Do-It-Yourself Beaded Gemstone Statement Necklaces

Posted on May 22, 2011 by tarynzhang

Guess what I’ve been up to. As we wait for production of the Alpha Collection (if it feels like we’ve been “waiting” for a long while now, it’s because we have; it’s been a year…), I picked up a new hobby: beading gemstone necklaces. It is so crazy-easy to make your own gemstone statement necklaces that there is basically no reason for you to buy one, unless you’re doing so to support an indie jewelry designer or artist, i.e. I am 300% in favor of people buying jewelry on Etsy.com.

I have one of those addictive personalities where I will just go at something in total OCD fashion and keep at it until I’m completely drained. I beaded 11 necklaces and 3 bracelets in a week’s time, and by the weekend, I had extinguished my supply of beads, which is a good thing because I was mentally done with beading as well. Newfound admiration for Etsy beaded jewelry entrepreneurs. I don’t know how they do it. After making these necklaces, I’m near cross-eyed.

There have been DIY (do-it-yourself) posts on this blog before, like this one on sewing your own evening bag, or this one on sewing your own day clutch. In that spirit, and after I beaded 11 necklaces, I figured I’d get a little more mileage out of the excursion by writing up a DIY.

I bought genuine natural gemstones from beadbuddies.net and abeadstore.com, both sites I highly recommend, and the rest of my supplies, such as the “fashion beads” (glass, synthetic stuff) were purchased from the local Michael’s craft store.

Since I know nothing about beading, I bought three different types of thread to experiment with, and hands down, no contest Beadalon’s Wildfire thermally bonded bead weaving thread won out. I recommend the 0.006 in./0.15 mm thread in black. Allegedly you can hang 10 pounds off this thread and it won’t break. I haven’t tried that, but I did yank really, really hard on it and nothing happened. So it’s good stuff. And inexpensive. One spool of 50 yards is under 3 bucks. If you’re going to try beading your own statement jewelry at home, definitely buy Beadalon Wildfire, 0.15 mm.

For clasps, I selected two types: magnetic drum clasps (pictured above right) and round toggle clasps (pictured above left). Lesson learned: don’t bother with round toggle clasps anymore. If I ever pick up this hobby again in the future, I will only use the magnetic drum clasps. The magnetism of the drums is super-strong and unless you intentionally yank at it with the kind of force that would break the necklace anyway, the necklace will remain secure. I love, love magnetic drum clasps.

The magnetic drum clasps have a larger hole on one end, and a smaller hole on the other. You start a necklace by pulling the thread(s) through the smaller hole. Knot it several times, cut off the excess, and then pull backward until the knotted end is secure inside the larger hole. Adding a few drops of superglue into the larger hole to plug it up makes me feel better. According to many tutorials though, this isn’t necessary.

Now you can start beading. I like the multi-tiered necklaces, so I knot together 3 to 5 strands of thread at a time and secure that to one end of the magnetic drum clasp. Since it’s a magnet, I stick it to something metal to keep it stable, and bead away.

Above photo credit: Polyvore meets Photoshop.

For the above-pictured necklace, I knotted together 3 pieces of thread, beaded them, and then braided the 3 beaded strands together. Every few inches of braiding, I would bring the three pieces together and bead in one larger bead and that would secure the braid.

Finishing off the necklace is the hard part, but not that hard. For the magnetic drum clasps, thread the strands through the smaller hole in the drum, knot it several times (I knot it something like 5 times), cut off the excess, and then with a needle or small sharp object, push the knot backward into the larger hole in the drum. Again, I add a few drops of superglue and I find that this makes the clasp virtually indestructible (as far as necklace clasps go).

For the round toggle clasps, loop the threads through the little hole, knot several times, cut off the excess, and then use clear nail polish to coat the entire knot and the ends of the thread. This acts like a glue, a gloss coating, and keeps the ends from fraying. Supposedly there is a special jeweler’s glue for this purpose, but clear nail polish works equally well.

Also, I took on a fascination for gemstones because I was reading about their purported metaphysical properties. It’s fun to read about, and even more fun to design talisman necklaces based on these purported metaphysical properties. I would be wary of anyone who took it too seriously though.

