Retail Therapy

Thanks for reading and shopping

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William Rast denim

I brought in a new denim line called William Rast. It is Justin Timberlake's line. Normally I am kind of opposed to bringing in a celebrities line of designer clothing. It is a bit weird to me when I see them at the buying market showing their stuff. like jessica simpson's line of lotions, hair and makeup at the magic show. weird
But i did check out William Rast and I love the jeans. And one of the best things is that dealing with their company and their reps has been that is a completely great experience.
I had a problem with my order, they called me right away and fixed it. and including free shipping and getting it handled that day. I really appreciate that.
When I had the problem with the wrong jeans sent to me, I made up my mind that if I couldn't get help on this issue it was going to make up my mind about working them and I was going to send the jeans back.
Olivia and Kat were amazing to work with and it really made my day easier not having to had a headache conversation with them.

There are soo many choices for clothing lines and dealing with people that are professional and great to work with. It is again reiterating what a bunch of creative, interesting people I get to work with on a regular basis.

Purple Martini

We just wrapped up three fashion shows at the area Purple Martinis.
It was very fun and Wil and Rob the owners of PM were great to work with and will have much success with their venues.
Kama, Tamara and Emily the three marketing directors did a great job of promoting the events while working with Jung from Metroboom and myself coordinating the shows.
The models  did a great job on the runway and it was fun to do shows in new locations like boulder and dtc.
lots of work goes into the shows
casting calls for models
figuring out 22 outfits
fitting over 30 girls for outfits
packing up all the clothing from the store in a big ole bag to transport it all
setting up and organizing
tracking all inventory that is out at the nightclub
working with salons for hair and makeup info
staying out very late and unwinding after the show is over at 11:00

thanks to the salons for great hair and makeup
jonric international salon
antoine du chez in dtc
fix salon in boulder
mac in boulder for makeup

We had a wrap up party at Swank this week to thank everyone involved. thanks to all to came and for all your hard work. I enjoyed meeting all of you and look forward to working with you again.

DC10 fashion show

We did an amazing fashion show with Tuana Hair design at DC10. first off, the owners and people involved with Tuana are the most amazing, talented people. The hair and clothes complimented each other perfectly.
this show was my first with just swank. It was a leap forward for me and my biz. I used about 30 outfits for the show and I believe this was our best show ever.
My friends pitched in with lots of help. Thanks Christi and Becky! backstage drinking dirty martinis also helped a bunch.
marcus from Tuana did an amazing job setting up the mood for the show with disco balls and people lounging in fabulous prada sunglasses during the show.
with the exception of one model with complete attitude and leaving the show before it began, it went off without a hitch.
I had a massive amount of hair extensions in my hair that made me feel like a supermodel. It was a night of fantasy and fun, and realizing that this is indeed my career. sometimes I have to feel like it is not for real, but that makes doing what you love so special. it doesnt seem like work, you just do it and love doing it.
Elyse from Strut and Veronica owner of Dragonfly came to support me, which meant the world to me.
thanks to all my customers who went to the show. I hope you liked it!

Buying trips

I just got back from a buying trip to vegas. I went to Magic, Project and Pool trade shows for the spring markets. I think this was the best show I have been to. I went with one of my bff's named Christi. She was super helpful and got into the whole buying experience. she was a senior buyer by the end of the shows.
We found lots of amazing new lines, one I will bring in is called single. the most amazing dresses in silk I have seen. Also found some sweatband watches full of bling that will be here before the holidays.
It is an exhausting experience but also so energizing to bring in new lines to swank. It was just what I needed. It took me a week to recover after being out at PURE very late, which happened to have a Paris Hilton cd release party, ewwww..... she is just as bad in person as you think she might be :)
all in all a great 36 hours in vegas. We stayed at the mirage, which is familyville but a pretty good pool. We had 20 minutes to kill before we left for the airport, played roulette and walked out with $100.00. Two coronas later and off to the airport for an another corona a  short flight home. Back to the store to figure out which designers I can bring in. I also am so excited to bring in Ollie Sang, she is a great Denver local designer and I fell in love with her designs.
more to come...

Fashion show at the Forest Room

On April 13th we did a fashion show at Forest Room to launch the second phase of the neighborhood development Flats 15.
Robbie Demos from the new salon The Chapel did the hair and the make up was done by Christian Dior. I love Robbie! He ended up hanging with us all night and dancing the night away. His salon will be open may 2006

The show was a laid back lounge type of fashion show. The models walk through the wine bar and show off the clothing.

The process of getting ready for a fashion show entails lots of behind the scene details.
1. Advertising for models that will work for free and will also do a good job, this brings it's own set of problems and issues. I posted an ad on Craigs List and met models in the store. I learned to do more careful screening on the front end but the models that I used this for this show did an AMAZING job and I will continue to use them.

2. Completing the fittings for 7 girls for two outfits each. this involves getting each girl to come into the store and trying on about everything in the store. Each girl is unique and each outfit is tailored to each girl.

3. Finding Hair and makeup people who will also donate their services. Robbie and Danielle did a great job and did their work at Swank due to their salon being under construction to open. We ate pizza and drank wine while my counter was set up for makeup and curling irons.

4. Putting the music together. The music can't stop at all  during the show and it has to blend in with the environment but get the audience involved in the show. We were supposed to have a dj and that failed last minute, so my husband was scrambling during his lunch to find mix sofware and find the right music. He did a great job with it.

The night of the show is lots of chaos but you have to go with it and not let the small things get in the way. It is so much fun to plan and be a part of doing fashion shows. It is an unexpected perk of owning my own boutique.

Bottom line for me,  is that it is a great excuse to get all my peeps together, drink lots of cocktails and go out dancing after the show. I continually act like I am 21 again and pay for it dearly the next day but it is all worth it and lots of fun!

Special thanks to Lesli and Steve who get me into far more trouble than I should be in on thursday nights :)

First steps

My name is Wendy Van Der Maas.  I own a new small business; Swank, in the Highlands of Denver.  I love to shop and it's a dream come true, but it is work.  I'm running and managing a store along with 2 small daughters ( Morgan 5 and Quincey 3 - Happy Birthday peanut!).  It isn't all fun and games, although I always have something to wear. 

Traffic and word of mouth has been good. My problems aren't any different than most businesses: paying the bills on time, budgeting and getting my name out there.  I'm approaching a year in business (May 21st) and feel like I’ve really achieved something in my life. 

 

Going info fashion wasn’t my only reason for the store. I put together some important things I wanted and built my business around them.

I wanted to:

• Watch my daughters grow up.
• Travel
• Shop
• Open a store that helped women pamper themselves.
• Build something in my neighborhood.

 

Mission accomplished. Time to reevaluate my goals: Prove Swank is a success! Build a name and brand for myself.