Blog - LALENA

New! My Art on Totes & More

11/27/2020

I have an announcement! I decided to move everything I sell that's decorated with my art to my Lalena.me website.

Why? It's different customers & fans than my women's clothing business. I've sold just as many items to men as women. :) And I think the people that like my art are likely to be the same people that like my music and my videos. :) Some of the music videos do have a similar aesthetic, like this one.

SPECIAL SALE

To celebrate, I'm offering a sale on totes. Prices Good until Mon., Dec. 30th at 12 midnight. While supplies last.

Basic Tote Bag (Only a few of these left in-stock!)

Origami Tote Wrap (Only a few of these left in-stock!)

Urban Tote Bag (Lined)

All of the items are Made in Canada and decorated with my art. Please support me and Canadian business by buying some pretty, artwork decorated goods. :)

And please share with friends and family who may be interested, share on social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Thank you!

#madeincanada #shoplocal #blackfridaydeals #smallbusinesssaturday

International Women's Day: Be a Lady They Said

3/8/2020

I thought I would share the video, "Be a Lady They Said". I found it to be very powerful in speaking to the many contradictory expectations of women.

International Women's Day: Celebrations and Protests

3/8/2019

Female soldiers participate in the changing of the guard ceremony at the Quirinale, the presidential palace, in Rome on International Women's Day on March 8, 2019. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Female soldiers participating in the changing of the guard ceremony at the Quirinale (the presidential palace) in Rome on International Women's Day on March 8, 2019. I love that cape uniform!

I think it's interesting that International Women's Day is so different in various places. In some locations simple subtle nods to women, in some great celebrations, in others protests.

There was one quote in particular that caught my eye in the Google Doodle for International Women's Day 2019: "Wings are freedom only when they are wide open in flight. On one's back they are a heavy weight."

(Graphic design by Yai Salinas)

It's a quote from Marina Tsvetaeva who is a Russian poet.

There's something about this quote that really speaks to me. I like the way it places emphasis on the importance of spreading your wings and embracing your strengths, your brilliance. The importance of doing what you're meant to do, what you love to do, what you feel called to do, your freedom.

This year for International Women's Day I would like to encourage everyone to join the Shimmy Mob!

It's a "flash mob" type of event and the largest belly dancing event of its kind. It's been held for eight years in 44 countries with over a thousand teams and more than 10,000 participants!

The goal is to create awareness to end domestic violence and support victims of abuse around the world. Shimmy Mob is volunteer run and a portion of the registration fees goes directly to local shelters.

Anyone can join! Men, women and children. No experience necessary. It's held around the world, and if there is no local group you can create one!

The Registration Deadline is March 31st.

Practices start in April and the Shimmy Mob will be Saturday, May 11, 2019.

For more information, visit www.shimmymob.com

And yes, I’ve signed up! I will be part of the Shimmy Mob. :)

If you need some inspiration, check out this video:

Sometimes YouTube auto-play finds the best stuff for me! Great belly dancing moves to Tribal in a pretty glittery costume. Yes, Google you know me well, you knew I'd like this. :) Not that I've ever watched anything like this before, but good guess based on my interests!

Casual

2/16/2019

I've been feeling this song lately. I love the broken speaker intro and the lyrics.

Lines that resonate:

"Let me in, don't shut me out
Don't tell me you love me if
That's not how it really is"

"You don't need to paint me a sweet fantasy
...Say what you feel, don't just say anything"

"If you wanna lay with her, why don't you just stay with her?"

"You say you don't want a girlfriend
But when we are in person
You always act so different
You make it all seem perfect
You hold me when we wake up
Say you like me with no make up
I'm trying to be patient
How am I supposed to take it?"

And of course the chorus:
"Is it casual
Or are you tryna spend your life with me?"

I guess this is kind of my anti-Valentine's day post? Maybe an expression of a bit of my frustration with my experiences over the last year? Some of my other posts allude to this, I've had some not so great experiences. :(

It's also sharing a good song I like. :)

Oh, and I want that bikini top she's wearing! I don't know when I'd ever have a good reason to wear it or if they make it in my size, but oh, so pretty. I want one!

It all started last Tuesday...