Most of the necklaces I made were black and white, with a tiny pop of color, like a few stones of aventurine, coral, hematite, new jade, goldstone, or colored Austrian crystals. Black and white beaded necklaces have such a sleek, chic look. Add some pearls and suddenly the piece takes on a corporate conservative flair, great with a work outfit.

Photo credit: Polyvore meets Photoshop.

I had thought about selling them on Etsy.com (not by way of TZ; just as a fun, personal side project thing), but wasn’t confident enough with the quality of my workmanship, so ended up giving the necklaces away as gifts to close friends and family.

If you’re interested in browsing photos and reading more about the gemstone necklaces I made, visit my photo album. Apologies for the fuzzy photography. For all photographs in this post and of the necklaces in the photo album, I used an 8 year old Casio Exilim digicam that I didn’t like very much 8 years ago, and like even less now, but I was too lazy to charge up the battery on the DSLR. So it is what it is.

There’s the resident kitty showing off the necklace he got, a lovely three-tiered statement piece adorned with moonstone and pink Austrian crystals. Yes it’s pink, with sparkly crystals and pearls. Yes he is a male cat. And what!?!

So flag this as an Action Required: make your own statement necklaces and style them into OOTD posts. =)

The cost of materials for all 11 necklaces and 3 bracelets (and note how all of them are made up of multi-tiered beadwork, so lots and lots of gemstones used!) was $81.57. Ignoring the bracelets, that’s less than $8.00 per necklace. For natural, genuine semiprecious gemstones!

Consider the alternatives: a multi-tiered beaded gemstone statement necklace at Ann Taylor is $98.00 to $130.00 each; Nieman Marcus offers turquoise and lapis lazuli pieces with similar design to the ones I made and they run upward $500.00; the Home Shopping Network sells the same at $50.00 to $100.00; and just forget about the designer couture stuff! So bottom line, totally worth your while.

I wouldn’t bother with purchasing patterns or kits. All the necklaces I made are my own “original designs” and you should be able to handle designing your own as well. (I put ”original designs” in quotation marks because they weren’t all that original in design; I did try to make some nutty, asymmetrical crazy stuff, but they came out terrible.)

Figure out which gemstones you like the most, brainstorm a general concept, buy the supplies, and go! Check out YouTube for beading tutorials and read a couple of how-tos online if you’re still unsure of yourself.

Beading necklaces is a great stress-reliever and this newfound hobby has been incredibly therapeutic. Considering the pressures I experience in my day job and nothing going as planned for TZ, beading a couple necklaces (or a dozen) has been a welcomed exercise.

Do let me know and drop a line if you decide to try this out. Who knows, you may discover a hidden talent, become an Etsy entrepreneur or launch your own line, and fashionistas or people like me will love your designs so much we all end up your patrons!

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Posted in DIY Fun Post, Musings, Personal | 39 Comments

More math than anticipated in fashion design, boo-hoo on economics, and link to an 8A article.

Posted on May 10, 2011 by tarynzhang

In the last few weeks, work on TZ has consisted predominantly of punching away at the above machine. I have never liked that machine. As a kid I vowed I would avoid careers involving calculators. So I thought–woo!!–fashion, I’ll do fashion! Fashion is just doodling and sketching, conducting “market research” by flipping through Vogue, W Magazine, and InStyle, glossies that I’d flip through anyway, and traveling to exotic faraway locales to get inspired by pretty fabrics. Right?

Wrong. Someone should have impressed upon me just how much math would be involved in fashion design. Especially if you are starting your own business in fashion. So, folks, letting you all know now because I didn’t know then: lots and lots of math involved in fashion design. In fact, this is my second post on math; first one here: “The Mathematics of Design.” I have had to do more number crunching with that stupid machine than I ever anticipated to do voluntarily.

