Fashion Slow Lane!

Fashion Slow Lane in the Middle East I just got back from a crazy trip to Israel and Palestinian territories. I went there on behalf of Two Neighbors to check our fashion production and meet with the team in Israel as well as in the village in the West Bank (Palestine area). It was a really good meeting with our embroidery ladies in the West Bank, as a designer myself I was able to give them design direction on new designs for 2019. Our Palestinian Co-Manager was there to interpret between Arabic and English for me. Me with some of our Palestinian team members in the village.  We did a side trip through the Palestinian city of Hebron and that is where I saw the camel meat shop. The camel head was quite shocking, I am not sure why they wanted to hang the camel head in front of the shop, maybe so that people would know it was a fresh cut! Ewww Camel head in Hebron, Palestine  In the West Bank, we stopped to use a gas station toilet which was located near a J...

I am super excited to see the brand I work for be covered by Forbes! Check it out here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellemartin/2018/08/31/how-fashion-is-bringing-women-from-israel-and-palestine-together/#72245bd9515c When retired American couple, Dr. Whitman Jones and his wife Paula created   The Center for Emerging Futures , a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing some of the most difficult situations that humans face, they didn’t realize they would also be launching an innovative fashion brand soon thereafter.  After visiting Israel and seeing the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians firsthand, Jones began looking for ways to facilitate peaceful connections that could transcend the conflict. Given the skill sets of women in the region, Jones had the idea to bring Israeli seamstresses and designers together with Palestinian embroiderers to create a high-end fashion collection that could create jobs and highlight talents from both sides of the conf...

#keepgoing I work with a social innovation brand that creates fashion items between Israeli and Palestinian women. Currently there is a lot of unrest in the region because last week Donald Trump announced that Jerusalem was the new capital of Israel and he was going to move the USA embassy to Jerusalem. This issue is huge contention between the two sides. (I am not an expert on the region so I will not expand further.) Meanwhile our brand Two Neighbors www.twoneighbors.com is in the middle of production. That does not make it easy for us because part of the fashion items are made in Palestine and half of the work is made in Israel. Some of the staff is required to go back and forth to bring the items. It would be been better if Trump just minded his own business and let that region work out their peace solution. As a result, it makes me that much more determined to make things progress with Two Neighbors. Despite all the craziness going on in the region, we will continue to ...

Peace Through the Eye of a Needle I was brought on board to work on a new project for a social innovation company that was founded on building peace between Palestinians and Israelis.  It is grassroots peace building through fashion. The word interesting does not begin to describe my journey.... I just got home from a crazy whirlwind trip to Isreal and Palestine.  Almost daily I was back and forth between Israel and Palestine meeting with the team members from both sides.  From a small village made from rubble in Palestine to Tel Aviv to a Peace Building Summit in the West Bank, it was like a major history lesson in 8 days!  Stressful.  Amazing. Enlightening.  Fascinating.  I have never been to the Middle East, so learning about the roots of the fashion brand Two Neighbors was essential for me so I can help them build their brand for the USA market.  Two Neighbors is an emerging fashion social innovation brand that brings wome...

In the past year, we have seen fashion go from minimalist to crazy busy.   What was popular in 2015 was a plain tote handbag with zero hardware.  Today all the fashion magazines are showing handbags and accessories with crazy patterns that do not match and embellishments everywhere.  It is the opposite of the minimalism of 2015.   What is going on? I decided to jump on the bandwagon by designing a fun pop art collection of girlish accessories for my vegan-friendly customers that demand fashion bags and accessories that are fun and affordable. Check out my sneak peek here! From emoji coin purses to fun handbags we have got you covered! Love the lips and eyes! XO Tara www.tarasauvage.com Love Emoji's?  We can design those too! Just send us what you want and we can design it for you!   Want to see more?  Email us today to find out how to order or make your own designs:  To order contact us at roccodant...

I have been reading a lot of blogs lately on minimalism.  I have been a minimalist by default because we move every 2 to 3 years for the past decade which means I have to downsize by default.  In Seattle, we went from a 1500 square foot townhouse to an 800 square foot apartment.  Half my stuff ended up in storage.  Then in 2013, we moved back to Southern California into a more spacious La Jolla apartment.   I actually had to buy a few things to fill it up.  Then recently we moved again, this time into a house with a two car garage and a huge storage space.  I have never had this much space to hoard stuff! Note the zen plant and lack of clutter. I am a minimalist when it comes to furniture and house accessories however my handbag collection is easily over 500 pieces and don't even get me started on the belts.  I use the bags for my inspiration for future collections. To be a true minimalist, does that mean I need to get rid of all these ...

