Customised Vintage Style Belts?!?!?!

Don't you just LOVE self covered belts that add the perfect finishing touch to your vintage dress? I know I do! So much, that I've added a few of these lovelies to some of my dresses in 2010 and carried this addiction over into 2011!

For sample making, I usually just need one belt made before putting everything into production. Since one belt doesn't cut it for the belt manufacturers, I turn to Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts in Lodi, California for my sample belt making needs. Pat Mahoney runs her business from the comfort of her home. She doesn't have a website so it's kind of difficult to find her information. However, I adore her craftsmanship so much and hope the best of success for her, so I've decided to share her information with all of you :)

Pat Mahoney caters to both the professional designer and the hobbyist. She has many many different buckle shapes and sizes and makes belts as small as 1/2" to over 2 inches. To order from her, simply send her your fabric in an envelope that she provides with her catalog, fill out the information and in about a week you'll have your belt. This is perfect for those that want to replace worn out belts on their vintage dresses, or for your hand made creations.

To get a catalog, send a $5.00 check to:
Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts
537 York Street
Lodi, CA 95240

phone: 209-369-5410

Black Friday Sale on Etsy!

Hey ladies, we have some items listed on Etsy including our popular dungarees and overalls as well as some clearance items. All items are 20% off Friday, November 26th 2010 through Sunday November 28th, 2010. To claim your 20% off you MUST enter code NKDBLACKFRIDAY10

This is an excellent opportunity to get some cute items that will keep you warm all through winter at great prices.

Don't forget, the sale ends on Sunday evening at 9pm Mountain Standard Time.

Tis the season for photographic memories!

Still haven't taken your holiday photos for your family, spouse or office? Well get on it! Nicole Katherine Designs has their list of favorite photographers. Please feel free to comment on this blog and name your favorite photographer in your area as this is only for Southern California and Montana.

And don't forget, it's not too early to plan your shoot for Valentine's Day!

Southern California

Jason Holmes Photography
Jason Holmes can be found at www.jholmesphoto.com and does fantastic work in portraits, wedding photography, fashion, marketing, interior design and the home building industry. He's currently offering some fantastic family portrait deals. If you can't go to him, he can bring his studio to you. Contact him at jason@jholmesphoto.com

Through My Eyes
Through My Eyes studio is run by Cathy Settles. She specializes in family and children's portraits, fashion and also does photography for the California Highway Patrol. She produces beautiful images and will also add holiday graphic illustrations to your images for holiday cards at an additional small fee. Cathy Settles can be reached through her website at www.tmephoto.net

JMV Foto
JMV is the work of Jorge M. Vargas, Jr. He's mostly known for his hotrod, pin-up and fashion photography, but also does portraits. He's located near Long Beach and can be reached at jmvfoto@gmail.com

Jim Knell Photography
Jim Knell, a former production photographer for movies and television, does fantastic work for fashion, events, and occasional pin-up. He also does headshots and will both film and photograph your wedding. He can be contacted at filmthis1@gmail.com and also through his website at http://www.unleadedpictures.com/


Montana

Lady West Photography
Lady West Photography is the mother-daughter team of Cheri and Jillian Mamuzich. Cheri specializes in outdoors portraits and has a magical touch for capturing people with their animal companions. She also does glamour portraits and likes to capture the beauty of women ages 40 and over. For an additional fee a hair and make-up team can come in and doll up clients for that perfect photo. Cheri can be reached at ladywestphotography@gmail.com

Steven Begleiter
Steven Begleiter moved to Missoula, MT from back east several years ago. A former magazine photographer, he now has a studio in downtown Missoula and caters to all your photography needs... family portraits, school and senior pictures, glamour, and pin-up. Steven can be reached through his website at www.begleiter.com

Website is back

Alright ladies, the website is back up and running. Updates and the webstore will be back shortly. Thank you for your patience.

With Winter in the Air...

Just when everyone else is preparing for winter, Nicole Katherine Designs is gearing up for Spring and Summer. We are pleased to announce that the Spring/Summer 2011 collection is finished and is now being submitted for production. The catalog and line sheets will be available in just a few weeks. With things getting as hectic as they were with small store orders every couple of weeks, we decided to set quarterly production deadlines and set completion dates.