In any case, apologies for not having updated here in over 3 weeks. FYI during that time, I’ve done the following (and more):

  • processed handbag orders (we’re not currently selling, but on occasion we get private requests from the CEO of a Fortune 500 or a bigshot lawyer partner who is integral to business dealings from my day job, and we feel we can’t and shouldn’t turn down such requests);
  • finalized production orders for the handbags, dustbags and eco-friendly reusable non-woven totes that each order will come with;
  • worked on production of custom TZ purse hangers (they’re really cute!);
  • worked on custom TZ packaging materials;
  • worked some on our trademark application with the USPTO (we’ve been having some complications with the TZ logo trademark app., though the situation is finally on the up and up, yay!); and
  • lastly, because I felt I had been lacking in civic participation, applied to be a commissioner in my city’s Arts and Culture Commission, where we oversee the allocation of city funds to public art. I just had my interview with the mayor last week for the commissioner position..

So although it’s been quiet on this blog, it’s been hectic in real life.

Me logging inventory. It’s one of the less glamorous aspects of the gig.

Examining different samples of non-woven totes we’re giving away in lieu of dustbags.

 My favorite tote sample: it rolls up into a tiny, convenient, portable pouch!

Of course, the TZ one will be in black, with our logo and name in gray.

 Designing the TZ purse hangers. They’re made in Taiwan! =) The shaded in dotted sections mean recessed and sandblasted; not-shaded means raised and smooth metal.

I did want to sound off on another aspect of this venture that has been a bit of a reality check. I started TZ for art’s sake. I love all things art and this was my way of dabbling in the creative and maintaining full control of the creative. I thought if I had worked for a fashion house or found employment through my art, I would not have full control because I would have to tailor my work to a client or my company. I’ve seen this tension a hundred times over in the producers, writers, graphic designers and artists my day job firm have retained in the past. You can see the irritation in the artist’s eyes when the client (our company) rips apart the work, shoves it back at the artist and tells him or her to do something totally different (and totally outside that artist’s style).

Launching my own label meant 100% creative control, I thought. Not so. Instead of being controlled by a client, as my own label I am controlled by economics. And it feels awful.

For example, I had wanted to offer each design in many color options, with each color option representative of a specific personality facet: black for the traditionalist, brown for the lover of classics, red for the bold and intrepid, an antique rose pink for the feminine, and the working women among us with a softer side, etc. Now I can only offer each design in two color options. Two! Picking two colors from a rainbow of hues, tints and tones, the infinite spectrum of swatches availed to me, was torture. Also choices in hardware got limited as well. We didn’t compromise on the material quality, so the vegan leather we picked is still super nice. However I won’t get all the cool custom TZ hardware I wanted. Sigh.

Another thing I’ve been doing: making minor but critical adjustments to the bags. For example, the Precisionist satchel. See below. The black bag on the right is photoshopped to show what I want the final product to look like. The marked up light green bag on the left is the current actual sample.

Another example: added a patch behind the metal TZ logo plate on the Peripatetic weekender tote. See below. Also changed the positioning of the decorative chains.

Speaking of the Peripatetic, I’ve been carrying one of the original Peripatetic samples for quite some time now, the one in a smoky violet color (which won’t appear in the finalized color options for this collection).

This particular version of the Peripatetic got rejected by me pretty quickly because I didn’t like how minimal the contrast was between the light smoky purple color and the darker smoky purple color. The light should have been lighter and the dark should have been way, way darker.

Also, the mock alligator skin didn’t sit well with me at all. It felt like plastic. Plus I’m just not into mock alligator skin (or real alligator skin for that matter). I just don’t see the draw in slinging a dead animal over your shoulder, or even mimicking one. By the way Hubby picked the material. He saw it in a swatchbook and said he liked it. I said I didn’t, but ordered one in the mock alligator skin anyway to appease him. He still likes it. Me not so much.

In any case, I now have this single sample of this mock alligator smoky purple Peripatetic, so I’ve been using it. As it turns out, the functionality of this design is fantastic and I don’t even care that I dislike the color, dislike the material, and this is more of a weekend/casual bag than business-formal. I still carry it to work. It fits everything. It’s got all those interior and exterior pockets. In the interior pockets I can organize my pens, sunglasses, and cell phone; for the exterior pockets, I can stash my business cards in one compartment, my lipgloss in another, quickly tuck away receipts when I’m out shopping, it’s just the most useful bag. Here’s to hoping that future purchasers of the Perpipatetic weekender tote will love it and find it as useful as I do!

