I did not let you exit Sil Thread before I entered, but it was raining, and if you wanted to exit, you should have moved more quickly instead of staying inside the door. However, if you pull that bullshit again, I will cut you.

xoxo
Janet

Bouncing back

So my last post was about how I thought I was going to get a big break with a trunk show at Henri Bendel, but then it fell through because of the recession.

So what does one do when one's dreams are shattered?

OK, maybe that's being a little melodramatic. However, I was very disappointed about the whole thing, and after a little moping, I decided to take action.

I had previously compiled a list of boutiques in the NYC area that covered my target market. I had called each one up and asked how to contact the buyer, and they usually gave me an email address to try. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I cold emailed all of them, telling me about my situation -- that I was supposed to do a trunk show with Henri Bendel but the deal had fallen through and I was interested in selling my pieces with them.

Most of the boutiques didn't respond. I got a couple replies from buyers saying they liked my collection, but that they were either not looking for new designers, or my pieces were out of their boutique's price range, or that they were going out of business because of the economic situation.

However, I did get a few positive responses. One was from Searle. I met with the sales/marketing director and buyer and they were enthusiastic about carrying the collection. I was excited about working with them because they had a few stores uptown, so there would be a bigger distribution than working with just one store. However, they were filing for chapter 11 at the time (according to the fashion blogosphere) and after our initial contact, I found it hard to get a straight answer from them about an order, so I focused on the other prospects.

The buyers from Sucre and Albertine in the West Village had also responded so I met with them. They agreed to carry them on consignment, along with another boutique I had discovered in the East Village, duo. Taking a leap of faith, I decided to try producing the dresses and selling them on consignment with these boutiques, as well as on my online store.

After putting production on hold, I decided to go forward, producing approximately 20 pieces of six of the seven styles I had designed, crossing my fingers.

Another dress I finished for a private client

This client is tall -- 6'0! and wanted a dress that fit her well, with a subtle design. We did a simple sheath dress with a waist seam, a T-shaped dart, and a vent in the back of the skirt.

We put in some color in the center back zipper. Unfortunately, I took these photos with my iPhone camera so the quality isn't great (the first picture is kind of blurry) but you can see in the detail shot that the fabric is this cool basketweave linen. It was difficult to work with because it was so loosely woven but it was a beautiful fabric.

I will be featured on Closetista.com 7/22 at 12PM EST

Today, July 22nd, at 12PM EST, I will be interviewed in a live broadcast on Closetista, followed by a flash sale of some of my dresses and knits. Closetista is a new site featuring up and coming designers. Check it out!

Why Brooklyn is overrated

When you're artsy and your friends are artsy, you're bound to know someone who lives in Brooklyn. I don't have any problems with people living in Brooklyn... until they try to get me to go to Brooklyn. I have to like you a lot to make the trek out to Brooklyn to see you or to go to your house party.

Now I get why some people are enthralled with Brooklyn.
1) It's generally cheaper than Manhattan and there are lots of cool little neighborhoods with cool bars, restaurants, parks, Ikea, etc.
2) Brooklyn has become associated with creativity and coolness, since lots of artsy people live there, particularly in Billyburg and the Slope.
3) There are many areas that feel less like a city and more like a town, even the suburbs.

BUT here are reasons why Brooklyn is not that great.
1) Rent in Brooklyn can be cheap, but with gentrification, rent in the nicer areas is actually very close to, if not equal to prices in Manhattan, especially in the Williamsburg, Park Slope, and Brooklyn Heights areas.
2) Brooklyn can be VERY inconvenient. Traveling between neighborhoods in Brooklyn sometimes involves going back into Manhattan to switch trains, unless you know the bus routes really well or have a bike. Furthermore, there are frequent train problems between Brooklyn and Manhattan, particularly on weekends.
3) If I wanted to get away from the city, I'd go to Westchester.
4) Those artsy people can be pretentious. In Williamsburg, you feel out of place if you're not dressed like a hipster.

Sometimes my friends are like, but Williamsburg is only ONE STOP away from the city. To which I'm like, why would I want to live one stop away from the city if I could live IN the city? Why would I pay a premium to be frequently inconvenienced (I'm not exaggerating, most of my trips to Brooklyn involve some sort of train fail)?

In sum, awesome if you love Brooklyn, but don't try to convince me that it is better than Manhattan.

