This Week: Delivery, Monday: Photoshoot, Imminently: AW1415 Release!

Hello friends!

My apologies for not posting more frequently, but I've been very busy ushering in the new La Strada per CABIRIA and Cabiria collections, coming out imminently!

Delivery is always frenetic, but that's a very very happy thing.  Here's a few photos from the ironing and finishing area at the factory.

And here's one of our racks getting sorted out for pre-orders.  

Some of our great stockists are Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN, Boutique Larrieux in Milwaukee, WI, HeyGorgeous, Madison Plus Select, and MS.SVG in London, UK.  I get so excited shipping these out!

We are also participating in a Pop-up Shop in Chicago on the weekend of September 5th and 6th run by Stephanie Sack (formerly of Vive la femme) and Lydia of Boutique Larrieux.  It will be held at Ganesha Yoga Chicago ONLY that weekend.  Lucky Chicago folks will get a first peek at much of the new line!

In a VERY few days, we'll be shooting our new lookbook and catalog.  As you know, the La Strada per CABIRIA line is our funkier, less expensive line, and we're including a lot of separates to add to our dresses. The collections are called Via Ostia, after the road to the ancient seaside town of Ostia Antica about 15km from Rome.  In the movie "Nights of Cabiria", this road is where Cabiria and Wanda and their friends live and work, and in real life it's a gorgeous archaeological site.  It's also a part of the Roman city perimeter, and thus has a lot of astounding street art along the way.

We'll be working with the stunning Maxey Greene, the face of our company for 3 seasons now, Chearice Vaughn, whom you may remember from the NYFW show last September, and Connie Andrade, whom I'm thrilled to finally work with after all this time.

Maxey Greene

Chearice Vaughn

Connie Andrade

I can't wait!!!

And then, after all the photos are shot and all the factory items are collected, and everything happens in a moment's time, we anticipate launching the new Via Ostia collection of Cabiria and the Inaugural collection of La Strada per CABIRIA around the first week of September.

Lots more information will be coming soon, so look out!

All the best, 

Eden

Television, Theater, and Stylish Curves!

Hello friends,

In celebration of the Hot Hot Heat of Summer, I've got nearly everything in the store on sale for 25% off. Come check it out!

Now on to great news: When I went out to Chicago on our store tour, I was so privileged to meet Amber of Style Plus Curves blog. She ended up modeling the line at the Vive la femme event, and now has written an incredible article about Cabiria on her blog. I am so lucky that my work allows me to meet wonderful, gorgeous women who really like how Cabiria looks on them! Hooray! Plus seriously, she looks amazing in everything she puts on.

We have also been incredibly fortunate to be included in some big time television and theatrical productions in the past few weeks, too! In New Orleans and Los Angeles, the new musical UPSTAIRS played to sold out crowds, and starred the lovely Katrina McGraw as Inez. Here's a few images of Katrina wearing a sample of the Aimee dress that is currently being re-worked with sleeves for next season:

And incredibly, we are going to be on television this fall on the Fox Network! The television show "Us and Them", based on the UK show "Gavin and Stacy" is coming, starring the outstanding and funny Ashlie Atkinson as Nessa. She's wearing the Sofia in Oxblood Beetle through the whole trailer and will have it on several times during the first season, including the first episode. I'm so excited! She really does the dress justice, and is a very funny lady. So great! Here's the trailer and some stills:

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and thanks for following the further adventures of Cabiria!

All the best, Eden

Timing is Everything, Slow and Steady (and TV Stuff)

Hello friends,

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer. It's been waffling back and forth between heat waves and monsoons here in New York for weeks! As many of you know, I also went on an incredible trip to the Upper Midwest this summer as well, which allowed me to meet the customers and store owners who make this whole adventure possible. Thank you again.

One question that came up a lot was "Are you doing a Fall/Winter Collection?" A very good question, indeed.

