New Men in My Life

We've been needing to put an ad together so we can run it in a few various really nerdy pirate and renaissance magazines out there (Pirates magazine www.piratesmagazine.com Pyrate's Way magazine www.pyratesway.com Regional Renaissance Reporter www.renreporter.com ) and maybe we'll work our way up the ladder and someday run an ad in Good Housekeeping or Cosmopolitan :)

Anyhow, to make a short story long, last year, for Halloween, I went as Snow White AND the seven dwarves. I made myself seven goofy, beady-eyed little bearded men, as well as a smokin' hot Snow White costume (now, we're not talking crappy polyester miniskirts and cheap bodices that you get out of a package that has a picture of some fake-boobed, big lipped, blonde floozy on the front wearing the costume! *shudder*) MY Snow White outfit was tasteful and seductive, because of course, it was made by me, using one of my corset patterns! Anyhow, basically, I had the dress with seven little dwarves hanging off of me. The only depressing part was that no one had the sense to look down and see these little men that were the crucial part to the irony of my ensemble. Everyone who saw me said, "Oh, now nice....Snow White." while trying NOT to look at my chest. OH, yeah. I'm not at a renaissance festival. Cleavage galore isn't quite as readily accepted in the outside muggle world.

And so, here I am, reviving the little men. This time, I made them with cool fake leather belts and pirate hats. How does this all tie in with the adveritisement for my company? Well, we'll have a picture of me, with all these little guys hanging off of me, and it will say, "When you wear our corsets, the men will be hanging all over you!" Clever? I certainly hope so. So, these pictures are of me and my new little friends. I quite like them. Just don't ask me to make you one. Each one of them took as long as it takes to make a corset.

High Drama, Anyone?

Okay, friends. Let's talk. I want you all to know that my mind is constantly working on new corset designs. I have a very vivid imagination, and it just won't shut off, and thanks heavens I have a good hobby to channel all of that crazy energy into. Now, there have been many failed attempts at taking a pattern I dreamed up from the sketch on a piece of paper to actual cloth. I wish I would have saved some of those sketches, and then I would have shown you the misshapen, shameful piles of cloth and boning that they turned into. It's really quite funny....in a painful "I'm a failure" type of way. But, let's get to the point. I want to ask you, honestly, -Are very unique-dramatic-bold-character-filled bodices a good thing or a bad thing? The reason I ask is because I've designed a few that I thought were marvelous, and I NEVER get orders for them and they never sell if I have them at renaissance festivals. For instance, I have hooded corsets, and there's the occasional custom order for them, few and far between. If I ever have one at a renaissance festival, some lady always comes by, pinches it in her fingers, holding it at arm's length as if it were a dead rat, and asks, "What is THIS?" I say "Uh....a hood?" And she says, "Why?"

*sigh*

And then there's this bodice in these pictures. It has a huge crazy collar, and I think it's simply fabulous, but I NEVER sell these. It makes me want to weep. Do people really NOT want innovation in designs? Should I stick to your basic "lace-up-the-front-with-shoulder-straps" bodice that is bereft of any collars, tails, whistles, or bells??? Every time someone contacts me and asks, "Hey, can I get this bodice, only without the collar?" , a little part inside of me dies. I think, "Well, HELL! What's the use of trying to be a non-conformist?" If being a mindless, thoughtless lemming is what will make me money.....maybe I should take that route?

Thus, back to the original topic. I'm asking all of you in the vast internet world out there-Is it a good thing for my business to have lots of different designs, or should I just stick to 4 basic patterns, thus eliminating the already brutal decision-making process? Sometimes too many options is just confusing and makes peoples' brains shut down. I CAN be boring, if you think I should. I'll keep all of those goofy little sketches to myself, and I'll only show them to my husband (he always gets a good chuckle out of my vampire-janeausten-medieval-disney villain ideas!) Talk to me people, I really want to know. My business is made for women who want to look sexy, stunning, and basically better than everyone else. If the crazy bodices are too much, they can ALWAYS go.

With that, I'll get to bed so I can wake up at 5 in the morning for more corsetland adventures!!!!

I love you guys!

Michelle

Damsel in this Dress Corsets