Party Report: The SOL Speakeasy!

Oh my gosh you guys.

This party?

Off.

The.

Hook.

Except for since it was a 1920s Speakeasy theme, we'll say...

"The cat's pajamas!"

Seriously, so fun. We laughed, we told stories, we sipped moonshine, we met friends old and new. We saw AMAZING dancers and officially welcomed the new campaign!  If you were there - you know how much fun we had - and you got to watch the "making of" video. 

But if you weren't there... you can watch it now - right here. 

Now, enjoy the rest of the party...

SOL models Tiffany and Adam Vartanyan greet guests and set the tone for Speakeasy fun!

Happy party goers with yellow bags and Tiffany.

The man behind all the beautiful women! Introducing Sedrique - he's the incredible makeup artist who has helped us with the past FOUR campaigns. A magician and a gentleman. Oh, and me! Channeling my inner flapper. I love gloves!

Checking out the video...a few minutes later...huge applause!

Okay, seriously? The dancers were nothing short of amazing. Such control, such rhythm...
such cool shoes....

See what I mean? How does she DO that???

Here's Tiffany with photographers extraordinaire Jody and Zack Zorn and our 
fabulous hair stylist Matthew Morris and his husband.

This might be my Christmas card. Our marketing guru, Janelle, my lovely sister and business partner Jeanie, the uber-talented and beautiful Tiffany, me and Sedrique.  I love my job. 

Lara, Janelle, me and Jordy. We might dress like this everyday.

And finally... my favorite picture of the night...

He bought it.

Thanks everyone! Here's to a great new year for SOL!

xoxo,

Cindy

Stop by our Speakeasy Ad Campaign Launch Party!

You're invited to our Speakeasy launch party tomorrow! (Wednesday the 24th 5-8pm)! Come meet me and the SOL models, have a little "moonshine" and watch the premiere of our Photo Shoot Behind the Scenes Video. Plus we've hired some dancers to show off their Charleston and Lindy moves.  As I'm planning my finger waves and Tiffany's flapper costume, I can't help but think how fun it would have been to get all dolled up in 1920s! 

And you are invited to shop the new fall styles, too. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Morgan Adams Foundation for Pediatric Oncology Research.

Campaign Launch Party

Wednesday, August 24th

5pm - 8pm

SOL Speakeasy - 248 Detroit

Plus - Everyone who attends gets a SOL luggage tag and is entered to win a $500 SOL Shopping Spree.  It'll be the bee's knees!

Hope to see you there!

xoxo,

Cindy

Behind the All Aboard Campaign - Let's have a Party!

Several years ago we decided to do a new ad campaign every year. I love the freshness it gives to the SOL brand, the change it makes to feel of the store and the creative outlet it provides not only for me, but for all of the SOL Girls!  I came up with "Destination SOL" several years ago, so after our Road Trip campaign, and then our SOL Air campaign, trains seemed the obvious next choice.  

The glam! The glitz! I love it.

What I especially love about the train idea is that train travel was  - and still can be - such a glamorous style of travel. Choosing the 1920’s lent itself perfectly as the era of luxury train travel, but I have to say I also just personally love the style of that era. And in the 1920's, a new kind of woman emerged. She smoke, drank, danced, drove cars and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up and went to petting parties. She was giddy, spunky and took risks. She was a flapper! Jamie, our dark haired model, conveyed this look perfectly. 

"We don't care if you see our straps!"

Our blonde SOL Girl, Tiffany, is modeled after the glamorous movie stars of the era - Greta Garbo, Louise Brooks, Gloria Swanson and Clara Bow.

"I want to be alone. In a silk caftan from SOL."

The other exciting part of this campaign is that I was finally able to photograph and showcase our loungewear and sleepwear!  Bra fitting will always our focus, but we do have so many lovely items of sleepwear in the store that we haven’t had the opportunity to photograph and show customers.  The 1920’s era lends itself to showing how these beautiful pieces can be worn.  

My very modern sentiment is also that wearing beautiful loungewear (just a like perfect fitting bra) makes a woman feel better about herself and more confidant. The first thing I do when I get home from work is take off my bra (yes, even I do that!) and put on a caftan or silk robe. Not only is it super comfortable, I feel beautiful in it. Sure, I’m just making dinner or tidying up the house, but there's nothing wrong with adding little glamour to every day tasks.

