by Ev | Jun 1, 2015 | Blog, Pivotte News, Uncategorized
Fulfillment Update To give it to you straight, our merino jersey garments will no longer be delivered in May. We now anticipate that production will be completed at the end of June. On the positive side of things – some of our rewards, the SnapChats and Pivotte Illustrated Postcards are ready for delivery. Keep an eye out for your reward! Fashion Startup Learnings With Pivotte’s launch, we’ve been exposed to a whole new side of the business world and one thing we’ve learned it that taking the skills from your professional life and applying them to a Startup is not necessarily the smoothest ride. Even though we have years of professional fashion experience, we are learning new things everyday. For instance, the customs issues you can have when purchasing fabric from overseas. In anticipation of receiving our custom merino jersey fabric from Australia, we filed what we thought was the appropriate paperwork. But Customs came back to us with more questions. We went back and forth with them and finally figured everything out, but this delayed delivery of the fabric to our factories in NY, which has now caused production to be pushed back. We did not anticipate the additional questions from customs, but now we are aware that this can happen and hopefully, the process will go more quickly in the future. Thank you! We really appreciate your patience and understanding and to express it, we are going to send handwritten notes to our kickstarter backers who purchased garments. Keep your eyes open for a Pivotte postcard in the mail!...
by Ev | May 11, 2015 | Blog, Pivotte News, Uncategorized
The Good and the Bad We’re the type of people to give it to you straight, so lets start with the no-so-great news. Our tailored pieces will be sent out later than originally anticipated – which means June and not May. The good news – the soft pieces are on track to deliver in late May. June: 24/7 Jacket, 24/7 Pants, Desk to Date Dress May: Good to Go Cardi, Effortless Dress, Touring Tank, 2-in-1 Tank, Snapchats, Illustrated Postcards. Delivery Delay – Signature Stretch Fabric Before we launched the Kickstarter campaign, we perfected our samples, streamlined our factory processes, and chose our fabric factories carefully. We set everything up so when our campaign hit it’s goal, we could push the “go” button. However, sometimes – no matter how much you look ahead – plans get derailed. This is the case with our signature stretch fabric. In reviewing the “bulk cuttings” – the fabric for production, we weren’t satisfied with the color. We weren’t getting the rich, deep true black that was important to the quality and sophistication we promised you. So we went through a few more rounds of lab dips than originally planned. Lab dips are a process by which we test the outcome of the fabric dying process. The result? We eventually produced results we weren’t only satisfied with, we were thrilled with. Now, the fabric has been ordered and shipped. We think you’re going to appreciate the extra care and attention to detail, even at the expense of a few weeks. On-Time Delivery – Custom Merino Blend We received our custom merino blend production fabric and we are on track...
by Ev | Apr 30, 2015 | Blog, Uncategorized
Conveniently arrange Mother’s Day gifts with these services Even a busy girl on-the-go needs to properly acknowledge special celebrations, like Mother’s Day. Looking for or creating thoughtful gifts can be a time consuming affair, especially if you’re planning to do something that requires several steps. We found some great solutions to this dilemma and shared them below. Framebridge – Easy Custom Framing Framebridge is a custom framing service that gives the customer control of the process right on their computer or iphone. Costs are lower than traditional retail frame shops, and perhaps, most importantly – the process is clear & easy to understand and super convenient – which is not something one can say about the traditional framing process. We recently used this service to frame cute posters (from Mr. Boddington’s Studio) for friends who are new mothers. Once we had our posters, we went online and chose our frame styles and sizes. Then we sent the posters to Framebridge via their pre-paid packaging. Framebridge took care of the rest – framing and delivering the final gifts. In total, it took us about 15 minutes worth of work to select our frames and package up the artwork. Since the prices are listed clearly – and all the steps are included (e.g. the prepaid packaging), the process was easy and worry-free. The Bouqs – Simplified Flower Delivery The Bouqs is a simplified (easy & clear) flower delivery service that offers charming farm-fresh bouquets. Other flower delivery services, including FTD and 1-800-Flowers have overwhelming websites with too many tacky options and a long list of hidden fees that suddenly appear at checkout....
