Adelaide's new dress
It’s about time I did a blog post (Ruth’s been doing all the blogging lately) and what better thing to talk about than a sewing project.
I’ve been sitting on this Clothkits dress kit for some time now and just hadn’t found the time (or made the time) to do it, until Friday night when I had the evening to myself. After Addy was tucked up in bed, I put some tunes on (Goldfrapp because Ruth and I had been talking about how good they are that day) and set to work. I started at 9.30pm and finished by 11.30… 2 hours was not bad going especially as I hadn’t done button holes in awhile and it was extremely satisfying when I finished.
Being a bit of a an experienced sewer when I normally make my own patterns, it was so nice just to follow instructions and not have to think too hard about what I was doing…and it was also a bonus not to have the hassle of paper patterns, it’s all printed on the cloth!
Adelaide woke up in the morning to a brand new dress and was very excited about wearing it to her party that day.
It’s great to be working with Clothkits and can’t wait to get my hands on the next project – I’ve got my eye on the Rob Ryan skirt in pewter for me and Addy will need a new sunhat for the summer.
Starting off the project
Sewing it up
The finished product modelled by Addy
SO excited about the Alice in Wonderland film coming out next week. Doesn’t it look incredible? I’ve always been a huge fan of the story and the old film with Peter Cook as the Mad Hatter (perfect casting – if I remember right Peter Sellers was in there too somewhere). It looks like Tim Burton has unleashed his magic again. He’ll bring the right kind of slightly sinister magic and crazy visuals to the party – I can’t wait!
A couple of our clients have launched their own Wonderland-esque products to tie in with the release:
Van Den Berg have created an capsule collection of Alice-inspired charm jewellery, and Ollie & Nic have a very cute range of shoppers to bring to your very own mad hatters tea party.
And I couldn’t possibly write an Alice-themed post without including the brilliant White Rabbit, written & performed by Grace Slick & Jefferson Airplane. Mental. Love it.
posted by Ruth
We’ve been so rubbish and not blogged for ages.
One reason for this is that we’ve been mega-busy, but I don’t think that is a good enough excuse to leave a blog going stale for over a month (shame on us)
Anyway, one thing that has been keeping Mel quiet is the first official Ollie & Nic catalogue, which is being shot on location in East London on Wednesday. So much thought and preparation has gone into this, and Mel and the Ollie & Nic girls are flat out with writing copy, drawing up mood boards, and gathering product.
We are so excited about this catalogue, and hope the sun gets his hat on (if only briefly) on Wednesday, so we can get some nice picnic/garden shots! So please, think sunny thoughts for us.
You’ll be able to get a copy of the catalogue in April but to sign up (and be in with a chance of winning a prize), click here
Below are just a few of the many lovely products making it onto the pages:
posted by Ruth
The British seaside.
Grey?
Miserable?
Not on your nelly folk.
Anorak’s ropes and boats collection has landed.
Four nautical inspired prints set to brighten up piers and promenades from Sandbanks to Skegness.
There’s traditional stripes with a natty knotty twist.
There’s classic anchors with a lively lifebelt twist.
There’s cheeky seagulls.
There’s sophisticated sailboats.
And remember the classic nautical red?
Well, Anorak have hooked it, reeled it in and dragged it kicking and screaming into 2010 by turning it bright orange and applying it as an accent across the entire range.
So what’s available then?
Well, ropes & boats is conveniently split into three main product categories:
Beach picnickers can feast on jumbo trays, coolbags and picnic blankets.
Mad hutters can jazz up their homes and beach huts with cushions, oilcloth and garden seat pads.
And weekend awayers can load their beach buggies with weekend holdalls, toiletry bags and sleeping bags.
Looks like the English seaside will be sizzling this Summer.
For images or a press pack, please contact Ruth Bonser on 07812 188 134 or ruth@rumourpr.com
We are super excited to announce our newest client – Clothkits!
Brief biog below if you don’t know about them….
“Whatever happened to Clothkits?”
This was the question artist Kay Mawer typed into the search engine one day as she hunted creative clothing ideas for her two daughters.
A small amount of surfing later, Kay discovered a lot about what happened to Clothkits. Originally founded in 1968 by Anne Kennedy around the kitchen table, it grew to enormous proportions and by the late 1980s, Clothkits employed over 400 staff from the Lewes headquarters. Eventually bought out by catalogue giant Freemans, the identity of the Clothkits company was swallowed up by this new owner and made dormant.
An original Clothkits catalogue from 1973
Kay set to work convincing Freemans to sell her the Clothkits name and rights, and after much determination and 17 years in hibernation the Sussex based firm relaunched in 2008, featuring new and original designs to cut and sew at home.
The company ethos has stayed the same – Clothkits make it easy to make beautiful quality, well designed clothes without the fuss of paper patterns. All the cutting lines are printed directly on the fabric in a simple format that means even the inexperienced can make garments with ease. If you love the garments but don’t have the time or inclination to sew, they also offer a made to order service through Clothkits Couture.
