A New year and soon a New Look

I found that over the last year I strayed away from doing regular posts here on the blog. I am on Twitter a lot and it just seems more immediate and I love the instant interaction I get with clients. Sometimes its hard to run a virtual shop - you don't get that one on one with the people who shop with you. So sometimes I am having to much fun over there that I have let days go by without posting. Plus I am dreadfully bored with how this blog looks overall. I know it needs a make-over but its such a big task I have avoided it - like that closet that you know needs to be cleaned out but that you just keep shoving things into and slamming the door shut quickly so you can ignore?
Uh huh that's about where I am feeling with this blog.

I recently gave the site a teeny make-over that unless you are a regular you might not even have noticed. If you use the left navigation bar and you hit search All Clothing you get sub-menus breaking up the different types of clothes - Dresses, Tops, Bottoms etc. The All Dresses category also has a sub-menu when clicked upon and you will notice lots more categories there then there was before - I have added categories for type, finish and style - hopefully making it easier for you to find the right look and silhouette. I also stream-lined the Shop by Era category - I added a 2000's section and a mixed era section for the pieces that are re-purposed by one of the designers on the site. I also added a whole new menu - Shop by Color where all the clothing is now grouped by color!

That navigation menu was another virtual "closet" I had been avoiding tackling but is now crisp and organized. I hope it helps make finding your perfect item easier!

So the blog - I think that in the next couple of weeks I am now going to turn my attention to it and give it a bit of a make-over. Make it cleaner and fresher. I have struggled on the focus of it and that has been part of the problem. I know clients look to it to see whats new in the shop but it feels almost silly to post new items here, on Twitter and on facebook. It takes so much time to do that and its on the actual SITE as well that it seems self-indulgent, so posting new items only tends to happen hazardously. I love doing client posts - that won't ever stop and I love letting you know what celeb is out there rocking vintage on the red carpet. But I want to add more ABOUT vintage. More about the guy who made the dress 50 years ago or how a seam is put together. I am not a historian or necessarily an expert on everything vintage (but I do know a LOT of trivia on it let me tell you) so even if this is info pulled straight from my huge collection of books I want to start sharing. I know I have to add more content about wearing vintage too. Doing daily outfit posts are a TON of work - honestly I don't think I can run the shop and do that and make it consistent but I will try to work that it in somehow.

I don't know exactly how the blog will change this year but it is going to. I know I have loyal readers out there and I am letting them down by not posting on a regular basis. On some days I might just blab away on what's happening in my world - pictures or not. Doing a blog is a LOT of work and its been such a busy year at Shrimpton Couture that its been hard to keep up with everything. But I am not ready to give up on this yet! I just need to find the right vibe like I have for the site (if you are a regular you know that the site prior to March of 2009 was RADICALLY different!)

The year ahead is going to be fantastic! There is a LOT of potential things that might just come to fruition that I can't share with you just yet but they are pretty big. Even I am a little in awe of what might be around the corner this year! I have built a tremendous team over the last 8 months - my buyers, my two fabulous interns and the talented designers that let me showcase their items on the site! And I have the best clients on the planet - and they come from all four corners of that planet too. You are all tremendously fabulous and I am honored every single time you decide to shop with me. Sometimes I am sad to pack up a dress and let it go out of my hands but then I get that email of delight, or a photo with that same dress being worn by one of you beautiful girls and it makes it all worth it.

I love what I do and I love every one of you for supporting me in doing it - its lets me keep going and sometimes it what keeps me going.
I thank you for that

This year is going to be a journey hopefully this blog does a better job capturing that journey.
Here's wishing you a Happy New Year's Day
May it be the first day of our best year ever

xoxoxo
Cherie