questions from you

Posted on 19. Aug, 2009 by admin in FAQ

my first day of school

As usual, I’m answering your questions every week. Feel free to contact me any time through e-mail at meg@princesslasertron.com, twitter @lasertron (which is easiest for me), or by leaving a comment here!

Q: What were your favorite school supplies? (From Mindy E)
A: The day we got new school supplies was the best day of the year, and my mom KNEW it and always made it a really special experience. I loved notebooks. MARKERS. I always had colored glue. I always had a pencil box, not a bag or pouch. I come from the Lisa Frank generation but I loved my notebooks to be in solid colors so I could draw on the covers. Also I will say that I always drew in my textbooks but NEVER ONCE got busted for it. I always secretly hoped that whoever got my textbook the next year would appreciate my stylistic contributions.

Q: You have such a clearly defined style. How did it evolve and become a point of view? I seem to vacillate all over the place with my style. (From Kara H)
A: In high school I was one of those kids who was always saying “Guess how much I paid for these jeans? TWO DOLLARS!” as the jeans were sagging in the ass and had horrifying bleached whiskering down the legs. Or “I found this shirt on clearance for $1.50. Can you believe it?” Yeah, you could believe it, when you saw that it was made out of two cents of fabric and probably designed to fit a dachshund. Living that way, I amassed LOTS and LOTS of clothing. Clothes that were cheap. Clothes that didn’t fit me or look good on me. One day in high school I realized how much money I had wasted when I thought I was saving it.

Style and fashion are not the same thing to me. You can buy fashion. Style comes from the confidence and attitude that is a result of knowing who you want to be and how you want everyone in the world to see you–not from wanting to be someone else. So although others may be inspiring, when you have the confidence to dress like “you” rather than “them,” that is what makes heads turn. As Coco Chanel said, “Fashion fades, style is eternal.” Be your own style muse.

Exploring your personal style is something you owe to yourself to do, so it’s okay to be “all over the place” and experiment with it a lot. One thing that I am always doing with my own clothes is editing. If you can live without it, don’t keep it in your closet and you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place. Samesies if it doesn’t fit you or doesn’t look good on you. Invest in things you will wear the most. Own tons of shoes. And buy dramatic things that will become signature pieces for you. First impressions do matter. And you do deserve to love how you look.

I have always loved looking through catalogs…I grew up in a house that had 3 or 4 coming in the mail every day, and Longaberger baskets scattered around the living room filled with stacks of saved catalogs. I didn’t read magazines, but I learned so much seeing the differences in styling between brands like Coldwater Creek and Delias and Anthropologie. My mom also helped me a lot late in high school to define my style by funding my new fashion preferences…I think back now to all of the opportunities I was able to seize just because I could finally dress the part. I had suits for speech competitions and college interviews, beautiful dresses for community events, and sweet blouses for going out with my friends. That was when I finally started having fun with it.

Q: Do you have a wait list on your bouquets? (From Lauren)
A: I do everything I can to fulfill all the orders that come through my inbox, but sometimes I know that my employees and I just can’t handle one more client–usually I try to keep it between 20-25 brides per month. If I don’t have time to complete a customer’s order, I am upfront about it and ask them if they’d like to be placed on a wait list. Sometimes the client chooses to take a different direction or order a kit to make their own flowers, and sometimes they do ask to be waitlisted. As of right now, I still have some availability for early and late 2010, but the spring and summer of next year is almost full.

I always say that as soon as you decide you want to work with me on your flowers is the time to contact us to reserve the date! We do sell kits and create simpler designs for last-minute brides, but I’d rather give you my full attention and create something custom for you.

Q: Your life seems “quirky” -which is a DEFINITE compliment- were you a quirky child? Teenager? Or did the artsy-ness take over as an adult?? (From Miz Cindy)
A: Quirky? That can mean so many things!
Ummm, yeah, I was a wacky kid.
And an EXTREMELY troubled teen.
My parents deserve more thanks than I can ever give them.
I should have my mom write a post answering your question.

Q: What are your other goals for 2009? I remember squinting at your poster when you posted it, but I couldn’t make them all out. (From Jessie)
A: Sell 50 kits in 2009.
Get on Martha. (Almost!)
Submit book proposal. (I’m 8 pages into that…I work on it in my downtime.)
Website redesign. (Next week possibly?)
2010 fashion week. (Well, 17 dresses are happening, but fashion week submissions aren’t due yet.)

Q: How do you decide what will get more attention for a time (eg, the bouquets) before switching to developing another idea? (From yoyosma)
A: Oh man, I am super frenetic. My first priority every day is to stay on schedule with the orders I already have because my top commitment is to my customers and their needs. When I get spare time, I work on the ideas that bounce around my head throughout the day like notebook covers, dresses, bags, website redesign, the style notebook, gift baskets for local charity fundraisers, making gifts for friends, designing new styles of flowers, screen printing new fabrics, designing new products for brides, working on my book proposal, participating in local entrepreneur events, talking to other designers about collaboration possibilities…whatever. I try to do it all at once and I am crazy. My mom, my husband, and my employee Hollie Nicole do an awesome job keeping up and keeping the screws on my head tight.

Q: What are some of the other jobs you’ve worked at before you started your own business? (From Stacy G.)
A: Jobs I’ve had…
…restaurant cook (cried every day)
…reporter (awesome, but super high-pressure)
…hot air balloon chaser (so fun!)
…radio producer at KFAB (met so many awesome people)
…deli clerk (for four days…and I cried every day)
…record store clerk (fave job ever…it was just like the movie high fidelity–such an insane lack of responsibility)
…personal assistant (well, to my dad)
…assistant speech coach (still doing that super part-time now!)

Good luck to everyone going back to school this week! Who all is going back to school this semester? What are you studying? What are you most excited about? What school supplies did you get?