This is exactly how I FEEL when I'm wearing my caftans, even if it is not exactly how I look :)

I’m not saying that the entire fashion world took my idea, BUT, the 1920’s theme is on mark with current fashion trends. Upcoming fashion has hints of 1920’s inspiration and for you movie buffs out there… a remake of the Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio and Carrie Mulligan is being released next year. Start planning your Daisy Buchanan Halloween costume now!

"Leonardo Di-who?

To formally release the new campaign to the world, we're having a Speakeasy launch party! Come meet me and the SOL models, have a little "moonshine" and watch the premiere of our Photo Shoot Behind the Scenes Video. You can shop the new fall styles, too. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Morgan Adams Foundation for Pediatric Oncology Research.

Campaign Launch Party

Wednesday, August 24th

5pm - 8pm

SOL Speakeasy - 248 Detroit

Plus - Everyone who attends gets a SOL luggage tag and is entered to win a $500 SOL Shopping Spree.  It'll be the bee's knees!

Thanks so much to all of you for your support - you make my job So. Much. Fun.

xoxo,

Cindy

NYC - the last hurrah...

I gotta be honest. I am pooped. But I had an amazing week here in the Big Apple with Jeanie and Jocelyn! We saw sooo many great things that I cannot wait to bring you guys in the Spring! Beautiful, sexy, luxurious perfect things.


And we also saw...

Cute girls in flirty skirts drinking beer. Just like home.

Maxi skirt with lace tank and gladiator sandals. Love.

Adorable, no? I love her little parasol. We girls try so hard.

And then, there's the guys. Who no matter what age, just throw on a golf shirt,
chinos and a baseball cap!

Unless, of course, they can't find their golf shirt.
Which, in this instance, is totally forgivable.

Jeanie and Jocelyn have returned home to their sweet families, but instead of jetting off to see mine, I've asked them to come meet me here! Team Johnson is taking the city by storm...and I must say Mr. Johnson is looking quite Soho. He's apparently been reading some Sartorialist himself, because in just 24 hours here, he's purchased mustard colored jeans, black leather Chuckie T's, and  even...wait for it...rolled his skinny jeans. Not bad for a boy from Boulder.

I gotta admit, Bella, Todd and I look pretty hip. We're celebrating by heading out to Harlem for some incredible jazz at Birdland.

Thanks to everyone for joining me on this trip! See you back home soon!

xoxo,

Cindy

New York City and Natori. Fabulous combination!

Today we found our way to the Natori showroom - which is always a fantastic meeting for us. The folks there are gracious hosts for the six or more hours it takes for us to see and feel all the new collections. We are extremely lucky to have the lovely Danielle Zamudio as our rep. She guides us through the lines and makes our decisions easy and fun. I really cannot wait for spring of 2012 so you can see them all, too!
As the four of us spoke with Mrs. Natori, I realized that I need to call out to all you SOL girls in Denver. You may think that only famous, globe-trotting actresses with many children and Brad Pitt for a husband should wear things like the glamorous couture caftan by Natori, but you're wrong, ladies! 


You deserve to feel just as glam as those Hollywood types! Stop wearing those cut off sweats to bed. Put your guy's boxers back in his drawer. Throw that old t-shirt in the garage and use it to wash your car.

Vow to yourself that you're going to sleep in something slinky, sumptuous and sexy. Even if you wake up with bed-head, you're going to have a great day after sleeping in Natori. You really will be surprised what a change it will make in your lifestyle. Do it for yourself.

I do!

xo,
Cindy

We love our job. Seriously. LOVE it.

Not only do we spend our days helping all of you look bee-yu-tiful, we get to go on trips like this one and see all our colleagues and associates in the industry. And really? They're more like friends. Buying trips like we're on now are filled with great food, fashion and parties, and they're really like reunions of all the amazing people we've met over the years.

Thanks to Chantelle for hosting a lovely reception in their gorgeous, newly remodeled showroom, just for Specialty Stores. Hsin-Yi always takes great care of us. It was a super fun time, meeting new people and reconnecting with dear friends.