by Ev | Apr 23, 2015 | Blog
Work Uniform Alternatives A work uniform may decrease decision fatigue, as Matilda Kahl’s describes in her Harpers Bazaar article, but we find it to be an extreme solution to wardrobe challenges. We examined her explanation and read other relevant articles and found that the ultimate goals in wearing a uniform comes down to focus. Work uniforms supposedly combat “decision fatigue” and allows you to focus on other tasks. Decreasing the number of decisions you make in a day helps you make better decisions when you have to. Another benefit in wearing a uniform is that it allows people to focus on YOU – your accomplishments and professionalism – and not get fixated on your visual appearance. These are more than admirable priorities – but we think there is room for these things AND fashion and self-expression at the same time. If you’re like us and value balance, then maybe you want to look at alternatives to the work uniform. This can be in the form of developing a Capsule Wardrobe and/or developing a personal guideline for building a versatile and effortless wardrobe – where pieces mix and match easily and outfits can be dressed up or down quickly. When developing a versatile and effortless wardrobe, we look for each piece added to have the following qualities: Low Maintenance When you don’t have to constantly worry about “messing up” your outfit – your mind can focus on other things. When items are easy to take care of, it means less time and money spent at the dry cleaners. Versatile Design Simple silhouettes and colors will provide a great deal of versatility. It’s easier to mix and match garments, create layers for...
by Ev | Apr 14, 2015 | Blog
Songs To Get You Energized & Pumped Up In 15 POWERFUL WOMEN ON HOW TO BE CONFIDENT, Kathryn Minshew, Founder & CEO of TheMuse.com shared her confidence-boosting tactic: Have a go-to pump up song. Mine is Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ from the 2010 World Cup (don’t judge). Play it only when you’re ready to turn into your most badass self. Inspired by this advice, we created a list of the songs that we turn to for a boost of energy. See our picks below – and corresponding quotes – that resonate with us as women in business and as a startup. 1. Bitch Better Have my Money – Rihanna Pay me what you owe me (*seems especially relevant today, #equalpayday) 2. Grown Woman – Beyonce They love the way I walk, ‘Cause I walk with a vengeance. And they listen to me when I talk, ‘Cause I ain’t pretendin’. It took a while, now I understand, Just where I’m going. I know the world and I know who I am, It’s ’bout time I show it. 3. Work – Iggy Azalea I’ve been work, work, work, work, working on my shit 4. Werkin’ Girls Angel Haze I’m on top of my green like a motherfucking tractor 5. Yoga – Janelle Monae I’m too much a rebel, never do what I’m supposed ta 5. Run the World – Beyonce How we’re smart enough to make these millions – Strong enough to bear the children – Then get back to...
by Ev | Apr 8, 2015 | Blog
On-The-Go at FIT: Pivotte’s Celebrities Recently, we were invited to speak at a FIT class, and we couldn’t have asked for a more engaging, sharp and fun audience. Our students asked great questions, some of which really gave us some things to think about as we move forward with establishing Pivotte. One unexpected question that got us thinking: “Where do celebrity endorsements fit into your marketing? Which celebrities would you want to see wearing your clothes?” Our answer: We aren’t the type of business to go after the hottest, biggest, typical celebrity figure just because they are famous. We would however, love to see our clothes on prominent women who truly capture the spirit and values of our brand; Powerful women who are role models in our communities and carry a lot of influence. We admire and look up to successful female Entrepreneurs and Business women, and get really excited when we see & meet them. The women mentioned below fit into our definition of “celebrity.” Hopefully one day soon we’ll see them in our gear, and dare we say, be able to call them “Pivotters.” Alexa Von Tobel – Founder & CEO of LearnVest Finance is a very male dominated industry, so we find Alexa Von Tobel’s leadership in this area groundbreaking, inspiring, and just awesome. Hayley Barna & Katia Beauchamp – Co-founders of Birchbox We’ve seen Katia speak several times and we love the way she handles business with balance. She’s super sharp, funny, stylish, and knows her stuff. Definitely the type of girlboss we want to be. Jennifer Hyman (CEO) & Jenny Fleiss – Co-founders of Rent the Runway We’ve seen Jennifer speak, and similar to Katia, she manages to balance a...
