Holidays in Review

I am not the most fond of the holidays; I have spent too many years in one form of retail or another, and the holidays boil down to two things for me: 1. I have to make a ton of stuff. 2. I have to sell the stuff. A long time ago when I was in college, I started making all of my Christmas gifts myself because I was too burnt out on selling to do much shopping. Nowadays, I still make quite a bit of my holiday gifts, but not all of them. This year was especially cumbersome even though I only did two shows. I spent November getting my ready for these shows with machine-like mindlessness, because that is how I do the holidays. But I also did a little business workshop with some of my fellow I Heart Art: Portland friends. I spent most of my year recovering from 2009 and 2010; regaining a bit of stability in an unstable climate, but I was really ready to focus on what it was that I really wanted to do with Piper Ewan.

For so long I have been fighting the battle with myself about what I really want to make v. what I think will sell since I have to contend with people constantly telling me that what I make is way too expensive, or I have to make a dumbed down version so they can be at an affordable price point. Not that hand crafted ribbon flowers and garters are dumb, but I cannot feed my soul on churning out the same thing over and over and over ad nauseum. I had to admit to myself that I hate doing shows. I agreed to do the shows, because my lovely sales rep, Iris agreed to do them with me. She could talk with enthusiasm about the things that I was so burnt out on. She could be my buffer to the ladies who want to tell me that I should make baby headbands.

Oh the shows. I hate them. I can admit this now. This makes me feel so conflicted. It is always so good to see everyone. This is the only time I get to see so many friends in this community. This is a community that I have been a part of for so long. It is a community that I helped create in a way. I have hosted my own shows. I get to see clients and customers who I truly love. I get to see what everyone is up to, and what they are making. I get to hear how much the lucky recipients of my goods loved their gifts last year, and how they wanted more. I get to hear about the compliments they get when they wear the things I have made. I love this, I do. I have a hard time going to shows that I am not selling in, because I feel like I am missing out. So what is it that I hate so much about shows? They are exhausting for one. Weeks of insanity leading up to them. Dragging in all the things, setting up, tearing down. But the thing that I like the least are some of the bad interactions I have with people. The people who won't make eye contact, the people who are dead set on telling you what is wrong with what I am making, that my prices are too high, and if I would only... I feel like I am on display like some sort of circus freak that has this ability to do something that is out of reach to society at large, and this creeping suspicion that everyone wants a piece of me. Some people get all excited, because they think they found the person that can magically produce the product that they thought of, but think they cannot do themselves. This may or may not be true, but I have ideas of my own; more than I can possibly produce. That is what drives me to do what I do, not to be a vehicle for someone elses' pipe dreams.

Every year I say that this year will be the last. Forever I have doubted as to whether my work fits in this model. I have been coming to terms with the fact that I make LUXURY GOODS. This has been hard for me to admit. But the part that kills me is that I feel like I have been holding myself back, and dumbing myself down in order to try to fit in/make a meagre living off making things. I get most excited when I am challenged by something. I love making detailed work, and it is a tedious time-consuming endeavour.

I have done a good lot of studying tradition business practices over the time I have been in business, and I am not sure that traditional applies. The system that sort of worked is now failing. That failing system has been telling me to compromise forever. I don't really feel that I want to compromise anymore. It doesn't seem to help a whole lot. So I am going for it. Does that mean I won't do another show? Well, I have one coming up in February, so probably not. Not sure what the holidays will bring in 2012; that's a ways away. Will I not be making garters and flowers anymore? Of course not! I will just be more focused on other things. I have to at least try to lead the life I want to live.

My Troubled Relationship with Discount Sales

It is so hard to not get sucked in. I can have my resolve in place, but then people keep asking "When is this going to go in sale?" My answer is that it isn't. This is really hard as a person who sells things to not have sales. The pressure comes from all sides. It comes from customers, from fellow craftspeople, from society. With things out there like Groupon and Living Social. From all of the Peer pressure to participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. It reenforces the idea that it is not okay to make your living selling things. That may sound hyperbolic, but that is what it boils down to. We are pushed on all sides to think that price is the only factor, and you cannot sell anything if you aren't constantly lowering your prices in order to get people to buy your goods. This is unsustainable. At some point, the price will be too low to make a profit. The price will be too low for your work to have any value. And if you make all of your product by hand by yourself, you cannot follow the model of mass produced goods. And in order for an item to be put on sale, it is either overpriced to mark down or the person making it is not making enough money on it.

Mass produced goods have several things you don't have if you make things yourself. They have access to cheap supplies and cheap labour. They have more room to make lower margins because they the advantage of a high sales volume.

