I haven’t had a day off in THREE WEEKS, but that isn’t stopping me. I have eleven orders to make tonight and I have a big audition on Saturday, so I am making myself something sweet and new to wear. I often start with an idea and then see where my fabric and sewing takes me, so I am starting with this idea:
A rough idea
Forgive the horrible drawing. It’s going to have a Peter Pan collar (my fav), a peplum, high waist and sleevelessness.
I’ll post the finished product. Wish me luck.
xo Desira
.:. A Winter Skirt in Thick Thick Wool.:.
reversible obis in highend designer cottons, wools, and organic bamboo denim…
Handmade obis by yours truly in very sturdy and flattering fabrics. These belts are very versatile and fit waists 27-32″ for the same long tie look.
And Cool Guys Buy Them Too! (@ last year's Makerfaire)
I just realized something, I have been blaming myself and turning my anger about the shitty economy inward. In the last two years or so since countless jobs have been lost and wallets have gotten beyond tight and open only for necessities, I’ve allowed this all to take a toll on my ego. Etsy and private sales and wholesale accounts, which were my all-consuming sole source of income just two years ago when I had a magnificent studio overlooking the ocean in Red Hook, Brooklyn, have become a distant drone of crickets in the present. Although I have branched out and focused my energies on acting as well in those two years, I also can’t help but point out that even a year ago, my studio was my constant companion. While watching an interview on CNN about Occupy Wall Street, it dawned on me, I have been covertly hating and blaming myself for my decline in sales. As an artist and fashion designer, when you sell your creations, you get a great sense of pride and self-worth from these sales. In the last six years, I identified myself as a fashion designer and my clothing and accessories were my prides and joys. They defined my income, brought me praise and appreciation and named who I was in the grand scheme of life.
Just like any job (in a good economy), there is a direct connection between profitability (in m case enough to pay bills) and ego. When that profit or sales is slight, the ego suffers. I seriously have been beating myself up over the last year thinking no one likes my designs anymore or enough to buy them, yet when I look at the state of the economy, the trillion more sellers who now inundate Etsy’s pages/blogosphere, AND the number of people who call my designs favorites or the inquiries I get, I find that that’s just not true. I swear, I just put two and two together. I know that there are some other factors in here and I should spruce up my shop, but I hope that I can breathe a little easier today knowing that it isn’t me, we need to keep on trucking, supporting Occupy Wall Street, small businesses, independent designers, and each other.
Now is a good incubation period for my design ideas and I have been dreaming up a whole bunch of houseware ideas (my first love, decorating, has been calling out to me lately). Thankfully I have been able to do a bunch of acting, freelance sewing gigs and restaurant work in the last year to supplement the gabillion dollars it takes to live in NYC.
I hope that things improve soon, but if they don’t, at least I know it’s not me. It’s also not my friend R, who can’t find paid work, K, who is a brilliant geographer, but is working at a shop and who hasn’t even been getting rejection letters from potential employers, businesses that have been shuttered, nor is it any of us who are not on Wall Street or any place near it.
In the last year, my company has taken some big steps away from the handmade DIY aesthetique and towards a true ready-to-wear company. I had gorgeous tags printed with my logo for the inside of my garments and accessories, as well as size tags and care tags in lieu of hand screen-printing my own. They look great. Another step I have taken is ensuring packaging looks amazing and boutique-ey. Every customer who purchases a piece from Desira Pesta gets a gift, well, what looks like one.
If you’re like me, you LOVE getting presents, especially in the mail. I therefore wrap my orders in logo-covered newsprint paper and vintage ribbon or lace and a little thank you card; and it is almost like getting a present even when you bought it for yourself!
Right before Renegade Craft Fair on the weekend of June 5,6, I was kind of freaking out about not having Desira Pesta paraphernalia for my booth. In the past, I have used a piece of cloth that I screenprinted with a gooey Are You Afraid of the Dark? type of font of my name for passersby to know who I was. (I’m hoping people still remember this show, I’m feeling old lately.) This wasn’t durable, professional, or even cute. I wanted to go the professional route and wanted a custom vinyl banner with a lovely IN YOUR FACE graphic of my logo. Lastly, it was slated to rain that weekend with tornado warning and I would need something waterproof and windproof. AUGHHH
Lo and behold! I got wind of a company called Buildasign. Alright, I’ll build my sign. Knowing how much my dad used to have to pay for his car magnets and signs from FastSigns when I was a kid, I figured these things would be $300.
They weren’t.
I could also get a sandwich board and look like the guys on 6th avenue pushing Italian food!
Buildasigns products are VERY reasonable and their site is VERY easy to use. I went through the steps of buying my html Custom Vinyl Banner in a few minutes, got to the image section and put in my high res logo:
Now because I am cursed with electronics, of course it my image didn’t have high enough resolution, or my dpi was off and I had to badger the poor customer service rep 40 times. She sure had some patience, as as I uploaded it like 240574 times and changed it 395686 times in Photoshop to make sure it looked alright, she stood by me and replied swiftly and promptly that it hadn’t worked, yet she would prevail with me. After I finally got it right, my order went through and in about 4 days, a box came.
I was excited!!!!!! This is Desira going professionallllllllll!
I opened it up. Look how beautiful!!!!!!!!
Now, that weekend it did rain. It poured like it was the apocalypse and on the Sunday of Renegade, we were forced to pull our mud-soaked wares and booth furniture into the middle of our tent and hug each other in fear. My Buildasign hung on the right back end of our booth and shone on. Not only did it make it through the wind, rain, and mud, it actually served as a shower curtain and added an additional protective layer against the elements.
If you need anything business-related for any kind of event, for your store, for your home office, or even as a gift (THINK SISTER’S FACE AS A FOUR YEAR OLD IN DIAPERS ON 3 X 6 FOOT BANNER FOR HER BIRTHDAY), I strongly recommend you get your butt on over to Buildasign. It’s totally mom and pop and not like Kinkos or Staples AND a waaay better deal. I’m so happy I did. ;o)
So lot’s of time has passed since my last post and so I will update you with some news…
Obama is president! Just Kidding it’s only been like 6 weeks..
My Movie Debut! Check out this trailer and me sitting very near Mr. Ben Stiller in one of my favorite directors, Noah Baumbach’s latest film due out in 2010. The movie was a blast to shoot for a week of my life in April and I met some great great people.
AUGHHHH!!! WOOOOO While in Los Angeles, I had a sample sale with my pal, Layla. The female star of the movie, Greta Gerwig, came and is now a proud owner of a Desira Pesta top. She is also a super sweet lady. A blast. Can’t wait to see the movie!! Greenberg – Coming to theaters March 12, 2010. Cast: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Never would I thought that four years ago after seeing The Squid and the Whale and thereafter watching it obsessively for a year would I get to meet and be on set with Noah. AUGHHHHHHHHH Similarly, Zoolander, one of my guiltiest pleasures and from which I can quote every line, is another surreal dream come true. Follow your dreams.
