Nhulie Annual Season Sale

Nhulie and Balzac stuff doesn’t go on sale too often. Usually the sales are private and only those on our mailing list is notified of the sale. This is the first annual sale that we are having and we are making it known to the masses.  Yeah!!
Some of the collection mostly the menswear inspired items are still in production process and not ready for shipping but it’s not on sale anyway.

The stuff that I really love though has just been discounted at almost 50% off!  I am constantly getting raves from the girls about how much they love the vintage collection.  So take advantage of the sale. Most of these items are just about below the cost it takes me to make the clothing so it’s a steal.  The fabric designs are vintage reproductions and it will be a nice addition to your closet for many years.  It’s just one of those vintage pieces that you’ll never get tired of bragging about.

Everything we make is manufactured in Los Angeles. The quality and details for the clothing is excellent and can bump along side some of my other favorite designers out there.

Being a Nhulie girl means being unique and individualistic and not looking like everyone else out there.  Allow your clothing to express the beautiful person that God created you to be.  Be true to who you are and don’t give in to public opinion.  Conformity only justifies another person’s misery so don’t let it be yours too.  It doesn’t do your mind and body any good.

Enough said.  I have two girls to spend some time with before school starts again.  Boo!

Sample Show Today in Los Angeles

Nhulie for Balzac Clothing LLC will be participating in the sample show today at the California Market Center in Los Angeles.  Many of our samples will be nearly perfect and from a consumer point of view-  you won’t be able to tell any differently.  Some of the final samples were used for photography and nearly brand new.  

For those of you who aren’t familiar with our fit and style, it will be  a great opportunity to come down in person and check us out.  Best part about supporting Nhulie for Balzac Clothing LLC is that we will be donating 50% of today’s proceeds to Hand of Hope, a Christian charity non profit organization that supports people in need around the world.   

Thank God it’s Friday!

Gym Attire and Workout Gear for the New Year

I am probably one of millions that most likely added getting fit and healthy to the New Year’s resolution plan for 2009.  In my mid thirties, my doctor says that I have to workout more…  and I thought I was doing good these past years.  

It’s hard enough finding the energy to get out of the house and spend the next hour or so sweating it out at the gym, park, lake, beach, or wherever.   You have the kids, your work, your spouse, housework, or the couch calling for your attention.  So when do you have some good quality time to invest in your health and well being?   So if you are going to hit the gym or beach, be it known that EVERYONE is looking at EVERYBODY.  

The gym is a small environment where you’re sharing sweaty benches and cardio machines and stretching in front of other people- and most likely you’ll run into someone you know.  Hips too wide, rear too round?  Arms a bit flabby, or the mommy pouch that could hold groceries if it could.  Starting to feel self conscious yet?   Where do you find the motivation to keep going?  It’s only February and you can’t quit yet.  How can you make it the best out of the situation?

My partial answer to this is to invest in some good gym clothes and a great pair of shoes.  I am a big believer in wearing clothes that make you feel good and not worrying too much about the rules too much.  But at the gym, your attire matters.  It gives you motivation to get up and go.  It will help keep you stay positively focused when your energy may be diminishing.  Plus the right gym clothes will make it  look like you know what your doing.   You wouldn’t play tennis in your jeans nor would you take self defense classes in your bathing suit.  It’s all in the clothes and your workout is no exception.  

You have to spend a little bit of money on a couple of outfits that you can rotate through and wash each week.  Quality is important in gym wear.  Find the materials with some technology built into the fabric and construction of the garment.  It should  keep you dry by whisking away the perspiration and perhaps keep bacteria at bay.  There’s nothing more uncomfortable than a cold sweaty t-shirt when you are crunching away.  

Showing some skin is in. But for us petite women, put that focus on the upper body- the neckline, arms and shoulders.  I advise against wearing shorts if possible.  I know it gets a bit hot during the summer months and even I break down and pull on my shorts when the temperature gets in the 90’s and up.  But most shorts are designed with a bigger/taller body type in mind so when a petite woman puts on the same shorts that are meant to hit at the high thigh, those shorts are now dropping longer and hitting our mid thighs giving us a stocky and shorter appearance, add to this is the line that your shoes create at the ankles, making your appearance even shorter.  But if you must don a pair of shorts, find them as short as as legally possible.  This way, the cut will hopefully sit more flattering on you and thus helping you focus on your more treasured ASSet.  I did find a pair Nike bike style shorts that were almost perfect for petites.  The inseam was a good length, not too long on a petite body.   But the problem was in the rise of the shorts which would have sit nicely on a taller woman’s hips but the waist band nearly came up to my belly button.  