Current designers include Rob Ryan, People Will Always Need Plates, Mini Moderns, plus artists Jane Foster, Katrin Moye and Linda Edwards.
Rob Ryan 'hold me' skirt
Jane Foster 'birdie' dress for girls age 1-6
'trellick tower' dress by People Will Always Need Plates for girls age 1-9
Foxes & hens bag by Katrin Moye
Magic Tree skirt by Linda Edwards
Nana Jigsaw frock by Mini Moderns - for girls age 1-9
All Clothkits products are designed and printed in the UK.
posted by Ruth
One of the reasons we chose to blog as Rumour PR was to chart our progress as a company, and highlight milestones that happen to us along the way.
(a blog was also a darn sight easier to set up than a website but we’ll skirt around that)
So – here is a big milestone for us, our business cards and postcards have arrived! And not a moment too soon, as I have been in dire need of something nice to write a note on when sending products to press or bloggers.
We think it all looks very smart indeed, and have the lovely Nina from ByGraziela to thank for our new look & feel, and for sorting our stationery out. She did a fantastic job at getting it all to look professional, but also friendly, approachable and design-led which is exactly what we wanted.
So, what does everyone think? Answers on a Rumour PR postcard…
posted by Ruth
In PR-land, we tend to work a few months in advance – which is why I am now thinking about Mother’s Day instead of getting my Christmas shopping sorted….anyone else not done ANY pressie shopping yet? Oh, apart from a wooden pull-along dog for the little man.
Here’s a selection of Mother’s Day ideas from Rumour clients:
For my own mum I will definitely be buying her a copy of Bright Young Things and some yarn from MillaMia – she is an extremely talented knitter, and has been known to knit everything from Christmas tree bunting to Audrey Hepburn in her time. I am going to drop some serious hints about the lovely ‘Oskar’ jumper for Louis, pictured on the left below.
Oskar Jumper and Rafael top from 'Bright Young Things'
Or another choice would be the Hazel shopper, from Ollie & Nic, as she has been eyeing mine up rather a lot recently! And walks into work every day so a cross body bag would be good for her.
Hazel Tan leather shopper
And let’s not forget it’s my second year as a Mother myself! So I hope Louis reads this, and buys me one of these beautiful cushions from ByGraziela, or failing that, I’d love him to unleash my inner pirate with an anchor & parrot necklace from Van Den Berg!
Hearts cushion covers £25 each
Anchor & parrot charm necklace £49
Talking of anchors – keep an eye out for the first glimpse of the Anorak Spring/Summer collection, coming very soon….
Posted by Ruth
So, our new logo has arrived! Do you like it? Let us know what you think!
We wanted a few colour options – grey is the main colour for using with press releases and when we don’t need to stand out – we would rather let our clients do that.
The pinks and oranges are good as they go nicely together and brighten us up when we need to be brightened up – for example this blog header would look a bit dry just in grey.
In case you are wondering it is a speech bubble.
The next stage is to get our avatars/twitter/facebook pages all loaded up and looking lovely. Mel is on the case with ordering stationery & paper samples, as we are in deseprate need of comp slips!
In general most people seem to be loving the name ‘Rumour PR’ which is great, I especially like it as it reminds me of the Fleetwood Mac album ‘Rumours’. I think we will have to re-enact the album cover pose for the Rumour PR Christmas cards next year (don’t worry Mel, I will happily be Mick!)
Posted by Ruth
Everything Christmassy seemed to hit London last week including the Spirit of Christmas fair at Olympia, where Anorak had a show stopping stand. (see images below).
I think the 1st November must be the official date where we’re allowed to start mentioning the word, “Christmas”… and as always it comes around too fast and we start to stress about what we’re going to buy for everyone (esp. our partners) and try to fit in Christmas drinks with everyone we know before the 25th hits.
Luckily, we work for some fantastic companies selling great Chrimbo gifts so I know I’ve got this year covered. I’ll be going to Ollie & Nic for my Mum, Mum-in-law and Aunty, Anorak for my travelling cousins, Van den Berg for my nieces, byGraziela for my expecting brother and sister-in-law and Millamia for my Grandma …..that’s not quite everyone so I think I’ll stick to Amazon for my techy Dad and little brother. Husband’s gift is a whole other matter which will get churned over in my brain until the very last minute.
Merry Christmas Shopping Everybody!
Stuart and Adelaide doing the hard sell.
Laurie enjoying the show.
Wanna buy a weekend bag?
Adelaide taking off with a kissing rabbits sleeping bag.
Another week, another client for Rumour PR!
We are extremely excited to be working with Van Den Berg Jewellery, who are based in the Newburgh Quarter (just behind Carnaby Street).
Van Den Berg are a small, independent jewellers who started up in Covent Garden market (back when it was cool), and moved to Newburgh Street 11 years ago. They are best known for their quirky charms for bracelets and pendants, and individual, bold statement jewellery like the cocktail rings shown above.
We are very much looking forward to re- establishing Van Den Berg in the luxury accessories market and working with them to create exciting stories around their beautiful collections.
posted by Ruth
