Chase / Living Social Grant Voting Closed

I've recently applied for a grant to help me expand my business. Read an earlier post about it here.

 

Thanks so much for your support, everybody who voted, and those who got the word out by re-posting my requests for help, asking your friends to get involved- it was all super helpful! The public voting is now over, and I got 299 votes! That's 20% more than the minimum needed to be eligible for the grant, and I ended as a very close second- within just a couple of votes- to the top-voted hat maker. The number of extra votes won't determine the judges' final choices, but it certainly can't hurt.

There were well over 40,000 entries in the contest. Looking through the other entries, only a very small percentage  (I estimate 10-20%) received the 250 votes required to be eligible for a grant, and only a very small portion of those broke 300, so I'm feeling very good about the support I received and about my entry's chances. Especially considering that the contest was going on for a full month before I even found out about it, so I only had half of the time many of the other contestants had to put my entry together and promote it to get the needed votes. 

The winners of the twelve $250K grants will be announced by September 15, so I'll post an update as soon as I hear anything. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Even given that only a small percentage of entries reached 250 votes, there are still thousands of eligible entries for the judges to sift through and consider. I know that winning a grant is a long shot, but being part of this contest has done a lot for my business already- I have gotten some press, made new media contacts, and have a whole bunch more followers on Facebook. Looking for places to post about the contest, I discovered a whole new slew of fashion blogs, local fashion magazines and organizations, and a bunch of non-profits and government agencies that offer assistance to small business- I'll be looking further into all of these for help and info. I had already started working on a new business plan just beforehand, but the contest gave me a kick in the pants to finish it up, and I learned all about how to use my plan to seek the funding I'll need to take House of Nines Design to the next level. Most of all, I'm feeling really hopeful about the future, and excited about working toward getting there.

And thanks again for all your support, I really do appreciate it!

Why We Need Another Hat Store in SF : Vote to Help

Hats have been gaining in popularity in fashion over the last few years and hat sales are just getting better and better. But the number of hat stores in San Francisco that sell work from high end local designers is dwindling. People really do need and want hats and more places to buy them, and San Francisco can easily support another store to replace those that are closing.

Will you please help me open my own hat shop by voting for me in this grant competition? It's easy, fast & free.

Chase and Living Social have teamed up to provide grants of $250,000 each to 12 small businesses. That's right, these are grants, not loans.  There are over 40,000 entries in the contest, so the more votes I can get, the better. The deadline is coming up fast, though, so if you haven't voted yet I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP.

Here's a summary of why I need the money and what I would do with it.

- Hire more staff to help promote and produce my products. Jobs!
- Open my own store in SF and build a better business website for the convenience of my customers.
- Expand my market by gaining wholesale accounts and making trips for trunk shows and personal consultations all over the place. That's right, I'll be coming to *you*, non-SF customers.
- Continuing to source tools and materials from other small businesses. More jobs!
- Expand my offering of styles. I need more tools and equipment to do this. How about that foxy full size top hat you've always wanted? More fedoras? They're on the list.
- Make and sell more hats so I can achieve long-term stability. Want to see House of Nines go the distance? You can help me get there.
-  Build a website all about custom clothing to explain the process and promote craftspeople working in the industry. You like custom stuff, let's expand the market.

Want to help me do this? Have a Facebook account? It's free, fast and easy.
1) Just click on this link
2) Scroll down, and clock on the 'LOG IN & SUPPORT BUTTON.' Log in as instructed.
3) Scroll down, and in the field marked "business name," type "House of Nines Design". Click the "SEARCH" button.
4) On the next page, to the right of the entry shown for House of Nines, click the "VOTE" button.

That's it.

If you decide to support me, I would really appreciate it!

My friends at Dark Garden Corsetry have entered as well, and would also really appreciate your support. You can vote for both of us, so please do! Just follow the same instructions as given above to vote for them, substituting 'Dark Garden Corsetry' in the "business name" field in step 3.

Thanks!

SFBG's Best of the Bay

It's time again for the San Francisco Bay Guardian's annual Best of the Bay poll. I'd love to get some exposure there, it's always a fun rundown of what's going on in SF and thousands of people read it.

If you like my hats, would you take the poll and add me as a write-in candidate for 'Best Hat Maker' on the last page?

My friends at Dark Garden Corsetry would also love to win 'Best Place to Buy Lingerie' again, if you like them please vote for them as well.

Thanks!

Here's the link.

Chase / Living Social Grant Competition

So, I've recently applied for a grant to help me expand my business.

 

Chase and Living Social have teamed up to provide grants of $250,000 each to 12 small businesses. That's right, these are grants, not loans.  There are over 40,000 entries in the contest, so the more votes I can get, the better. The deadline is coming up fast, though, so if you haven't voted yet I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP.