Pick up a couple of dark colored long workout pants.  This will help slim and lengthen the look of your petite body.  Vertical striping will also add to the lengthening effect if you can find some.  I just picked up a pair of gym pants at Bebe Sport which are black with pink veritical stripes along the side.  They came in petite length too!   

One of my favorite memories at the gym was about a woman that I used to see every Saturday afternoon.   She would sit on the recumbant bike in a big grey sweatshirt and baggie grey sweat pants and peddle slowly enjoying her Baskin Robbins ice-cream.  Yeah no kidding.  They actually let her in the gym.  But I found it unfortunate, not for the fact that ice-cream that negated the workout effort, but that she would come every Saturday like this, with her body hidden away under all that fleece and not seeing her muscles contract and release and to be able to admire the strength and energy in her body at work.  I think it’s a beautiful thing to see the physical strength of an athlete- swimmer, runner, climber.  But our bodies are no different.  It’s a matter of investing in yourself.   If you can look the part during your workout, then you can focus on the more important things like  seeing the cut in your biceps when you do that last painful curl.  And before you know it, your arms aren’t just logs on joints and your thighs don’t slap together like they used to when you walk.  Then you can give yourself a congratulatory pat on the back and go reward yourself with a brand new workout outfit.

Dress for Little Brother’s Wedding

 

Linen Dress

My brother got married a few months ago.   I decided to make a dress this time- an original Nhulie for Balzac dress, instead of trying desperately to find a petite dress. If you are petite, you will know how frustrating it is to go shopping and not able to find anything that is glamorous or sexy or age appropriate for your unique occasion.  It’s hard to find something that isn’t black or white, let alone finding a long floor length dress in petites is very rare.  And if I do find a short dress in the standard sizing, the hem usually goes past my knees and I end up looking frumpy or not as sexy and stylish as I could be.  I can’t say that I have a favorite designer that has dresses in petite sizing but maybe it’ll just be Nhulie that becomes my favorite.  On a side note, I enjoy seeing Diane Von Furstenberg in public because she’s usually in her own designs, an obvious sign that her heart is in her own style.  I have a short navy blue dress of hers that I bought.   Surprisingly it fit except for the length of the  V-neck dipped down too low and the hem was a bit long- a common problem for petite women.  But I loved it enough on me to spend the 395.00.

Anyway, I love working with linen.  I have a roll of pink and orange gingham linen that I picked up from LA that I have been wanting to spend some time working with.  I think it would look fabulous in the more colorful palette.  But for this dress I used a beige linen, medium weight to make my dress for my brother’s wedding- didn’t want to stand out too much.   So I whipped up this dress to glamour myself up a bit.  It’s hard to tell on the dress form how nice and dressy it comes once on your own body.  The mini bustling at the hem provided a nice sway and kick when I walk.  The linen draped beautifully.  The waistline was dropped a bit down to the hips and it zipped up along the side.   I received tons of compliments on it, the day of the wedding but surely didn’t take away from the bride’s special day in her beautiful wedding dress.  

Have a balzie day!

Nhulie for Balzac Clothing

Balzac Clothing, a petite clothing brand for women has just acquired the new label name Nhulie and will be branding it’s petite clothing line under this new label.   “It’s a move in the right direction as the demand for petite woman’s clothing is getting more attention and exposure, as rightly deserved.” said founder of Balzac Clothing LLC, Lynn Colclough.    

Nhulie will continue to fall under the management team of Balzac Clothing and future designs and output will be under the label Nhulie.   Nhulie designs and fashions will continue catering to the petite women, 5′4″ and shorter.   Balzac Clothing’s website www.balzacclothing.com will under go minor construction to transition itself under the new brand Nhulie.  

We are going to take advantage of this slow economic period to regroup ourselves while the times aren’t as pressing.   Our style will still stay sexy, girly, and a bit vintage.  We will continue only offering our line on the internet via the company’s website.  Balzacclothing.com will slowly transition over to Nhulie.com.  Anyone typing in the balzacclothing.com will be redirected to nhulie.com.   We are definitely excited for the new branding opportunities that will come of this and look forward to continuing to produce unique and fun styles for the petite woman.  

Candy Pants Winners!

I loved reading all the comments on serafina for the Candy Pants Giveaway.  The stories behind the women and their issues with the availability of petite clothes made it worthwhile for me to happily giveaway the Candy Pants.  And in this Giveaway, serafina contacted me and said that it was too difficult to make one decision- so two pairs got shipped out yesterday.  Courtney from Antioch, CA and Kim from Alberta Canada were the lucky winners!   Congratulations!  You can log on to http://www.serafinablog.com to see the all the comments.   