10/19/2018

Actually it started earlier than that. Truth be told, it started at the end of August. Another vendor had reserved a booth and couldn't do the West Coast Women's Show. I considered it. I had a booth last year in the Artisan section. The booth up for grabs was in the Fashion Hall and the organizer tempted me with the offer that I could do my own fashion shows! Ooo, I'm in! I completed designs and ordered new merchandise. I met with my manufacturer to discuss samples for a collection. Getting raw materials and supplies and production and delivery would take months. Then last week, the BIG LAST CRUNCH before the SHOW-TIME! Here's the rundown.

Day -2 (last Tuesday)
My last day to run around in my car and get things. I spent the day driving all over, Maple Ridge to Surrey to Vancouver. Attending a meeting, doing model fittings and buying booth supplies. I was at one of the retail supply stores (where you get mannequins, bags, boxes, etc.) getting display & packaging options for my new products just before they closed. After that I picked up some more odds & ends from Walmart and a dollar store.

My battery on my cell died and I had a tons of messages from people people trying to contact me while I was driving around all day and night. I caught up on messages and found a bunch of the messages were 2 urgent requests, a friend had their car breakdown and wanted to borrow mine, another was from my mother about a surgery and could I fly down. Really?!? What timing!

I spent some time talking to both of them that day and the next, figuring out something that made sense. The friend was going to borrow my car on Thursday, since I'd need to be on-site doing setup. My mom was going to check with her doctor about surgery scheduling and how much help she'd need afterwards and get back to me after the event. Whew! Ok, emergencies handled.

Day -1 (Wednesday)
This was last day I was actually at home and I was trapped there waiting for a UPS package. This was also the last day I planned to do fittings. The UPS delivery was guaranteed by the end of the day, so I thought it would arrive by 5. I had an appointment at 6pm to do fittings at Pizzazz modeling in White Rock for the Main Stage show.

At 4:45pm, I got an email from my manufacturer saying the samples for the collection were ready for pickup. Great! But too late to pick up by 5pm, so I'd have to go the next morning.

Also at 4:45pm, UPS still hadn't shown up. I checked the tracking number and read up on guaranteed delivery. I learned that for residential, the guarantee is by 7pm or later... What does "or later" mean? Argh! I called Dale at Pizzazz and explained the situation. She helpfully arranged for her models to come to me for a fitting instead. So I spent the evening doing fittings and fixing the flawed charms I had received, since I didn't know if that package was going to arrive or not.

The package finally arrived, but then I questioned what I wanted to do with the extra charms. Now I had 2 sets and they weren't the same. I tested both and decided the new ones worked best as zipper pulls. The ones I was fixing were bigger and nicer in some ways. I decided to sell them as a new product. However this meant I needed to finish them, since the glue takes a minimum of 24 hours to set. I finished the charms and thought about pulling an all-nighter to finish other tasks, but gave up and got a couple of hours of sleep.

Day 0 (Thursday)
This was setup day, the day to actually get stuff into the hall and setup. This was also my last day to really *get* anything before the show, as the other days I would have to be at the show at my booth pretty much all day and night. First thing in the morning, I drove my manufacturer to pick up the samples of the collection. My first chance to see them in reality...and reality was not quite what I had in mind.

I learned that there are very important details to spell out color-blocking. Yes, the shading on the flats help indicate where the color-block is and WORD ORDER MATTERS... The designs still look cool, but not quite what I intended or had in mind. Then I got to drive back home, load up the car with everything I could fit and headed to the hall to setup. I moved a bunch of stuff in and spent the day setting up, talking to potential models and doing some last minute fittings. I got home late, but I needed to get signs and business cards ready! So I worked on that till the wee hours of the morning. I think I also just felt sleepless and restless in general before the big event. I got a couple of hours of sleep.

Day 1 (Friday)
The first day of the show! I woke up with a terrible migraine and I felt woozy. I was originally planning to pack up the car, pick up a final bit for my booth from downtown Vancouver, then go to Abbotsford. Looking at the travel times and traffic that morning, I realized my plan wasn't going to work. I barely felt up to driving at all and there wasn't enough time to go to Vancouver and then get to Abbotsford before the show opened. I felt bad enough that driving and getting to show was going to be a challenge. I emailed the people who had offered to help and asked for help! Natasha arranged for her husband to pick up the item in downtown Vancouver, as he works near there. And Kat was already headed to the show and she offered to cover the booth until I arrived. Yea, help!