How to make a wedding dress - Part 5 - 2nd fitting and shoot

It's been over a month since we shot Katrin in the completed dress, but Ferris is worth waiting for (by the way, she is a very talented wedding photographer). It was an extremely hot and humid day, and we shot Katrin in the dress in Ferris' apartment in Brooklyn. Katrin's mom was starving but she hung out like a champ, and we locked up Katrin's fiance in the other room so he wouldn't see the dress. We put Ferris' white comforter on the ground because I wanted the backdrop to be white so that the tulle would stand out.

I took some extra tulle and made a makeshift veil for the shoot, which Katrin and her mom liked so much that I will likely be repeating it for the actual wedding in August. I made Ferris take off the necklace and bracelet from J.Crew that she was wearing and put it on Katrin. She put some makeup on, and her shoes for the wedding, and Ferris shot some images. She looks absolutely gorgeous, n'est-ce pas?

I pinned the tulle to her hair, bunching it up to mimic the dress.

Back detail. The fabric is sheer with little crinkles in it. There is just the one layer on the shoulder straps, and the bodice and skirt are lined.

Skirt detail. I hand sewed the tucks in the skirt.

The over skirt consisted of gold colored tulle with some peach colored tulle mixed in to heighten the three dimensionality. The straps are a little loose here -- I shortened them after the shoot.

Me and Katrin.

Upcoming Balenciaga exhibit

From the Cut blog -- Cristóbal Balenciaga exhibit curated by Hamish Bowles at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute on the Upper East Side this coming November... should be interesting!

Balenciaga “Infanta” evening dress, 1939 (left); Balenciaga evening dress and stole, 1952.

Balenciaga flamenco-inspired evening dress, 1951 (left); Balenciaga evening ensemble with toreador bolero, 1946.Photo: Henry Clarke / Vogue; Copyright © Condé Nast; Christian Bérard / Vogue; Copyright © Condé Nast.

After the presentation... or the Recession makes life difficult for everyone

In my last post chronicling my path as a designer, I discussed the planning and execution of the presentation.

After the presentation, my friend Michelle (who was helping me with operations at the time) and I started talking to different stores about carrying the line. At the time, Emily, one of the girls who had helped me produce the presentation, was working at Henri Bendel, which would have been an ideal outlet for the line. She helped us set up a meeting with one of the women's buyers. We took the collection to the Bendel offices on 5th avenue, and she agreed the line would be a great fit for the store because it was colorful and youthful. We decided to set up a trunk show for June. I was very excited as it would have been a great opportunity for Graey.

Note that I said would have. We solidified the details in late April, but soon after I saw a NYTimes article announcing that Bendel's would stop carrying clothing in favor of focusing on their accessories business. Alarmed because I was about to start production for the trunk show, I tried to contact the buyer and got radio silence when I tried emailing and calling. I got in touch with Emily who informed me that without a warning, the entire clothing buying department had been let go the day before the article came out.

Desperately, I called the main corporate office at Henri Bendel and got in touch with a VP who informed me that there would be no trunk show. I was devastated to say the least, and tried to figure out what to do next.

New favorite song

loving this song by the black keys... and the vid is pretty funny too.

I did another sale today and...

a girl walks in, takes a look at the stuff, and tells me apologetically that she's in the poorhouse and can't buy anything. Then she proceeds to ask my advice on what she should wear to her job interview for a media company, not realizing I'm the designer of the clothes she's looking at. I thought that was funny.

Planning my first presentation

First off, my apologies for not posting more substantive posts in the past couple of months. This past month, I was busy pursuing a potential break that didn't end up working out, but I'm (relatively) at peace about it.

Secondly, my friend Ferris shot photos of Katrin's completed dress last week, so hopefully I'll be getting the processed images soon and posting them.

Thirdly, I'll be doing another sale this Friday at 434 e 9th st, so everyone come on by!

Fourthly, Ray Lamontagne is coming out with a new album in August! His music is so cathartic for me, and I love his voice -- I can't wait to hear the new album.

I realized it's been a while since my last post about developing as a designer, so I thought it would be good to write one now.
---
I left off with mentioning that I had decided to do a presentation for my Fall 09 collection. From the beginning, I told Emily and Noelle that we had a very limited budget, as in, almost nonexistent. Therefore, planning the presentation was an exercise in resourcefulness and the skillful use of smoke and mirrors.