Originally my funding had come from Kickstarter, which supplied a very helpful push to get production for Cabiria, but wasn't enough to cover multiple seasons. I had assumed I would sell out of my dresses, and that money would fund subsequent line development. This is the reasoning that comes from a fine art school education, and very little business knowledge.

Sales have been incredible (thank you!), especially for a brand new line. Reception has been entirely positive, and press keeps building more awareness. I've accidentally found astounding allies who know what they are doing far more than I do, and have put me directly in the right places at the right times. What that means is that with only 1 season's micro collection under my belt, I've attracted *media placement, an investor, and the interest of several larger retailers who want to carry Cabiria. This is unprecedented, seriously, and I count my blessings, for sure.

*While they're not the clearest shots, here's the lovely Ashlie Atkinson in the Sofia in Oxblood Beetle in the pilot of "Us and Them" on FOX Television!

I also need, for the time being, to keep my day job in order to have cash flow to build the inventory lines and pay the rent. I am lucky in that regard as well to work with dear friends in an industry I love - in this case, I'll be wardrobe supervising a television series. I know some people may be able to do it, but I do not know how to efficiently perform at high levels on two jobs that are 90 - 100 hours per week each.

Quality and details mean everything to me with Cabiria. Professionalism and customer service, rapid follow through and production supervision for development are all very hands on. So rather than try to force through a Fall/Winter collection that's half-baked for time reasons, I am going to quietly develop both a Fall/Winter Collection and a Spring/Summer Collection for release early next year. I am going to concentrate on having product I believe in, and that my vendors would be proud to carry. I will have time to find the right fabrics, and develop the right silhouettes based on on my design sensibilities and your incredible feedback. I will develop more tops, as well as dresses with sleeves and more tailored pieces in a range of high end fabrics. I will do this right, or as right as I can get it.

Thank you everyone for understanding, and know that Cabiria is still going strong. Stronger than ever, thanks to you all!

All the best, Eden

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

Store Tour Details and Things Cooking

Hello friends,

I am so very excited; I'm about to embark on a Store Tour of the Upper Midwest this coming week, and I want to let you in on the details!

On Thursday, June 20th from 4pm to 8pm I'll be coming to Boutique Larrieux in Milwaukee, WI at 315 N. Broadway. Our wonderful hostess, owner Lydia Hamilton will be supplying champagne and snacks, and I'll be bringing new items for you Wisconsin ladies to try and enjoy.

The next night, Friday, June 21st from 6pm to 8pm I'll be at Vive la femme in Chicago, IL in Bucktown at 2048 N. Damen. Stephanie Sack, fantastic plus-size mogul and hostess, will have Spa Soak on site to do hair and makeup, and there will be mint juleps and canapes! I'm so excited. She's created a Facebook Event page as well, just to see more, including unreal beautiful photos of a lovely customer wearing a bunch of the new styles sent over for the event.

Then, we're off to the Twin Cities! Saturday, June 22nd from 4pm to 8pm I'll come to Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN at 794 Grand Ave. for our third event. The gracious Denise Alden will be hosting us, providing pink bubbly, some snacks, as well as drawings and giveaways. I love it! Bombshell will also have new styles provided just for the event.

In other news, Madison Plus Select has started releasing new items on their website, featuring the beautiful Denise Bidot wearing our Sofia in Giant Peony silk waffle weave pique lightweight dress, along with our previous offerings. Check it out, including the illustrious owner Aimee Cheshire wearing the self same dress!

Finally, behind the scenes news at Cabiria HQ is that we maybe, pending, could, might, possibly have a great new investor. What this means is that we really hope to have a Fall/Winter line ready to release to you all in proper time for the cold weather. However, if it makes more sense to do it big and right, we'll hold off and release a Spring Summer line further down with all sorts of bells and whistles. Either way, Cabiria is moving forward in big ways. I cannot WAIT to bring it to you!

Please come to the Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Paul events next week. I really am looking forward to seeing you there!