I headed out in leggings, a turtleneck, and a fuzzy bathrobe on top cause that was the best I could manage. First stop was Staples to pick up posters for the runway. Next up was loading the car with extra stuff! Yes, I bravely took more stuff than I could fit in my car, hoping I'd sell & give away enough for it to compress to fit!

When the show opened I set aside the robe, but until then I stayed in it for comfort. I did an educational talk mid-way through the day, which went ok. It was a small crowd, so I approached it very conversationally and that seemed to work well. I put my robe back on at the end of the night, cause it was cold. A shopper was amused and said I needed fuzzy slippers to go with and I agreed! I figured I was there, I showed up, I did the best I could.

I got home late. The show ran till 9:30pm that night, so I didn't get home until after 10pm. I got some dinner and got things ready for the fashion show. I followed up on messages and emailed the models, make-up artists and photographers. I picked music and worked out a general plan for the walking order and fashions to show the next day. I planned to go to bed early, but still ended up staying up kind of late.

Day 2 (Saturday)
Saturday I felt a bit better, though still under-slept. I think I got 3.5 hrs the night before? I had some issues with people showing up late or not at all. I had a number of people who offered to help out with the booth and originally I planned to have people take turns modeling on the runway & watching the booth on Sat and Sun. Unfortunately, several people cancelled and one felt ill on Day 2. I managed the chaos as best I could.

This was the first day for the fashion shows I was doing, so it was a bit chaotic. I've never done a fashion show before, so this was a first! I had selected music the night before and sent the models the playlist. It had to be rights cleared, so I just went with my own music rather than hunt for public domain music I liked at the last minute. I thought about asking other musicians if they would wanted to be featured, but I was so busy trying to recruit models I never got around to it. I did get some last minute potential models, but even adding the models who were fitted on Friday was difficult. I had an outline of runway order, but it wasn't finalized until show day. The models had only seen and tried on the classic LBD. NONE of us had seen or tried on the new samples for the collection. I had just picked them up on Thursday, the day before the show started. Several models showed up late. The last one showed up just minutes before the show, make-up and hair done, but a "hot mess". Out of breath, sweating... I thought for moment about trying to fit her in, but decided no, too much chaos. We've already decided walking order and fashions. I can't do it; sadly, I have to say no, you're too late, and I did. I said several no's during this process. None were easy, but I had to make the decisions I felt were best.

The runway shows went well! Apparently, the audience couldn't hear me clearly because I was too soft compared to the ambient environment and the music, but the fashions were the focus so whatever. The models looked great! And they played around and had some fun with it.

Saturday night, I finally got a few more hours of sleep and 6-7 hours felt luxurious at that point. I'd been averaging about 3.5 hrs. for 3 days...

Day 3 (Sunday)
The last day of the show! Sunday was smoother, but more hectic. The show times for my fashion shows and the main stage were much closer together and the day overall was shorter. After finishing fashion show round 1, I headed back to the booth to catch up on things and just as I was thinking about maybe checking out some of the show, it was already time for fashion show 2. The fashion shows went more smoothly, since a number of us did the show both days so we had already practiced on Saturday. :)

For the models who only did Sunday, it was a bit more challenging as they didn't have the extra day of practice. The rest of us did our best to help them out, provide reassurance and calm nerves, but it's a hectic environment. Having watched fashions shows several times backstage, I don't think that's just us. I think that's just a bit how fashion shows are. There are a lot of moving pieces to coordinate and clothing changes, etc. We had to run our fashions down to main stage when we were done, since they had a show just after ours.

It was odd. I feel like I didn't really spend much time at my booth on Sat & Sun, but somehow I didn't really get to check out the show much either. I didn't really look around Hall B at all, except briefly on my way to something else, like going between the fashion hub stage and my booth!

I did manage to briefly run around Hall A before closing on Sunday. I was mostly questing for food, but I briefly took a look around. Chatted with a few people, Stopped by to say hello to Tanya and Freda, then ran around some more.

The Main Stage Fashion Show
I saw parts of the main stage show, but not enough! I really wanted to watch the full fashion show and the belly dancing! I got to briefly sit down and watch the main stage fashion show section that featured my designs on Sunday. My fashions got applause, which was nice! Natasha commented that only one other set of fashions got applause, so I must be doing something right!

