Smashing Darling Blog

We have some exciting news. Yosifa Penina (Jules S.) has just been selected as a Week One Semi-Finalist in the Glam.com and Marie Claire handbag contest.

Here’s a photo of her design:

Help Jules out and vote for her handbag:

http://glam.com/g/p/3014655/49247976/5/49247976/5/49247976_1/205/143478061/

Click on the link above to vote for Jules. You will be sent to a page with handbag #1 on it. Click the next button until you see Jules S. (she is the #8 photo). Scroll once more to the next page to vote…on that page vote for Jules (letter H)!

Good Luck to you, Jules!!!!!

-The Darlings

Are you a little embarrassed of the display in front of you when you open the closet?

Do you stare at the closet while the clock ticks away trying to piece something together?

Stop worrying! Here’s a simple solution to your problem…Smashing Darling! We always have the latest and greatest to complete that look you are after. We have you covered! Here’s a few of our favorite items on the site that would be great on a warm summer night…

Start with a layer of MerGirl with the sheer tank dress ($80.00):

Throw in a little Lindsay Rickman with the sheer black mesh dress on top ($100.00):

Add a splash of fun with Reverie’s pink fringe ($250.00):

Finish off the look with a little splash using Andrea Valentini’s handy pouch ($37.00):

and off you go!!!!

Until next time…Be Smashing!

Stylehive , that’s what’s bUzzing! Kingbee founded the site and he just gave Smashing Darling a ‘ Totally Hot’ rating! WOO HOO! So I think it is only fitting to A: Say Thank you Kingbee! and B: tell our whole community to go check out the Hive. While you are there create a hive of your own and bookmark your favorite designers from Smashing Darling . I already see some of our community over there. I was just there and niceLena is one of the many featured on the Hive home page right now.

Earlier it was Krelwear that was on there

So Hivers if you are reading thank you for all the the posts that make our site sometimes the most popular!

Have you been sitting with a group of friends only to have someone say…What’s that on your back/bag/car/pant leg/dog? Only to turn around peel it off and see that you have been SMASHED! What’s this you say, SMASHED, what does that mean?

Trish and I are secretly (however, sometimes we do get caught) going around putting stickers on people to tell them we think they are just SMASHING!!!! It’s official, the words out, they are just the bomb and everyone for miles should know it, if they don’t already!

So, for all those smashing devils out there consider yourself warned, we’re coming to a town near you!!!!!

Be Smashing,

Trish and Julie

ps. If you do receive one of these stickers you are 1 in a 1,000 people to be stickered with this exact piece, and you also came in contact with one or both of the darlings.

Here’s what you will see if you are one of the lucky few to be chosen:

I love this jewelry.

I met Alison, the designer of reverie , a couple of months ago when she walked into my store in CT. She breathes new life into what used to be vintage by designing new, one of a kind, artful pieces from the rubble that has managed to survive the past. We’ve all seen the broken jewelry of the past in our great aunts jewelry box. It’s the stuff that ends up all dusty and thrown in a box until someone brings it to the light of day at the exact moment that Alison might be walking by on the sidewalk. How else could you explain the incredible things that have managed to find themselves in her creative hands. Her pieces have amazing presence and aren’t like anything I have seen. They are truly an extension of this fabulous artist.

Don’t forget to click the subscribe link in her store, so you will always be in the know when a new piece is added to her store. I am very happy to say that I now sell reverie in my own shop.

Welcome to No. 3

Spring is in the air, the birds are chirping and the grass is growing!

Time to pack up the cashmere sweaters and replenish the closet with some smashing spring outfits.

Here’s a couple of things that we are wanting to buy for our closets:

• Punkin NYC’s Michelle dress is perfect for a weekend get together

• A day at the office? Try i. sheff’s Layer Cake Skirt

• A night out on the town? Just add a PINaR ERIS corset and off you go!

NEW FEATURES:

Subscribe…Use this feature! With this feature if you want to keep up with what new things Leviticus Jewelry has just uploaded on Smashing Darling all you have to do is subscribe to their store. Just click the envelope next to the word subscribe in the upper right hand corner of their store page (seen above). You don’t have to do anything else but sit and wait for the daily emails showing you what Leviticus has just put in their store. It’s that easy to find the stuff you want to buy. So, subscribe away to all your favorites and happy shopping!!!!

