I love Lionel

My friend Dave (AKA Big John) thinks I have crap taste in music.  He refuses to let my iPod into his house or away on holidays.  Meany!

I love Kylie, I love Lionel Ritchie and I don't need to be 'Rick Rolled' (Google it if you need to) to watch a Rick Astley video clip.  So today I was excited when I saw this.  

NETWORK ‘SCHMETWORK’

Last week my business partner Susan and I attended a Women in Business networking lunch.

We’ve recently started our own advertising business you see, so we’ve been networking our little buts off.

It was packed – over 300 women (and some blokes) had rocked up to mingle and be inspired by guest speaker Layne Beachley – surely there would be a new client for us among them.

I suggested to Susan that in order to maximize our networking opportunities, perhaps we should sit on separate tables rather than next to each other.  She thought that was a stupid idea – “what if the people we sit next to are boring – then what would we do?” she said.  

It was a moot point anyway as we had been ‘allocated’ to a table.

As we approached the table, I scanned the seated women – hoping our next new client would be among them.

I didn’t like the look of them.  Next to the empty seat that I would occupy, was a ‘plus-size’ lady (we’ll actually more of a man/lady) in a hideous blue frock.  She was drinking from a stubby (I’m not kidding!).

“Hi I’m Mandy and this is Sue,” I said.  “Hi I’m Renee” she responded in a very manly voice.  Renee worked in construction and would’ve actually looked better had she worn her ‘high viz’ vest and hard hat.

We moved on pretty quickly to the woman beside her – who’s name was Leanne.. or Deanne (same/same).  We cut to the chase… “What do you do Leanne/Deanne?”

Leanne/Deanne proudly announced that she was… wait for it… an Industrial Guillotine Blade Sharpener.  WTF?  At that point the water I was drinking actually came out of my noise.

Sue tried to pretend she was interested but I had lost it.

At that precise moment, a woman dressed in a black suit and Madonna-style earpiece and microphone approached our table - she looked like security. 

She looked at our name tags and said very sternly:  “You two – you’re on the wrong table!”

I was part way through eating someone else’s bread roll and rifling through their showbag but was out of that chair so quickly I almost forgot to take my handbag...

TO MARKET TO MARKET

On Sunday I have a stall at a fashion market with my friend Kyles.  We usually do a couple of markets a year – it’s my excuse for a wardrobe update.  You see once I sell something I no longer like, it makes room in my wardrobe for yummy new things.

It’s also the way I justify to myself (and sometimes to Mr D) that expensive clothes are worth the investment because their ‘resale’ value is always good (Mr D understands this as he’s in the car trade – and knows all about resale value).

I’m pretty shrewd when it comes to selling clothes at markets.  I once spotted a pair of new True Religion jeans at a garage sale for $10 sold them at a market for $70.  A Sass and Bide t.shirt I picked up for $10 at another garage sale (not my size) sold for $50.

The other trick I’ve learned from my days in fashion retail is that merchandising is everything.

I take a ‘statement’ piece to every market. It’s always something that I have no intention of selling unless someone is prepared to pay my ridiculously inflated asking price.  The statement piece sits at the front of my rack and draws shoppers in like a moth to a flame.

On Sunday it is this Sass & Bide top that I bought online last week for $90.   It’s BNWT (if you buy clothes on eBay you’ll know this means Brand New With Tags).  That’s not technically true as I did wear it this week – but who’s telling?

The price on the tag is $180 and if someone is silly enough to pay that, it’s theirs. 

"Phototoons"

One of my favourite blogs is Yellowtrace - it's a daily source of creative inspiration for me.  I just loved today's post so thought I'd share my fave bits with you.  These witty photographs are by French photographer Elliott Erwitt.  The 'whiteboard' made me LOL.

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Ready, Set. Post...

Today I decided to become a “creator” and start my own blog.  I work in marketing you see, so I’ve been talking the talk for a long time, and decided I really need to get amongst it.

For years I’ve been banging on to anyone who’ll listen about the ‘Ladder of Participation’ developed by Forrester which reveals that only 26% of us are “creators” – those of us who make content.  There’s also the “critics” – who offer an opinion on what we creators say and do, “collectors” who curate the stuff, “joiners” who connect in social networks and then there’s the bulk of people (63%) who are “spectators” – they like to watch (there’s your lesson on digital marketing for today).  

The first person I told about my new blog was my friend Nickers (the same Nickers who once told me Facebook would NEVER take off! She’s a spectator).  She asked me what the blog would be called and I told her ‘Made You Look’.

She started banging on about Rachel Zoe (as in diva stylist Rachel Zoe) – I wasn’t making the connection until she revealed she thought my blog was called ‘Major Look’ – “Beyond major” being one of RZ’s most quotable quotes – as in something that’s beyond beyond. More major than major.  It’s right up there with “I die” and “bananas” – but if you don’t know this, you’re not getting enough fashion porn.

My mum wouldn’t know this.  She hates fashion.  She also hates people who blog.  She thinks it’s self-indulgent.  Like those people who send you  “group” newslettery things at Christmas time with stories about what they’ve been up to all year. (To me those people are in a different league all together.)  My mum also hates technology so she’s really going to hate me doing this.  She’s what the people at Forrester call an “Inactive”.

Anyway, if you’re keen to hear about cool stuff that’s caught my eye, made me laugh, inspired or moved me, then go on, subscribe to my blog.

Major Look signing off…