PodCampNH Fashion

As you know I attended PodCampNH this weekend and I have to say that if you haven't yet attended a PodCamp- DO IT. They are all over the country and they are fabulous. If you are thinking about getting into blogging, or video for the web (like YouTube), or even if you want to know how to use Twitter or Facebook to enhance your business, you will definitely learn something at PodCamp. I learned a LOT in the 2 day "UN-conference" and I'm looking forward to attending more in the future.

When I decided to attend my first PodCamp, I also decided to dive in head first and sign up to lead a session and I don't regret a single moment of it. I spent a lot of time agonizing over what to present and how best to do it. In the end, I decided I would just try to keep it simple and be myself. Everyone's advice was, "Have fun!" I figured that was a pretty great idea. Still, I left the last session on Saturday afternoon wondering if I'd made a terrible mistake by choosing to lead a session. It seemed as though all the other session leaders were not only masters of their particular field (photography, marketing, writing, etc.) but they were also incredibly knowledgeable and skilled with all forms of social media. I felt a tad inadequate that I'd only learned what it meant to use a "hashtag" about three days before the conference.

But I'd already signed up- I wasn't about to back down now. I decided to go with my original plan: just talk about my experience as a fashion blogger and how I do things and just hope for the best. At most, I hoped that someone there would realize through hearing about my story that it doesn't take a lot of money or a high-tech graphic design team or even a lot of experience to have a successful website and/or blog. But I also thought it wouldn't hurt to have presents. Everyone likes presents, right? So as I sat there during the closing comments of day 1, I looked over and saw the table full of PodCampNH t-shirts, some from last year, some from this year, all men's sizes, most bearing Large or X-Large tags. I even had my free t-shirt in my computer bag, a mens size Medium. I started thinking about t-shirts in general. I don't really have many because most t-shirts are boxy, shapeless and really unflattering. They are NOT designed with a woman's body in mind. Even men don't always look good in a basic t-shirt. Unfortunately, flattering or not, that's what the popular souvenir of any event is: a shapeless Hanes or Fruit-of-the-Loom t-shirt with a silk-screened logo on the front and a list of sponsors on the back. (I received MANY black "Local Crew" t-shirts while working at AMT. The only one I saved is my Ringo Starr one.) I know a lot of people who LOVE their collection of event t-shirts, so I'm not trying to criticize the choice of souvenir. I'm merely pointing out that as a fashion choice, it's not exactly one I support.

A fitted jersey shirt and quirky accessories, however, now THAT I can get behind. So on my way out after day 1, I asked some of the organizers if it would be all right to take a handful of extra t-shirts, even if they were from last year. The logo was basically the same, just smaller and in a different location. They were fine with it, and I found myself designing in my head on the drive home. The end result was these:

PodCampNH Bow Tie made using PodCampNH 2009 t-shirt

PodCampNH womens FITTED t-shirt made using both 2009 and 2010 PodCampNH t-shirts

The best part was seeing them on actual human beings who were more than thrilled to wear them: 

Left to Right: John Herman (PodCampNH Organizer), ME!, Carla Companion (PodCampNH Presenter)

Photo Credit: Cait Downey

As you can see from the picture above, I gave each of them away to a couple of willing participants and they quickly became very popular. I opted not to take down names and numbers of people who wanted one for themselves- let's just call these one-of-a-kind-limited-edition Bouchard Originals. Maybe next year I'll create a line of PodCamp Fashions to donate to the raffle. 

As fun as it was to see PodCamp participants modeling my goofy (last-minute) designs, it wasn't the most memorable part for me. My favorite part was talking to the participants at my session and finding out that they would enjoy participating in my weekly Shoesday Tuesday feature via Twitter. So, starting THIS WEEK, Shoesday Tuesday is now (drumroll, please)... INTERACTIVE! Don't worry- it's also very simple. All you have to do is post a Shoesday Tuesday-related tweet with the hashtag #ShoesdayTuesday. It can be a link to a shoe sale, or a picture of your favorite shoes- whatever you want, really. That's what I like the most about this idea- YOU are in control of how awesome it can be. I'll likely post a round-up of my favorite tweets each week, but I'm hoping you all get really creative and surprise me with some interesting tweets. Who knows? Maybe we'll end up having #ShoesdayTuesday contests! Oprah will call! We'll all get invited to appear on the farewell season! The sky's the limit, friends.

I'll remind you again on Tuesday- you have a couple of days to start thinking about what your first #ShoesdayTuesday tweet will be! Make a good one, a funny one, a bizarre one- whatever you like- from now on, Shoesday Tuesday is all about YOU!