I noticed they showed my LBD in another segment too, while they were showing off accessories from another store. It meant I got some questions about the fluffy wrap and pretty purse they saw on-stage that wasn't my booth.

The main stage show was more of a sneak peak at the new designs. They only showed 4 looks. The Classic LBD, the Red & Black Color-Block, the Leatherette Color-Block Sheath, and the Sexy Mini LBD.

My Fashion Shows
I was able to show more looks in my fashion show, but I still wasn't able to show all 13 looks. I had the samples made in a number of sizes, as I like diversity in my models and I want to show that the clothes fit sizes 0-26. So I had some larger samples that didn't make it into the show, because I was short booth staff and models. I had several cancel and/or not show at the last minute.

This meant that Keeley didn't get to walk the runway. :( I *so* wanted her to, cause she looked really great in the fashions! We got a few shots of her at the show, so I'm hoping those came out well. :)

Special Thanks & Appreciation!
Thanks to all of the models who participated. I can't wait to see the pics! You looked great out on the catwalk.

Special thanks to everyone who helped out at the booth and behind the scenes with the fashion show.

Really, lots of love ladies. I don't know how I would have made it through the weekend without your help! ❤️

I am very grateful for the help I received with make-up from Drupti and Marina as well. Both of them were very easy to work with. Marina gets an extra special thanks for providing a real backstage make-up environment for the models to experience and she modeled for me on Saturday as well. Marina told me she thought the fashion show went well and fairly smoothly and she's been involved in them before as a make-up artist, so I'm taking that as a thumbs up from someone with more experience than me.

I'm also very happy that a few photographers were willing to come out and take photos! Thanks to Partho, Cameron and Duke. I think we're all looking forward to seeing the pics!

Summer Fashions & Kimonos

9/22/2018

I was thinking about doing an end of summer fashion post and posting some pics of summer fashions I picked up this year and talking about shorts, but then I found out that my ticket to ApparelCamp tomorrow includes access to Vancouver Fashion Week on Saturday & Sunday!

So I'm going to Vancouver Fashion Week for the first time ever! I ended up spending tonight at a friend's place playing dress up and trying on outfits! ;)

It's past midnight now, so I'm just going to share this Facebook Live I did earlier this week about kimonos & then sleep.

The store I mention in the video is www.kimono-yukata-market.com and I have no affiliation with them. I just like their kimonos and yukatas. :)

Should I say yes, to the beautiful, bra-exposing nightmare dress?

9/8/2018

As woman with larger breasts I sometimes struggle with certain fashions, because there's no way for me to wear them without showing my bra.

I'm curious how many of you out there struggle with this issue too? How do you solve it? Do you avoid the spaghetti strap tops? The strapless dresses? The low cut tops? Do you just accept your bra or bra straps will show?

I saw a dress in the Topshop window one day when I was walking down Granville street and thought it looked really pretty.

I continued on by, busy to get to somewhere else and I avoid buying clothes (and stuff in general). Particularly clothes though, cause I feel like I should just make them or choose from my stock since I am running a women's clothing business.

Sometimes though I see something pretty, a design I really like and I'm swayed. So I was downtown again recently and the dress was no longer in the window. I went to see if it was still around and found in in the clearance section marked down. Ooo, temptation.

I tried on a couple of sizes. They only had 12 and 16, so those were my choices. Size 12 was definitely too tight through the bust; the buttons pulled and opened slightly. I *think* the 16 is really the right size. It is slightly snug through the bustline, but not overly so. The bottom is a bit big on me even with the cords tied at the tightest, but since it's supposed to have those sides open I think it works fine there. The issue is bra coverage, as shown in the pictures below.

I'm sure if I had much smaller breasts this dress would fit fine. Particularly if I was small enough (or had implants), so I could wear it without a bra. I suppose I could do the Kim K. trick and tape my breasts in place, but I don't like the idea of taping them into place.

I do like the dress! I think it's really pretty. However, the only real option to wearing this dress is to wear a pretty bra underneath and accept that it shows.

So should I say yes to the dress? I have a couple more days to decide. Post a comment. Let me know your thoughts!