Forums…Use this too! We have started the forums for the following categories:

• Selling - Where you can ask questions, or help others on how to best sell your products on Smashing Darling

• Events - If you have an event coming up in your area, or you are looking for events, this is the place for you. Ask around if you can’t find what you want, there is most likely someone in your area online too that would be glad to help out.

• Collaboration/Networking - This is the place to pool our resources and to help each other find whatever it is you, I, we, all need. If you are looking for a designer to collaborate with, post it. If you are looking for a specific resource, post it. If you know of a great resource and want to share, post it!

• Support - Are you having problems using the site or just need some help figuring out how to do something? Post here and someone will be glad to help you figure out just what is troubling you.

• Feedback - Do you have a great suggestion for us, comments, or just want to let us know something important? Then, post away!

WHO’S NEW:

Here are a couple of new designers on the site that may find you wanting to whip out that credit card!

Lara Miller has uploaded some fantastic pieces on Smashing Darling. She uses bamboo and organic fabrics in some pieces, she has sustainable pieces, and you can literally use one outfit in so many different ways. You can buy two pieces and have a week’s worth of outfits. All that and they are good looking too!

Andrea Valentini has some great pieces. From her LuvMe2 Pet Carrier to her Jacky Handbag she has your bag needs covered. Go buy one today, your Pug will thank you!

Thanks for taking time out to read No. 3!

If you have a minute check out the blog and the forums…get involved, start posting, and let us know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for either.

We hope you have a great summer, and stop by the site often to buy something new from one (or two) of our fantastic designers!

Be Smashing,

Trish and Julie

STUNNING! c’mon say it with me, STuNNiNG! This totally comes to mind when I look at PINaR ERIS clothing. Her designs are just kick your but cool and sexy. Who said being a woman wasn’t fun. Who wouldn’t have fun in one of her creations? I love the attitude in the photos too. They all look like they could be thinking ‘I know I’m sexy, I dare you to tell me I not smart…’

Pinar is a true artist and her clothing shows it.

Just tell yourself,
Damn it,
I’m worth it!

Who wants to look like everyone else anyway.

Like I said,

STUNNING!

Owning one is just a click away.

PINaR ERIS

on

Smashing Darling

Welcome to #2

We wanted to start out by letting our incredibly talented community know how Smashing they really are. A little birdie has told us that Rachel Parks, Yosifa Penina, Exation, Laura Dawson, Whosiepie, and Kanena have all linked to us in ads, linked from their website to ours, sent people our way, or have us as their primary store. If we were in your area we’d hug you, but we can’t…so hopefully a huge THANKS will suffice. We couldn’t do this without you, and we are lucky that so many members of our community realize that if we can all bring our list of clients to the site not only will they keep buying from us, but they may also find someone else they like too. It helps the whole!

WHAT’S GOING ON:
We have just gone live with the forums. There are four areas:

• SELLING Where you can ask questions, or help others on how to best sell your products on Smashing Darling

• EVENTS If you have an event coming up in your area, or you are looking for something fun to go to, this is the place for you

• SUPPORT If you are having problems using the site, or just need some help here’s your answer

• FEEDBACK If you have any suggestions, comments, or just want to let us know something you find important here’s where you should post it

*A reminder for the forums…you will need a whole new login name and password for this area, it’s separate from our main site. You most likely will be able to use the same login and password as you do on the site, but you will still need to set it up separately the first time you enter the forums.

RSS FEED

Are you the type of person that needs to know the second Whosiepie uploads new clothing? If you want to keep up to the minute on what is uploaded in a particular store, or in a department (say women’s clothing), then you need this! On each store page and each department page there is a little orange box that you can click on to get the RSS feed set up. If you need any help let us know. We’ll do our best, but this is still new to us too.

The Blog-Ness Monster

On Monday April 16th, 2007 Trish and Julie are taking the plunge into the blog world. We don’t truly understand what we need to be doing there, or why others would be interested in our ramblings, but we have been told that this is something people these days do! Please be kind, and if you have any hints or suggestions feel free to let us know. We are kind of nervous about this whole thing.