The photoshoot for the catalog was so much fun. What an excellent team we had: Photographers Jason Holmes and Cathy Settles of Through My Eyes Photography captured such lovely images of models Rockin' Kitty and Violet Valentine. Patty Cordova of Cherry & Olive donated accessories, Lydia Ramos of Black Rose Hair and Make-Up Design made the ladies look gorgeous, and Omar Castaneda donated his beautiful green Ford. We couldn't have asked for a better team. The catalog was shot at a mid-20th century home in Hollywood, and provided a lot of inspiration and amazing settings.

Thank you everyone for your hard work! :)

The Slight Annoyances of Business Ownership

And here we are, another November, with the same issue as every November since 2003. Website is down because our genius web host set the expiration to occur before the billing cycle. I was reassured that this wouldn't happen again this year, and here we are with the same problem. Now, if you're wondering what happened to www.nicolekatherine.com that's it! And it will be up again on the 9th, unless if I can change the web host company and straighten this issue out before then. We shall see, as I have a very full plate for the next two weeks.

However, you can always make purchases from Get Go Retro at www.getgoretro.com :) Get Go Retro will be one of the main hubs for Nicole Katherine Designs starting in 2011!

I suppose that's about it for now. Oh, I would like to welcome my new followers. Such a small and loved handful, thank you for reading my dull blogs LOL.

Hello, how do you do? Ochen pryatna!

Today I figured I'd do something a little different and tell you all a little about me and maybe clarify some business related questions in the process.

Where I live (this is a major FAQ from fans and customers): Technically I now live in Missoula Montana and have been "technically" living here since January, but I'm considered a resident of both LA and Missoula. I've kept my California driver's license for various reasons that you all probably don't care about. I'm in LA a few weeks of almost every month working on production. And plan on settling down somewhere in the LA area or North Orange County :) As far as going out in Missoula, I rarely do so. Just because there's not much here that I'm into (especially since I don't really drink) and I like to spend my time with my son, not to mention catch up on rest from working and playing in LA.

Do you do all your sewing?: Oh dear goodness no. In fact the only thing I really sew now are the dungarees since they are CONSTANTLY running out of stock and sometimes it's faster for me to sew up a few pairs and fill orders than to go through the production process. Once upon a time I used to do all the sewing and I could sew up about 3-4 dresses a day, including the cutting. Then I became a mom, and most people that are mom's who sew know that it's not as easy to sit down and finish a project as it was before baby. Plus, I have so many customers now, and stores, that doing all the sewing wouldn't be possible.

Why are you on Facebook all day, don't you have work to do?: In case if you missed the memo that's posted almost weekly, I am rarely on my Nicole Katherine facebook profile. Best way to reach me is through email. And as far as my fanpage goes, I don't have access to it. A lovely girl, who's also my baby sister, named Jillian, runs those pages. If it's important I'll jump on the Nicole Katherine profile. But the fanpage is separate and I don't have access to it at all.

What other designers do you love?: Well definitely Coco Chanel (however I want to know what on earth Karl Lagerfeld was thinking with the new collection I don't think Miss Coco would be pleased), Christian Dior, and old Hollywood costume designer Adrian. One of the current designer's I love is Lena Hoscheck. I spent an afternoon and then had dinner with her last week. October has been an exciting month :)

If you weren't designing what would you do?: Probably run a coffee shop/bookstore, and write. Writing is my other passion as well as dancing. Coffee is such a fun artform to me. If my boss hadn't been such a jerk, I'd have to say that working as a barista when I first moved to California was my most favorite job ever.

I met you and am left wondering "Are you a snob or are you just weird"?: Yes to the weird part, no to the snob part... I'm terribly shy and timid until I get comfortable with someone. There's been a few cases that I've walked away from people and had to go collect myself and try to get the courage to re-attempt a conversation.

Wanna know more about me? Stay tuned for my interview coming out in a few months... I'll release the info (magazine, date, etc) when the time nears! You don't want to miss it (Jason Holmes did the photography so you definitely don't want to miss it).