The next argument is that if you price your goods properly, you can afford to have a sale now and then. I would like to argue that you might be able to afford it in dollars, but not in perception. I have my good priced properly; all of my materials are accounted for (usually materials are less than 10% of my product, it is all labour), my labour on the piece itself, the design process are all in the wholesale price while paying myself a living wage. You double the wholesale price to get the retail price. The retail price covers my time to photograph, market, sell etc. my products to the general public. If you are a store, you get that retail mark up to cover the costs of running your retail business.

But can you afford the perception that your product is not worth it's retail price? That is what sales say. If you are constantly having sales, then why would anyone ever pay full retail? This is another perception that I would like to figure out how to change peoples' mentality around. And is this the customer that you want to attract? I don;t know about you, but I am trying to establish long term relationships with people who will continue to follow me and support me over time; not just a quick one-off sale at a loss.

How do you establish the perception of the worth of your product? Take cost out of the equation for a moment, and focus on the product. Can you tell me why it is special? How long did it take you to develop the skills to make this? What do your particular sensibilities bring to your product line? What emotions does this evoke? How can we stop trying to compete with the mass production model? I don't have all of the answers here, but I think it is important to consider these questions. If we do not value our work, then we cannot expect anyone else to either.

I am not saying that you shouldn't have the occasional sale. Discounting goods on occasion can be a good tool in your business toolbox. This is one you should use with care. I tend towards giving discounts to my most loyal customers as a reward for continued business than trying to start out my relationship with a customer by setting a precedent of expectations that aren't sustainable.

december craft show madness or how much is too much?

this is the state of my floor as i prepare for shows 2 and 3 of this weekend. since friday: 50 feather hairpins (3rd photo, some sold) 10 feather pieces (added to the pile in the 2nd photo), several plain flowers (lost count of how many), goodies and coupons for sunday's handmade nw formal show, organizing the vendors for the p:ear show next weekend, and probably more, but i can't remember. my mantra for getting everything done, and it's working: one thing at a time from start to finish.

here is the short list of shows:

12.5 Sunnyside Environmental School Holiday Bazaar 11a-4p 3421 SE Salmon Street to raise funds for biology trips. There will be a raffle with fabulous prizes!

12.6 Handmade NW Formal Artisans Sale 10a-6p at the Chelsea Ballroom 1510 SE 9th (and Hawthorne) We will be dressed in out finery to present you with lovely handmade goods for the holiday season! swag bags to the first 100 to arrive!

12-13 P:ear craft show for the 12 days of P:ear fundraiser Sat 12.12 6p-9p Sun 12.13 10a-4p 338 NW 6th Avenue (and Flanders) two days of fun-filled crafty goodness with art, music food and libations.

12.19 Saint David's Last chance Holiday Bazaar 10a-3p in the Parish Hall 2800 SE Harrison featuring a raffle with fabulous prizes!

12.20 Last Chance Open Studio Sale at my studio! Kirsten and Brent will be open for your last minute holiday needs. Maybe we will have a special guest or two, maybe we will just be drinking by ourselves. Always entertaining; bring a friend! 323 NW 6th 2p-7p

(and my etsy shop, don't forget about that!)

together, you can buy out all of my stock, so i can do this every week! i have lots of ribbon to make more.

size does matter

through years of custom work i have gotten to be reasonably good at fit. the transfer from my mind to a two dimensional sketch to a three dimensional garment with all of its curves and movenment is more than enough to confound even many designers. i actually enjoy the challenge of the female form with all of its idiosyncracies. the biggest challenge is to fit within a size chart. as you may have guessed from trying on mountains of clothes (how many friends have called me crying from the dressing room of the local department store):

there is no such thing as an average woman.

we are reduced to 3 measurements: bust, waist, hips. no account for height, nor proportions relating to the three, nor length of limbs nor torso. fit can be a nightmare. setting a sleeve to lay flat AND be able to move withour benefit of stretchy fabric is a definite skill. so what happens when one is forced to make pret-a porter off the rack clothing? there are always the people on the peripheries of average size X giving me advice. oh how i hate the "you should," but i do listen. i may ignore, but i do listen. i have been developing an everyone corset for months now. i think i have gotten it satisfactorily made in its curves and adjustability +/- an inch.

the challenge was first grading it into multiple sizes. this process is usually put off as long as possible. it is really tedious. i won't bore you with the details, but it involves making that perfect pattern into every size considering those size chart boundaries of bust waist hip. i have finally managed 4 sizes: 1,2,3,4. but what to call them? they don't exactly correspond to bra sizes or SML. come try one on!

PRETTY GIRL HOLIDAY SALE
16 november 2007 artists' reception and sale 6-9
17 november 2007 sale 11-5
at the egg
534 se oak street (at grand & 6th) in portland

www.myspace.com/prettygirlholidaysale