Over the past few years, Valentine’s day has become an important occasion for women to purchase outfits for. Many couples celebrate Anniversaries around this holiday, and new couples are busy celebrating their relationship by going out to eat, or attending an activity together. This has driven up demand for Valentine’s dresses among women. Store owners can capitalize on this by holding a Valentine’s day event in their boutiques.
Why an event?
Events are a great opportunity to get your name out. A store event can be spread on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, which can generate a lot of one-day store purchases. They also go a long way toward building brand name and customer loyalty. By having an in-store event, you are able to connect with your community on a personal level. This may be the deciding factor that brings them to you, rather than to a big department store.
Your in-store event is a terrific place to get customer information, too. You can have a raffle, or sample auction. To sign up, you will need customer names, addresses, or email addresses. if you get a great list of email addresses, guess what – you’ve just built yourself a great marketing base!
What to do at an event?
Any event will need more than an occasion to draw people to it. You’ll need some kind of incentive, like door prizes, or free gifts with purchase. Maybe offer chocolates with the purchase of a Valentine’s dress. or coupons to local restaurants (this is a great way for you to partner with other local businesses).
As a clothing boutique, a fashion show can also be an amazing draw. Recruit your best customers as models, and allow them a discount on their outfits as compensation. Invite local press for some publicity on your event.
Set goals
Decide what you want your event to do for you, and then make all preparations what those goals in mind. If you want to establish yourself as a sophisticated shop with exclusive garments, consider having the even catered with light fare, or having a local violinist or cellist play for clients. If you want to be the hip store in town, have a local band play, or get a DJ. Let your clients mingle, and give them plenty of opportunities to see your garments in action.
If your goal is to gather information, do that by finding ways to have your clients willingly share their information. Announce a newsletter and have them sign up, or offer e-mail only coupons. Get your client base connected to you. Make sure everyone knows you have an account on Twitter if you do, and ask them to follow you.
Whatever you do for your Valentine’s clothingevent, make sure everyone has a good time, and leaves with a great impression of your store!
Anyone following the color trends of 2009 knows Spring brought an array of bright pop shades meant to inspire a breakout from the winter doldrums. But the vibrant and over the top blues, yellows and greens that were the highlights of last year make way for a much subtler more serene color sense in 2010. Designers, aware of the economic challenges of today’s economy, intend to help compliment existing styles rather than replacing them entirely.
So this Spring will take a natural turn, featuring a more subdued range of purples, pinks, grays, and browns. Many of these will also include underlying colors that complement and enhance the richness of the primary shade. This will create a more tranquil look and will refresh an existing palette.
Grays, for example will have purple or blue undertones, while pinks and brown will accent teals. For those who found
the pop pink of last season too much, this year’s trend of a soft renaissance pink will be much more pleasing, with its soft and feminine appeal.
The purples this year will have much more reds that blues. This makes a great statement for an afternoon tea dress or for early evening cocktails. A new ashy gray will be touched with a lavender undertone, allowing this color, not normally included in the season, to be perfect for Spring.
Teal replaces the shocking “vert tonic” of last season, making way for a more sober and classy alternative. The richness of this bejeweled color will lend itself well to the textured fabrics, such as jacquard. Always a great choice for the more dressy occasions, this blue-green will be stunning in formal wear and floor length gowns.
Take a cue from the top designers, and prepare yourself with these top five selections favored by New York Designers
golden colors 2010
this year:
Violet. The undertones will provide more warmth to this cool color and moves it to number one on the list.
Golden Yellow: It started as a highlight in accessories and handbag, but this season designers have moved it to a number two spot on most popular.
Turquoise: This year’s soften varieties will bring to mind ocean breezes and tranquil settings and pairs nicely with the understated grays and navies.
Coral: Designers consider this to be an extremely mellow version of orange and is appropriately flattering to a wide variety of skin tones.
Tomato: In keeping with the subtle themes of 2010, this subdued red retains the passion without going over the top.
Whatever your preference, this year’s colors are sure to bring out the soft and feminine side of any wardrobe. Be ready to indulge in timeless basics, in colors that are appropriate not only to the season, but in these changing and challenging times. So check out what’s currently in your closet, and grab the garments you already have in these shades for the upcoming season. They can be easily matched to put together great new looks that will remain stylish throughout any changing trend.