More production and collection design updates soon, once I have cool photos from production or the purse hangers, bags, or packaging, etc. to show. I’ll conclude this post with a link to an article: “True Activism Missing In Asian American Fashion Designers” posted over at 8Asians.com.

The gut response to that piece might be that political activism is missing among fashion designers generally, not just among Asian Americans, but that’s not true. Fashion and politics have always been intertwined. If you want to know what the political climate is of a society, just look to that society’s fashion trends. There is a great Barbara Walters interview with Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue, where Wintour addresses this point. (In the video linked, start at 3:18 where Walters asks Wintour, “Does the mood of the country affect fashion?”)

Considering how “exotic Oriental styles” are being pushed this season (and will be again in Fall 2011) as a “hot trend,” it’s appropriate to critique how and why someone’s cultural heritage could get turned into a mere fad. First, I construe the fad as indicative of how the Western world to this day perceives the Asian Diaspora in the West: as perpetual foreigners. No matter how long I or my parents or the generations of my family have lived in the States, no matter how American I feel at my core, I am still seen as something exotic. Perhaps the way we Asian American activists can challenge that stereotype, then, is to challenge the “exotic Oriental” fashion trend. Something for our dear Asian American fashionistas to think about. =)

Posted in Business Development, Friends in the Trade, Learning Curve, Musings, One Step Closer, Personal, Progress, Promotional | 24 Comments

Loving Mendocino County and Random Personal Musings

Posted on April 17, 2011 by tarynzhang

Hubby and I went roadtripping to Mendocino this weekend. Mendocino is an ideal setting for a short story! I love it there! On the day we drove the coastline, however, it was foggy. The bad: It was foggy. The good: The mood set by the fog inspired me to write a short story! That’s definitely new. Fiction I have written so far have all been set in the New England region of the States. To write or to even think of writing about NorCal is different for me.

The above photos are of Glass Beach in Fort Bragg. The site used to be a dump where locals threw their trash: glass bottles, appliances, all sorts of junk and litter. Over the course of 50 years, the pounding waves of the Pacific wore away the glass, metals, and plastic into smooth pebble-like pieces. Really, really pretty!

Photo Credit: Glass Beach, Wikipedia.org

Also, since it was a looooooong drive, I got some reading done in the car. Kartika Review editors were given advance review copies (ARCs) of Hagedorn’s latest novel, Toxicology, a book I can best describe based on my superficial preliminary reading of it as very pomo. I know some folks shudder at being categorized as pomo lit (in particular the folks who write pomo lit), but I mean c’mon, the novel was a pastiche of pop culture references rendered into a nonlinear narrative with a lot of irony, self-deprecation, and dark humor. Gee, what’s the sum of these parts? Toxicology is as postmodern-lit as postmodern-lit gets these days.

In the case of this particular book, that is all a very good thing. I enjoy Hagedorn’s writing immensely! Count me one of her biggest fans.

Again, though, I read it very fast in the car on a roadtrip, and will be giving the novel a second, closer reading. What I have to say about it may change after that. Readers who enjoy David Foster Wallace, Chuck Palahniuk, or Don Delillo will probably like Toxicology a lot. The book is out this month (April 2011), so go out and get it!

And yes, that’s one of the first prototypes of the Peripatetic weekender tote in pink that I carried all weekend. The above photo is a camera-phone pic of it in the car.

Over my objections against him doing what he’s doing in the above photo, Hubby crossed that narrow bridge-cliff-thing. Not. Cool. I was on the verge of a panic attack the whole time I watched him cross it.

Oh, and look what arrived in the mail just in time for me to take on the trip:

My Compassion Fashion Project tee! Also see the way-too-kind, made-me-sound-way-cooler-than-I-am article the organization posted about Taryn Zhang and me on their blog, linked here. As you can see, we did a mini-interview exchange. =)

Let’s conclude today’s programming with a pseudo-OOTD. =)

In addition to the cool Compassion Fashion Project tee, made with eco-friendly, sustainable organic cotton (and carrying my very own Taryn Zhang Peripatetic tote, which of course is not pictured because that would make too much sense, you know, to remember to advertise my own bags), I’m wearing an adorable necklace designed by Eki Mura, the jewelry designer behind EkiLove.

