Right now, I am looking for the love in everything. For those of us in the Mid-Atlantic, we were pummeled with snow over the weekend and it looks like it might just happen again tomorrow night!   With a mean case of the winter doldrums I really feel like I need something new, something fresh to make me feel better.  But alas, its not the time of year to be splurging, so why not start with my existing wardrobe.  I mean let’s face it, this weather is hard to shop for because all of us really just want to be wearing flip flops and tank tops.  So, when in doubt – why not update your wardrobe instead of entirely replacing it?  The best way to do this is to accessorize it, add some new jewelry that can carry you through the rest of this season in to the next or get one key piece to rediscover what you love about what you already have.

I have a few favorites (ok, not all jewelry but an update to say the least!) click image for the product details:

We decided to have a little fun with this.  So the girls helped their friends update their looks for Valentine’s Day.  Check it out:

Christine Before

Christine After

Rachel Before

Rachel After

click for product details!

Oh – and before I forget, we decided to do a VDay giveaway!!!!

Tell us what your favorite Valentine’s Day Accessory is and enter to win a Manuel Canovas candle.  The most creative post wins! Post your entry on our blog at http://shop.savafashion.com/blog/?p=1001  between now and Friday!!!!

Or do you?  Its that time of year again, when Valentine’s Day comes creeping in.  There are a lot of nuances in how one is affected by the day of ‘love’ and they are further intensified by what you wear in each of the scenarios. For the single girl,  there are a few ways this goes down: 1. you try to stick your head in the sand, quietly judging and grumbling under your breath (sweat pants and a hoodie required). 2. you go full-out ‘girls night’ and try to prove that single is fantastic (sequin sparkly tank dress).   For those ‘involved’ there is 1. the expectation and anticipation for the newer (skinny jeans and blazer or mini skirt?) 2. The passed caring lifers (possibly sweats for this too).  And the only thing possibly worse is if you are newly dating someone and then it is dicey (silk waisted dress? Jeans? Pencil Skirt? Slip dress?……..).     The truth is, if we all just took Valentine’s Day for a silly, fun and festive day where you just give paper heart cards to everyone you like, love and endear we might be better off!   In case this is not the route you are taking, you can use it as an excuse to shop, for Valentine’s Day or just because! And, face it, we are all just looking for a reason to justify what we NEED, right?

So, some things that I think are fitting for Valentine’s day:

1. Nadia Jacket, deconstructed jeans, white t-shirt, tie dye belt, tolani scarf (perfect for the single girl, newly dating or involved)

dressing up?

2.Eve for a night on the town (especially for the single girl, or newly dating)

3. Akiko animal print dress for dinner, with a little cardigan (the involved girl)

Its the last week of January in 2010, where does the time go? The good news – it looks like I will survive January!  There is always this transition from the craze of the holidays, adjusting to the cold weather and winter when spring seems so far away, and seeing how things settle out for the new year.   Really, the name of the game is anything to get you through!

We are really excited about the spring product we are making which will be hitting stores starting the second week in February. I think that we have really hit the mark on our new year’s resolution of experimenting with new prints.  As a matter of fact, it might be hard to find any solids in the store come March!

Beginning in February we are going to start doing video tutorials and have already launched our in-house stylist’s ‘looks of the week’  check out Roz, Katie, and Caroline’s looks

Allison Jacket and Black Orchid Jeans (click to buy now)

Nancy Jacket and Chelsea Flowers Dress -on sale! (click to buy now)

Chellerose Pant with Akiko Top (click to buy now)

I never was much of a resolution maker.  I felt the need to make lots of commitments and revolutions in my life no matter what time of year.  This year was a little different though, because it is a great time and place after such an exciting 6 months to reflect, regenerate and plan.

That being said, we aren’t perfect and though I personally have made great strides in sticking to my yoga/running plan, I can’t say so much for my chocolate eating.  And, I’m not going to name any names at SA VA, but I am not the only one.  So, ok, maybe we aren’t doing so well on resolution #2 but we are doing pretty good on the laundry list of commitments.  And if you are going to do something (good or bad) you should do it right.  So, we thought maybe all of you would follow the ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’ philosophy.    In honor of breaking our ‘eat less chocolate’ resolution we are throwing an in-store shopping event this Saturday!  Come drink wine and eat chocolate with us at SA VA.  You will get an extra 10% off of all clearance items ( already reduced 50-75%) and 25% off all jewelry the day of the event.

