Nicky's Rag Tales

Vogue, In Style and Elle may rule the Fashion Print world but enter the new website Polyvore. It’s taking the web by storm with 835,000 visitors since June. Become your own Fashion Editor, create collages from pictures of clothes, shoes and accessories and put your own sets together. Click on images to be taken direct to the sites to make your purchases or have your set reviewed by other Polyvorians.

Conceived by three ex-Yahoo employees Polyvore has moved the goal posts in terms of Fashion Sites. Buyers can use it to spot trends in real time and since it now has 25% more hits than Style.com it’s time to check it out for yourself. Let me know what you think and perhaps we can add some Irish Fashion twist to it?

Heather (centre) Monique (left) and Naihala in BT

I arrived at TV3 at 6.3o this morning to help out Heather Thomson, designer and force behind the Yummie Tummie success story. Having met her for the first time the evening before with her friend Pam, who by the way makes the most gorgeous Jewellery. Take a peek at the dazzling range at Good Charma. Ciara Crilly from Brown Thomas marketing( a major PR whizz )was there with Laura O’Brien from Kennedy PR.

They were looking quite worried and then they were looking at me very strangely. My first thought was I’m only a few minutes late what’s the problem? I was only there to support Heather, or so I thought……. Read more

Emma in Nicowa Spring Summer 2010

At this time of year Agents and buyers don’t get any weekend breaks. This weekend for example Heather Thomson arrives and between running from TV3 to Personal appearances, and journalist interviews there won’t be much time to chill out. The wonderful thing about this business is the variety that it brings and the opportunity to continually meet new people and learn more and more. Often the rewards come later (hopefully) in the form of increased orders and new customers. CPD Dusseldorf starts Sunday and next week- end there is Pure in London. It’s a chance to meet buyers and swap information as well as keeping a keen eye for any new ranges. But with budgets seriously stretched and dwindling fast the race is on. Read more

Last night was the special screening of Coco Avant Chanel. A crowd of fashionistas gathered in Harvey Nichols, sipped champagne and ate teeny weeny canapes. Then it was off to the movies.

Tweed suits, quilted bags with shoulder length chains are just some of the enduring legacies of Mademoiselle Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. Born into poverty, abandoned by her father to an orphanage she was the embodiment of the modern woman long before the modern woman existed. She released women from their corsets and gave women freedom. Coco Chanel was the first to introduce comfortable trousers, to use costume jewellery and raise hems above knee. The inventor of the LBD with style that endures. Read more

I didn’t, avoid a crash that is, well, actually a car crash. On my way into work as I was mulling over the days work ahead my concentration lapsed. Fortunately no one was hurt except my car and my pride!

At the beginning of every season I give a pep talk. After all if we are not enthusiastic about the ranges we are selling how can we expect the buyers to be enthusiastic. The rule in our business is that everyone who comes through our doors must leave happier and more positive than when they entered. It’s a ‘ pass it on’ philosophy. Positivity breeds positivity and so it goes on down the line to the ultimate customer on the shop floor. This doesn’t mean that we are impervious to problems or that we ignore the fact that business is very difficult. But ‘this too will pass’ comes to mind and when it does let us all be stronger and more focused than ever

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The Showroom looks like a bomb hit it! We are moving furniture and generally getting the Showroom ready for ‘The Season’. For all of us who work in this Industry the year seems very strange and runs almost in parallel with the calendar year. The whole world it seems is on holiday and we are bang in the midst of one of our busiest times of the year. In the good old days there were just two seasons with a beginning a middle and an end. Now the edges are blurred with mid-season ranges, never out of stock orders and repeat orders all being processed daily. Not that I’m complaining because we are always happy when we are busy and thankful for that. And so let the games (and fun) begin……….

What marks out the success stories in business is undoubtedly attention to detail. I spend a lot of time going through the ranges as they arrive into the showroom. I try not to look to closely at the garments as they come out of the boxes but it always looks to me like a total mess. Clothes arrive crushed and in no particular order and some are glaring mistakes. And so the weeding and steaming begins. This takes hours of work and as the ranges have to look interesting and enticing at first glance each garment has to be not only looking good but has to be tried on.
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Easy Peasy

The majority of middle-upper market Indies offer is directed at the Special Occasion Wear market and since they offer a very personal service to their customers they are very well placed to take advantage of this business. Whether we are in recession or not people will still get married, children will be confirmed and the horses will still race.

More and more Indies are providing top to toe walk out the door solutions. It makes sense to take advantage of the add on sales, for example shapewear, head wear, hosiery and shoes. One word of caution though on the foot front. The shoe business is an extremely costly and difficult area to get involved with if your expertise lies in clothing. Perhaps link to a nearby Shoe store and co-ordinate colours and trends when buying.
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The Internet and email has transformed business in all manner of different ways and I now spend a huge amount of time trawling the net for information. All orders are processed online and we now have six different computers running in the showroom! This demands a quick eye and speed reading is a useful tool. Talking to some of my customers in the past few days has been quite enlightening and It’s becoming obvious that the ones who are running their businesses in the most efficient and successful way are the ones who have embraced the new technology in a big way. Since advertising is no longer a commercially viable proposition more and more are using the social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter for example to get their message across. They are using their websites to showcase what’s new in and they are keeping in touch on a regular basis with fashion editors and their customers. I will be gathering a list of the best of them in the next few weeks so watch out for them. Of course anyone who is reading this is already a convert. But just in case you aren’t take note. If my 89 year old aunt can learn to use a computer and is now on FB then anyone can do it!!! Read more

I took the morning off to pay a visit to the National rehabilitation Hospital in Dunlaoire Co Dublin. A large ugly building where all brain injured children from around Ireland go for intensive rehabilitation following brain injury, stroke and serious brain illness. I know this hospital really well since it’s where my daughter spent eight months following a serious car accident in which my mother was killed. I am now involved in the funding of a Music Therapy service which is up and running but which is not funded by the hospital and depends on the generosity of the wider community to keep it going. The team of professionals are nothing short of wonderful and it does my soul good to help them in any way I can. Last year I trekked through Brazil and raised a significant sum of money. Since I’m a five star hotel sort of woman that was certainly a challenge! Following my meeting I headed back to the world of Fashion and got stuck right back into work. Taking orders, sorting problems, making appointments for the forthcoming season.

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