Home Again and a Celebratory Giveaway!

Hello friends!

I've returned safe and sound from my fantastic trip across the Upper Midwest to meet the customers and store owners who've been such great supporters of Cabiria. It was an astounding success, not only because I got to meet you all, but also because I got to see people's faces as they came out of dressing rooms wearing the clothes, beaming. It's an incredible feeling of accomplishment when that happens, and I feel lucky. Thank you!

First stop was in Milwaukee at Boutique Larrieux in the Historic Third Ward. Lydia's shop is gorgeous, in a converted warehouse space with exposed brick, dramatic lighting and great bead-festooned dressing rooms.

Lydia was a great hostess, and got saucy modeling some of the pieces herself in rotation. I also loved that I got a 3 person shot in the Sofia in Giant Peonys - triplets!

The next evening was at the jewelbox of a boutique, Vive la femme in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. Stephanie and her staff are such a bundle of joyful energy, and that's not just the mint juleps they served! She also had Jen and Tish from Spa Soak, a local business, come out to do hair and makeup for the attendees, thus, evening though there had been rain, my hair looked fabulous. Speaking of fabulous, Stephanie's staff Amber, Amanda and Perry all modeled dresses during the event and looked stupendous. I think they are directly responsible for selling them just by showing the world how great they look in Cabiria.

The following day, I woke up at the crack of dawn and started driving from Chicago to St. Paul for the last event at Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN. That is a pretty but long drive... Denise was our hostess for this event, and pulled out all the stops. She event baked biscotti! Yum. I loved meeting Denise and her staff and customers - it felt like coming back to a dear friend, though it was the first time. One of my favorite moments was a woman came in looking for a dress for her retirement party on Monday, but felt that the neckline on the Valentina was a little too low for her. So I got a needle and thread from behind the counter and stitched it up for her and she walked out happy! So much fun!

At the very last minute of the event, my dear friend Emily came in the door with her fiance. She had driven quite a way to make sure she got to see me and to buy a Francesca in Orange Dot to wear for her wedding reception. I am so honored that she chose to do this and she looks stunning in the dress!

The day after I came home, the Supreme Court knocked down DOMA and Prop 8, giving full rights and recognition to gay and lesbian couples who marry in states allowing same-sex marriage. I love love and romance and all things involving two people finding a partner, so I wanted to celebrate. Inspired by Emily's choice to wear one of my dresses for her own wedding, I am offering a free Francesca dress from Cabiria to the first plus size bride marrying a bride (or groom marrying a groom who is fond of wearing plus size dresses). You will have to prove that it is an incipient marriage with an invitation or photos or license or something, but it would be my honor to celebrate with you!

Finally, the wonderful website Madison Plus Select has released the Francesca in Robin's Nest, worn by the lovely Ivory May Kalber, on their curated website for sale. I'm a lucky girl indeed.

Here's to celebrating all kinds of success!

Eden

Cabiria Available Online and In (a few) Stores Now!

Hello friends,

It's been pretty busy here at Cabiria HQ since we received delivery from the factory. We're now on the rack at Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN, and Madison Plus Select has an exclusive Cabiria line rolling out as we speak. I've sent an order off to a plus size celebrity for a new CBS television show (hush hush until it airs!), and gotten a LOT of inquiries on how to get these dresses. It's really exciting!

This is where you come in as a community. If you know of a plus size boutique that should carry our dresses, please show them the Online Store at http://www.store.cabiriastyle.com, where all our availability stock is currently listed. If you are a retailer with a desire to stock us, let us know. We have a couple of different structures available for wholesale, drop shipment, and memo terms. If there's a style and pattern that you want exclusively for your shop, you create exclusivity by reserving or purchasing the whole run of that item - not prohibitive, in reality. I really, really want to work with you to get these dresses in your hot little hands! Help me help you.

I know that the price point is higher than some of the pieces on the market, but it's actually priced low for what they are - sumptuous fabrics, designed specifically for the plus size body, made in the USA, and in small, unique quantities. I want you to try them on to feel the difference in quality and the details that make it fit so well and wear for years. That means that you need to make sure retailers know they can sell what they bring into their shops. You, yes, you, the consumer, have that power. Heady, isn't it?

Finally, *here are a few Cabiria dresses currently and exclusively available on the Madison Plus Select website. Go get 'em, folks!

All the best, Eden











*all photos in this entry courtesy of MadisonPlusSelect.com Do not reproduce without permission from the owner of the photos.

Anticip........ation!

Hi all!

It's been a busy several days here at the Cabiria Studio! Part of compiling images for a combination of uses - investor packages, potential line sheets, sussing out details for the samplemakers, etc. - is the actual DESIGN of the clothes. What fabrics work with what designs? As a small company dealing with limited yardage runs, I don't simply design the clothes, pick a fabric, and then cut and sew x number of them in that fabric. I've got 65 yards here, 206 yards there, 9 yards somewhere else of different fabrics. Which creates EXCLUSIVITY! That dress in the green zebra print silk jersey? Only 14 yards of it in existence. Which means there's very few of those cut. The dress in the crazy Peter Max Goes to Hawaii cotton sateen? Just around 100 yards of that in house. Sounds like a lot, but really in Plus Size land, it's more like 28 - 35 dresses. Boutique limited production runs in practice!

So let me introduce you to some of the possibilities. Each dress is a specific style (in this case, the "SOFIA") shown with what it would look like in a number of different fabrics. Let me know your opinions, please! (But try to be civil. If you're going to be specific, or your comments are long, email me personally at eden@cabiriastyle.com, please.) Nothing helps me develop as a business more than knowing what my potential clients want.

This dress is featured in both woven and knit, has a slightly elasticized waist, a 3 button placket, and reaches just below the knee in a generous A-line. Also please note I'm not a graphic artist or Photoshop wizard, so the underlay of the fabrics for each dress might not be perfect, but it's pretty close. Don't judge my Photoshop skills, please!

Let the games begin!

- Eden