If you’re reading an article online in order to learn what your fashion niche should be for your fashion boutique, you’re already starting off on the wrong foot. I don’t want to chide you too much: you’re doing research and that’s a good thing. You’re also being cautious and seeing what others have done and what advice is out there to help guide you through the minefield of starting a new business. However, I believe you should be starting a fashion boutique because you love fashion. You love making it, you love wearing it, you love seeing other people wear it, and you love helping people find what looks best on them. It’s not rocket science. Knowing comes from within. To know what areas of fashion you should specialize in, you simply to have ask yourself which ones you want to specialize in. There’s a market for men’s shoes, for children’s outdoor clothes, for lingerie and formal wear. Choose enough areas—each one relevant to the other—that you can be supported by a slim minority but not so few specialties that that minority is too slim to support you.
The true niche in fashion boutiques is not just what clothing specialty you decide on; it’s what you do with that specialty that will make you stand out and create your own niche. A niche is a crevice in a rock that no one else can squeeze through. Once you’re there, that’s it. No one can even imitate you because you’re so unique. Think of Boy George. Many posers, few successors. That’s the kind of niche you’re looking for—one that is dug from the energies of your own personality.
Once you know what areas of specialization you wish to include in your boutique, the next significant step is researching your competition to see how exactly how they fail and succeed. It’s necessary to know both. When spy shopping on your competition, ask yourself what do I like about this store and how would I improve it? The best way to get the complete lesson is to know what works and what doesn’t wherever you go. There is no store that is perfect, because none of these stores are yours. This isn’t to say your store is static. Stasis and perfection are different. Your store will grow and change with the fashion seasons, but you will always have the attitude that you are attaining perfection, that your boutique is better than the one down the street. That belief will resonate with your clientele and be the color through which all your fashion selections are tinted.
In a nutshell, the best way to figure out what your boutique’s fashion specialties should be is to ask yourself what fashion you wish to be surrounded by on a daily basis. The first few years of owning a new business you will be in that store seven days a week, nearly twelve hours a day. Be around things that excite you. The next step in creating a true niche is to inflect these specialties, these specific categories of fashion, through your unique personality. The displays, arrangement, clothing, and atmosphere should all be yours. Because no one else is you, you will have a monopoly on your niche
In today’s economy, it seems as though everyone is flocking to big-name stores like Wal-Mart and Target to buy low
priced clothing right off the rack. Don’t people care about how they look these days? Of course they do, which is why you own a fashion boutique! You’re interested in creating a stylish look for your customers that is completely unique.
There are a ton of ideas to help your store stay relevant in these tough times. The gist of all the ideas, however, can be summed with one phrase: think Avatar! James Cameron’s blockbuster film is a perfect example of what you should do to help your profit line and keep your store and your dream in business.
What did James Cameron do right? He made something sublime—the world of Pandora. Its lush gardens, varied creatures, bright colors and romantic, adventurous atmosphere, spoke to everyone’s heart, a heart that wants desperately to have a good time and burst with joy despite the sluggish wages and wars overseas. The idea is age old. Have you ever heard the Roman motto for allaying the unrest of the masses—“Bread and Circuses”? It’s true today. Probably if you’re a fashionista, you already live this motto. Fashion itself is an artistic distraction from over-self serious life. It transcends your roles and status. It feeds you with fantasies of a different kind of person or a better you. Fashion is powerful magic. So how can you bring this magic to your customers without alienating your followers (or if you have none, creating a following)?
The first thing you have to do is know that you’re selling an elixir. People who have a tendency to desire good quality clothing do not want to shop at big-brand stores. They want to shop at yours. The difficulty, you may think, is that those box stores like Wal-Mart and Target have all the advertising, stock, and cheap prices you can’t offer. And you would be right. They fail, though, to give their customers any magic. Their customers grow stale on the weak elixir. So, first and foremost, you have to keep in the front of your mind the absolute fact that you are selling magic for the soul, that what you have is not only unique but transcendent, that it improves people’s lives. And everywhere, people spend their paychecks on self improvement.