The Love Neko Necklace. Photo Credit: store.ekilove.com

Eki is multi-talented and wears many hats. In addition to accessories design (including handbags!) she’s a makeup guru, artist, and–well, okay, mind as well put it out there–as Hubby might remark, a “hot chic.” There’s just no avoiding it, which is that this designer happens to be very, very, incredibly beautiful.

Photo Credit: ekilove.com

The design point of view of EkiLove may best be described as pink pearly girly pretty princess cuteness (try saying that a hundred times as fast as you can), and is a wildly popular style in Asia that is just beginnning to gain attention here in the States. It’s derived from Japan’s harajuku fashions, and this particular style is referred to as the hime or “princess” style. I certainly could never pull off the hime style, but one necklace here or two is fine. =) Especially if it’s by someone as sweet, gracious, and talented as Eki Mura!

Anyway. Check out her stuff. Right now, a significant portion of all EkiLove’s proceeds will go to support earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan.

Posted in Friends in the Trade, Musings, Personal, Unrelated, Vacation Pics | 25 Comments

Taryn Zhang Supports the Compassion Fashion Project

Posted on April 9, 2011 by tarynzhang

Compassion Fashion Project - Taryn Zhang

Meredith Corning, founder of The Compassion Fashion Project, is amazing. Based out of Arkansas, the Compassion Fashion Project works with shelters across the country to supply survivors of domestic violence with clothes, personal care products, and even professional attire and accessories to help these women become independent. Corning’s initiative is all about empowering women. Of course, I love that.

Many fashion illustrators, designers, and industry folk have connected with the Compassion Fashion Project to promote awareness of domestic violence and other women’s issues. Whether she knows it or not, Corning has incredible PR and marketing savvy. (After I interviewed her, see below, I found out she has a background in marketing. Well! Now that makes sense!) She has positioned the Compassion Fashion Project as the nexus connecting fashion designers, illustrators, fashion enthusiasts, bloggers, and key industry folk, and has managed to get them all excited about the Project. Her marketing talents are astounding, and a great case study for any entrepreneur on how one can utilize both personal networks and the blogosphere to promote a philanthropic cause or business.

Corning is without a doubt fierce. She’s a general rallying her troops to take on a tough, tough mission, and yet she is poised to succeed because Meredith Corning is a leader, one with style, finesse, and even a sense of humor. For example, she writes: “We are just a couple of gals trying to save the world, which can be a daunting task in stilettos.” How do you not smile at that? =D

One of the Project’s fundraisers is selling T-shirts and other wares, designed by contributing fashion illustrators and fashion designers. See for example the above tees. Top, left to right: Gabby Hale, shoe designer; Lena Ker, fashion illustrator. Bottom, left to right: Gabby Hale; Meredith Cavaness Corning, fashion illustrator.

Browse the entire gallery here.

And now designs I contributed on behalf of Taryn Zhang will be available as well! Neato!

Meredith Corning graciously took time for an interview, but before I get into the heavy stuff, thought I’d post the rough drafts and designs I rejected as I worked on something for the Project’s T-shirt fundraiser.

Here are two pencil sketches I did on print paper. I thought they were interesting looking women at first, but then I scanned and uploaded the images and realized they didn’t take color (via the paint can function) very well. (That and I’m not exactly a pro with graphic design so the range of what I could realistically do with these images is minimal.) Also, friends insisted the woman image on the right (below) is creepy looking.

For the (totally unprofessional) way I do this, I need to hand-sketch a blocky illustration first, then upload it onto a computer, and then use the paint can function to add color. If I do any shading at all with pencil, which is my inclination, the outcome will be crap when I attempt paint-can-coloring. See third try below to the very right for what I mean by blocky.

And that’s how I ended up with the two final designs I submitted to Corning.

The purple lady above (and it is only one lady, copied, pasted, and mirrored to make two) was supposed to look sexy, you know, posing kind of like a fashion model or something? And she’s in purple? Compassion (for domestic violence survivors, the purple ribbon campaign, yada)? Fashion? Get it? Blah. Instead, she looks confused, like “derf? where am I?” Sigh. Oh well. It is what it is.

