In Which I Talk About High School...

I didn't realise that I was almost wearing my old High School colours today until I saw these photos. My school uniform was navy and maroon with accents of white.

Without the scarf...

Looking back at High School, I didn't really have a bad time, though I was awkward and shy and not one of the pretty, popular girls. I certainly came into my own towards the end of those years though and really couldn't be bothered with the clicks that came along with High School life.

In my 6th form year (or second to last year of high school) I went to America for a year and lived in Stockton, California. Everyone asked me why on earth I chose to go to Stockton and the truth was, I didn't, thats just where my host family happened to be and I loved it.

My Mum had always encouraged my sister and I to go on an exchange, and in about the middle of 5th form I decided I was bored and wanted to go somewhere new for a year and so to America it was.

I left in January, after the September 11 attacks, and even the airport was a scary place after that. I landed in LA and while waiting for my connecting flight saw big groups of buff men walking around in their army gear with massive guns - I think that was the first time I had ever actually seen a gun in real life.

My first day of school, I stood out like a sore thumb in terms of my accent and not really knowing what on earth was going on - I looked like a tourist with my school map trying to figure out where on earth I was going before I ended up getting there late. I also remember being asked the strangest questions about NZ - does it have a bridge connecting it to Australia? Can Kangaroos swim? Do you live in little mud huts? All the answers to those questions are no, except that we don't have kangroos in NZ, though I still suspect no.

After I returned, I did my last year of High school before escaping again and coming down to Dunedin to get my Bachelors degree. I'm still here, with a finished degree and 2 1/2 years working full time organising events.

Next year is a mystery because David is currently researching places to go to get his PHD and hopefully a scholarship to go along with that (He has nearly completed his Fulbright papers, so I could potentially end up back in America). I'm quite excited by the fact that I don't know whats happening - I get to go somewhere new, do something new and meet lots of new people while I'm at it.

I'll keep you up to date as things progress!!

XX
Jen

A Title of Sorts...

The opening of the film festival was lovely - the film was An Education and everyone seemed to love it, as did I. It's set in the 60's, so for anyone who is interested in fashion, there are some really great pieces and inspiration in it, as well as a good, relatively light hearted tale (it's actually based on a memoir).

This is what I wore to it, plus a little cropped black woollen cardi that I borrowed from a collegue (it was freezing that night!). The dress has little black polka dots on the background, but my camera chose to blur those up for some reason, it also has a scalloped neckline, and deep v back which you can't really see that well. Sorry...

I've also only been to a few films after all that going on about how many I wanted to see. David was really sick on Saturday and is still sick, and now I think I'm startng to pick something up. There has been a nasty little bug floating around the office for the past few weeks and I'm really hoping I don't get sick for at least another three weeks - that gives me time to finish up the film fest and get art week over and done with, I'm organising a fashion show/wearable arts show that is happening on the 14th August!

So, I've only seen two movies besides the opening - Coraline, which I loved (beautiful animation) and The September Issue, which was really quite funny and eye opening. It really does come across that Anna Wintour really is only an editor and adds no creative value to the magazine except taking away other people's creative contribution to it.

Grace Coddington is definetly my favourite person in the movie. Her work is beautiful and she stands up for herself with Anna, unlike everyone else who seems to cower before her.

There won't be a shop update this week, nor will there be one next week either sorry! I also have awards to pass on and just want to thank Natalie for doing a little post about my shop. You should head on over there, she has quite the inspiring story which she is sharing as it unfolds in her blog (and a cute little Etsy store of her own to boot!). Thank you so much Natalie!!

Any way, must get off,

XX
Jen

Films and Vintage Patterns...

The film fest is opening tonight - Yay, excited and lots to do :)

I also got my hands on some great vintage patterns and two vintage pattern books a few months ago that I have yet to show you, so here they are. I'm going to make those sweet little high waisted shorts for summer - inspired by no other than Casey. I've never drafted a pattern before, let alone a vintage one, so I'm a bit worried about how they will turn out. I'm sure if I just make it up like I normally do, it'll be fine.



Fingers crossed...

XX Jen

Shop Update...

Another quick shop update - two new skirts and a lovely yellow mini dress are now up.

XX
Jen

Another Day, Another Dollar...

It's been busy busy busy around these parts! Last weeks event went spectacularly well, it was crisp, cool, sunny and everyone seemed to love it.

The thing about some of the events we run is that they have pockets of intense labour and I mean intense - lifting, moving, shoving, picking up, getting dirty, muddy and sweaty (ahem, I mean glowing) - which all occured on Thursday (day and into the late night) and Friday morning.

The weekend was a blessing, and this week it's full on again but with none of that 'glowing' malarky. It's the opening of the Dunedin leg of the International Film Festival - we have the gala opening night on Thursday, of which I have a gorgeous 40's black and white dress, thrifted just recently, to wear.

There are some AMAZING films coming to the festival this year - which is why, for the next two weeks, I'm probably going to be slightly out of action (seeing at least one film a night on week nights, and at the moment, one of my weekends has at least three films to see per day - movie overload! But great for passing away those cold winter days.).

