Smashing Darling Blog

I think we have taken care of most of the technical issues we were having this morning! I know there are still things to work out but please TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! I would love to hear your feedback about the new look of Smashing Darling.

ALSO, we have a new section to populate. It is the EVENTS page. If you are having an indie fashion event you want to let the community know about, or you are attending an indie fashion event this is the place to list it. We want this to be the most comprehensive list of indie fashion happenings on the web.

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let everyone know that the new site is experiencing some technical difficulties. We are working on getting them fixed. We are very excited about the new look and very excited to get it all running properly. Please keep checking in on the blog for updates.

Thanks
Trish

The first person to comment on the blog and tell me who said or wrote this wins a Student Smash Up item from Smashing Darling.

Who said this?

“A bear grows more alive with age. No one with one ounce of sensitivity could ever consign a bear to the dustbin.“-?

Now the only thing left to do is go peruse the store to feast your eyes on all the delicious choices and make your selection.

Good Luck!

These 3 are still up for grabs. Check them out and give it a shot.

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A splash of red to wear with your favorite blue dress. It is time for red, white and blue. Buntings are showing up on fences, sparklers going round and round in the dark, children squealing with delight. Loud whistles head skyward, silence, then sparkly palm trees explode over head.

Clock wise from the top:

Reverie - Red Stars Necklace $250
CleverGirl Industries - Peppermint Earrings $80
Foundling - Red Poppy Hairpins $6
Silver Frog Jewelry - Bon Bon Earrings $45
Elle_P Designs - Peppermint Necklace $14.50

Contact me if you would like to be editor for the day. trish@smashingdarling.com. Share with the community your favorite finds from Smashing Darling.

I looked up the word style in Websters Dictionary yesterday while I was writing about Dinah sharing her style with us. She showed us how she wears her indie and that made me curious about the word style. Here are 2 of the meanings from the dictionary. I shortened them but you can read the full meaning by clicking here.

2 a: a distinctive manner of expression

5 a: the state of being popular : fashion <clothes that are always in style>

This definition is from the urban dictionary:

This made me think about what the word means to me and how it pertains to wearing clothing and being in fashion.
I think style is personal and it takes personality to show it off. A persons personality is what can help them “pull off a look” even if it isn’t quote unquote, in fashion. I don’t think style necessarily has to do with trends either. Style is unique to each person, like a fingerprint and it needs the chemistry of the personality to really make it come to life. I think style is fun, for me anyway.

So what does style mean to you? How do you express your style everyday?

Tell me about yourself and how you wear your indie fashion. Tell me how you combine indie fashion with vintage or pieces bought from bigger, name brand stores. If you would like to share your indie fashion style and shout out a favorite designer of yours email me. trish@smashingdarling.com. I would love to feature you. I have a natural curiosity/obsession for who is wearing indie and how they are wearing it.

Name: Dinah Williams
Occupation: Art Student/Indie Shopgirl (at Dina Varano)

Who are you wearing? I’m wearing a vintage ruffle top from The Willow Tree, a slip from Marshall’s, a pink satin skirt from Momo Falana, and Sugar shoes.

What & where are you currently studying? I study painting and printmaking at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Connecticut.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Morocco.

What is your favorite color, why? Cadmium Orange. I use it in paintings and when you add white it turns into this delicious hot pink that wakes every other color up.

Tell us something you love you want everyone to know about? I adore the Muse shoe gallery in New London. It’s run by great people, open late, and serves as a revolving art gallery for emerging artists. I bought my shoes there at ten p.m. after a particularly trying day at school, and am ever grateful for that dazzlingly effective bit of retail therapy.

Please leave a comment for Dinah. Have you been to MoMo Falana? Do you know about the school she attends? Traveled to Morocco, can you give her a tip if she goes? Have you seen that exact color of orange? Can you relate to how she wears her indie? And what about those shoes?

Today I decided to highlight a few excerpts from passed interviews about inspiration. I encourage you to leave a comment and share where your inspiration comes from. Even if you are not an independent designer, you must still have inspirations in your life. To read the rest of a particular interview, click on the link.

Who or what inspires your designs?
“Odd objects found on my everyday adventures. Music and movies often
inspire my mood which inspires my designs as well.” Tara, Leviticus Jewelery

“I am inspired by new materials, manufacturing processes, fine art, historical textile patterns, kaleidoscopes, my computer aided pattern program, fashion magazines, and my Pantone books.” Jules, Yosifa Penina.

“Simplicity, lightness.” Julie, Lake

“Natural history is a big influence for me. i think it is of strong interest to me because it conveys life cycles, destruction, and the rehabilitation of existence. i also derive a lot of influence/inspiration from mediums of art outside of fashion, painting being the favored. i love collaborating with other artists, especially painters. the texture of paint on cloth is exquisite.” Kaytee, Papusza Couture

“GREG LYNN’S ARCHITECTURAL THEORIES… THE IDEA THAT THE BODY AND THE BUILDING (OR IN MY CASE CLOTHING) INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AND SHOULD REFLECT EACH OTHER. ALSO INTERSECTING GEOMETRIC SHAPES.” Lara, Lara Miller

“People. i’m insatiably curious and nearly everything interests me. people’s behavior and motivation can occupy my imagination for a long time. i could study, pick apart, put myself in the shoes of, pretend to be and otherwise obsess about people forever.” Laura, Laura Dawson

