Check, check, one two on the microphone

Hello friends,

So many new things happening over here at Cabiria HQ! The photoshoot and video shoot are coming together beautifully, and now I've released my first MailChimp email subscriber newsletter.

I am not a technically gifted girl - I know clothing and plus size fit like the back of my extra large hand - but working with the advanced settings of a social media mailer isn't my strongest suit. If you find anything wonky in any mail you receive, first off, my humblest apologies, but please point them out to me!

In the meantime, this means if you're a subscriber to the newsletter, I believe you will now receive the blog posts automatically as well, and it should let you know on Twitter and the Facebook Cabiria Page as well.

I will leave you with this bit of locations research from our photoshoot hunt. It's a 15th century marble well head turned into a fountain... and we have access!

Talk soon,

Eden

Next round, coming up - this time with finesse!

Hi folks!

I know I've been very slow to post and report lately, but there's been movement on the Cabiria front, I promise.

As you saw before, dear readers, I hit a bit of a snag with my plans in Bangkok. When I came back to New York, the extraordinarily talented Michael David Bevins extended technical help my way through his company 4 Seasons Fashion. I'm diligently working away on patterns now, with a real class act providing the art of finesse. Such heartening news!

In the meantime, I leave you with this image from "Mad Men", returning to television in a few weeks. I am obsessed with border prints and the magic that they can do for any figure, slim or plus. Discuss.

Here's to new updates faster, sooner, and with more new dresses!

-Eden

Lessons Learned are Part of the Process

Hi folks!

I'm back from Thailand, and it was a fantastic trip as a vacation. It was disappointing as a samplemaking venture, however. The head of the shop and I tried very hard to come to an understanding, but there were issues, so it's back to the drawing board for the patterns, literally.

One of the things I've found fascinating about starting this business is that it teaches me that failing in one path is not necessarily a "failure", per se, but an opportunity to learn more about what to do differently in the future. For instance, I've learned that I know more about the patterns than I thought, and I know better how to guide the next patternmaker. I know that the control lost in working with another country, even if I'm standing there trying to explain it, is not the style of work that I've become accustomed to, and quality is lost, so don't try it that way. That second guessing myself is not good as a leadership model. Cool! I got schooled.

I also found a store in Chiang Rai in the north that sells only Plus Sizes, and has the cutest sign! It really is called "XXL", and the lady who owns it, Plooey, is super sweet.

I'm lucky that I have the resources of many friends already in the fashion business to draw upon, and most of them are in New York already. While in Bangkok, I did reconnect with an old college friend who's doing incredibly well with her own fashion brand, chain of stores, diffusion lines, restaurants attached to the retail stores, and soon, a boutique hotel! Her advice to me was indispensable, mostly because she showed me that it's possible to go the independent route and succeed wildly.

If you're in Bangkok, or now Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, please check out her stores called It's Happened To Be A Closet [sic]. They are a mainstream size line, but very easy to wear, and great design. Kind of like an Asian version of Anthropologie.

Finally, if you ever get to go to Thailand, north or south, you're sure to be inspired. The colors and beauty there are breathtaking, and definitely gave me a refreshing outlook on what's possible next for Cabiria!

Back to New York and back to work on Cabiria. It really is a fascinating process, and will come to fruition, I promise!

-Eden