Now that you know you’re a fashion magician, how do you cast this spell over window shoppers and hesitant customers. Obviously, you have to do your homework—what everyone else in the boutique business does: read on the latest fashion trends, network like crazy, or get a fashion degree. These are your foundations, and you should always be developing your skills as your business grows in style and income.
One specific tip is this: use your boutique as a hosting grounds for parties, and have them often. Wine and cheese, for example. (As far as I know you won’t need to have a permit to provide drinks to your guests so long as you don’t sell it and call the party a private event.) Use your store as a venue. Wine and cheese are perfect for bringing your friends into your boutique. One of them will buy something eventually, or a friend of theirs will. Plus you’ll have a great time seeing your store full of happy people. (Be sure to warn everyone of the “You break it, you bought it” rule.)
So, for a boutique to stay relevant, it has to articulate the belief in the magic of fashion into every part of their store—from the display of clothes to the hosting. Reaffirm what the box stores don’t have—style.
Today’s market for small boutiques is completely cut-throat. Missed deadlines, over stocking or under stocking; all
boutiques
these mistakes have amplified consequences in a time when customers are hesitant to shop. It’s more important than ever for clothing store owners to avoid mistakes that can cost time, energy, customers, and profits. Here is Julie’s list of the top five mistakes to avoid as a boutique clothing store owner:
Fealty to National Trends over Local Tastes
Do everything you can to avoid this pitfall. The whole point of owning a boutique is to sell your own style; your unique take on what looks good. No one else will have your sense of fashion, though many may emulate it by buying your clothing. This exclusive look is your selling point. However, if you go to J-Crew, the Gap, Urban Outfitters and then Target, and think, “Why, they’re doing so well, I should sell what they sell,” then you become a sell out, and not long after will have to sell your store.
Trying to compete with the big box stores on their ground is like fighting Godzilla with a club. The point is to play to your strengths. Ask people in your neighborhood what they want. It’s fine to do research on what’s popular, but have an opinion on it. In sum: let the local demand determine what you buy, rather than the national trends.
Having a muddled Brand
If you have one rack dedicated to women’s lingerie, another to children’s booties, another to men’s outdoor wear, and yet another to teenage goth, you may be stretching yourself so wide no one knows what you are anymore. Some customers like to know exactly what you’re going to have available, and others like to browse and discover. But no one wants to walk into a store thinking they’ll get one thing and finding another.
Pick a category and examine all the relevant fashion angles to it. For example, if you love prom fashion, you could consider prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, cocktail dresses, and little black dresses relevant to that category. Not considering what clothing has synergy together will bloat your inventory and muddle the branding of your store—how many lingerie shops succeed by also offering men’s shoes? None!
Burdensome Overhead
The most expensive aspect of owning a small business, usually, is employee pay and benefits. Avoid this as much as possible. Work your butt off as long as it takes for your business to sustain another employee. Seven days a week, no vacations, or twelve hour days – whatever it takes to stay solvent. Your business will be your life. If it’s not, it may not grow to sustain your lifestyle in the future. Try as best as possible to hire family (who may work for less) or even volunteers. (You can teach them the ropes of owning a fashion boutique in exchange for working the register and helping customers.)
Poor Location Choice
As in home buying, location is essential. You want street traffic to see what you offer, and it needs to be the right kind of street traffic. Why have a high-end fashion boutique if your storefront faces a discount chain?
Not Ordering in Advance
When you get merchandise and clothes to sell from top design firms, you have to place your orders well in advance of the season. This is a skill you can learn only by knowing the best wholesale women’s clothing companies online.
There are some occasions when just any old thing can be pulled out of the closet and made into an acceptable outfit for going out, and then there are those rare occasions when an outfit needs to make a real statement. Such is the case with New Years Eve. This is the time to show off during the celebration of the year coming to a close and the anticipation of the next twelve months – all in your outfit, and it must be fabulous. Needless to say, choosing a flattering New Years Eve outfit needs a little thought, but it doesn’t have to be a chore.
End the year with a big bang by looking your best! Your New Years Eve outfit should be a direct representation of the night’s events, so make your plans before making purchases. Whether you are attending a formal party or spending a night on the town, you can never go wrong with a party dress and a stunning pair of heels.