One of our favorites, since we met my very first time in Paris eight years ago, is Danny Koch. Danny owns the Town Shoppe, a New York institution that has been open since 1888. We got to sit down and chat with him and his uber-fabulous wife Nicole. We shared business ideas and family photos...swapping phones back and forth to see their gorgeous twin daughters, and showing off our sweet Bella and Elliot to them. Perfect way to spend an evening. We also connected with two amazing Canadian stores that are sassy and savvy. Liliana from Toronto and Diane from Vancouver are new friends destined to become old friends.

Next we were off to meet Jocelyn at the event hosted by the Council of Fashion Designers and Natori. It was all-out NYC - a rooftop party with a spectacular view of the Hudson. Salsa music, champagne, good friends and fashion...our personal HEAVEN!

The night was topped off by a dinner at Macelleria with Danielle, our hardworking Natori rep. The restaurant was cool and welcoming. The company? Divine.

We could go home right now perfectly pleased and happy - but there's still more to do! We're headed to the show to bring you some sneak peeks of Spring and Summer 2012. Stay tuned, my loves!

xoxo,
Cindy & Jeanie


PS - We've been inspired by all the street fashion since we got here and are channeling one of our favorite blogs, The Sartorialist.(sar·to·ri·al: of or pertaining to clothing or style or manner of dress: sartorial splendor.  We'll be uploading pics over the next few days.  I can't wait for you to see them!

Italian and Coffee and Sushi. Oh MY. The Food Post!

Have we told you lately how much we love this town? This trip to NYC is as wonderful as we'd hoped! We've been busy hitting all our old favorite eateries - and finding lots of new ones that I'm sure we'll see again and again, too.  We are always getting asked what are our favorite restaurants in NY so we opted to dedicate this entire post just to that!

First up - Pastis! One of our favorite little French Bistros in the meatpacking district. And check out the Abercrombie billboard in the background. Wowza.

Our next must go-to is Ninth Street Espresso. If you're looking for a barista with just the right amount of sass and the perfect cappucino, this is your place! We may or may not have been here more than once this trip...they have an outrageous selection of sandwiches, nibbles, and fresh yummy treats too.

You can't be in a meatpacking district without having a steak - and Macelleria is our pick for best Italian style steakhouse. It's owned by a father and daughter...and you know how we love family-owned businesses! It's got the feel of an old time butcher shop...and the flavors are divine.

Malatesta Trattoria is another fave...unpretentious and authentic Italian in a seriously cozy atmosphere. It's like having dinner at your mom's. If your mom was an amazing Italian chef!

And a new addition we just found... Niko in Soho. Sushi and miso soup like we've never tasted before. Dashi made in-house with a tiny bit of lemon zest, mushrooms of every shape, size and flavor...Fresh and sashimi that was simply unreal, and scallops we'll dream about until we return again. Which will be soon - we've already made plans to have dinner there this week! For the curious, Niko means smile in Japanese. And that's exactly what we did there. A lot.

Stay tuned - the work has started and we have lots of lingerie parties and meetings to tell you about (enough for TWO posts tomorrow!) ... Natori, Chantelle, the Council of Fashion Designers...

Love,

Cindy and Jeanie

We're here!

We made it! I'm in my second favorite city* in the world with my favorite traveling companion...New York with my sister and business partner, the lovely JP. 

Oh how I love New York! I get butterflies every time I see it from the air! 

Welcome to La Guardia! Don't fall off the runway unless you wanna get wet. 

Lovely sister and me in a cab. We waited for-everrrrr. Where is everyone going?

Our first stop - the flower market. It's our tradition to fill our hotel room with gorgeous flowers! Check out these azaleas! Most people would be surprised to know that NY is one of the best places in the world to get cut flowers...and garden tomatoes! My husband Todd loves fresh NY tomatoes. (Hi Todd!)

After we drop off our luggage and flowers...BRUNCH! This is AUGUST, our favorite spot in our little neighborhood. Today we're craving Alasatian Eggs, bacon, creme fraiche and onions - cooked in a wood fired oven. Divine.

Appointments and meetings tomorrow...but right now we're soaking up the sights and smells of this wonderful city...from the rooftop pool at the Gansevoort.  As you may imagine, it is the favorite part of our hotel!

More tomorrow!
Love, Cindy 

*Anyone care to guess my first favorite city? It's the Panty Capitol of the World, of course! Paris!