“It can be anything. Recently it’s been a lot of architecture and interior design. So far, my collections have tended to reflect my surroundings and the environment around me. It could be from the view out the window or a piece of furniture in one of my rooms. I recently moved and I am very aware of the fact that some of the interior elements in my new apartment are in my collection. Things that are handmade, like the cotton waxprint fabric from Ivory Coast that’s in the upcoming spring line, are also very inspiring to me.” Jeanne, The 615 Project

“Many things. Sometimes a word, seaweed for sure, textiles, flowers, texture everywhere - man-made or in nature, movement, travel, food.” Mo, Catabella

“I am inspired by so, so many things…but in short, at the moment: Vintage Floral, Swedish, Japanese Prints. My latest clothing is sort of a blend of the Ladies of the Canyon - kind of 1970s California/Folky with an Annie Hall - kind of Understated Sexy/Tomboy idea … It’ll be on Smashing Darling shortly. As a standard, I am drawn to clean Italian designs, Indian and Moroccan Prints and Hues and of course, I love beautiful, soft, amazingly comfortable cottons.” Laura, Whosiepie

“My daughter inspires me a great deal. But, fabric, I think is the biggest inspiration. I love color! Coming across a new shade of velvet or accidentally putting 2 fabrics next to each other that were not intended to go together and having them work is very inspiring. Sometimes I can just play with fabrics for hours. I can create an idea just on having two textures come together unexpectedly. The surprises that happen along the way are really the best inspiration.” Lisa, Georgia Eve

“Lately I have been drawn to oriental rugs of all things. I love the colors. Rich and really warm. Sometimes it’s the outdoors. My flower gardens are a great inspiration in the fall when they go to seed. I find great shapes there. I Studied art history in college and still find myself looking in books at tapestries and such. And other times it’s just looking at color and remembering something from another time.” Sarah, Thistle Downs Wool Design

“NYC itself is very inspiring. Yeah, it can be loud, overcrowded, and dirty, but it is also has an energy like no other place. I also love the cultural diversity–something lacking where I was raised. People here know their style, and they aren’t afraid of it. I love that.” Rachel, Rachel Park

“I’m really inspired most by nature. The shapes and designs and patterns. I’m also fascinated at how nature eats away at man-made objects, the results of decay. But design-wise I get a lot of ideas from the mid-century: clean lines, very slight curves, simple shapes.” Stuart, Go Robot

No Tie Sarong (long), $38.00

Just in time for hot weather fun, this week’s critique is gogirlwrapperz, a boutique featuring fun, summery wraps.

There’s lots of good things to say about this boutique’s photography. The images make great use of natural light, and as a whole the shots do an excellent job of presenting what we’d call “lifestyle shots” that show the wraps in action, as worn on models at the beach and gym. These kind of shots do a great job of taking the images out of the realm of simple product shots, and transforming the products into something that a person could really picture themselves in. There’s a lot of very creative framing of shots and posing here that creates some very dynamic images.

The biggest question that this designer posed about her photography was “Is there anything in or not in the photos that would prevent someone from buying my designs?”

To answer this one, we would certainly say that we think this designer is doing an excellent job with the photographs, and has a nice creative flair with the camera. The mood of the shots matches the fun, active feel of the wraps as well. We don’t see anything that in and of itself would keep a person from buying from this boutique, but as always there are a few things that occur to us that might help.

Above: No Ties Sarong (Short), $28.00

Above: Headbands, $8.00

1. Alternate views - make sure that each item shows shots from all angles. For instance, the “No Tie” Sarongs Tech does a great job of this, but some items don’[t show quite as complete a range of views. The more shots, the better!

2. More stuff! - one thing that can help with sales, and getting shoppers to spend more time in a boutique is to giving shoppers more to see. We would love to see more from this designer - eight items (wonderful though they are!) just isn't nearly enough and we would love to see this boutique filled with fun things for shoppers to peruse.

3. Descriptions - for the most part, we found the descriptions thorough and easy to read, but we did notice that there's no mention of actual lengths for most items. This is a small detail, but specific info like this can always be very helpful for a prospective buyer.

Again, we think this designer is doing a great job with photography and has a very obvious creative streak with the camera. Keep up the good work! Somehow after looking through these images, we're suddenly filled with the urge to close down the SmashingDarling office and head to the beach for the day!

Questions? Comments? Email us at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com or feel free to comment below. Thanks as always to our community for your insight and support! So, who’s next? Would you like your store critiqued? Email us at the above address and let us know what you need help on with your photos.

The first person to comment on the blog and tell me who said or wrote this wins a Student Smash Up item from Smashing Darling.

Who said this?

“In the right light, at the right time, everything looks extraordinary.“-?

Now the only thing left to do is go peruse the store to feast your eyes on all the delicious choices and make your selection.

Good Luck!

These 3 are still up for grabs. Check them out and give it a shot.

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My It Things is having a design contest. You as the designer enter 5 pictures of current pieces or 5 sketches of pieces to come. The community votes on the designs they like best. There will be 10 lucky designers that go onto the final round. Each Finalist will be given $1,500 and 2 months to create 5 more pieces for Spring/Summer Collection. Finalists will also be invited to NY to show their new peices to a panel of judges during a fashion show. The winner is determined by a combination score, 50% communtity vote 50% panel vote. One lucky winner will receive $5000 to put towards the production of the rest of their line. So I ask you, what are you waiting for? You can submit your designs here. Read all the contest rules here.