Our make-up artist was Janice from Faces Etc. out of Minneapolis and wow can she do make-up!  You are going to love the make-up looks she put together and the added touches of glitz and bling she used on the model's faces.  You'll probably see close-ups in Prom Magazine so don't forget to pre-order your copy at www.prommagazine.com.  You're probably going to want to copy some of her make-up artistry for your prom.

Blake Johnson was our photographer and he really has an eye for the color wheel.  We did an outdoor shoot and he was really on top of what colored walls the models should stand by, what textures went best with the dresses and their backgrounds, etc.  I'm usually panicking about how the photo's will look; Blake really put me at ease with his knowledge and understanding of fashion.

Marie Chavez, the owner of Utopia Salon and her staff worked on the models hair.  Hopefully they will put examples of her work on www.PromDressShop.com.

All in all it was a pleasure to work with such professional group of people in the industry.  And even though I went home extremely hungry, with a tremendous back ache and blistery sore feet, I also felt a great deal of accomplishment in what we achieved during the shoot.  When you see the photo's in Prom Magazine (www.PromMagazine.com) and on www.PromDressShop.com and www.DeBoraRachelle.com, you'll understand what I mean.  You'll also find the look you want for prom in our photos. Got to love the internet; even though we may be miles away from you, we can bring our looks to you and you can actually buy that same look right on this site www.PromDressShop.com.  I never had the internet advantage when I was a young girl.  I remember finding a look in a magazine and trying to purchase it only to find out that it was no longer available.  Now you can find the look and purchase it, and have it in your hands within 24 hours.  Simply amazing! 

1. getting everything situated for our big photo shoot in August,
2. determining which dresses to take to market (and which markets we may or may not attend).
3. making last minute changes to our gowns.
4. determining where our advertising budget is going to be spent.

I've been asked to write a book about prom.  I'm contemplating the issue.  Obviously I know prom like the back of my hand, but do I have the time to dedicate to writing a book?  More on this later.... 

I've determined the color palette for next season.  The colors I've chosen seem to remind me of fast city life.  If you were to use a camera and photograph cars driving by, streetlights and sign lights, then blur them all together, you'll see my color palette for next season.  It seems somewhat weird how I come up with these ideas, but it works for me, so I'm sticking with it.  So next time you're in New York and happen to find yourself on the corner of Times Square, think of my color palette for 2009.  Click here to see a photo where you can see what I mean.

We are also determining which models to use for our upcoming photo shoot in July or August.  I like to warn the models in advance so they don't try to get too tan during the summer months.  Tan lines and skin that is not natural (a.k.a tanning beds and sun worshippers) are the pits to work with and they look awful in the photos.  Take it from someone my age, I wish I had stayed out of the sun because you can see age spots making their way to the surface of my skin.  Believe me, it's not worth the tan that only lasted a few months.  I remember caking on the tanning oil and sitting back on my tanning blanket that reflected solar radiation so I'd end up with an even tan.  It was all in the name of vanity.  I'd like to think that young girls are smarter now because back then, we didn't have a clue.  It was the fashionable thing to do and we are all suffering the consequences now.  I don't see those aluminum foil looking tanning blankets around anymore - and that's a good thing.  Now, those blankets are about as fashionable as the skin cancer you develop from using them.

Have a great summer!  Remember to use your SPF 50.

If you're still looking for a prom dress, www.PromDressShop.com has all of their dresses on their website in stock and ready to ship.  I've heard horror stories about people ordering from other websites and never receiving their dress because the site didn't have it in stock and never took the time to call their customer.  So I have to hand it to www.PromDressShop.com for being so on top of it!  Way to go and keep of the good work.

So what have I been working on January thru March?  Besides selling gowns, selling gowns, and selling gowns, I've been putting together my new line for 2009.  You're going to love them.  I always wonder how am I ever going to beat the prior year, yet I always seem to be able to do it.  Sorry, no photos to post of these gowns, you'll have to wait until September for a preview!