Some of the films I am most looking forward to are Coraline (love Neil Gaiman and am most excited to see the film), Coco Avant Chanel, The September Issue, Valentino: The Last Emperor and so many more. Most of the ones I've listed are fashion related, but there are lots of amazing films that don't have anything to do with the subject too.

If you are in Auckland or Wellington, I think your leg is still going but will be over very very soon, Christchurchers - yours is on the way!

I have yet to catch up on comments and emails - soon-ish hopefully? And I have three new things for the shop which will go up on Wednesday.

XX
Jen

Shop Update...

Just a quick post to say that I've done my very first shop update! Three new cute little skirts are waiting to be snapped up.

Look out for more next week!

And, please have a chat to who ever it is you chat with for me, to ask them if they can make the weather fine for tomorrow down here. We have a huge outdoor event tomorrow and the weather, while not terrible, is looking slightly grim. I'll take icy roads if it means a beautiful, clear winter day!!

XX
Jen

Ps) I've taken down my prices a bit in my shop, it was something I was struggling with - how do you put a price on your own work? I did get some helpful advice from the lovely ladies who did my shop survey a few months ago, but it was still hard! So I hope they are a bit better priced for those of you who would like to buy a garment.

Icy Morning...

This morning I had a scary ice moment. It really didn’t seem icy at all until I hit the bridge going on to the main road in, I saw the car in front of me swerve a bit, so hit my brakes to slow down (not that I was going fast at all!!) and I swerved and crashed into the side of the road. At this point my heart was racing and I didn’t want to drive anymore!! David calmed me down and we made it into work at a snails pace. There was ice everywhere and you could see where people had swerved off the road because of it. When I crashed into the road there was another car in front of me who had done a complete 360° and was facing me, so I let them slowly turn around before moving on.

Vintage hair pin that you can't see very well...

So that certainly got my heart racing and woke me up for Monday morning. Now off the topic of ice onto the topic of mulled wine. Last week after work, David and I were going to meet his dad for dinner so we decided to pop into a pub for a glass of mulled wine before (David had been there the day before for a friends birthday and had tried the wine then). It was yummy and warm and spicy. I’ve never actually tried it before but always meant to, so on Friday after work it was off to the supermarket for supplies to make our own. Yum! David got the recipe off the internet, and I would post it here, but I’m not sure where he got it from.

Thank you all so much for your kind words about my shop, and for hearting me too. I’ll have a few new things up on Wednesday. I’m trying to pace myself with adding things because it’s coming up to a very very busy period at work, and I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to sew, so, I’m hoping to get a small-ish backlog so I can continually update throughout the busy time.

xx

Jen

Going Live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Guess what?

My shop has just gone live!!! Woohoo...


And also guess what? In the space of about 5 minutes I've already had someone convo me for a custom order and I already have two people hearting me!

So, head on over and check out Jennifer Lauren.

XX
Jen

Ps) I think I'm still going to re-take a few of those pictures on the weekend, but hey, at least the shop is up and running!!

Pps) I don't want to go too over board with excitment, but I think I can realistically dream about this becoming my full time job next year! Okay, maybe that was a bit over board...

Ppps) Thank you so much Caroline for doing all the design work for me! I changed my mind about more things than I can remember and she still put up with me :) And is still my friend!! I think...

Pppps) Actually, I only have one heart, in the excitement, I didn't actually look properly. But still!!!

Hmph....

I nearly wore this outfit with a white mini dress, but just as I was about to put it on, I realised that I would end up looking something like this:



Now, for the reason I called this post 'Hmph'...

I hate taking photos in winter. This past weekend was dark and rainy and horrible again and taking photos for the shop was a nightmare. I even borrowed a fancy camera and tripod from work to hopefully take some decent pictures, but they turned out dark and yucky again.

I've been trying to edit them and its beginning to get frustrating and I don't want to anymore. Some seem to be turning out semi okay, but the others are just awful and I wish I didn't have to wait until the weekend to try again. What's even more frustrating is that it took so long to take them in the first place! I truly underestimated the time it takes to take photos of a bunch of different things.

I'm hoping to list some of the items where the photos look semi okay on Thursday, but the rest will just have to wait because I don't like them.

Does anyone have any pointers on taking decent photos when it's dark? David did offer to help on the weekend, but I think I scared him away because I was getting annoyed and frustrated.

xx
Jen

PS) I'm so sorry for not responding to comments/tags lately too. Work is really starting to pick up now, and trying to get things done for the shop is eating up my spare time!! But I do so appreciate them, and hope to reply to everyone asap.

July...

Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement about what will be in the shop. They really do mean alot, and I now feel somewhat happier about the shop opening. It is nerve racking putting your work out there, but I feel like I am doing the right thing so, thank you thank you!!

Work is just starting to pick up again after a little June lull and in about three weeks we'll be off to a flying start with our next event. Can you believe it's July? We are half way through the year already, and my what an eventful six months it's been!


XX
Jen

Ps) I've been trying to think about what my next video post will be - any ideas? If you missed the first one it's here - although, it really is just me rambling!!!