One common thread that I saw in the comments was how different the pants are.    Being different and standing out among the crowd has always been inherent to me and my tastes and I hope to follow this through in the design of the petite label.   The Candy Pants was one that I felt I wanted to push the envelope a bit and do something that your not going to find in your basic petite section of the department store.  

Providing a petite clothing line that’s trendsetting and unique is at the forefront of the design process.  So taking risks and venturing out a bit is going to be part of the deal.   I see a lot sites providing tips on the do’s and don’ts of dressing a petite body.   But quite frankly, I’ve always carried the philosophy that if you understand your body and keep in mind tasteful decisions, a petite woman shouldn’t feel restricted with all the guidelines- if it makes you feel good and sexy and alive, than wear it with confidence and style.   Perhaps it’s a puritanical mind set that has been with us for a handful of centuries that has gotten our underpants in a wad that we’ve nearly lost our creativity in dressing ourselves.   

With that being said however, I do realize that it is hard to find styles that match a woman’s tastes especially if she is the type to venture out and try new fashion trends before they reach the masses.   So does it come in petite sizing?  Most likely not.

Candy Pants Giveaway!

It’s not everyday that you get a chance to win a pair of contemporary designer pants.  Serafinablog.com is giving away a pair of the Candy Pants!   They are unique and adorable.  They are a great fit too.  Very similar to a Banana Republic fit.  Not too roomy in the hips like Ann Taylor.  You can check out the giveaway on http://www.serafinablog.com.

candy pants petite

The pants are going to be great all year round from fall to next spring.  The colors of these pants are very neutral and it’s going to be like nothing you can find in the malls and nothing in boutiques since they don’t cater to petite women.  I have received lots of good feedback from the women who have worn these pants. So GO sign yourself up to win!!!!!!!

For more details about the pants, go to Balzac’s website: http://www.balzacclothing.com

Just Another Day in the Life of Lynn Colclough

So it’s been kind of strange seeing myself on the commercials.  Tomorrow, Friday Aug. 29th will be the day that I will appear on the new reality show called Who Are You Wearing? from TLC.  I think its been pretty exciting for my two girls who are also on the commercial along with my husband sporting a Celtics cap and making a fluffer nutter sandwich on cable TV.    You can read the details of the interview on http://serafinablog.com/petitefashion/.  

I mentioned to Cynthia (who has a great petite blog as well called Shorty Stories http://blog.shorty-stories.com/) that this year has been a year of experiences and experiments.  I think the beauty of being on your own and going after your dreams is that you can try new things and conduct life experiments at your own cost (and not worry whether you’re going to get fired or not).  Having people to support me on my journeys has made the experiments a lot less discomforting.  Getting out of one’s comfort zone is quite discomforting for many people right?  Isn’t that why they call it a “zone”,  a nice protected invisible space that’s as comforting as your mother’s bosoms when you were a wee bit of a bugger?  But eventually we have to stop sucking our thumbs and do some growing up I suppose.

So I told myself at the beginning of the year that I have to try and do something new at least weekly.  I want to do it daily but I forget or get distracted and don’t want to be too demanding on myself.  

So reflecting on this past week as I dissolve this comfort zone bubble of mine…

I took a turbo kick boxing class for the first time.  I’m a bit clumsy and uncoordinated when it comes to these things.  I’m a regular at my gym.  I like my routine of wieghts and then hitting the bike or treadmill, nothing unexpected.  So getting out of my comfort zone and breaking into this 9:15am Saturday class of regular TKB enthusiasts was a bit intimidating.  So no broken ankles and just a bit sore the next day which actually felt kind of good.

On Wednesday I was in downtown LA visiting my contractors.  I decided to make small talk to a stranger on the elevator whose replies were directed at his shoes actually, and I think he couldn’t run away fast enough after we got to ground floor.  Oh, and that same Wednesday, I brought some Vietnamese eggrolls to the parking guy who is always curious of my look and wonders where I come from (hopefully not space).  So I think that he experienced something new that day too.

I think tomorrow as I watch myself on cable TV, that will be an experience.  Perhaps a bit embarrassing since I don’t know what will be edited and presented to the reality TV junkies of the world.  But I feel that I can’t grow spiritually without taking these risks and putting myself out there for other opportunities to come forth from it.  So I’ve resolved myself to having fun while doing it.  Fun, now that’s comforting.