If you want to support the Project, domestic violence survivors, shelters, and make me happy, click here and order one of the tees I designed. =)

Now. On to the fantastic Q&A with Meredith. She truly is an inspirational figure and I cannot emphasize enough how much I love the fact she’s bringing together fashion, philanthropy, and awareness of feminist issues. Our industry often gets criticized for not doing more in the realms of philanthropy and awareness of feminist issues, an unwarranted criticism by the way, so I’m glad to present to you Meredith Corning and her initiative.

Q: What inspired you to synthesize fashion with domestic violence awareness?

CORNING: Fashion is synonymous with the message that we are trying to spread at The Compassion Fashion Project.  Fashion is constantly changing and evolving as is with the human spirit.  We want survivors of domestic violence to be inspired by the changes that are occurring in their lives. 

In general, I feel that the fashion industry is full of artists, designers, creative thinkers, innovators, and pioneers ready to take on this challenge to spread awareness.  I want all women to understand that they are not alone in this fight and have supporters that want them to be their own heroine of their story. I want women to find deep within themselves in those dark corners of their minds, the strength and power they possess to do great things, and sometimes that means taking risks…also synonymous with fashion. 

Fashion sets the tone and trends for what is to come. Who better to start this movement about a widely unwarranted taboo subject than the fashion industry?

Q: What has been your most poignant experience through the Compassion Fashion Project so far?

CORNING: I celebrate all of our successes, big or small.

I think that the biggest impact we are making right now is through our initiative with a wonderful non-profit called the Pink Slipper Project.  I wrote an article about the work that they do for women’s shelters by either sewing, crocheting, or knitting slippers for the women and children who reside in shelters all over the United States. 

The Pink Slipper Project has supporters in the thousands and everyone is invited to take part by hand-crafting their donation to their project.  After the article was up, their founder, Joyce Lucas, asked if they could make our three local shelters that we have been working with a year’s inventory for each. This was a pretty big deal for The Compassion Fashion Project as the ladies will filter over 1,000 handmade slippers through The Compassion Fashion Project. 

Networking with amazing organizations and companies has been a great accomplishment.  I hope that we will inspire others to network with the resources we provide to our readers and do the same in their hometowns.

Q: When did you start the Compassion Fashion Project and what is your vision and mission for the initiative?

CORNING: We are still quite new and grassroots.  I created the blog in November of 2010.  At first, I thought it would simply be a great way to talk about creative ways in which we could support our local domestic violence shelters with a “fashion” focus and bring awareness to the issue in an edgy way.  When we ran our first online campaign at Christmas, we collected over $100 to one of our local shelters.  This was not a lot of money, but it showed me that we could really make this spread into something bigger. 

My goal for The Compassion Fashion Project is to eventually raise enough funds so that we can file our paperwork to become a registered non-profit. The future holds many ideas I want to implement into my own communities and abroad. 

My first goal after we become a registered non-profit will be to start working with corporate apparel industries to filter donations of new clothing, accessories, and personal care products to our local shelters. 

Once we have achieved these two important details, we want others to start their own Compassion Fashion Projects in their communities.  We want to instill hope and self-confidence into the lives of women and children who have been affected by domestic violence to promote an overall well being in society and improve the way we all treat each other.

Q: You have been so immersed in the initiative and so passionate about philanthropy that you neglect to talk about yourself! So please, tell us a little about you. Tell us a story about Meredith Corning.

CORNING: My professional background is retail sales/marketing.  I am an art school graduate who just recently went back to school for my fashion merchandising degree. 

My Social Media Administrator, Elizabeth Newell, is a domestic violence survivor and one of the best friends I have ever had.  She is earning her degree in social work.  We merged our areas of expertise to create this project. 

Elizabeth Newell, Social Media Administrator of CFP

On a personal note, today is my 10 year anniversary with my husband, John (note: written 04/06/11), and we have two beautiful daughters.  My oldest daughter, Cherysh age 8, has been very inquisitive about what I am doing and has even started her own jewelry making business from which she donates 50% of her proceeds to domestic violence shelters.  My youngest daughter, Adia age 3, is not sure what I do, but when she sees a fashion show or fashion commercial on television she says, “That’s Mommy’s fashion project!”