So tell me, how are you doing with your new years resolutions?  Which have you broken?

oh, and we have some great new things in the store, check out these looks of the week:

New Carla Blouse and the best pencil pant ever. IN Store this week!

Tweed Riley skirt, Wooden Ships sweater, Tolani scarf and beaded clutch all on line and in store now!

Ruana sweater, Tie Dye leggings, Carla Mancini bag

It has been sub arctic here for weeks now. I barely want to leave the house, let alone ‘dress’ and it has started to freeze my fashion sense on all fronts.  I am contemplating doubling up and wearing two pairs of tights at once on days I feel gutsy enough to wear a dress….. But alas, I am strong willed and MUST reinforce our New Year’s commitments and I am doing so in no particular order.  I don’t know about risk in these, only because I am relatively daring and wear some edgy looks. I think the real key is to wear something that you wouldn’t normally and see if you can make it work.  Sometimes this works out and other times I am left walking down the street knowing that it didn’t quite hit the mark that day.  For instance, yesterday I was in New York for Premier Vision Preview (this is the precursor to the by annual and most incredible world textile show in Paris).  After the show, I went to SoHo for some meetings and to check out what the other retailers are doing.  It was a cold day in NYC yesterday.  As some of you know, with my curly hair, I don’t sport hats very weel and often wear a silk scarf wrapped around my head in a babushka (but tied in the back of the neck, not under the chin).  I really question whether I get away with this.  I think that sometimes I look like I am auditioning for a part in World War II movie.   However, I walked right in to Prada, babushka and all and two sales people said “I love your scarf, what a great look!”  and no – they weren’t kidding.  That, I would say is more of a risk.  These looks, I feel are  more of a new invention, something to warm me up to create a new look for the upcoming warm weather.

When consciously making shifts in your fashion mentality there are two ways to go about it 1. the drastic (as seen on t.v.) makeover and 2. the slow, comfortable progression where you try something new and then another new thing and then another. Both have their merits, but lets face it, the weather right now is not leaving much room for what we would all really like to be wearing i.e. flip flops and tank tops.  The girls and I put together a few casual looks for the week.  Let us know what you think.

p.s. this week on line; free shipping on regular priced merchandise.  in store: 15% off 1 regular priced item

Poncho with Tort pant, Tolani scarf and Zina Eve Bowler

Rena top, Audrey pant, JPK bag

This wasn’t just any old new year.  It is the start of a new decade and the end of a challenging one.  It is SA VA’s first decade in fact and we are looking to make the most of it. So, we collectively made a list of things we as individuals and a company wanted to achieve this year.  We didn’t make the list of normally breakable items (i.e. I want to lose 10lbs by next week or I am going to stop eating chocolate), we really looked at it as things to be committed to and ways to ‘be’.

We resolve to: Be happy, live healthy, make style effortless, create a new trend, do 1 thing every day that makes someone else happy, reduce our carbon footprint, volunteer.

We also thought that there were just some things that we would like to leave behind in 2009! Starting with: unbalanced lifestyle, predictability, pollution, stress, negativity, selfishness, and passivity.

Now, there is of course the issue of how we plan to achieve these resolutions.  So we came up with a few ideas on that: Experiment with new SA VA prints,  Mix unusual fabric combinations, take a fashion risk, host a canned food drive at SA VA, eat less chocolate (ok, this is a personal one), find new uses for scrap fabrics, use inspiring trims, use less paper in the office, wear our values.

SA VA beaded clutch (click for more product info)

What are you resolved to this year?

What are you leaving behind in 2009?

