Added afordable accessories to Etsy!

Hi all. I just added affordable accessories to Etsy. I added silk chiffon hand painted scarves in various colors for only $35.00. These are great gifts or great to add color to any outfit. It is a way for everyone to have a CourtneyBrooke original! Please visit www.courtneybrookedesign.etsy.com.

Radford Fashion Show

Last weekend my roommate, Shannon, and I took a trip down to Radford University for their annual Undergraduate Fashion Show. We were asked to be judges for the show, which was very exciting. This is from an artical written for the university, "Class of 2007 graduates Courtney Yates, owner of Courtney Brooke Designs, and Shannon Moulton, a technical designer for Charlotte Ronson, came from New York to judge the fashion designers’ garments. They credit RU for successful careers. “The interior design and fashion design program here is one of the best. It’s a wonderful learning environment in every aspect,” said Yates whose specialty is wedding gowns." To read the the full article see the link: http://www.radford.edu/NewsPub/March10/0325fashion.html. While there we also spoke to the sophomores, juniors, and seniors about our experiences and gave them our contact information for the future.

To get there was hilarious. We took a 5:30am bus to Manhattan from queens, then a 6:30 am bus from NYC to DC (4 hours), then the metro from the bus stop to the airport, then a shuttle from the airport to the rental car, then 4 hours in the rental car to Radford. It was quite and experience!

Overall, we had a great time and are looking forward to going back. We were asked to join the advisory board and gladly accepted. We will get to take part in curriculum changes, engaging the students, and other opportunities to better the school. We will also be critiquing student work.

After that weekend I was so tired, but I needed to finish a prom gown. I finally got that out this past week and have been working on more wedding gowns to add to etsy. Please continue to visit www.courtneybrookedesign.etsy.com for updates. I started google ad words this weekend and have a list of items to send in my press kit.

This week I am working on press kits, trunk shows, and wedding gowns to add. Lots to do as usual, but exciting!

Images: The dress was one of the gowns in the RU fashion show.

Reorganize

This week I had a little bit of down time, so I reorganized my sewing stations and my MANY magazines. I subscribe to Vogue, Elle, W, and now the newspaper WWD, which was on sale this month, so I needed to get all of my back issues organized (I keep them for reference). I treked down to Ikea (I've never been there before) to get cheap organizational stuff. They had magazine holders 5 for $2.99. Although I felt very frustrated, I did find a lot of great stuff. Do not go there if you need help. The employees are not there to help you. They are there to stock. They were nice, but just not knowledgeable. I also went to the container store and got some pretty office things for my desk including a desk file box made of metal (see image). All in all I had a great week. Back to the busy time again as my dresses from the seamstress should be coming in this week for me to finalize and fit. I'll have new pictures up of the new dresses in the next couple of weeks. My goal for next week is to start contacting boutiques to get the gowns in. Let me know if you have a contact with a small boutique owner. :)

New Website and Seamstress

This week I sent a few dresses to my amazing seamstress and worked on getting my website, blog, and twitter. Its been busy, but I am so excited because I am cutting back to 4 days a week at my freelance job, so I have more time to work on my business. I am thinking about getting an intern for Fridays, so hopefully I can find one soon.

My new website is up. www.courtneybrookedesigns.com. Please visit. I am still working with the website designer to update "formal" and change the "bridal" to be clickable. Stay tuned. Marketing starts this week. I am going to send out lookbooks, add google ad words, and contact boutiques. Can't wait to see the new business I get through marketing. The picture is a detail shot of one of my wedding gowns you can see on the new site and the other picture is me doing a fitting.

Thanks for all the encouragement and support. Keep spreading the word. :)