I've got a solid business plan, here's a summary of what I'd like to do if I win a grant:

- Hire more staff to help promote and produce my products. Jobs!
- Open my own store and build a better business website for the convenience of my customers.
- Expand my market by gaining wholesale accounts and making trips for trunk shows and personal consultations all over the place. That's right, I'll be coming to *you*.
- Continuing to source tools and materials from other small businesses. More jobs!
- Expand my offering of styles. I need more tools and equipment to do this. How about that foxy full size top hat you've always wanted? More fedoras? They're on the list.
- Make and sell more hats so I can achieve long-term stability. Want to see House of Nines go the distance? You can help me get there.
-  Build a website all about custom clothing to explain the process and promote craftspeople working in the industry. You like custom stuff, let's expand the market.

Want to help me do this? Have a Facebook account? It's free, fast and easy.
1) Just click on this link
2) Scroll down, and clock on the 'LOG IN & SUPPORT BUTTON.' Log in as instructed.
3) Scroll down, and in the field marked "business name," type "House of Nines Design". Click the "SEARCH" button.
4) On the next page, to the right of the entry shown for House of Nines, click the "VOTE" button.

That's it.

If you decide to support me, I would really appreciate it!

Stephen Jones 'Hats, An Anthology' Gala

My husband John and I just returned from New York, where we went to the gala opening party for Stephen Jones' museum exhibit 'Hats, An Anthology' at Bard Graduate Center.

It was a quick trip, we were there for just about 36 hours, to go to the party and do a few business-related errands.

The party was super fun, we met Stephen Jones and lots of other nice and interesting people. So great to see so many people turn out for hats! We had the chance to talk with Aliona Kononova, the winner of Stephen Jones and Vogue's recent Talenthouse millinery competition and her charming husband Igor, we really liked them and hope to keep in touch. 

On our way in, our photo was taken by legendary fashion photographer Bill Cunningham. The spread of his shots from that night appeared in the New York Times yesterday. We're near the center-left, about halfway down, John's wearing a brown fedora and I'm in a yellow top hat, both made specially to wear during the trip. Mine was made to match a yellow and black Dollymop corset, custom made for me for the event by Dark Garden.

I hope to make it back to New York before the exhibit closes next April to spend lots more time viewing the show and to scope out some new retailers for my work. It's not clear whether the exhibit will travel further- this may be your last chance to see it so you'd better go while you can, if you can. If you're unable to make it to New York, the exhibit catalog is also fantastic.

Stephen Jones Hat Competition

Thanks so much to everybody who voted for me in the Stephen Jones hat competition! I truly appreciated all your support and kind words. I came in at 23rd place out of about 550 entries, with about 350 votes (they've taken the vote counts down now so I can't check the exact number). I'm completely thrilled and so grateful. Also, my entry received 4695 page views, an amazing amount of exposure. What a fun project and a fantastic opportunity.

The voting is over now. It's been a great experience and I'm really happy with the results. Stephen Jones, and Dolly Jones of British Vogue, will be making their final choice of winner and runner-ups to be announced on August 26th. Whatever happens, I'm planning to attend the opening of Jones' museum exhibition 'Hats, an Anthology' in mid-September. I'm busily working on a new outfit for the party in my free time (such as it is), part of which will be made by Dark Garden Corsetry, and I'll make the rest and a hat to match (of course). See you there?

Stephen Jones Contest for 'Hats, An Anthology'

I've just entered a hat making competition organized by leading milliner Stephen Jones. Here's the link to my entry.

The winner will be chosen by Stephen Jones and Dolly Jones, editor of Britain's Vogue.com. People can vote online for their favorite hat until August 18th, and special consideration will be given to top voted entries. If you like my work, please vote for me! To do so, just follow the link above and click 'Vote' to vote by Facebook or Twitter. Or, you can send a vote by text message by texting "TH YGW8DF" to 75572. It's easy and free.

The winning hat will be shown along with the museum exhibition 'Hats, an Anthology' at Bard Graduate Center in New York City, from September 15, 2011 to April 15, 2012. The winner will get to go to the opening night of the exhibit, and also be offered a 2-week internship at Stephen Jones Millinery in London. As you can imagine, I'm excited beyond words with this amazing opportunity.

Here are photos of my entry, titled 'Yvette, en vert'.

This top hat was created specially for the contest with custom-made, one-of-a-kind blocks from Guy Morse Brown Hat Blocks in the UK, and inspired by the little ‘doll’ hats popular in the late 1930s through WWII, especially the work of Parisian milliner Yvette Delort. It’s asymmetrical, a complex shape that looks different from every angle. It's modeled here by lovely Autumn Adamme of Dark Garden Corsetry.