Consider what’s in style this season. Sequins, studding, and metallic hues are all current trends and extremely festive for a night of celebrating, especially on New Year’s Eve, which is THE opportune time to sport a little glittery sparkle. Dresses can be found in all lengths and styles at the moment, and if you aren’t really feeling the sequin look, keep in mind that you can never go wrong with a little black dress. This fashion lifesaver can be found in all styles, not to mention, become a staple in your wardrobe.
Keep in mind the glamour aspect, but wear something comfortable and weather-appropriate, especially if you are spending time outdoors. If you choose a bold colored or metallic mini or body contouring dress, keep yourself warm by layering it with a cropped leather motorcycle jacket and a pair of colored or black opaque leggings. Faux fur is also an excellent choice this season and is certain to keep you warm and toasty.
Accessories are a major part of any outfit and should be carefully considered if your clothing is bold and already making a statement. When shopping for heels, choose a stylish but practical pair so that walking and dancing doesn’t become a burden. If your dress is a solid color, jazz it up with a pair of exotic patterned heels or studded strappy platforms. If you choose to wear something patterned, colorful, or all of the above, consider a pair of solid color heels or shoe boots, which are at the height of current fashion. Make sure that your jewelry doesn’t become an overstatement. Keep it simple, classy, and trendy. Finally, remember that toting a large handbag might not be preferable for New Years Eve and a cute clutch is a much easier way to keep track of your necessary items.
Once you have selected your perfect New Years Eve outfit, go ahead and open that first bottle of champagne early and give yourself a toast. You’ll be decked to the nines and ready to celebrate in no time!
The holiday season is here and it is time to find that perfect dress whether it be for a holiday office party, a New Year’s Eve party, or just a night on the town. This year’s styles offer something for everyone, Here are some style trends to look for.
Vibrant Color
Although red is always festive for the holiday, the season, deep purples, sapphires, emeralds or almost any jewel tone is in. Party dresses with animal prints are also in style for this holiday season, especially coupled with solid skirts or sashes.
Silver and Gold are other popular holiday colors, and can also be used to dress up that little black dress that is always in season. Rhinestones, beading and sequins add glamor to any holiday dress. Just remember not to overdue the bling, a little sparkle goes a long way.
If you decide on your favorite “little black dress”, be sure to accessorize it with decorative belts, vibrant colored shawls or gold, silver, or gemstone jewelry. A lace jacket can also glamorize the look. Sequin scarfs are also a popular holiday look, and very affordable.
Style
This season’s styles are flattering to any figure. Trends in the junior party dresses are showing empire waists, usually accented sashes with bows and that are fitted on top, with a strapless, sweetheart or halter neckline and draped and flared below the waist to hide any imperfections. Bubble hems are also very popular, and the perfect body style to show off you legs. This style of dress looks great on women with pear figures that have smaller bust lines, and that carry their weight in the hip and thigh areas.
For those who want a sleeker look, or want to show off their curves, soft, form fitting pleats with rows of draped or rouched fabric all contribute to that contoured look. Although a number of dresses are shorted this year, there is an equal number that fall to the knee, or just above.
The material of choice this season seems to be satin, shiny and elegant. Some styles include lace overlays, rhinestone embellishment, or colorful embroidery to compliment the look. Macrame designs are also very popular for the upcoming season.
For those individuals in colder climates, consider sweater dresses, that not only look great, but are “accessory friendly” and look great with leggings or extra warmth. These dresses are usually machine washable and perfect for all occasions, day or night.
The true niche in fashion boutiques is not just what clothing specialty you decide on; it’s what you do with that specialty that will make you stand out and create your own niche. A niche is a crevice in a rock that no one else can squeeze through. Once you’re there, that’s it. No one can even imitate you because you’re so unique. Think of Boy George. Many posers, few successors. That’s the kind of niche you’re looking for—one that is dug from the energies of your own personality.
The holiday season is here and it is time to find that perfect dress whether it be for a holiday office party, a New Year’s Eve party, or just a night on the town. This year’s styles offer something for everyone, Here are some style trends to look for.