Click here to tell us what you are resolving for 2010 and enter a chance to win a  SA VA beaded clutch

So, we have been in search of the perfect baby sequin for so so long.   And we didn’t want a lot, just a little. (If we wanted 1000yards, we would have had no problems calling up Ashwani in India and making it happen)  We were looking for just a hint of sequin to wrap up the new year.   We decided about two

The new Eve dress $99. Coming to SA VA and shop.savafashion.com tomorrow afternoon!!!

weeks ago we needed sequins and it should come in the form of a tank dress, and it showed up in our fitting last week.  A little tank dress, simple, sexy and perfect. But dismayed by our inability to find the fabric at any of our NY or overseas vendors were almost ready to throw in the towel.   But alas, Katya was passing through 4th street Fabric Row right here in Philadelphia we found just the right amount of black and black/silver zebra to make our tank dresses.  (not to mention our baby sequins for

Bundled and Bedazzled: Eng sitting ON TOP of the cutting table, cutting the Eve dress.

upcoming trim detail) We just found it yesterday and at a price not to be beat (we also could have found a super expensive version, but that expensive is not SA VA)

Eng and Andrew marked and graded the pattern last night, and we cut and sewed them today!  Muy muy bien, I know what I am wearing this New Year’s Eve.

I can’t believe that it has been almost 4 months that the store has been open.  We are already in the middle of our first holiday season and almost at the end of another year. Oh, and did I mention the giant snow storm on the last Saturday before Christmas… What’s a girl to do? In some ways it feels like years and in others it was just yesterday!    There was a lot to get done and a lot to consider:  Holiday Dresses, jewelry, waist belts and clutches.  A pop-up store with house wares and gifts. Marketing mailers, ads and in-store events. Schedules, sales plans and store decorations.  Sales, clearance and re-merchandising the floor.  Oh and we have launched our online store. These are just to name a few!

The pop-up has been a great experience so far and really worked as a marketing tool to drive traffic to our permanent location.  I am not so sure it is the right space for us, but the idea of having the second location has really put some thoughts in to my head!

I think we learned a lot, what is working, what is not and the greatest part about having the garment center right here in our building is the ability to react to what people are looking for.  Jen had a great idea on our blog, that a bow waist belt would be a great idea and you should see some here by Tuesday!

Diane 198.00

We still have a few tricks up our sleeves for new years if you still need a dress, but some great things for now!  Our Diane dress has been great, and featured in I Magazine!

So, if you haven’t wrapped up your holiday shopping, come see us this weekend and this week for big sales at the store and online!

The holiday season is really in full swing and there are few nights that don’t have multiple events.  I hope I can keep the oncoming cold away long enough to make it to all of the parties! While we seem to have the manufacturing under control and are figuring out this retail stuff, I am on to focusing on marketing (AKA my idea of a social life during the business expansion:).  Part of that is being out and about, meeting, mingling and building partnerships.  (and doing all of this while spending time with friends, really sometimes I can’t believe this is my job!)

This is what I wore, new Akiko dress at SA VA now! Click to buy it now.

Last night, we (Katya, Jennie Hatton/Profile Pr and myself)  went to the release of the Varga Bar calendar.  Christopher Gabello, who does all of our amazing photography did the shots for a modern age poster girl

Katya Roelse, Krista Gabello, Me

calendar for Vargas.  The work was incredible!

Then, after a quick stop at the Capital Grill, we were off to the Philebrity Awards Where Jennie accepted the award on behalf of Jose Garces for Phoodie of the year.

Tonight, an artist at the Fabric Museum and Workshop?  We will see how the rest of the afternoon goes!

Oh, and check out this GPTMC post!

Last night I was in NYC to attend a meet & greet for nominees of the Fashion Group International’s Rising Star of 2010 award.  I am honored that I was nominated for the category of ‘Innovative Retail Concepts’.  It was a fun event. Very fashiony, as you might imagine.  Margaret Hayes, the president of FGI and some insider who’s who too and a lot of designers! There are over 100 people nominated across the 8 categories this year.  By far the largest group was women’s wear.  (There are actually only 4 other people nominated for retail besides me).  As those of you in the industry know, it is tough. In my experience of the up and coming designers of the last decade, designers aren’t always so chummy with one another at first.  So, it was to my surprise and I must admit delight, that everyone was really eager to meet each other (even if it was to check out the competition).  It was certainly easier for me, being nominated in retail and left for some good networking in building the private label manufacturing business!

Though I wasn’t toting my own camera, there was certainly press, videographers and photographers a plenty there, and hopefully someone will post something soon!