Dog days of summer were here!

Intern Morgan with a bag of ice on her head to cool her down in the 115 degree heat!

Well another successful Chicago Sidewalk Sale is in the rear view mirror and a Warehouse sale complete with a regional disaster is all over.  Thanks to those who came out for either or both (you know who you are!)

The sidewalk sale was a great time for us to get to know our downtown customers. We had a great booth and were featured on WGN news with Ana Belaval. Love her!

So when we go to these events, I load my Saturn Vue to the brim

Probably not the safest thing in the world especially with the ends of the rolling racks usually pointed directly at my head or neck in the drivers seat.  Because of this, one of my worst fears is getting into a wreck coming or going from one of the events.  Unfortuantely after spending all day in the heat (6am-4pm) on Tuesday, I was rear ended by a cab.

Fortunately we were going 2 mph and nobody was hurt but what a drag after a long day!  I shouldn’t complain though, I only had to drop off and pick up for the second day which was HOT!  We were in the middle of a heat wave and the poor KBO interns were out in for 2 days!  On the second day, the temps were so high that the heat index made it to 112 F!  Those are some great interns for sure

To top it off, we had our semi-annual warehouse sale on Saturday, July 23^rd.  As always, I picked a date where there was a semi serious natural disaster – another flood!  We got over 8 inches of rain in 2 HOURS!  Unbelievable!  I need to hand off picking the date to someone else for the January sale.  Thanks for coming out if you braved the weather.  There were also some great deals to be had and we saw a lot of great customers show up for the 60% off from 8am-9am.  Way to get outta bed early AND brave the floods!

Studio all set for 8am'ers

Hourly Discounts starting at 60% were hard to pass up!

Kirsten from Objets d'envy setting up!

Amy prepping for our special day helpers!

 Make sure you’re signed up on our email list.  Not only will you get a coupon for free shipping, you will also learn about our great events around Chicago!  Click here  to sign up.

I’m off for a mini vacation- more on that later!

Have a great rest of your week – I’m incommunicado (and lovin it!)

Kate

PS-I just found a photo of our booth from the very 1st sidewalk sale - we've come a long way!

Try our amazing women's tunic - the Stripe Violet!

Finding an age and office appropriate women's tunic can be difficult. Our Violet Tunic fills this gap with its perfect length, appropriate and interesting neckline and collar, and tailored silhouette.


• Ends at mid thigh
• Slim fit
• Features include: double collar for interest (inner collar is a standing ruffle and outer is a flat shawl collar), long length that is great over leggings or jeans, functional side seam pockets, longer short sleeve that covers any trouble areas on the arm while elongating and slenderizing the arms, beautiful details such as a back belt, back tucks on the bodice, and double breasted closure that adds interest and attention to your outfit
• Click here for more info on our high quality craftsmanship.


Our Violet Tunic runs true to size. Try pairing with Kate Boggiano full length seamless leggings or shapewear leggings. I'm going to live in my Violet Tunic this Fall!!

Did you save 20% on your Violet Tunic at our Warehouse sale? 
Email me if you didn't but you still want to - I think we can work something out.

Happy Monday!
Kate

Our dramatic pleated blouse - the Anne

A great alternative to a ruffle blouse, a pleated blouse like our dramatic Anne adds just the right amount of style and sophistication to any occasion.



• Ends at wearer’s hip

• Slim fit

• Features include: beautiful Japanese cotton for a luxurious look and feel, a high neck pleated collar that draws attention to your face, faux french cuffs that create the same great look without the hassle of cuff links, and a tailored fit helps to create a slim silhouette.

• Click here for more info on our high quality craftsmanship.
 Our Anne blouse with pleats runs true to size. If you typically have trouble with blouses fitting in the chest, I suggest sizing up. I love my Anne belted or under a cardigan for different looks and I think I wear navy stripes the most!


Happy Shopping!


PS-don’t forget to stop by our booth on the north west area of Daley plaza today and tomorrow. We have 30% off our collection plus samples starting as low as $30! See you there!

Kate Boggiano location on Daley Plaza

Sidewalk Sale in less than 2 weeks!