Meredith Corning with husband, John

The truth is that John is my biggest supporter and I couldn’t do any of this without him.  He loves what I am doing for women and is very much a part of everything I do.  He is not only my husband and best friend, he is the Co-Founder of The Compassion Fashion Project and has great respect for all women.  We both hope that in some way we can change the way the world views what a “healthy relationship” looks like by leading by example.

Q: A reader/blogger sees this post and wants to help your initiative. What can she or he do?

CORNING: Individuals can do several things to help.  Simply becoming a fan on our Facebook page, a follower on our blog or Twitter helps us spread our message. If you live in or around Arkansas, we would love to meet you and have you as a guest at our events. 

If you are a designer, retailer, or organization who would like to donate your products through The Compassion Fashion Project, we will do the leg work for you by delivering the items on your behalf and obtaining the appropriate receipts you need for your donation. If you already donate proceeds, products, or time to women’s shelters, please make us aware and we will include you and your products/services in a “Weekly Challenge” article.

We are always looking for Contributing Fashion Illustrators for our online boutique where we offer t-shirts, tote bags, and other gorgeous little items.  In return we will feature you and promote you for making such a contribution.  Net proceeds from our online boutique go into a savings for our non-profit filing fees. 

We also offer a “Donate” paypal button on our blog. The need for writers who have had personal experiences with domestic violence are also needed.  It helps to inspire others who can relate and is cathartic for the writer.  Maybe you want to start a movement in your community and we encourage this and would love to hear those stories, too.  But, the main thing I want people to do is read our blog, learn, and grow with us, so that together we can all build a more peaceful world. [Sunny adds: "in stilettos."]

Taryn Zhang New York and the Compassion Fashion Project

Combating violence against women is a mission near and dear to my heart. Through the pro bono legal work I’ve done, I’ve represented women who were survivors of domestic violence, rape, and sex slavery. I’ve sat across the table from women who were the same age as me, who liked the same silly things as me–cheesecake, puppies, Hello Kitty–but who lived through horrors and endured pains I cannot begin to understand. From the day one such woman decided she’d try to escape to the actual date she succeeded at escaping, 10 years–10 years!–had passed. Why? Because there wasn’t help or resources made available to her. That is why what the Compassion Fashion Project does is nothing short of heroism. They are making available the help and resources that enable such women to get out of their horrific situations.

As I write this, Meredith Corning and her team are currently distributing thousands of pairs of footwear to 3 local shelters in Arkansas. Back in Christmas of 2010, the initiative raised about $100.00. Today, in less than 6 months time, the initiative has raised well over $10,000.00 in supplies for shelters. That, my friends, is testament to Corning’s phenomenal leadership skills, networking and marketing capabilities. Other non-profits and even startup businesses can learn a lot from how Corning has directed the Compassion Fashion Project. That, too, is why I post this: who doesn’t love a beautiful, moving success story!

Links & References:

Posted in Friends in the Trade, Musings, Personal, Promotional, Sketches SW | 23 Comments

New Swatches & Microeconomics

Posted on April 2, 2011 by tarynzhang

We cannot use the swatches we picked before and on top of having to pick new swatches, I cannot select more than five. Production costs will spike if I order more than five colors. The colors cannot simply be five randomly selected colors I like either, oh no, because I have two-toned bags, such as the Ambitionist and Peripatetic.

I’ve decided on three of the colors: black, a really dark chocolate brown, and a dark red. The other two colors will have to be two colors that can be paired in some way with at least two of the colors above. Why do I have to have the contrasting color pairs?

The modern day career woman needs to balance dualities in the workplace. She needs to assert herself and negotiate for her own advancement in traditionally-masculine ways, and yet she is also pressured into retaining traditionally-feminine characteristics and appearances. (Like how many firms still consider the skirt suit and pearls to be more formal and appropriate for corporate women than a pant suit adorned with a necktie-like scarf, because the skirt suit better fits how we think women should dress.)

Random doodle from my sketchpad posted here because I needed an image to break up the big chunks of text.