All my best, Eden

Store Tour and New Press (Happy Summer Everyone!)

Hello friends,

As summer heats up, we've really been cooking over here at Cabiria HQ! We shipped to the newly opened, newly revamped Re/Dress NYC, we're in the works for a big wholesale order to a vendor you already know and love, and we're working on how to get the Fall/Winter collection produced. So much good stuff!

But this is definitely the biggest news: We are hitting the road for a Store Tour! As a big thank you to all the lovely Upper Midwestern folks who have been selling out Cabiria's dresses at Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, Vive La Femme in Chicago, and Boutique Larrieux in Milwaukee, I am going to be coming to do 3 in-store events and bringing lots of Cabiria pieces for you to try on and take home with you!

I'll be coming to
Milwaukee, WI to Boutique Laurreiux (315 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202) on Thursday, June 20th from noon - 7pm

Chicago, IL to Vive La Femme (2048 N. Damen in Bucktown, Chicago, IL 60647) on Friday, June 21st from 6pm - 8pm

And St. Paul, MN to Bombshell Boutique (794 Grand Ave St. Paul, MN 55105) on Saturday, June 22nd from 4pm - 8pm

I know the shop owners all have fun stuff planned, from giveaways to manicures to cupcakes, so please come out and meet me! I can't wait to show you my dresses and meet you all.

We also have the glorious Michelle Landriault of Affairs Magazine proving to be the best kind of fan. Not only has she now featured us once in her magazine, but she bought another dress and featured us again! And this time, she got StrangeFate Photography on board and did an entire photo shoot to show off how she wears her new Cabiria Sofia in Giant Peony silk dress. Can I just say how much I love this lady? If you click on the "Affairs" link, you'll see her whole photo shoot!



Next we have the lovely Cynthia Schames of fantastic e-commerce site Abbey Post modeling the new Valentina in Blue Splatter that she bought at Curvaceous K on NYC's Lower East Side. She didn't want to take it off, and wore it out of the store! I love that.


And finally, from last month's Madison Plus Select Press Event, we have a photo from Tracey Iglesias's blog Ascending Butterfly, featuring the Flaminia in Tropicalia, the Francesca in Robin's Nest, and the Sofia in Black & Ivory Lace silk jersey. And me!


Please get in touch with the stores closest to you for more details regarding the in-store events, and if you want a store near you to carry Cabiria, let them know! Happy summer everyone, and see you soon!

All the best, Eden

Spring has sprung and we're ready for it!

Hello friends,

It's been very busy as always here at Cabiria HQ! With spring in the air and buds on the trees, we've been shipping out dresses like crazy to wonderful customers all over the country. It's really thrilling to see this all flourish. Speaking of which, I'd love to see photos of Cabiria customers in their new dresses! Please send me photos at eden[at]cabiriastyle.com, and I'll happily post them on the website and the blog. For instance, here's Farrah Olieri from her Facebook selfie in Giuseppina in Butterflies:


and Stephanie Sack in her Francesca in Robin's Nest:

and her Sofia in Giant Peony:


In Chicago, Vive La Femme has had Cabiria flying off the shelves, and in St. Paul, Bombshell Boutique has already reordered some of our sexiest dresses. Yay, beautiful Midwestern plus size ladies! Showing the rest of the country what style looks like over a size 12. You ladies in New Orleans also have EXCLUSIVE dresses in The Voluptuous Vixen, here in New York City, Curvaceous K on the Lower East Side is stocked with the fabulous Flaminia in Tropicalia among others, and online, the incredible site Madison Plus Select has been batting it out of the park. Don't forget Pionna.com either. And I'm always looking to get into stores closer to you. Help me help you!

Some of you may know that I'm also a costume designer, and that has paid off with my relationships with other costume designers. Cabiria will be seen on actresses on THREE different television shows if all the pilots who bought from us are picked up - major network exposure here! Also, Danielle MacDonald wore Cabiria's Sofia in Giant Peony to the red carpet premiere of her film "Trust Me" at the TriBeCa Film Festival last week too. Photos to come soon, I promise.

