Week 15: The End of Nouvelle Boutique

At last, this project is now considered to be over! I'm almost kind of relieved because I knew that blogging about this project every week or having to work on certain aspects of it definitely stressed me out. However, at the same time, I'm also a little sad about how it seems to be ending so soon, especially after Mimi and I have finally succeeded! You can say that I'm a little bittersweet.

However, our success has made me so extremely happy! Mimi and I were able to make a total profit of $40.78, $21 of which we will be donating to Working Wardrobes to help women find jobs and dressing for success.

Though this isn't necessarily the amount we had in mind (we wanted more from the beginning), we were just really happy to end this year not in debt to ourselves. Up until two weeks ago, we were about $40 in debt because we had tried to go thrift shopping and re-designing the clothes in ways we thought people would like, but since we had shifted our view to more of an accessories-based store, we've made a much better income! We believe this is due to the fact that we can target more people because there isn't that issue of size and how it looks on, because accessories are just easier to wear.

Though Nouvelle Boutique is going to coming to an end, I hope on starting an online store on Etsy with my friend Ethelynn, where we plan on selling accessories or even clothes that we're going to try and make. Thank you for being with Mimi and me for the last fifteen weeks and supporting us all the way!

Week 14: Success Finally Comes!

After weeks and weeks of struggle to make things that we think people would like, Mimi and I have finally launched our first successful line with the help of our friend Ethelynn. We made bows! And we made them well! I'm super excited about this because so many people have supported getting our shop out of debt by buying them!

I'll provide a few pictures below to show you a few other things we made. Ethelynn and I also made some headbands this weekend.

 This first one on the left is a bedazzled headband that I made. It's using a sequin fabric that overlays a piece of stretchy fabric that we used to make the headband. The bows on the right are the bows that Mimi and I have been working on for quite a few weeks now. However, we have finally got them down with the help of Ethelynn and people are really liking them!

 This gold headband is one that Ethelynn and I made this weekend using a gorgeous trim, and the spiked one below is hand-sewn.
I'm a personal fan of the sequined headband and the gold one, and of course the bows. I'm super excited to have launched this new line of products and I'm super proud of Mimi and myself for finally reaching this point of success with our shop. With the help of our wonderful friends, our shop has finally come up from the ruins and is making a huge comeback from what we started with.

Week 13: The Panic Rises

What are we going to do?!

Our project is due in early June, and it is already May 19th! That means we only have two to three weeks to regain our losses, raise a decent amount of money for Working Wardrobes. I'm starting to feel a panic rise within my chest because we've lost quite a bit of money and we still have quite a bit of clothing that no one seems to want to buy. ): We have also decided on not making anymore clothing just because our red range is already so large. Making more clothing at the risk of not gaining any profits makes the idea of our losses worse.

Though it's too late to add to our project, Mimi and I were talking about doing Youtube videos to make up for the failure of our store. The videos could include make-up, hair, and clothing ideas that we love. Though this won't benefit Working Wardrobes as we had hoped, we thought it would be a cool idea to expand our experience with "the industry" because we could meet/get to know other youtubers who have more experience in what we had tried to do.

I'm not entirely sure if we're going to go through with this idea, because like I said, we only have around three weeks left, but I think it'd be super neat if we did do it. (:

Week 12: Some More Ideas!

Recently, I have seen a lot of t-shirts with kind of an embellished pocket. Some shirts have a different colored pocket (i.e. white v-neck with a purple pocket) while other shirts have a printed pocket (look at picture to the left).

Since the design is such a huge hit right now, I was thinking that we might be able to make a few to see how they would sell with our audience. Of course, the production of this item would have to wait until AP Exams are finally over (this week, wish me luck!).

In addition, I was also thinking of maybe having an option of adding elbow patches. Since I'm a total sucker for them, I figured some others would share my taste. People could order the elbow patches, send in whatever they want the patches added to, we add them, then send them right back. It would kind of look like this once patches are added:

Since these are all just ideas, there's no guarantee that the items I wanted to try and make are going to be end up being made. We do have a deadline for our project, and our main goal is getting out of the red margin of debt into the green so we can send our profits off to Working Wardrobes! Please continue to support us! (:

Week 11: New Ideas That Must Wait

Dun-dun-dun. AP Exam Week has officially begun. Because Mimi and I have our fair share of AP Exams that each of us have to take, we're going to have to temporarily put a hold on producing any new items for our store. However, I have been browsing around and I have a few ideas for things we could make after exams are over.