Come join us this Tuesday July 19th and Wednesday July 20th at the annual Chicago Sidewalk Sale at Daley plaza.  We will be marking down our spring and summer collection to make way for new fall merchandise.  Answer some of our fashion trivia for a chance to win $5 off your order and sign up for our email list to learn about our great upcoming events and sale.  Stop by on your lunch break and enjoy a fashion show and some great deals.

Hope to see you there!

Kate

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence day!  Hope you are enjoying a much deserved break.  Tomorrow is the last day to save 20% sitewide so don't forget to shop.

Enjoy your day and eat some BBQ for us!
Kate

Who needs three lengths of tank tops anyway? (psst – YOU do!)

So adding new products to our website is a little tricky from my perspective. It takes a chunk of change to buy the inventory and photograph it plus a ton of time for things you’d never think about (ex: creating an item number, populating all our systems with said new item number, issuing a PO, dealing with delivery dates, calling when said delievery dates aren’t met, writing the copy, creating all the pages, cropping all the photos etc. etc). Although I like to keep my customers happy and coming back for more, there are a lot of “others” to consider before I make the move to buy a new product. So if you’re wondering why I’ve invested all of the above “examples” into three different lengths of tank tops, I can understand why you would now be scratching your head at this point, but let me explain.
The best product I can invest in as a business owner is a product that I can sell to one of my existing customers. Although three different lengths of tank tops seems like a crazy investment of time and resources, all of our current tank top customers need to take a look at their wardrobe and think hard about what I’m about to say.

THERE IS NO PERFECT LENGTH TANK TOP!!!

Everybody who has ever worn a tank top knows this but maybe doesn’t realize it. How many times have you found yourself standing up from your desk and adjusting your tank top or fidgeting with it at some point in the day? If you find yourself doing that, it doesn’t mean you have a bad tank top, it really means that you are not wearing the correct length tank top that your particular outfit needs. Here’s how I decide which length of tank top to wear on any given day:

         Regular Length Tank top

Perfect for:

• tall women
• long torsos
• wearing under dress shirts that you are tucking into a skirt or pair of pants/trousers
• wearing on their own untucked with shorts, pants or skirts

                  Short Tank Top

Perfect for:

• petite women
• short waisted
• wearing under t-shirts and see thru tops
• when wearing a belt and not wanting to tuck something in

               Extra Long Tank Top

Perfect for:

• tall women
• long torsos
• wearing under see thru tunics or dresses to act as a slip
• the days I’m feeling lazy and only wear leggings but still want something to cover my behind.

Everybody fits into more than one of these categories which is why it is necessary to evaluate your wardrobe, find out when you like which length tank top, and make sure you are “covered”.
Here’s a visual way to keep the facts straight:

Just in case you want to give a new length tank top a try, shop today thru July 5th and save 20% by using code: HAPPY4TH at checkout at kateboggiano.com.

Happy Thursday!
Kate

Women's Dresses

Since the social acceptance of women wearing pants, it seems as though we have taken this to mean that we should ONLY wear pants. As you look around, the majority of women seem to be covering their legs rather than embracing them. Sure, pants are easy to throw on but guess what is easier? A dress! Instead of rummaging around in your close for a matching blouse or top why not try a dress.
Dresses are:


1. More form flattering for most women

2. Easier to wear and cuts down on decision/dressing time in the morning. NO more having to match a top and a bottom.

3. Cool and breezy in the summer
4. Super feminine
5. A way to stand apart from your male counterparts because unlike you who can wear pants, men can not wear a dress!



My three favorite Kate Boggiano Dresses that are totally office appropriate are the McKenzie Wrap Dress, the Jackie Shirt Dress, and the Sleeveless Ruffle Isadora Dress.

I’m not sure about you but wrap dresses always seem like a good idea to me until I actually try one on. I find them confusing to figure out and it seems to me that they never stay in the right place unless you tie the ties so tightly that you can’t breathe. I thought long and hard about this issue when I designed the McKenzie Wrap Dress. Instead of having to deal with a confusing extra flap of fabric, I designed the McKenzie Wrap Dress so that the pieces of fabric are actually stitched in place and it’s an easy over the head entry with help of a zipper. The only piece that is “movable” is the wrap around belt that is secured by two snaps. Our “faux” McKenzie Wrap Dress is office appropriate (in length and front neck drop) and secure so you feel confident in your outfit and able to face your busy day.