Here's a wonderful first: Michelle Landriault of Affairs Magazine walked into Vive La Femme in Chicago, and fell in love with the Giuseppina in Butterflies dress. She fell in love with it so much, she made it her OOTD for Easter. Then she loved it even harder, and wrote a whole article about Cabiria being her favorite new designer! How thrilling that this customer is also a fan and a great writer. I love our beautiful customers.

On April 10th, we were on New York teevee! WPIX Channel 11 Morning News had a feature with Madison Plus Select and Aimee Cheshire, hosted by Sukanya Krishnan (a hot curvy lady herself) that aired all over the Metro New York area. Aimee wore the Valentina in Orange Floral and one of the models wore Sofia in Black and Ivory Lace print silk jersey. So beautiful! (I promise to have video soon). Also, Madison Plus is about to do a big photoshoot spotlighting Cabiria NEW, AS OF YET UNPHOTOGRAPHED dresses on the stunners Denise Bidot and Ivory May Kalber. Lucky us - lucky you!




And last month, the fabulous Stephanie Sack of Vive La Femme did a fantastic video on her VLFTV Youtube channel featuring the Cabiria dresses in her shop in Chicago! I love her sassy delivery and how well she wears the pieces. Check out her amazing video now, then run down to her store and buy them all out!

It's all great news, and I can't wait to delivery more dresses into stores so you all can play in the sunshine and swing around in pretty clothes. Let me know if you want to play too!

All the best, Eden

More stores, including New York and New Orleans!

Hello friends,

It's been such a great ride so far since these dresses have hit the market. I'm so very excited that as they get more attention, more stores want to carry them, and then you, my dear reader, can actually see, touch (and buy) them!

This week brought some amazing things: NHK Japanese TV show "El Mundo" shot a segment about us while we were still in production, and it aired this past week, showing us in the factory! I'm currently trying to figure out how to get the segment trimmed to show you just us, since the show is an hour long. Very cool and Cabiria looks great!

Now the best news - I love independent plus size boutiques, and I'm thrilled that Cabiria is now in 2 more of them! New Orleans ladies, The Voluptuous Vixen in the French Quarter has Cabiria in stock in the next few days, and my New York City sisters, Curvaceous K on the Lower East Side has Cabiria on the racks as we speak. Here's a shot of what landed at Curvaceous K before she even had a chance to put them on pretty hangers:



To add to the fun, Stephanie Sack at Vive la femme in Chicago made a video showing off the new shipment of Cabiria dresses as well. Check out the great video!

And don't forget Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, and everywhere on Madison Plus Select and Pionna and of course on our Cabiria website as well. If there's an item you want to try on from the website, TALK TO YOUR RETAILER and ask them to order it in for you. I'm perfectly willing to work with stores this way, and it helps create a network of customer, store, and manufacturer. Conversation!

Finally, I'd really really appreciate it if everyone could "Like" the Cabiria Facebook page. It's important to be able to get information out on the business without it all feeding through my personal account, and it helps promote the brand as a whole. PLEASE "Like" us, and if you have ideas on how to get more Likes, please let me know. Thank you all and go shop!

All the best, Eden

Now in Chicago!

Hello friends,

I'm just sending out a quick note today to let you know that a big shipment of Cabiria dresses is going to be landing on store shelves at Vive La Femme in Chicago in a few days, so you lucky folks in the Chicago area can go check out the goods yourselves!

Also, Cabiria is now going to be stocked through Pionna, a Seattle based plus size e-commerce site as well. Don't forget about Bombshell Boutique in St. Paul, MN and Madison Plus Select! More ways to get your hands on Cabiria dresses, now that the weather is about to turn towards springtime and fresh frocks. Exciting!

Have fun and think of spring,

Eden