This cute black u-neckline tank top looks simple enough to make, which is why I definitely want to try and attempt to sew it myself. Because it is spring, I'd probably avoid black and opt for a brighter color or some floral print. I feel like this top is something a lot of our age-group would wear because it meets the one-inch requirement that our school enforces in the dress code while still being airy and cool enough to wear on those hot-spring-entering-summer days. I would try and make this out of a lighter fabric, perhaps chiffon, to play on with the light and airy vibe of the tank top.

My next attempted piece would be a circle skirt, which is shown to the right. A circle skirt is really just a fuller skirt that sways and blows and flows when you walk. I've always kind of had an obsession with them because I just think they look so feminine and beautiful. Making them seems easy enough, and I think the hardest part would be making the waistband to fit various sizes. For the fabric, I would probably use either a light jersey material or something really soft and flowy, maybe chiffon as an overlay and something else as a base. 

Though these ideas can't be attempted until after AP Testing is over, I'm definitely excited to try them. (: 

Week 10: The Hardships Continue

To say that Nouvelle Boutique has been a bit of a bust lately is an understatement. We can’t seem to make anything new because Mimi and I can’t find anything to make for our audience. We had tried the bows (which was last week), and that had failed epically. Not only did we lose money from that said “investment,” we also didn’t end up with any new products.

We are trying a scarf because we found this really pretty fabric at Joann’s Fabric store, but it seems that the infinity scarf we attempted to make is a little too short. However, it still works if we only wrap it around once instead of twice.

the fabric for our scarf

Mimi and I recently talked about changing our idea for our DIY project because Nouvelle Boutique wasn’t really working out. We don’t have anything set in stone yet, but a few of ideas include opening an online bakery for FVHS students who want to get their friends something cute for their birthday, or just a snack (which is impossible because AP exams are coming up, and let’s be honest, we all need to study), or just scrapping the idea of a store entirely and becoming like Patti, the Millionaire Matchmaker.

Quite honestly, we’re in a state of confusion, and at this point, we might not even have any profits to give towards Working Wardrobes. ):

Please wish us look on our advents of finding a potential new ideas, and please leave any comments if you have any suggestions! Any help at all would be greatly appreciated (:  

Week 9: Another Week Goes By

Hey everyone!

It's Christine reporting the things Mimi and I have (tried) to get done after meeting yesterday.

We decided that we wanted to start selling bows because they're really cute and we know a lot of people who are already interested. However, the process of making the bows wasn't as smooth as we had hoped...

After hours of gluing and mending and cutting and gluing a little more, we finally made a grand total of...3 bows! In our defense, we did spend an hour at Joann's Fabrics and Crafts finding appropriate fabric and other things that we could make to sell.

P.S. Excuse the hairtie...

In addition to our bows, we also found some cute fabric to make an infinity scarf with. However, it ended up being a little short, so it can only wrap around once rather than the traditional two times. Nonetheless, I will definitely try to have it done by next week so we can have a picture up! (: 

As for our sales, they haven't been going as well as we would have liked. We're still trying to figure out what would sell to (hopefully) increase our sales, but our attempts have been futile. With my parents' guidance and Mimi's fab fashion sense, we hope to make more infinity scarves that are long enough! 

Please wish us luck on our attempt to expand our shop! 

Week 8: Shop Is OPEN!

At long last, Nouvelle Boutique has opened. It has been a little over a week and we have already sold 2 items--far more successful than we would have thought! Last Wednesday, Mimi, Langa, and I took a few pictures of our garments and advertised them on our Facebook page, which I will link below. Go ahead and shoot us a friend request and check out some of our products! (:

Nouvelle Boutique's Facebook

Langa is a recent addition to our duo because she heard about what we were doing and was interested in some DIY herself. Of course, we accepted her graciously and now we have an extra pair of hands of deck to bettering the world through Working Wardrobes! She is also a fantastic model and is amazingly cooperative and insightful with what we should do with a few of our pieces! We'll be making some more pieces next week and hope to see some of our sales increase!


