Friday 11 March 2011

Underwear state of mind.....

So...the Hummingbird Boudoir lingerie range is finally ready to be reviewed...phew...!!

I am sending sets to six lovely readers and seeing what they think and will of course be posting the results (good or bad) on here.

Here is the blurb about the range...


Hummingbird Boudoir lingerie is made to make girls feel good about themselves...we all have days when we pull on our sexy undies to find that the don't quite fit as nicely as the used to (frequent occurrence in my house) and this can put you in a bad mood and make you swear off chocolate for the rest of the day.

So...to stop women feeling like this...as...lets be honest we already have enough to worry about ....we have created really gorgeous boudoir underwear that is totally adjustable at the sides, bra straps and the front of the bra so you can wear Hummingbird Boudoir at any time and still feel sexy.

Each piece is handmade and embellished with luxurious ribbons and vintage buttons and come in a range of colours. If you are looking for something extra special let us know and we can make it happen.

If you feel like treating someone else as well as yourself then these make great gifts and are also perfect for weddings...and wedding nights...!!!

We also have created a range for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer as we have experience in this and know how hard it is to feel sexy when you are going through treatment. The bras are specially designed to be able to hold a prosthetic if need be and are also made from high quality fabric so are comfortable to wear.....yet still damn sexy!!

Prices are £15 - 20 for a bra and £8 - 10 for knickers and come beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and ribbon.

And her are some rough pics (more coming of the full range after the weekend)





And here is the question...I am doing a photo shoot for this range in a couple of weeks and I need to know...would people rather see real women with rounded bodies, bit of cellulite and stretch marks (aka me) or an actual model....thoughts please....?? x

Thursday 10 March 2011

Start-Up Sisters...

I will warn you this is not my normal blog but I just wanted to get feedback for my lovely sister on the following concept.....

So here it is....presenting Start-Up Sisters.....please let me know your thoughts and whether or not you would use this service...



START-UP SISTERS  


Welcome to Start-Up Sisters

Both my sister and myself have over 15 years working with start-ups as both an Admin/PA and Office Manager.

We are extremely experienced in the following - 
Sourcing offices
Leasing/buying computer equipment
Sourcing interns (often an invaluable asset at the start of a company)
Sourcing furniture
Decorating offices
Sourcing suppliers i.e stationery, office supplies
Office TLC (soft furnishings, pictures etc)
Book keeping/Accounts
Filing
All PA work from managing diaries to booking travel
All HR including sourcing and interviewing candidates, inductions, processing new starter forms and P45's and further down the line arranging and managing reviews
Fire Assessments
Health and Safety Assessment
Website Management
Social Media Management



We understand that at the start of a company people do not have the time to take on any of the above as it can result in a loss of revenue and the also can't afford to take on anyone full time to look after it either.

So what we provide is any (or all) of the services above on an hourly rate, that way if it is a busy week we can be booked everyday or if it is just some basic admin that needs doing we can be booked for a couple of hours.

We would also keep all the details on file so in the future if we are needed again for some admin, office management or even to find a plumber they can call on us and it will be like we never left.

We work remotely (although are happy to travel for meetings) so we do not need to be housed and we can be reached 24 hours a day incase of emergencies.

So that is us in a nutshell….we are extremely friendly and always bring snacks to meetings so if you are interested in our services or just want to meet for an informal chat please contact us on 0203 195 1714 or 07920 583257




Swish Swish....

This week marks the start of lent and the start of giving up things. I have given up eating everything I love in a bid to lose weight (thank-you photoshoot with models for insecurities) although I expect this to last until the weekend.

At the start of the year I gave up buying clothes....something I am finding VERY hard to stick to but I find solace in buying vintage clothes for the shop.

So there I was.....dreaming of having new clothes but knowing that this was unlikely to turn into a reality when I found out about Swishing.