NEW FEATURES:
For people that don’t know how RSS Feeds work ( we were among those people until our programmer showed us ) We are working on a feature called INVITE where each designer will be able to invite all their customers into their store on Smashing Darling through e-mail. The customer upon receiving this e-mail would have the option to subscribe or unsubscribe ( we don’t want to spam people ) If they choose to subscribe, your customer would receive regular e-mails when you upload new items. The squeaky wheel always gets the grease. We want to help keep your product on every one’s mind. To help promote fellow designers don’t forget, put them in your favorites. Your customers will appreciate the seamless path through Smashing Darling you create for them.

STUFF:

Uploading images

Are you not sure what size of images the site is looking for? Well, to clear that up as long as your image is at least 600X600 pixels at 72 dpi, then you are just fine. If they are much smaller we can’t feature you on the homepage. We LOVE being able to show off your beautiful photos, so keep them at least that large, and no larger than 250K and you’ll be set.

Passing it on

We are frequently asked how can we help you? One big huge way to help would be that if you like the site and feel it’s a good fit for you and your pieces, then pass it on to a friend. You can pass on our newsletters to people interested by clicking the send this to a friend button in the top right hand corner of the newsletter, you can tell other like minded designers about the site, or if you have a friend who is looking for that Smashing outfit tell them to stop by and see if there’s something they may like. We are only two people and we’re doing our best, but hopefully if everyone just tells one more person (or 10) we can get the word out there.

Thanks for taking the time out to read #2.

The Darlings

Smashing Darling was built by a designer, for other designers. We truly built this community around the needs and wants of an independent clothing designer.

Hopefully, with a little help we can get you out there selling your stuff so that it’s the most useful to you and what you have going on. Here are just a few ways that we have found the site extremely useful to our designers.

You can integrate your own personal marketing with your Smashing Darling store by:

• Link items in your own newsletters, blog mentions, print advertisements, etc. to your store in Smashing Darling, so that people are only a couple of clicks away from buying what you are showing them as new products

• Use Smashing Darling as an extension of your own site - if you don’t have commerce on your own site take advantage of the fact that you can link straight to your store from images on your site, or send people straight to your store from your buy here section on your own website…that way you can get them while they are hot!

• Feel free to put your smashing darling store address on your existing signage , business cards (or if you want to use the Smashing Darling business cards we created for you to use, just email us at trishandjulie@smashingdarling.com), etc. If you don’t have regular business hours, but have a good amount of pieces in your store…stick a sign up saying check out my smashing darling store…so even when you aren’t working, your customers could still be buying 24/7!

• Use the invite feature to let your customer base get updates the second you upload new pieces. That way your company and products are always on their minds. You can even upload one thing a week and have weekly reminders to your customers that they need to stop by and get the newest pieces.

It’s all about connecting the dots!

Be SMASHING,

Trish and Julie

My partner sent me a quote the other day that is so perfect for this entry and couldn’t have come at a better time! It is from Ellen(DeGeneres for those of you not following) and is exactly how I feel about my blog entries in search of The Material Girl. I love calling Madonna that because it is so true, now that she has her own line of clothing and all. Any way back to Ellen, she always has the perfect thing to say even when she doesn’t know it!

So I’ve started this quest, the light is on, there just isn’t anything to see yet!

There IS a connection here, follow me here, Ellen is talking about Light, Madonna has a CD called Ray of Light . You’ll be on board before you know it. There’s too many similarities. C’mon you gotta admit it, there’s somethin’.

I know, every one was hoping to gain more insight from the Bathtub Contessa , but I had the quote I had to use it. Every post on this topic gets me one step closer to Ellen DeGeneres, which gets me one step closer to Madonna! I know this is crazy, but that is the challenge and the fun of it! So join in on the fun and let me know just how crazy I am!

2 things to always remember:

Always shop on Smashing Darling

and

Send all unwanted Madonna paraphernalia to MerGirl P.O. Box 528 Chester Ct 06412

Ta Ta