Update II: Wearing History Clothing

Hi all!

It’s been a while since my last update.  Just wanted to let you know I’m still here, plugging along at my dream!

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There’s been a few lessons I’ve learned in the last few weeks in a big way.

1-  Things take a lot longer than you think.

If you’re just relying on yourself, it’s not so bad.  But when you’re at the whim and grace of other elements outside yourself, it throws you obvious curve balls!  It’s taken about three times as long as I thought to finally officially switch cities of operations.

But the good news is that I’m officially located as Wearing History in San Marcos, CA, in a small industrial space there, where I am subletting a spot so I can grow my dream.  Woohoo!  I’m very fortunate that the property I’m operating out of was where my dad started his very first business.  In fact, in the same spot I’m subletting, I was a baby in a playpen while my mom did office work and shipping and my dad was doing machining in a small shop.  What goes around comes around.  It took some back and forth with the city about the zoning (apparently that area had a zoning change, so it was kind of headache to figure out if I could actually do what I want to do there), then I had to refigure all of my existing things like seller’s permits and fictitious business names to the new city, and all that entailed, and finally, FINALLY, on Monday I got to get my official business license for this new city.  Whew!

It’s not over yet, though.  I still have to get my California Garment Registration Certificate, which is super pricey.  All this stuff up front is pretty pricey.  I’m just counting on that when I put up my stuff for sale you guys are all going to love it so much that it will be a fabulous success, and all this won’t be done for nothing ;)  Starting an apparel business in California is pretty challenging (if you want to read more about what it entails, click here)

So this bible verse has been really ringing true for me, in light of my battles on what I thought my time frame would be for me to start up this enterprise from the purely legal and logistical point of view.

‘”Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will] go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”’-  James 4:13-15

Because you don’t only count on yourself, but the city, state, family, other prople, and then are at the mercy of unforeseen natural disasters.

2-  Fires Are Scary.

If you haven’t heard, our area has had major fires.  In fact, San Marcos was all over the news as one of the big ones here in San Diego.  It was known as the “Cocos Fire” in the news, and one of the guys in the building where I’m moving said he could actually see the flames from where we are located.  The hills are all black and charred where the fire was.  More than three dozen structures were destroyed.  It was really scary times.  In fact, it wasn’t only close to this structure, but the other fires in the county were about two miles away from family in Carlsbad and in Fallbrook.  We were all holding our breath for a while, praying that it wouldn’t come any closer.  Thankfully, none of my family had to evacuate.

Here’s a picture my husband took from the supermarket down the street from our house, and we were several miles from the fire.  It wasn’t in the city where we live,  but you can see how crazy it was.  There was ash on our cars in the morning, and even Los Angeles was affected by the smoke in the air.

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We have a long, hot, summer before us.  They’re saying this will be the worst fire storm season in a long time.  So I know this is just a sampling of what we’re going to get this year, and that’s pretty scary.  While everyone on the east coast was dealing with ice storms and such, we had a really, really mild winter.  It may be great in terms of winter, but when you’re a California native you know that it means a really hot, really dry, and potentially dangerous summer to come.

I’m so thankful my family and I are safe, but I feel so, so bad for those who lost their homes in these fires.

3- I’m In a Good Place To Succeed

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Total nerd alert ^.  But you can see how excited I was.

My husband and I went to San Fransisco to attend the DG Expo at the beginning of this month.  Wow, was it helpful.  We drove all the way from north county San Diego to San Fransisco and attended three days of seminars on starting a fashion business and a textile show with vendors who do low minimums for wholesale.

I was professionally trained in Fashion Design, but my school (FIDM in Los Angeles) did not train us on anything to do with running your own business.  Most of what I’ve learned was through a single community college class, having great mentors in my family, and purely trial and error.  So I was really excited when I found out about this expo, and that it was aimed at startup companies, and had info on USA production and sourcing.

A lot of what I learned I had already known through running Wearing History, but there was some information that I didn’t know that was extremely helpful.  What I came away with, is that I’m in a very good place to succeed.  Instead of starting from scratch, without anyone knowing what I do,  I’m blessed to have my blog and social media followers who “get me”, and know what my aesthetic is.  I’m also SUPER blessed that we don’t have to “keep up with fashion”, because, really, we who like vintage are so behind the times on fashion anyways- like, decades behind the times ;)  so I don’t have to keep re-inventing the wheel with current fashion.  SO THANKFUL.  I really believe timeless looks are timeless for a reason.  And, I’m super thankful that I have my formal fashion training, as a lot of folks there never went to school for it and are having to source all sorts of help on the front end to make their dream happen.  I’m lucky I always kind of knew what I wanted to do, and have all those years of training and experience behind me.  I’m very blessed!  And I have no doubt we’ll make this happen!

I guess that’s about it!  I’m finally to a point where I can put most of my energy into actually making the awesome designs now.  I’ve had to cut back to four pieces to start with, since I learned more about the financial side of things.  But I know there’ll be room to grow and add lots of pretty new things in the future once this takes off and grows. :)

Hope you’re all doing fabulously!

Love,

Lauren

 

9 Comments on Update II: Wearing History Clothing

  1. Stephanie
    May 21, 2014 at 10:46 am (10 years ago)

    You can do it! :D -hug- I know all of your designs will be fabulous!

  2. Tina C.
    May 21, 2014 at 10:51 am (10 years ago)

    Slow and steady, slow and steady… so many people are excited for this launch! I’m personally looking forward to the Kickstarter…

  3. Liz
    May 21, 2014 at 11:42 am (10 years ago)

    How exciting. Can’t wait to see this become a reality.

  4. Lindsay Henderson
    May 21, 2014 at 12:00 pm (10 years ago)

    I’m so excited for you and can’t wait to see what you come up with! Congrats on making your dreams come true. :)

  5. Brigid Boyer
    May 21, 2014 at 2:20 pm (10 years ago)

    Keep on! That verse in James is SOOO true! I have had to put off my personal sewing for what seems FOREVER to do outside sewing jobs, etc. But, the Lord has everything in His hands!

    May He bless you in all your endeavors!

  6. Kaiser Jen
    May 21, 2014 at 7:20 pm (10 years ago)

    This past week with those fires have been crazy. I went to visit the folks and go to a reception down in San Diego and I saw them burning on from the freeway.

    Keep it up though! I hope your dream comes true. :D

  7. Mrs B
    May 22, 2014 at 9:53 am (10 years ago)

    Can’t wait to see your new line! Good luck with the fires (I used to live in Southern California and remember how insane they can be).

  8. Kate-Em
    May 22, 2014 at 3:32 pm (10 years ago)

    Your new venture is very exciting. Good luck with all the preparation and paperwork.

  9. Cheryl
    May 30, 2014 at 5:14 pm (10 years ago)

    Lauren, I have always enjoyed stopping by your blog to see what you are making. Although I don’t sew vintage exclusively by any means, you posts have always been inspiring and informative (and you wedding was beautiful!!) I was so happy to read about you new endeavor, that I am leaving a comment to tell you so. May The Lord bless it.

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