Thanks so much for your continued support and happy thrifting!

Week 6: Facebook Account Finally Made

Hi everyone! April 1st is approaching sooner and sooner, and Mimi and I are excited to tell you that our Facebook shop is officially up! We will not be selling until the 1st, but the Facebook shop will be an easy way to contact us and have us answer any inquiries.

Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/christine.mimi.92. If you're interested in any upcoming products (perhaps the studded bag I posted), please shoot us a friend request! (: The picture below is what the page should look like if you click on us, so press that friend request button in the top right corner!

As for our other products, Mimi and I are collaborating with a designer friend of mine and we will be making some interesting and cute pieces for you guys! Among some of the pieces we have done are (no pictures! I don't want to give too much away ;)) are the studded bag I posted last week, and this beautiful satin black skirt with circular studs.

Though the skirt is from Forever21 and didn't look very expensive when I first got it, upon adding the studs, the skirt looks like it's worth at least thirty dollars! I was surprised how great the skirt turned out and am excited that you guys will get to see our products soon!

Thank you everyone for your support and wish us look on the grand opening!

Week 5: A Nouvelle Boutique Teaser

Hey guys! April 1^st is approaching faster than ever and Mimi and I are excited to show you a preview piece that we designed so that our audience could get a taste of what our shop is all about. I wish we could tell you exactly what we plan on selling, but that’s not really how thrifting goes. We expect to find pieces that are fun and interesting, and recreating them in modern fashion so that you can enjoy a trendy wardrobe without the designer price-tag.

You guys on who are reading our blogs get the Nouvelle Boutique clothing preview a week earlier than our Facebook shop, so please give us some input of what you think of our piece in the comments below.

In addition to our Blogspot exclusive preview, Mimi and I have assembled a comical little teaser of what we will NOT be selling, based on the music video for “Thrift Shop,” which is a also our music for the teaser.

Don’t laugh too much at us—the whole point was to show our audience how fun thrifting can be and what “interesting” pieces you can find when you least expect it.

Thanks again for reading! Happy Thrifting! (:

Week 4: The Pitching Begins

Mimi and I brainstormed all week trying to figure out what we were going to do for our pitch idea for this upcoming Friday. The thought of teachers and the registrar and parents and other students coming to see our teeny tiny DIY project is a bit more than a a little overwhelming. However, we came up with some pretty neat ideas and music that we're going to use for our video, so I'm slowly leaning toward the more excited experience rather than mind-trembling.

We're thinking of doing a video with "Thrift Shop" as our background music and act like the guys do in the music video, so I hope it actually turns out a bit funnier than we imagined.

In addition to the video we're doing for our pitch, we're also going to start re-designing the clothes that we got from our first haul. My brother ordered studs for us last week and we're going to go check out some lace and fabrics today, so the project is really starting to pick up pace!

Wish us luck and until next time! (:

Week 3: At Last, A Name

After weeks and weeks of agonizing over a name to name our little store, Mimi and I decided on one: Nouvelle Boutique.

The name was originally going to be Nouveau Boutique, but our friend Justin, who is in French and had to check whether the words were masculine or feminine, said Nouvelle was the right way to go.

Initially, we had tried Chrimi (which is pronounced like "creamy"), but we decided that would have been better if we had opened up a pastry shop or something like that. After scouring dictionary.com to no end, we finally turned to Google Translate and looked up things that we felt related to our store in French. We decided on French because it's such a beautiful language and that so many people know. In addition, so many English words are similar to French words, so even those who don't take French might have an idea of what the word means.

I'm relieved we got the name out of the way. It makes our shop seem more real and concrete, rather than some idealized thought process we had going on in our minds.