Noelle scored a coup for us by using her real estate contacts to find a space for us. She got us the use of two beautiful duplex apartments at Morgan Court, a luxury apartment building that was very close to Bryant Park. They were looking for exposure and we were looking for space, so it worked out very nicely.

My friend Kellan got me in touch with Barefoot Wines, which hooked us up with wine and bubbly for the presentation.

I contacted different modeling agencies, and got in touch with bookers at Trump, Major, and Direct, whose newer models worked the show for trade (which means you give them clothes worth a certain value in exchange for work done).

Another friend gave me press lists to contact to invite to the presentation. Noelle, Emily, Michelle, and I worked together to invite press and coordinate logistics for the show. My other friends agreed to play live music at the show. Emily's cousin, Doug, gave us a deal on lighting and created an amazing gobos design that flashed the company logo on a nearby building.

Through Craig's List, I was able to get hair and makeup people. Another designer lent us shoes, and the rest of the accessories were either borrowed from my friend Sarah, a jewelry designer, or from the collection of my friend, Diana, who helped with styling my photo shoots. I bought the tights at Strawberry and Ricky's over Halloween.

A bunch of my other friends volunteered to help out day of with dressing the models and other backstage and traffic flow duties.

We contacted press beforehand, getting a preview article on Glamour.com and after meeting with WWD, they came to our show and did a review as well.

Here are some photos, taken of course, by Ferris Vanderveer:

The stage.

The opening scene.

Switched positions.

Graey logo flashed on a neighboring building.

With the models afterward.

With my co-conspirators.

Non-traditional engagement rings, from Refinery29

Click on title link to see article.

Spring Sale today!

If you're in New York, don't forget to stop by our sale! We'll have free cocktails courtesy of Hpnotiq!

Spring Sale this Saturday in the East Village -- up to 60% off our dresses!

Graey Spring Sale!

CRAFTernoon recap

I realized I never did a recap on the CRAFTernoon event I did back in March. It was great. We had a modest turnout which actually worked out for the best because Di and I were able to give more individual attention. Everyone did a great job, and here are some images of final products:

Jess showing off yet another piece of Gator paraphernalia.

Diana's cute headband.

Hopefully we will do another one in the near future. If you have any skills you want to learn, let me know!

A scarf I made for my b

Also, a random photo I took that I like:
Too bad I'm good at so many other things, or I would be a photographer (kidding).

How to make a wedding dress - Part 4 - 1st Fitting

Katrin was in town for a family friend's bat mitzvah, so she and her mom and a friend came up to my tiny apartment to do the fitting. Normally when I do custom work, I test the pattern in muslin, but one of my other clients had coincidentally given me a few yards of the exact fabric that Katrin had indicated was her favorite among the swatches her mom had picked out at a store, so I figured I might as well use it. As is often the case, I wasn't able to get as much done as I had planned, and when they arrived, the dress was only half finished. I frantically sewed the lining to the outer part of the dress while they waited patiently. I didn't even have a chance to sew the zipper on her left side seam, so you can see the fabric awkwardly sticking out on the side, and that the bodice doesn't fit as neatly as it should a result.

Nevertheless, for the most part, the garment fit her very well. She didn't like the amount of volume at the waist so we decided to take the gathers out of the skirt and the lining. I also didn't have a chance to sew on the overskirt you might recall in the sketch and drape that will be in the finished garment, but we played around with using the tulle that was for the overskirt as a veil, which you can see in the photos below - a sneak peek at the work in progress.

If you look closely you can see the tucks in the skirt (sorry, I really need to get a nicer camera), which I sewed by hand.

Katrin pretending to paint the painting on my wall.

The straps were a little too loose as well (if you look closely you can see where I've pinned them on her left shoulder) so those needed to be taken up about an inch on each side, and we decided to add tucks on the top tulle layer on the underskirt, which is tan (which you can't really see in my iPhone photos), so the peach one underneath could be seen. Katrin and her mother really happy with it, so I was happy and relieved. I am going to make the adjustments we discussed before our next fitting in June. You can't see the detail in the fabric either, which has this wrinkled look to it. Hopefully for June I will be able to get my photographer friend Ferris to take better shots of the dress.

On a side note, I was able to achieve the vintage effect on the photos using this Photoshop tutorial.