Lighting! Oh, what a difference it can make.

8/31/2018

I wanted to share a couple of interesting articles about lighting.

The first is for all the fashionistas out there who do lots of clothes shopping in stores. Check out this great article with photos showing how much the lights in changing rooms can completely change how the clothes look!

Next up is a great short article on lighting and cellulite. Check out the side-by-shots showing dramatic differences all due to light.

And then finally, I wanted to share this video showing the difference lighting can make and showing the dramatic results you can get from video filters.

Let the light be good! And go light on those filters. :)

Cute Shoes, Earthing & the History of Houndstooth

8/24/2018

This week's post is about health and fashion. :)

I've gotten lots of compliments on my cute shoes & I do think they're cute and they're special.

They're a classic Houndstooth pattern. Houndstooth became associated with high-end fashion when De Pinna featured the pattern in a collection in 1933.

The shoes also have a special feature, they're designed to ground you to the earth.

If you haven't heard about earthing and some of the medical studies that have been done into this area, Dr. Laura Koniver, the Intution Physican, has a good list of studies and Wellness Mama has a good podcast interview with Dr. Libby Darnell talking about this topic too.

If you just stop to think about it though, it makes sense. Our bodies have electromagnetic fields. The planet has electromagnetic fields. Humans "people" the earth, this is where we developed. And humans spent a HUGE amount of time walking around barefoot or wearing simple shoes made of hides and other natural materials that ground you to the earth.

It's really only recently we started wearing shoes all the time and even more recently that shoes were mostly made of synthetic materials.

So go hug a tree &/or buy some cute shoes!

Pluggz is currently having a sale too. Up to 70% off, so it's the BEST time to buy stuff from them!

Note: I have no association with Pluggz or anything else mentioned above, I just like the shoes & wanted to share the info. :)

The Accidental Icon & the Glamorous Grandmas of Instagram

7/20/2018

A great article and video on age & women & fashion.

I love what Lyn Slater has to say about style!

More Sneakers, Less Heels?

6/15/2018

I think it's interesting that sneaker sales seem to be going up and women seem to be getting rid of more heels.

I do have high heels. I don't wear them often and own a lot more low to no heel shoes.

Also, as I think most women do, I only put on high heels for "showtime". If I have to drive, walk, commute, or do anything beforehand I'll wear sensible shoes, probably sneakers, then change into heels.

Do you wear high heels? Do you like them? Have you found high heels that are actually comfortable?

Production Delays and Tales of Terrible Customer Service

10/18/2017

I ordered all of the supplies MONTHS in advance to make sure there would be no delays when I was ready to do a production run. Everything is here, except the size labels. :(

Dutch Label Shop looks good on their website and Etsy store. Their site says, "Production takes 7 days". If production only takes 7 days, then why are my labels taking MONTHS? I ordered the labels more than 4 months ago in JUNE.

I've contacted them a number of times about my order and I've gotten different explanations for the delays.

At first they said my shipment was lost in transit and they promised to reship ASAP in July.

That reshipment never arrived, so I contacted them again. This time they said my order was never shipped due to a "glitch". Again, they promised to reship ASAP.

Then a week later, they contacted me asking me for payment. I reminded them I had already paid for the order months ago. They apologized and promised to reship my order ASAP.

I asked when ASAP was; they didn’t answer.

One of the fundamentals of customer service is to set clear expectations and then meet them. As a customer service representative you provide an estimate when the problem will be solved. If that date cannot be met, you contact the customer, provide an explanation why the original date can’t be met, and provide a new date for resolution.

I asked for a clear estimate when the labels would be ready; they haven't been able to provide one.

I asked to talk to a manager; they ignored me.

I have no idea why the Dutch Label Shop would want to provide such terrible customer service to anyone, let alone a new clothing company. Yes, I'm small now, but I do have the potential to grow and I am someone in the industry who will talk to other people in the industry. Why would you want to give such awful service to a new customer?

I'm looking into alternatives. If you are a company who can make size labels like this and get them to me in a timely manner, please contact me!

Oh, the woes of becoming a clothing manufacturer...

Update (Nov. 1, 2017):
Good news! They got someone with customer service experience to take over who was able to make sure the labels got done and shipped. The labels have arrived and production can now finally begin. Yea!