Once we figured out the name, I started playing around with Paint (sadly, I lack Photoshop, but even if I did have it, I wouldn't know how to use it) and came up with a few designs. The black one on the left is the very first logo I came up with. I imagined a logo being sleek and really professional, so I went with black and white and typical Times New Roman. I then continued to play with more colors to see what
would make make out design pop a little bit more. I tried this pretty sea foam green that I kind of liked, but I realized it didn't make the letters as clear as the black one did. At last, I attempted to make our logo more colorful by using a gradient of my and Mimi's favorite colors. To keep it simple, I used the initials and rather than a large explanation, a small caption-like explanation under the main logo.

Upon deciding, Mimi and I decided to go with my initial logo, which was the black one. We still haven't decided whether or not we're going to screen print them to sell yet, because we have to see whether people would be interested in buying them or not, but it's definitely an option for us!

On a final note, we also decided that we are going to donate half of our profits to either a non-profit organization or potentially an orphanage. We want to really make what we're doing count and be able to make a different in the lives of others.

Wish us luck on our journey of re-acquiring, re-designing, and re-selling! (:

Week 2: Decisions, Decisions

This week, our project hasn't made much progress. We have yet to find a name that fits both the subject and sounds unique. The only idea was Chrimi (pronounced creamy), which was a mixture of my own name and Mimi's. After we come up with an amazing name, we hope to come up with an even more amazing logo to print out on shirts and sell them to the general public. Hopefully, this idea will turn out to be more successful since it is targeting both male and female customers--something our other products don't quite do. 

As for our supplies, we didn't have another chance to go shopping again, but each of us have split the responsibility of going out and getting the items. 

I'm in charge of ordering the studs and checking out some fabric, and Mimi's getting dye and researching other items we can make and sell. We've decided on what to do with each item, though we need to do a test trial to make sure none of our experiments surprise us in that stomach-curdling way. 

One thing I am definitely excited to be doing is ripping apart some pieces then completely remaking them into something people would wear. Doing something like that has always been my mindset as truly creative, and I finally get to take part of it! 

The time seems to be passing so quickly because each of us has our own obligations, whether it be with family or with school. However, this project is blooming beautifully and I'm quite excited for it to open in April. 

The First of Many

Excuse my biology book in the upright corner~

In the picture above are all the items Mimi and I picked up on our very first official thrifting spree for our still un-named business! It was quite exciting, yet tiring considering we wanted to get as many pieces as possible to start off our shop without completely emptying out both of our wallets.

Most of the items, we have a pretty general idea of what we want done to them, whether it's bleaching, lacing, studding, or dyeing, we are prepared for a long battle of making these plain pieces into fashionable items that girls and guys would want to wear today.

We're starting our business making items more focused on females simply because we are...females. From that point of view, it's easier for us to get an idea of what other girls are looking for and what we think they would like. Though this business is kind of a hit-or-miss thing, depending on what the girls' tastes are, we're ready to accept the challenge. After all, didn't great businesses like Apple and Tiffany & Co. start off as angled only at a particular market? Didn't they then grow and expand? That's what we intend to do, and with the support of our amazing classmates and (hopefully) some wonderful people internationally, we can make our little store blossom!

Wish us luck and until next time!

No Namer Business Set To Be Open April 1st!

Hi everyone! 

This blog here is dedicated to the little business that Christine (that's me) and Mimi have started in the efforts to get an A on this DIY project assigned by Mr. Ziebarth. So, what exactly are we doing?

Together, Mimi and I have decided to start a cute little online shop to sell to both our classmates and internationally, depending on who's interested, of course. The skeleton of our thoughts are that we will basically go thrifting every month to find some new pieces, re-design them in ways we would wear them or in ways that we think would look cute, and then re-sell them to the public.

Since most of the pieces are thrifted, it's pretty safe to say that what you buy from us is 100% original. However, most of our inspirations will be from the wonderful world wide web, so there is no doubt that some of the things purchased will be similar, but not exact, copies of the things that you might see on Tumblr or Pinterest or Etsy, and other sites similar to those. 

I am more than excited to start this small business because I've always wanted to try my hand at the world of entrepreneurship. This shop's just a cute little way to get our ideas out to you and hope that you like them~! 

Please enjoy and look forward to some of our starter pieces come April 1st, 2013!