Fashion Slow Lane!

Yes! Peace Through The Eye Of A Needle Two Neighbors is a social innovation brand that is building peace at a grassroots level. Two Neighbors is a fashion brand that unites Israeli and Palestinian women by working together to make beautiful apparel and fashion accessories. To learn more about this amazing brand that is helping build peace one stitch at a time, check out this youtube video at  https://youtu.be/IP6FmzNr-CE To learn more go to  www.twoneighbors.com #socialinnovation #peace #fashion #innovation #peacestudies #twoneighbors #fashionunited #peacebuilding #conflictresolution

You are looking for a job and land an interview. It is located at a private residence. Should you go? What about a yacht? Office? I was just reading an article on LinkedIn from a recruiter with some good advice. Never go to an interview at someone's house. I thought it was good advice and some posters were saying it was OK in some cases. Not OK. I still would tell my younger self not to go to an interview at a private place. As a fearless female in my 20's I went to many job interviews when I first moved to Los Angeles. One of the jobs was for a Marketing Assistant in Long Beach. The owner said he was doing interviews out of his yacht which was situated at the end of the dock in Long Beach Harbor. We set up the interview over the phone. (note: This was before google) I find his yacht at the end of the dock. The man was a middle aged white guy in flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt. He seemed harmless enough. (I was like this is LA, not Idaho.) Be...

FREE. What Will It Cost You? The True Cost of Offering Something of Value for Free The word FREE has been used in advertising since the dawn of time.  We have all heard the old adage, buy one get one free.  Free gift with purchase.  In fact, I worked for a company in Venice Beach that built their entire business around the free gift with purchase model. The company did millions of dollars in sales of those cheap cosmetic bags that you get when you spend $35 or more at the makeup counter in Macy's. (p.s. They cost like 50 cents to make) When is FREE  not good for your business? How do you know when FREE is actually costing you too much time and money?  After over 15 years in the fashion industry, I have had my experiences with free. As a female entrepreneur, I have attended several seminars for women-owned business.  They tell you to give away something for free to attract new customers. For example, a free consultation, a few free hours of ...

Work Ethics: Inherited? No. Taught? Yes.  Recently I had a friend stay with me for one week in my home. She has known me 15 years but has never seen me so up close and personal.  At the end of a few days, she said she was amazed at how I could just open the pantry and make a meal for 5 people out of nothing. I told her I was raised on a farm and I can pretty much make a meal out of whatever is in the pantry.  I am very creative that way and I don't use recipes ever.  This is a skill I learned from my mom.  As I move on in life I realize that my valuable traits such as my tenacity, work ethic, ability to overcome obstacles are because of the way I was raised, not because of my personality.  I am a third generation American farm kid. I worked in the fields and with the animals from a young age. A good work ethic was passed on to me.  I am trying to pass it on to my daughter.  When she complains that she does not have designer clothes o...

How do you know when its time to break up with a client? ☺ As an entrepreneur, this is a difficult question that I have not had to deal with very often until recently.  I was in Los Angeles recently and one of my clients thanked me for being so tenacious.  She said she really appreciated my follow up on a project we were working on.  As a designer who handles the entire process from the first sketch through production with the China factories, it is my job to make sure I keep everything running smoothly and on time. I offer the same level of communication and follow-up regardless if it's a large chain store or a small online business.  I want everyone to get their orders on time and I want to make sure that I am doing everything to make the process go well. I recently had a client that placed an order with one of my factories in China. The factory issued a Proforma Invoice for their order.   I followed up to get their logo on the pre-production samples. W...

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...

Fashion: Evolve or Die.   Whenever I read an interview about Madonna, she talks about reinventing herself.  It may sound clique, but it is true.  As a kid who grew up in the 1980s, I remember Madonna was gyrating on the floor dressed in crazy ripped dresses, gloves, and giant plastic neon hoop earrings. Now at 58, she is still putting on major sold-out shows in concert venues around the globe.  Why? Because she reinvented herself every few years. Madonna c. 1985 In the fashion industry, if you don't evolve, you die out. It seems like once a year, I have to reinvent myself.  What worked 5 years ago does not work today. You either dinosaur out of the industry or reinvent yourself. Digital Marketing has changed the way people shop and the way we do business.  Before the Great Recession, I could sell $10,000 worth of leather handbags a month using Facebook.  Today you cannot sell anything without spending hundreds of dollars on Facebook ads. E...