PodCampNH

This weekend (likely as you read this), I'm attending PodCampNH and hopefully learning lots and lots about new media- what other people from other industries are doing with it, what new media I can integrate into my blog and/or website and maybe even what types of new media are out there that I have yet to discover. I also hope to be meeting lots of interesting people. 

If you happen to be one of those interesting people I've met this weekend and are checking out my blog for the first time, you may or may not have just discovered that I have a little over 500 posts to date. I certainly don't expect you to wade through them all, so I've compiled my "Top Ten Fifteen" posts from the last 16 months as a starting point for you. I hope you like them enough to continue perusing on your own and maybe leave a comment or two (or ten), but if not, thanks anyway for stopping by! 

1.) My first post- What's Your New Black?

2.) One of my first instructional posts, perhaps more relevant today than when I posted it- Recession Fashionista: How to Dress for a Job Interview

3.) A guide to avoiding feeling overwhelmed when shopping, strangely titled- I Lied

4.) The post that (eventually) spawned my Etsy shop- Lady in Red

5.) Unlike many other fashion blogs, I try to acknowledge that women come in all shapes and sizes. This post offers shopping solutions to many different body types- Square Peg, Round Hole

6.) This is one of the MANY posts where I show some amazing items from Etsy (and long before I started my own shop, too)- Fabulous Etsy Finds

7.) A fun, Tiffany's- inspired post that offers a little insight into my personality and taste preferences- Happy (Little Blue) Boxing Day

8.) One of my favorite "Rate My Look" posts- Rate My Look- Elongating Effects

9.) One of my few attempts at a humorous post- I Met Someone Today

10.) Advice for keeping it fresh- In a Rut?

11.) I actually have TWO posts that I titled along similar lines- you decide which one is actually the "BEST"- Accessories Anonymous: The BEST Accessory Ever and Best Accessory EVER 

12.) I don't limit what inspires me- if I see a rock on the ground and it makes me think of something fashionable to write about, that's great- Inspiration: Maggie the Cat

13.) Posting an average of once per day is sometimes hard to maintain, as is my weekly "Shoesday Tuesday" entry, so I do the best I can- Shoesday Tuesday- Out of Time

14.) I even admit when I'm wrong (sometimes)- Rate My Look- I'm Eating My Words

15.) One of the few posts that really shows my personal/private life- Announcement: I have BIG news!

I hope you enjoy clicking around my blog- stay as long as you like! 

What an Amazing Wednesday!

Today was quite possibly one of the most fun days I've had since coming back to New Hampshire. When I talked about moving, my ridiculously talented friend Kate of Studio Nouveau said, "I can take pictures of your dresses!" What a dream! She and Lara (her business partner) are two incredible photographers who really know what they're doing. Today I remember thinking to myself, "That's not a camera- it's a magic wand!" Of course, that's really doing Kate a disservice because the magically wonderful photos are actually due to her talent and skill. I don't consider myself to be particularly photogenic, so the idea of being photographed is pretty terrifying. However, the experience with Kate was nothing but completely relaxed and fun. I think we giggled for about 95% of the shoot. It flew by and before I knew it, we were parting ways again. I can't wait to post pictures from the shoot here on the blog, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for that. To check out Studio Nouveau's blog, click here. Book them early- they are two very busy ladies, and it's for good reason.

Kate took shots of the three new dresses I made for myself over the last couple of weeks. I made them with the intention of wearing them mostly to work, but I may break one or two of them out for this weekend. "What's this weekend?" you ask. Well, it's Pod Camp NH in Portsmouth and somehow I've managed to get the courage to present. If you haven't heard of Pod Camp, it's basically an "un-conference" focused mainly on new media (blogging, social networking, podcasting, video on the net, etc.). People from all walks of life and various professional and personal backgrounds will be in attendance. I'll be talking about my experience as a fashion stylist/designer and how I use social media within that field- including this blog. What makes it an "un-conference" is that the attendees are actually the presenters. You may be sitting next to someone at one session and then see them leading the next one! If you're interested in learning more, you can visit the FAQ page, or if you want to get even more involved you can register to attend or even better, propose a session to lead.

So the big question of the day is: do I wear one of my new dresses to attend and/or lead a session at PodCamp? I think the answer is obvious, but which one to wear? I'll be sure to take pictures over the weekend and I will also be sure to blog about the experience next week. I have a feeling I have a LOT to learn about new media!