1. Hey peeps, miss me? I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you answered yes to that last question. ;) I thought it was time I blogged. So here I am.... blogging. It's been a while, so I might be a little rusty. I looked on Tumblr to see what the cool kids are blogging at the moment... which is apparently black and white porn gifs, whistful thinspo, and teen poetry.
How about... no.
2. What an amazing year 2011 was for me, and all the gang at BM HQ. We grew 800% from 2010, which presents it's own unique set of challenges! I think we did pretty well considering. I was especially happy with the amazing job the guys did on getting all the pre Christmas orders out - there was a MOUNTAIN of stuff we had to post, and the guys did it. So proud of them. :)
I know I've said this before, but it is really tough growing a fashion label... especially when we are looking at that kind of growth. It can get overwhelming. So overwehelming that we had to repeatedly close the shop throughout the year. I wasn't very happy about having to do that, but it was the only alternative to simply putting up our prices. Which I didn't want to do. :)
So Black Milk in 2011... I give you a score of nine out of ten.
3. But only nine. I felt that there was one area of Black Milk that let the team down a bit.
And that was me.
Yes, I felt like I was a little bit lame last year. I stopped beign a designer and became... I don't know what. You see, we got to the point where stuff was selling so fast that I wasn't allowed to create any more clothes. I would go to the team and say "Hey, how about we make this really cool thing!?" And they would just look at me, show me the list that they were working on (pages, and pages, and pages) and I had to continually back down. I became a designer who wasn't allowed to design, and a salesman who wasn't allowed to sell. Which was frustrating. I just started floating around the office while everybody else worked. It was weird, and disheartening.
A few of the fans noticed as well. Noticed that I wsan't really pushing myself with the design and breaking new ground. That frustrated me immensely, because these are the girls who are as passionate about the brand as I am, and I really want to give these girls something awesome to see... and buy and wear.
So I'm going to repent. Next year I promise to do some MIND BLOWINGLY AWESOME designs that you girls are going to be able to rock out in like the hot little bosses that you are.
A promise is a promise.
4. So I'm buying an amazing new cutting machine in a few months time. Apparently, it can do cuts that no human would ever be able to do. You know what that means? We are going to do some AMAZING cut style leggings and bodysuits (and dresses) next year. Seriously peeps, the slashed revolution has just begun... cut out leggings have been around for a while (see below)...
But I have a few tricks up my proverbial sleeves. ;)
5. Just so you know what the plan is... we will have a little release of some familiar pieces in January to keep all the little sharkies happy after Christmas... and then we will have an absolutely epic release at the beginning of February.
I'm hoping for a MASSIVE February release... like maybe 50 pieces. Don't tell the BM team.
6. Just read this on TMZ (*cough*):
Lady Gaga’s super high-cut dress at the International Emmys Monday night in NYC was this close to exposing her little monster -- but TMZ has learned, it wasn’t made that way. A rep for the designer -- Stéphane Rolland Haute Couture in France -- tells us, the asymmetrical frock came straight off the catwalk ... meaning it was intended to be worn by a model much taller than Gaga. According to the rep, “The slit came way further up her waist than what our designers had in mind."
Sorry - back up a little there Mr. News man .... so we're meant to believe that the slit goes higher on you the shorter you are...? Do you want to try that again...?
The garment hangs off the shoulders, right? That means that the shorter a woman's body is, the more of it will be covered by that seam going from the armpit to the split. You with me? On a taller woman, her higher shoulders will pull the garment up, and expose more skin.
Glad we got that cleared up.
7. So I'm reading this article here about leggings ("Leggings To Replace Trousers!") ... and I read this absolute corker of a paragraph...
Another reason why women like leggings is that they are much cheaper than trousers. Taking this into account Alexander McQueen and Sass & Bide recommend us to forget about all rules of an office dress code and wear leggings instead of trousers, with short tops and wide jackets.
Right... so girls who are concerned about the price of pants - why not do yourself a favour and go and buy some Alexander McQueen leggings. Saving galore!
And underneath it is this absolute corker of a picture:
Ed Hardy or Alexander McQueen ... decisions, decisions!
;)
I'm out.
x
jL