Finding a good dress with a short sleeve is a challenge that many women face. Short sleeve dresses are great for the summertime and they are very office appropriate. I love our Jackie Shirt Dress because it has a nice pleat detail on the sleeve and a full skirt with a waist wrap that visually makes the waist the narrowest point even if it isn’t normally that way on its own. Side seam pockets and a shirt dress style placket round off my favorite parts of this Shirt Dress that is great to wear at the office and beyond!

 Every summer, my goal is to find 2 dresses: the dress I wear to every summer wedding (as long as each are with different groups of people) and a dress I can wear casually or spice up for dinner on vacation. Our Sleeveless Isadora dress happens to have been both for me during different years. I love this dress and even though it isn’t new this year, it’s longevity is amazing and I attribute it to it’s classic a-line shape, high ruffle neck collar, and fantastic fabric (that IS machine washable!). Honestly, I have belted this, thrown a cardigan over it and paired it with some cowboy boots, added a chucky sweater, worn it with flats, worn it with heels, and always feel comfortable and like I made the right choice for any occasion I wear it to. The Sleeveless Isadora Dress is really a go to dress for any event you might have.


A little birdie told me that we are having a sale on everything starting Wed so if these dresses sound like something you might want to try, I’d get on it first thing Wed morning.

Have a good one!


Kate

The week between Christmas and New Years

I was the only one in the office for the week between Christmas and New Years but I had a LONG list of projects that I wanted to complete before everyone else got back from "break". Mostly, I was interested in organizing the office . We have millions of buttons, trims, fabrics, samples etc that just pile up season after season. It's almost unbearable.

The first order of business was selling off our excess fabric to Fishman's fabrics. For those of you who know Chicago, you know that there is only one truly great fabric store for the fabric snob and that is Fishman's Fabrics.

View inside Fishman's fabrics

For anyone that knows about selling off fabric or in the industry we say "selling end of rolls" inferring that while producing your line, there is excess or the end of the roll of fabric that isn't needed for production. We are very happy that Fishman's agreed to buy our excess inventory of raw materials! If you are a designer and wondering how EXACTLY this works or percentages-email me for details!

The next phase of the project was putting up cubicles so me and Amy could get some serious work done when the place was full of interns. It's amazing how much more work you can get done when you have a place to go away from the chaos!

The final organizational item of business on my list was organizing our raw materials, shipping containers, and items such as our popluar tanks and leggings that we ship all the time. Amy found these awesome cardboard containers at Uline that fit everything perfectly. I'm happy to report that we are much more organized and shipping has sped up significantly since I organized everything. Check it out:
Consider it my ode to the creppy guy in American Beauty :)

Anyway, now I finally feel like we are ready to conquer the new year head on. Here's to your organizational projects for 2011!

Kate

WAREHOUSE SALE!!!

So, not sure if you've heard by now or not, but our giant warehouse sale is this weekend. Hope you can make it! Here's the deal:

Come early and shop our twice yearly warehouse sale. Enjoy hourly discounts, samples starting at just $30, special pricing on our seamless collection, and 20% off Spring 2011 preorders. Our hourly discounts are as follows and include previous season merchandise and our clearance items:

8am-9am: 55% off
9am-10am: 45% off
10am-11am: 35% off
11am-4pm: 30% off

And for those of you that like previews...

Hourly Discount Preview

Seamless Collection Preview

Spring 2011 Preview

Need directions or more information? Contact us at sales@kateboggiano.com.

See you Saturday!

Introduction and a little Background

INTRODUCTION

Hello! My name is Kate Coxworth and almost a year ago (wow that was quick!) I started my very first company, Kate Boggiano. Kate Boggiano is a women’s fashion company that makes high quality, great fitting women’s shirts, tops, blouses, and the occasional shirt jacket. Lately, I have been receiving a lot of: “Do you know who you remind me of? Anne Fontaine” a very flattering comment I might add (for those of you who don’t know Anne Fontaine, she makes beautiful blouses for women, primarily in a white and black color palette and her average price point is about $400.00.)