I opened up a couple of new stores in other countries today (retailers where you can find my dresses).  One is in United Arab Emirates in Dubai, the other is in Denmark.  Kind of crazy to think my dresses are going to be for sale in Dubai.  It's supposed to be the happening place and supposedly the 3rd richest country in the world (the US is 6th, Denmark 9th).  The mall in Dubai is incredible, it even has a ski slope in it.

Did you get to see the movie 27 dresses?  These two were my gowns (see below).  Great for prom, but I don't think they make the best bridesmaid dresses - she liked them though.  I have a ton of dresses in the Prom Night movie starring Brittany Snow, however, I plan on purchasing the movie on video and fast forwarding the scary scenes.  As you can see scary movies are not for me but as you can guess I'm going to do it so see my dresses.

Have a good one!  And have an AWESOME prom!

DeBora Rachelle

Speaking of movies, Sony Production's "Prom Night" movie due out in April of 2008 also ordered over a dozen of my dresses for their movie.  "Prom Night" is supposed to be a pretty scary movie.  I'm not excited to think someone is wearing one of my dresses when something bad may happen.  The fact that now I have to go and see a scary movie just so I can see my dresses is also kind of a weird feeling.  But I'd rather have them in a scary movie than in no movie.

It was easier to watch my dresses on shows like "The OC Show" because you knew the girls were going to look great in my dresses and anything going on was all pretty much good stuff.  I was really bummed when the show went off the air. 

Someone once asked me, how do I get my dresses in the movies and on TV?  The answer is simple, the wardrobe person or stylist calls me up.  Somehow, they find me.  Most stylists or wardrobe dept.'s know fashion and know where to find it.  I should take out the word most and replace it with the word "all" stylists or wardrobe dept's know fashion and where to find it.  That's their job and they know their stuff.  If they didn't know their stuff, they wouldn't be in the positions they are in. 

Movies also give me inspiration.  Here's a dress I designed after watching CAT woman, and another I designed while watching Spider man.  Can you guess which is which? 
FASHION INSPIRATION:

Okay, so what does a house in the Bahamas have to do with the fashion business? Plenty. For Red Carpet events, celebrities no longer want to just wear what they like, they want to get paid for what they are wearing. This can include just plain ca$h or more perks. Celebrities have a ton of advertising power. If a star gets photographed at the Oscars, that photograph can appear in hundreds of magazines over and over again. It could be worth millions in free advertising for the designer of the dress. So why shouldn’t the celebrity ca$h in on the deal? The problem is, how does a small designer compete? Someone who can’t afford to offer the $300,000 in cash plus a week in their vacation house in Italy? Easy, you don’t, or you can hope that there will be one celebrity that doesn’t care about the money and wants to wear a small designer label that she just happened to run across in a store she just happened to go into when she just happened to be needing a dress for the Oscars- (yeah right - like that‘s going to happen).

So, you try to compete by offering perks such as a very private house on a very private peninsula on a very private island on a very private beach in the Bahamas. Then, you hope it doesn’t get wrecked two months later by a Tropical Storm. Luckily, my house was one of the few on the island that seemed to make out without any damage whatsoever. When my Bahamas house is not in use, I rent it out to normal people who want to get away from it all and find themselves on a secluded beach. If that suits you, check out my website at www.BahamasBeachFrontVilla.com.

The objective of the Fur Ball was to bring in money to build a new shelter. The current shelter is in awful condition. There is no ventilation, and if one animal urinates in his stall at the end row of cages, this forms a stream which runs all the way through every other animals stall on the way to the drain in the center of the building. People don’t want to visit a shelter and see what these dogs/cats are going through. Hence, the less people that go through the shelter, the less animals that will have an opportunity to find a good home.

If you love animals like I do, I highly suggest to donate your time towards them. I have, and it has been a very rewarding experience. Here are some things you can do to volunteer at a shelter:

* take the dogs for a walk (you also benefit by getting exercise). If no one shows up to help walk the dogs, the dogs have to stay in their kennel all day. Dogs start to turn constant circles if they are left in kennels all day. I believe it’s some kind of mental condition that they develop from having to be in a kennel all the time. In many instances, animals rescued by the shelter are already going through this kennel turning.