Lovely All Year Long..

Winter is just around the corner, and if you live in the North you're probably already adding the layers to keep the chilly wind from biting your skin through your clothing.

Nicole Katherine has a few items that are perfect for this time of year. Our popular dungarees and overalls are fast sellers and we can barely keep enough inventory to meet the demand! They're lovely with the Bettie West blouse or one of your vintage sweaters.

Craving some new goodies from Nicole Katherine? Well, the wait won't be much longer! Nicole Katherine will be debuting the 2011 Spring/Summer line with a sneak peak in December, and delivery of these items is scheduled for February. Still too early for you to think of warm weather? We will be throwing in a few wintery items into the mix around December for those of you who live in areas with 9 chilly months and need to purchase warm items for year long pinupy cuteness.

ATTN Nicole Katherine customers who purchase from Pinup Parade

I want to share my deep apologies for having to make a public statement like this, but unfortunately I can't think of any other solution...

After about 3 years of doing business with Helen Highwater of Pinup Parade, we have no choice but to sever ties.

I've received a few emails from customers who wanted to purchase the Sonia peasant skirt and our peasant blouse. All items have been shipped to Pinup Parade, despite their claims. Not only has Ms. Highwater made malicious claims and attacks against both me personally (including defacing my character and ridiculing my religion), my attorney and my company she also fraudulently posed as a professional persona in an attempt to bully my company, I've decided to publicly post the tracking numbers that include these items. They are CP545294864US and CJ171564586US. We have customs forms that show the items that were shipped to Ms. Highwater, plus an email when she placed the order and requested that we jump around in the sizes when having this produced.

I would like to further apologize to anyone who hoped to purchase these items for Halloween parties and festivals. One of the boxes had delivery attempts made for over a month before Ms. Highwater claimed the package. Unfortunately, the fabric and materials used for this peasant skirt were sourced specifically for Pinup Parade and Ms. Highwater's custom request and Nicole Katherine doesn't have any additional inventory of this skirt. If you have any other questions please email Nicole Katherine Designs at info@nicolekatherine.com

For our European customers, we have other retailers that carry Nicole Katherine. You can still purchase items at Hetty Spagetty in England at http://hettyspaghetty.co.uk/ and Dansskor in Sweden at www.dansskor.se for additional retailers please send an inquiry.

Kind Regards,

Nicole Katherine
Owner of Nicole Katherine Designs

My Dearest Overseas Customers :)

Dear Overseas Customers,

We love you and value having you as customers. With that said, we want to make purchasing items from Nicole Katherine Designs as easy as possible. Please consider the following when purchasing from us:



1. You will be responsible for the full cost of shipping and handling to your country of destination. We apologize for the high price and do what we can to minimize these costs. However, it's still pricey and we wish that it wasn't...but we don't have control over shipping costs.



2. We are not responsible for any duties owed to customs when your item is received by your customs port authority. Please be prepared to pay duties. We're looking into other alternatives to make this less of a hassle. Until then, please be prepared for this responsibility.



3. We will not mark your item as a gift or private. We ship too many items to the UK, Europe and Australia on a weekly basis to take this risk.



4. We COULD claim your $200.00 dress as only being $15.00 to avoid paying duties BUT... the insurance will only be for the amount claimed. Meaning, that if it was damaged in transit and all you receive is $15.00 to cover that $200.00 dress, you're SOL. We're not responsible for having your lost or damaged item reproduced at our expense because of an issue caused by the post or courier, and you will not be reimbursed. So think about it before making this request, would you rather pay an additional $20-$40 customs and duties fee or would you rather lose $200.00 in merchandise.



5. Be certain to allow enough time for your purchase to ship and sit in customs. Meaning, please plan ahead before ordering. If you need an item in 4 days, even if we express ship it to your country of origin, chances are that it will sit in customs an additional week. Also, check to see if the item is in stock before ordering. At this point, with the economy and everything, we only keep stock on our most popular items. It is noted beneath the picture if it's in stock. If it doesn't say, we welcome you to ask, but it's most likely not. It will take 2-4 weeks to have your item produced, depending on our current workload (and since we've been consistently busy all year, I can promise you that it will take up to that full 4 weeks to be produced). Why does it take so long? When we receive an order, it goes into our production queue. Please ask ahead of purchasing if you need an item rushed, and we will do our best to make arrangements. Please remember that chances are your item could sit in customs for an additional week after its ETA.



