Leather Heaven

My absolute favorite part of designing clutches is sourcing the fabric; but you have to be mentally prepared to go fabric shopping. There are so many choices and if you don't know what you're looking for, you can easily become overwhelmed. I always have an idea for the colors that I want to feature in an upcoming collection, but it's also fun when you get to the store and are inspired by other colors/patterns that you may not have thought of. 

For my new collection, I am really looking for quality, buttery soft, lightweight leathers. I was definitely in leather heaven. Although I was told that I wasn't allowed to take pictures, I managed to snap a few on the sneak lol. As far as the colors that I chose, you'll just have to wait and see :-)

Gigee Marie Goes to the Pumpkin Patch

Is it pitiful that I have never been to the pumpkin patch? Fall is probably my favorite season for so many reasons -- Aside from my birthday being in the Fall, I love Fall colors, clothing, and weather. I had been dying to go to the pumpkin patch since forever so I finally went to Linvilla Orchards in PA. I took my niece, cousins, and my aunt with me and we had a ball picking pumpkins, going on the hay ride around the orchard, face painting, making friends with farm animals, and eating THE best food. Now that I think about it, I didn't take nearly enough pictures! There was so much to do and we became exhausted before we had a chance to do everything, so I definitely want to go back to pick apples and go through the corn maze (and eat more food!).

Me and my niece

You can't really see it, but I'm actually rocking one of the new clutches that I designed. I'll give you more details on that in the next post :-)

Pretty flowers

I couldn't wait to paint my pumpkin!

What do you like most about Fall?

The Entrepreneurial Woman

Me and Melinda Emerson at Reinvention Weekend

As Gigee Marie continues to grow, I always try to attend various events/seminars/workshops in which I can take valuable information and apply to the business (there's so much more to this operation than just creating pretty clutches!). Recently, I attended two great workshops -- American Express/Tory Burch Foundation Mentoring Event, and Melinda Emerson's Reinvention Weekend. The first event was a partnership between American Express' Open for Women: CEO BootCamp and the Tory Burch Foundation, specifically targeting women entrepreneurs. The event started off with a discussion with Tory Burch and then broke out into smaller discussions with mentors across various industries. There were over 25 mentors, including Tory Johnson (you probably recognize her from the "Deals and Steals" segment on Good Morning America), Alexis Maybank (Founder and Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer, Gilt Groupe), and Moira Forbes from Forbes Woman.

The second event I attended was called Reinvention Weekend, hosted by the Small Biz Lady, Melinda Emerson. It targeted small business owners and gave great insight into areas such as social media, website functionality, creating valuable content, and financing your business. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Melinda at both events...that woman is EVERYTHING! Lol. She is full of personality and she's a straight shooter when it comes to telling you what you need to do to make your business successful. I wasn't able to take a bunch of pictures, but here are a few from the two events:

A little blurry, but that's Tory Burch speaking about being a woman entrepreneur

Me and Melinda Emerson at the American Express/Tory Burch event

Are you an entrepreneur? Tell me about your small biz journey!

Urban Chic Boutique Trunk Show

Gigee Marie + Urban Chic Boutique

I was recently invited by Urban Chic Boutique -- a fab boutique with locations in both the Georgetown area of DC and in Baltimore -- to be part of one of their local designer trunk shows. The trunk show was a great fit for Gigee Marie clutches because both Gigee Marie and Urban Chic share very similar qualities -- contemporary pieces that are both simple yet stylish, and can easily be transitioned from day to night. Here are a few pics from the trunk show:

Posing with the fab Larissa and Fendy, sporting their Gigee Marie clutches

Gigee Marie Fall clutches

Gotta have a pre-event shameless selfie, lol

What are some of your favorite boutiques in your city?

Instagram Roundup

Are you following Gigee Marie on Instagram? If not, here's a taste of what you're missing out on!

Recap: Gigee Marie Summer 2013

Heeeeyyyy! I know it has been for-e-ver since I last posted, and I'm really trying to do a better job of keeping the blog updated (but you can always follow Gigee Marie on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest.) Enjoy the pics and a quick recap of what's been going on in my world.....

New to the Shop: Animal [Friendly] Prints

Who doesn't love animal prints?? They never seem to go out of style and if you're like me, you consider them to be a neutral and will pair them with just about anything. I love accessorizing with animal prints because you still get to make a statement without it being too overbearing.

Check out the new Leopard, Snake, and Black foldover clutches that were recently added to gigeemarie.com.

VOTE for Gigee Marie!

I have a favor to ask you, but let me give you some background....

SOURCING at MAGIC is North America’s largest sourcing event, showcasing more than 1,100 apparel and accessories resources. It's a great opportunity for new designers to meet and network with suppliers and manufacturers, who can ultimately aid in taking that designer's line to the next level. The show's organizers are sending 5 emerging designers to the MAGIC tradeshow in August. They are holding a contest where designers submit images of their work and people can vote. So here's where I need you! I could really use your help in voting for me to win. If you could please click here to vote I'd greatly appreciate it :-) You can vote once per day until July 31st. Thank you so much!

Gigee Marie is in Marie Claire!

"Mama I made it!" Lol j/k. I've been holding this in for a while (about 4 months to be exact) because I wasn't 100% sure if Gigee Marie would be included in the feature...

Just for Fun: Video

My favorite videographer, The MediaXperience Film House, found some old footage from a couple years ago and decided to put this little video together. Obviously, something was wrong with my shoe lol.

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL ft GIGEE MARIE from THE MEDIAXPERIENCE FILM HOUSE on Vimeo.