As adults we often look back at photos of our parents or grandparents and think they are wearing really weird outfits or crazy hairstyles.  Today my dad sent me a photo of his parents.   My Grandma Sauvage is still living.  She was born in 1911 and is 103 plus year old.   She has always been a very happy person.  I did not meet her until she was older (obviously), but she has always had a lot of energy and radiated health and happiness for many years… I wanted to share this photo of my grandparents because they were so beautiful.   I don't know if it was the era where everyone was normal weight and radiated health or it was just because they were happy and healthy people.   I was not there, but this photo just radiates vitality, joy and people in their prime. My grandmother influenced my fashionista side.  When I was about 10 or 11 I started spending one week per summer with her at her house near Seattle.  She would always make a point...

Real Beauty Never Dies.  Is that true?  Maybe.  #timeless #beauty #definition

Success.     This word means different things to different people.     My idea of ultimate success is doing what you love and being super successful at it.   An entrepreneur at heart, I have always tried to find a way to do what I love and make money doing it.   I have been able to do what I love and make a living doing it, but I have never been able to be make a killing yet.    I have started a few brands over the years but nothing has made it to top.   (I will try again.) However I run into people in real life that are often able to find that passion and make a killing while doing what they love.   One of those uber success stories is my neighbor Annie. For the past few years, I would often run into an attractive young blonde in our apartment building in La Jolla and we would exchange pleasantries.   Our exchanges were always related to fashion because she was always wearing amazing handbags and cute outfits.   She w...

The public school La Jolla Elementary is across the street from a private school.   The parents share the street for picking up and dropping off.    For the past several months I have been working in down town Los Angeles Tuesday-Thursday as the Design Director for a fashion company. On the first day of school I stayed in town so I could drop off my 5th grade daughter.  By the time we arrived, it was 8:05 and classes started at 8:15 am.  I could not find a parking space as I drove up and down the street a few times and back.   There was a few open spots at in a 3 minute loading zone near the school.  I parked my car, put on my hazards and we jumped out.   My plan was to walk Mia to her class and then come right back, it would take about 5 minutes. There was a middle aged woman in a dress and sunglasses standing near the loading zone which is on the public street.  She said, "You can't park here."  I said, "I am not parking.  I am ...

Loving my new collection for Vertigo!  Check out these amazing colors and fun shapes! As you can tell I like blue and red! Designs by Tara Sauvage.  Coming soon to www.vertigousa.com and in several boutiques! #vertigo #designbytarasauvage #fashionwatch Fall 2015.

My answer is:   You don't .  Right now I leave for work on Monday night I don't come back for four days.  The oldest pug has separation anxiety and barks all night, so we had to take care of that.  The vet put him on xanax.  My child is old enough now to make her own lunch and we share a car pool with the lady down the hall to get her to camp and back each day of the summer.   Her dad picks her up and the other two kids who live down the hall and makes sure she gets to bed on time. The laundry backs up.  The pugs pee on the floor and no one notices for several days.  The towels get left at camp so now we have no towels in the house.  I spent 4 hours in the basement today doing laundry because I was gone all week working in Los Angeles and I live in San Diego.  Crazy, yes I know.  Work/life balance? What is that?  This is my life and its not balanced at all but I like it.  I created it. You don't alw...

My first REAL corporate job was awesome .  Right after graduation from Washington State University I was living in a basement room with 5 girls in a big house in Seattle.   My dad gave me an old fax machine and at night I would devour the Seattle Times and hook up the fax machine to our land line phone.  The cord for the phone would come from the kitchen down the basement stairs into my bedroom where the fax machine sat on the floor.  The job market was tough and remember sitting on the floor every night faxing my resume out to any potential fit I could find. One day while sitting in my desk at a temp job at an import company the phone rang, the VP of a footwear company called from NYC called and asked me for an interview.  The company, a prominent athletic footwear brand, Champion Footwear was relocating their headquarters from New York to Seattle.   They wanted to know if I could come in to interview for a job as the Executive Assistant to the Preside...