***If you have any other questions please feel free to ask! And thank you for being great customers.

Sewing help needed!

Now that I have my sewing help configured in the LA/OC areas, I need assistance in the Missoula, Montana area.

I'm currently looking for someone to help with small production sewing work, this person will need to be able to complete about 5-10 garments per week. I'm looking for someone who can work quickly, produce professional quality work, and is deadline oriented.

The schedule is flexible and will probably only be 10-15 hours a week for the first month. If you are interested, please contact me at info@nicolekatherine.com, have samples of your work available, and be prepared for a take-home sewing test. Please provide references.

Payment is by the hour or per completed piece DOE. This will be a contracted position, and the person contracted for this position will be required to fill out the appropriate tax documents, non-disclosures, etc.

Thank you and happy Sunday everyone :)

Another Day...

First I want to thank everyone that helped out with last night's Elements fashion show at the Crystal Theatre in Missoula. Thank you to Vanessa for inviting Nicole Katherine Designs to be a part of this event. Did you catch it? My ladies rocked that stage and did a beautiful job.

Moving forward...

Nicole Katherine has gained quite a following in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Don't forget that you can purchase many lovely items from www.pinup-parade.com and in Sweden, Dansskor will be selling our popular dungarees and overalls next week (go to www.dansskor.se). Living in Australia and New Zealand? Stay tuned for a few items coming available to Vintage Bettie in less than 2 months. For those of you in the USA don't forget to visit Cats Like Us in New York. They carry Nicole Katherine items that are perfect for colder weather. AND Get Go Retro will be featuring some new items within the next few months. For more information on where to purchase Nicole Katherine send an email to info@nicolekatherine.com

Pattern Making Classes

Ok everyone, here's the information so far for the patternmaking classes:

Missoula, MT- August 30th, 31st
Selvedge Studio
For information please call 866-931-9001
There are VERY limited spots available. If this has a good response I will give more classes either at selvedge or a different location in Missoula. The classes are $95.00

California:
Fullerton, CA
We have a location in Orange County! The classes will be held in October and the dates are TBA within the next few weeks.

Los Angeles, CA
Still trying to secure a location. Classes may be held in Pasadena at the Pasadena library. More info to come within the next week.

Thank you for your patience while Nicole Katherine makes these pin-up pattern making classes a reality :)

Looking for an Intern

My business has hit yet another growth spirt and I'm finding myself wearing too many hats.
Currently, I need an intern for my Missoula, Montana office. My immediate needs are for someone to handle basic customer service and office duties.
Responsibilities will include the following:
- Answer emails from store buyers and direct retail customers
- Track orders and production
- Daily communication with my production assistant in Los Angeles
- Follow up with trim and fabric suppliers
- Organize books, invoices, and receipts
Qualifications: Please have some experience in customer service (previous retail experience a bonus), basic computer skills and experience with Office programs such as word and excel, and email.
Additional skills (but not required): understanding of business logistics, be a current business student or previous fashion industry experience. Spanish speaking skills a HUGE bonus.
To apply please send an email w/ cover letter and resume to: info@nicolekatherine.com
University of Montana students are encouraged to apply. The internship is for 3 months and could become a paid position after this time period. I need you available for 10 hours a week, you can choose which days between Monday-Friday. Once a schedule is picked please stay consistent.

A Collection of Vintage Treasures in Missoula

On Thursday I had a few free moments and decided to take my little boy to the Museum of Mountain Flying at the Missoula International Airport. While I do NOT recommend this place for a wild two year old nicknamed "monster baby", "Hurricane Nugget", etc., I do recommend this place to anyone interested in aviation history, classic cars and all things vintage and antique.