I decided to start writing a blog because I have received a lot of questions and interest from my customers about what occurs at kate Boggiano.com a daily basis. I figured a blog is a great way to explain a little more about our process as well as share some of the more interesting events that oftentimes occur surrounding our brand, Kate Boggiano.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

Growing up, I always made things. From construction paper chains that I would use to decorate every room to making outlandish clothing for my dolls, I was always crafting and working with my hands. Unlike most fashion designers, don’t ask me to draw something first! I like to call myself a 3-D person with less than average 2-D skills. Ask my assistant designer, Katee, I’m a terrible drawer but ask me to draft a pattern for something that is 3-D and that’s no problem.

Anyways, I went to Indiana University for a bachelor’s degree in Biology/Pre-Med and walked away 4.5 years later (sorry mom and dad!) with a degree in fashion design. I never in a million years would have expected to major in fashion when I entered college. I was set on becoming a geneticist and spending my career finding solutions and cures to rare genetic illnesses. Well, that didn’t quite happen. Instead, I followed my dream, which until my junior year of college I had considered it a hobby, and switched majors to IU’s Independent Major Program with a concentration in Fashion Design. (Switching from something medical/science related is a fairly common theme among fashion designers. Little trivia for you….Vera Wang was actually a biology major! It is quite common!)

Taking the leap in college ended up panning out alright in the end. I graduated in December and by February, I had packed up all my earthly possessions in my car and drove out to New York City. After many trials, tribulations (including my car being stolen in East Orange, NJ), and joblessness in the beginning, I finally landed my first job in the fashion industry at Polo Ralph Lauren. I started at Polo as a technical designer for Women’s blue label. A technical designer is in charge of taking a sketch from a product designer (luckily, I didn’t have to draw it!) and translating it into a garment. This includes working with a patternmaker “making up” the garments specifications (exact measurements) before it is a garment. I was very good at this probably because of my math and science background, however, I grew very bored with it. My boss at the time, Sharon, and I would spend many hours getting a garment to fit perfectly only to find out that the merchants had only bought 5 units. To put it in perspective, when the merchants would buy only 5 units that would translate into the garment going into 2 out of our 1200 doors (doors=stores in merchandising). In real time this meant that approximately 300 people in somewhere, USA would be the only 300 people to see/buy this garment after Sharon and I had toiled for hours over aligning the belt loops with the pockets just right and shaving that last ¼ inch off the back rise. FRUSTRATION! So clearly, I decided after 1.5 years of that it would be a good idea to switch over to merchandising. So that’s what I did.

I started in Polo’s Men’s merchandising in order to make a difference in what happened with the “business” of Polo. What styles were getting out there in the biggest way (making it to ALL 1200 doors), while making sure to talk to the designers and technical designers to see what would fit the best and in the end, make the most sales. I really liked merchandising, but in August of 2006, Mayor Daley in Chicago announced the appointment of Melissa Turner to head up the City of Chicago’s efforts to create a fashion industry in Chicago, I knew it was my time to move home and start a business. (You can visit the city of Chicago’s website: www.chicagofashionresource.com to learn more about their efforts.)

In November of 2006 after moving back to Chicago from NYC, I marched into a local bank and showed them what I considered to be my brilliant business plan (which by the way, I told the bank that I would NEVER have ANY inventory-major mistake #1) and got my loan. By May 2007, Kateboggiano.com was up, live, and we had product to start selling! YIPPEE! I had this grandiose idea that the as soon as we went live, the phones would ring, the orders would come pouring in and I’d show everyone that I knew exactly how to build a business and make money my first year. Boy was I ever wrong!

Find out more about my trials and tribulation being and American Fashion Designer by checking back to this blog. In the interim, check us out at: www.kateboggiano.com.

Have specific questions you would like me to address? Please respond to this article and I will include your question in the next posting.

Stay tuned for the official launch of CREATE YOUR OWN SHIRT! CYO to be launched online Monday, April 7^th at 9am EST. Make sure to check it out-it will change the fashion industry as we know it forever.

Live in the Chicagoland area? Tune in to ABC 7 at 11am on Monday, April 7^th as Kate Coxworth will announce the official launch of CYO shirt/blouse live.