Made Proudly in USA – at least for now…

My family and I took a trip to Maine.  Never been there before but, to us, it was a distant state that seemed just as exotic as a small country in Southeast Asia.  Being from California you can just about travel this entire state for days before having to cross over state lines.  So Maine was one of those states that held some mystery that we decided to explore it this summer.  It was a trip that we have already blocked off mentally in next year’s calendar to revisit.

I love our country and our visit to Maine made me appreciate the uniqueness and individualism within our states even more.  Aside from the sweet local lobster and clam shacks so distinctive to Maine, we shopped in downtown Portland where there were these stickers adhered to the shops’ windows that encouraged locals and visitors alike to support the local merchants and manufacturers.  To me, these stickers created an atmosphere of pride and self esteem for this state.  People questioned where their food came from, they looked inside tags and labels before making their purchases.  The visitors and merchants talked up their ‘local consciousness’.   There was a postcard from a clothing manufacturer that promoted their clothing by saying, hey people, we make our clothes just a few miles from Portland and with a Maine address no less, not Canada, not over seas.  They survive and thrive on their local businesses from the fishing to the retail merchants, to the coffee houses.  It was as American as I can ever imagine it to be.  

My view of Maine may be a bit nolstalgic and limited in scope but nevertheless, it was an image and experience that I perceived having spent short of two weeks there.  Granted, Maine isn’t known for being a leader in the world of fashion.  Having my clothes made in Los Angeles is something that I feel very proud to claim as part of the intrinsic value of the clothing that I offer.  Being in Southern California like many other large cities, we have so many wonderful cultures and transplants from other countries that add to local flavors and scents.  Perhaps all of this individualism lends to the fashion trends that eventually end up in mainstream America.  So does a product such as clothing that’s made locally matter in the larger cities? Does anyone care really?  Because the price to a consumer is obviously a big deal when the product gets costed out to the retail level.  Then being Made in USA may not be worth it to her.  

Like growing cities, there comes a time in the growth of an apparel company that it has to look elsewhere for its manufacturing needs.  Even now with Balzac being manufacturered in L.A, there is this big “So What” in this patriotism of mine that is a bit cynical.  So what if your clothes are made in Los Angeles, so what if you are proud to hire people locally, so what!  So what… is the price for this dress?  The price to support our own economy, our own people, Americans.  The price to have a petite line because we are literally overlooked when it comes to our needs for fashion.   

As I constantly examine every clothing label to see where their clothing is made, it’s a rare gem when a shirt claims made in the USA.  Running a business in California is expensive.  So when you look at just the cost of minimum wage here in California (versus pennies an hour overseas) and the cost it takes to make a blouse and sell it at a price worth paying for it’s not a hard decision just at this basic level to decide to do business across the Pacific.  With competition being so fierce especially in the clothing industry, apparel production in the United States seems to be a dinosaur of its day.   So what?  So, what they say in real estate are the three most important features of property is “location, location, location.”  In this case where the apparel industry is concerned, these three features won’t likely be sharing the same address.  Until the time comes, my label will continue saying Made Proudly in USA.

Angels Are Alive

I used to remember growing up, just feeling completely without support and love.  My mother passed away when I barely turned six years old, so getting a warm hug or tender kiss was not something that I experienced growing up after the age of six.  I have to say that receiving love and support in my life now is not lacking in any way.  I am so thankful for my friends and family for the support and encouragement that they have given me.  Recent new friends that I have been blessed to meet like Sheryl, Julia, and Lisa are a few on earth that I can honestly say with my heart are true angels. 

My husband has been amazing and his business approach is invaluable.  He seems to set aside the emotions and helps me focus.   Another angel.

My sisters are so different from one another but the one thing that we did growing up in our home was to take care of each other and give each other the love that was lacking from our parents, at least from my perspective.  As dysfunctional as our parents were, we managed to cook for one another and look out for each other.  I wouldn’t trade in my sisters for a new set even if give the opportunity.  I donned my second daughter’s middle name after one sister,Katie, and interestingly enough, she looks just like Katie as a little girl.  But the reason to naming her after Katie speaks more than words that I can put down on this blog. 

My friends that were at the launch party were all angels in my small house in Orange County.  Many of them that came weren’t petite but they were there for me, friends from book club and business groups.  Two of my friends Patti and Kim whose lives are just as busy with work and family made the time to offer their support and advice, and have been angels from the day that we became friends.  

In a world that can be mean and ugly, there is also a stronger force that I have chosen to surround myself with as we all can.  There are angels here on earth and they are truly superhuman.  Their love and support that surrounds me has kept all the demons in disguise away from truly hurting me.  Down any path, there lies road blocks and boulders that may get in the way but as long as there’s angels around, I know that I will make it along the path safely.  I thank you for everything.