The museum is packed with aircraft from the 1940's-present, classic cars of an era gone by and interesting information regarding the aviation history of Missoula, and the men and women who've bravely fought wildfires in the area. Sadly, they don't get many visitors on a regular basis. I'm not certain if this is because not many people know of it's existence or because it's opening months happen to be in the summer where most people are going to opt for the river with an inner tube and can of beer. However, Missoula has had enough cool and rainy days this season that the museum offers a nice alternative.

To me, this place is so beautiful and fascinating, I'm considering holding a small fashion show in September to help promote the museum's existence. Please stay tuned for more details, coming soon :)

And don't forget the SALE!

Ladies, don't forget the sale going on in my Etsy Store! visit www.etsy.com/shop/nicolekatherine

When in Missoula...

Since I'm splitting my time between Missoua and LA for the year I've decided to involve my business in the Missoula community as much as possible and bring various things to the area. Today, I want to bring up photographer Jason Holmes who shoots for Stop Staring, Retrodolls and Vintage Suits by Mary. He would like to come to Missoula in September. This is the perfect opportunity for aspiring models interested in mainstream modeling or pin-up modeling to add professional photos to their portfolios for agency and industry use. Plus, it makes getting these images more affordable so that you don't have to travel to Seattle or Los Angeles for your portfolio shoots. If you want more info, please send an email to my company at info@nicolekatherine.com OR visit Jason Holmes Website for more details. And if you're not interested in modeling but just want to be a glamour kitten for the day or have a surprise for the man in your life, there are packages available for you as well!

Featured Item!

Hey ladies, have you had a look at the Bar NK Overalls? They're super comfy and the perfect alternative to sweats :) On days like today where I'm just not feeling it, but don't wanna look as horrendous as I feel, I throw these on with a super cute western blouse!

Not only do these overalls look cute and feel ultra-comfortable, but they're rugged too. It's unthinkable for a glamour-puss, such as myself, to wear raggedy clothes for gritty work, dirty mommy jobs, or playing outside. These are a fantastic alternative to grubbies, so you can get down and dirty without compromising your style. The denim is ultra tough, USA made cotton. It's unlike the trendy, stretchy denim that most brands have on the market. You know, the kind that loses it's shape and gets saggy on the bottoms in less than a year of wear? No, no! These are durable and tough, yet feminine, like Rosie the Riveter. We have sizes in stock for immediate shipping :) You can purchase these directly from Nicole Katherine , Cats Like Us in New York, or Get Go Retro.

ETSY SALE! Items listed at 50%-75% off!

OK ladies... Nicole Katherine is having a huge clearance sale! More items to come so check back everyday! Visit

Another week flying past...

Hello everyone,
I'm happy to report that business is still going strong! Unfortunately, we're still very backed up in production... *sigh* The best things in life...

Anyway, nothing new to report since yesterday. But, I do want to mention that we had a fantastic time at the Operation Recuperation benefit show on Saturday. The turn-out wasn't what we'd hoped. I guess the cover was a little too much for Missoula people, which I had no idea since I did ask for local opinions before determining the price. I deeply apologize for this. Live and learn :) I would welcome feedback for future events, as I would like to bring more bands to Montana.

But, back to Operation Recuperation... The plan is this: The money collected and donated will go to the people that run the non-profit in California. This will help them get needed items for the VA Hospitals, create needed promotional materials (as I'm sure you all noticed we didn't have any at the benefit, which was sort of an inconvenience), and also the money will be saved for future events and plans of spreading their wings. The DVD's and CD's that we collected will be kept for Montana based VA hospitals. I know that some of you want to set up donation boxes at your places of work, and also set up chapters in your area. This is GREATLY appreciated. Please feel free to email me at info@nicolekatherine.com OR email Op.Recup. directly at operationrecuperation@hotmail.com

There's no deadline for CD and DVD donations! Please be aware of this. The donations are ongoing and we can coordinate days and times to send these to the VA Hospitals. Also, if you'd like to visit the VA Hospital in your area to personally show wounded soldiers your gratitude, email Operation Recuperation directly to find out what you need to do to coordinate the visits. Thank you so much for your support everyone! And the soldiers thank you too :)