Swishing is basically a clothes swapping party....and the rules are as follows -

1) Everyone must bring at least one item of quality clothing.
2) You will have half an hour to browse before the swish opens.
3) No item may be claimed before the swish opens.
4) As soon as the swish is declared open, everyone may take what they want.
5) Remember no scratching, spitting or fighting.


So basically you get to rid yourself of your old clothes and get some lovely new ones....amazing.








In my wardrobe I have many clothes I don't wear...mostly...like many other women...due to sizing. Over the years I have been alot bigger and alot smaller. I keep the smaller clothes as I like to think I will slim into them (some of these must be five years old....surely it is time for me to have a reality check) and I keep the bigger ones as I can't bear the chuck anything that i may need at some point in my life....stupid eh..!!??


But as I live in a shoebox in Shoreditch and now have to find room for the vintage clothes, wedding dresses and shoes for the shop the time has come to have a clear out and a swishing party seems like the perfect way to do it.


So after speaking with the lovely Kim from Preloved Reloved we have decided to host a Swishing Party in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. This way Kim get some new lovely clothes for her challenge, I get some new lovely clothes just because I am literally weeping at the thought of not shopping and MacMillan gets some much needed donations.


So here is the deal...it will be at a bar in East London...on a night we can all drink....and I may even make cupcakes...!!
Anyone interested....it's for a good cause after all...!!





Wednesday 9 March 2011

Photoshoot Madness Part Two.....We all love a wedding....

So as I mentioned in my last blog I spent the weekend surrounded in photoshoot madness and this included shooting the new Hummingbird Bridal range.


I love weddings....love the dresses, flowers, cakes (definitely the cakes) and the traditions...! 


Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue....this phrase has probably been repeated countless times by brides to be in order to appease the Wedding God (or Goddess perhaps) and make sure their day goes off without a hitch and  they live happily ever after...!


Now...what I am really interested in is the 'old' and the 'borrowed' parts. With the trend for vintage huge right now it is only to be expected to see it filter down to weddings and wedding dresses....and what beautiful wedding dresses they make....so here is the Hummingbird Bridal range.....all the dresses are old...the venues are new......the models are borrowed and the sky was blue...at times!!

All these dresses are from Hummingbird Vintage at all cost under £100. We will come to your house with the dresses, style the dress should you require and even bring cupcakes and bubbles...!! 


If you decide to buy one of our lovely dresses we will help find accessories to go with it and help with anything else you  need...how great are we!! Also....if you can't find what you want from us but would love some affordable vintage at your wedding then let us know what you are looking for and we will do our best to find it....we have great alteration people so we can make most dreams come true..!


As always feedback would be amazing so please don't hold back x














  


Monday 7 March 2011

Photoshoot Madness.....

Quick warning....I have a bad cold so if this blog post starts to ramble or make no sense it is probably due to the amount of lemsip I am downing at an alarming rate!!

So this weekend was spent photographing clothes for Hummingbird Vintage and then drinking every drop of wine I had in the house to celebrate afterwards...cue sore heads on Sunday.

One thing I have found is that vintage clothing looks alot better on a body than on a hanger or mannequin so I have decided that from now on all the new vintage treasures I find I will photograph them on people so that there are shown off to their best.

This weekend I persuaded my lovely friend Ben (who just so happens to be a professional photographer) to come up to London and take pictures of my clothes and I also roped in two of my beautiful friends to help model the clothes along side myself. Not to self....do not stand next to tall model like creatures in a photoshoot....I ended up looking like a very curvy, buxom, wench like midget. I wouldn't have been out of place in Lord of the Rings. However...as I keep reminding myself it is about the clothes NOT how I look (although I am now on a diet and looking into growth hormones...!!).

We took the pictures on my roof terrace to give it a bit more of a gritty background and even though it was freezing the girls didn't complain once....although this may have been to do with the wine I was dishing out freely.

And here are a few of the results.....










As always any feedback is greatly appreciated so don't hold back...!!