Also the [unrealistic] expectation that women can and should harmonize home/family with work/career or risk public scrutiny and broken relationships was a concept I wanted to express in my designs, hence all the contrast stitching and bags with two contrasting colors. Women, generally more so than men, seem to be more sensitive to balancing all of our inner, philosophical, and spiritual dualities, and the pairing of contrasting colors and stitching is reflective of that.

Now… as for the pairings of contrasting colors… And remember, only five color choices. I can’t order more than five colors. One must be black, one must be dark brown, because those are still going to be the popular go-to colors that women will buy, and one in dark red, another go-to color. Plus, I love the boldness of red. It makes a great statement in the workplace.

So really, it’s only two color choices, and they need to be matched with either the black, the dark brown, or the dark red. These three colors are quite austere, and quite boring in how classically-corporate they are. So to contrast them, I really want to integrate soft, pretty colors. One of my objectives for starting this label is to challenge our notions of what should pass as business formal. What better than pink? Hardly anyone sees pink as “business formal.” Oh, but I’ll make it so! =D

And to that end I definitely like a pastel antique rose color. (That, by the way, eliminates the red swatch as a potential contrast.)

The above two shades of pink are what I’m debating between right now. Votes for either or would really help in my decision-making process.

As I’ve noted in previous posts on swatch selection, when I take photographs of the swatches, the photos always upload all washed out and faded, almost gray. So I tried to find MS Paint colors that were as close to the actual swatch color as I could render.

“44″ is a nudy, neutral pink. “45″ has a hint of lilac in it, but still definitely a pink. Right now I’m leaning toward “44,” but Hubby votes for “45.”

“44″ or “45″… ugh! I don’t know!

My other swatch selection is this jade mossy green light tea green maybe we can call it celadon colored green. And the two shades I’ve narrowed it down to are “24″ and “25.”

Initially I was leaning toward “25,” and then a friend said she preferred “24″ because the “25″ color was so light, it looked like it would easily attract dirt. Good point, I realized. There’s also more pigment to “24″ than there is to “25.” That “25″ color is really, really light, more yellow than green. The more I look at the colors now, the more I prefer “24.” Still, it’s up for debate. So… “24″ or “25″? Which to go with?

Going left to right, the third and fifth bags pictured above are two-toned. And the two colors must be selected from the limited five colors I order. Realistically, that means these two-toned bags can only come in two (2) two-toned options.

(FYI I slapped together six different photos of the six bags and put them side by side. So they are NOT to scale, at all. For example, third one from the left, the Peripatetic, is by far the largest of the bags, a weekender; but above, it looks smaller than the Workaholic, the fourth one from the left, a “business casual” shoulder tote. Ionno why I did it that way. I hope it won’t cause any irreparable confusion!)

Currently I’m thinking for the Peripatetic tote (third one from the left), offer it in the pink with dark brown accent and the celadon green color with black accent. For the Ambitionist briefcase (fifth one from the left), pink with black accent and the celadon green with black accent. I don’t really have a rationale for going with the pink-and-brown on one design and pink-and-black on the other, but that’s my intuition and I’m following it. Or not. My mind is changing every other day. So any input from you is really welcome.

I’m probably making this more complicated than it really is. Five colors. First three: black, brown, and red. Remaining two must be colors that contrast and complement at least two of the first three color choices. And the colors must in some significant way express TZ’s brand theory. My goal is to decide and order the five colors by end of this week.

If resources were unlimited, so would the color options that TZ bags come in! For sure! You could buy a TZ briefcase in sparkly gold for all anybody cares, and neon orange. No, but seriously, at the very least I’d include the grays, a purple, both a light and a dark shade of blue, and throw in a white option for the intrepid. (I’d never carry a white handbag because I am a stain and dirt magnet, but a woman with a white handbag looks ultra-chic, so definitely TZ should offer a white option.)

Alas, resources are limited and five colors is already pushing it, by a lot. If it’s possible to reduce it down to four, I may go ahead and reduce it down to four. In fact it would be great if I could reduce it down to four! Sigh. So this coming week, I’ll be carrying my swatches with me wherever I go and thrusting them under the noses of all who are willing to give me the time of day to select “44″ or “45″ and ”24″ or “25.”

Posted in Business Development, Collection, Design Conception, Learning Curve, Musings, Progress, Sketches SW | 19 Comments