* clean cages. I know you wouldn’t want to live in a cage like this.

* if you cannot tolerate messes, what about helping at a fund raiser. The Animal Allies is in our area is in constant need of volunteers to help staff the walk for animals (handing out t-shirts, collecting donations, running the dog Olympics), x-mas card photo for dogs having their photo taken with Santa,, the dog gone good time event, the list is endless.

* are you good with bookwork or filing? Animals allies is always looking for help filing papers to putting out the next newsletter.

* help writing the newsletter.
There is something for everyone. The only thing needed is your time.

* most importantly, if you know of someone who needs an animal, tell them about your local shelter.  Many of the dogs that are admitted are pure bread dogs.

So what to animals have to do with fashion? Think about cavemen, the fashion was to wear fur. Speaking of fur, I need to add a little tidbit. You will never find any real fur being used in my designs. This is the 20^th century, the need for having to wear fur was probably appropriate in the caveman ages. Now-a-day’s it’s not necessary and it’s downright cruel. Animals also provide inspiration for my designs (see below):

White Faux Fur Bolero Jacket

Leopard print dyed fuchsia

Leopard print

To find your local shelter, look them up under "animal shelter + your city and state" under google.com or yahoo.com.

Some say, “Wow - going to NY must be soooo Glamorous” - not really. I was in the hotel 95% of the time. My meeting with my clients was even held in my hotel. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and flew out Friday night. I did get to see a designer friend of mine who lives in NY on Thursday night for dinner. She designs knits and woven tops for a NY company. She’s doing very well considering she’s only one year out of fashion design school. Six months into her job the head designer left so she took over. Great timing - just enough time to get trained in and then bam - you’re head designer! One thing is for sure, she loves NY. Her only complaint was paying $2000. for a one bedroom apartment that is so tiny her kitchen is the living room. She likes the fact of living on the 2^nd floor because most of the apartments she looked located above the 5^th floors. Most apartment buildings don’t have elevators and it’s not fun climbing 5 flights of stairs when you have 3 loads of laundry and a gallon of water to bring up with you.

She likes her designing and production job but it wouldn’t be for me. There are many different kinds of designers; furniture designers, backpack designers, clothing designers, etc. Those categories can be further broken down. For example, in the clothing design category, I design strictly evening gowns, prom dresses, and social occasion gowns. My friend designs strictly casual tops made out of knits and wovens. Others may design just men’s suits. I love what I do, as she loves what she designs. It would be really hard to design something that you have no interest in designing.

FASHION CRITIC: What is it about jean skirts worn with leggings on the streets of NY? This seems ‘so last year’. I saw a lot of people wearing this style as I was eating lunch at the hotel restaurant looking out the window people watching. I do know this, it doesn’t do much for their figures. What am I wearing? Black of course, so I don’t stick out like a sore thumb in NY. I have on a crisp white top with collar and cuffs. Very classic and very safe.

Perhaps what I write will inspire someone to become a designer - that's an inspirational thought for me. Then again, perhaps it will dismay someone who had big intentions about becoming a designer - that's a depressing thought. Either way, life as a fashion designer is what it is, take it or leave it.

So here goes, my first blog….

I'm sitting in the JFK New York airport and my flight has been delayed 3 hours (surprise? -not). The plane was supposed to leave at 9:00 pm, now it's scheduled for 11:55 pm - ouch. Looks like another night in a hotel room for me. Once I land in Minneapolis, I still have a 3 hour drive to my home. So unless I want to find myself falling asleep at the wheel, I should probably not drive home tonight. Why did I leave from the Mpls. airport instead of the airport from my hometown? Easy answer - there was not an early enough flight to get my into New York on time for my first meeting. So I had to drive down, stay at a hotel room and get up early to catch the first flight to New York.

It's October 5, 2007 at 11:55pm and they loading the plane, so this blog will be continued tomorrow (which is in 5 minutes)....

FASHION INSPIRATION OF THE DAY: The airport floors are all squares 5 white squares in a row then one black line of squares. It made me think of a dress I made with cut out squares. I couldn’t remember where I got the inspiration for that dress. Perhaps it was an airport floor?