"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined"
- Henry David Thoreau
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This is my current favorite quote and also a constant reminder to self that I have to believe in what i am doing in order to do it well =)
Writing this blog entry is both heart-whelming and embarrassing. Heart-whelming as it brought back so many memories on how Yventually got started and embarrassing because i realize i have to post pictures of myself when i used to model for the shop!! haha.
Yventually was started almost 4 years ago after I ended my previous online shop. I was selling handmade accessories then (remember the time they were all the rage??) and decided I wanted to focus on something different and needed a new name (believe me, when you are 17, it's hard to come up with a name that doesn't embarrass you 4 years later. hahaha)
TheBF threw in some suggestions for my new shop's name and from there, Yventually was born in March 2009 =)
To save costs, i decided i should model for my shop instead. Are you ready for the most #epicfail pics by yours truly??
HAHAHAHAHA. With minimal makeup and no fake lashes, i did my first shoot at a studio at Bugis with my dad being the photographer. My dad, being the sweetest, took 2 hours off work to do the shoot for me but it was SO AWKWARD posing in front of him. hahaha. Still in disbelief i had the courage to post these pics up for my first few collections o.O
Subsequently, i couldn't stand the ugly pictures of myself and the pictures became the once-famous half-face full body shots so commonly seen in many blogshops then.
Then, more blogshops began paying attention to picture quality and many of these half-face, full-body shots soon became unacceptable in the blogosphere. With suggestions from friends to don full makeup with falsies for my shoot, i started piling on more eyeliner and blusher to battle the harsh studio lighting. My dad also bought me a cloth backdrop and spotlights so we could do the shoot at the comfort of our own home at night when my dad gets off work. However, posing in front of my dad is still awkward as ever!! hahaha.
Ok, model still looked ugly (it's still my face ya?? haha) but at least it is so much more acceptable than those seen in Collection 1!! kekeke.
I also started manufacturing bags with our Yventually pink labels sewn on the inside =D
I also started to look for models/fresh faces actively to replace myself as the face of Yventually =) Friends recommended a few faces and one of them is Denise, SH's friend from internship.
Denise was so sweet and nice during our first shoot and i really like her refreshing and demure looks!!
Unfortunately, she was way too petite. Due to her small frame, most of my normal sized bags looked overwhelming on her, making the pictures slightly misleading. I was kinda disappointed i had to let her go as the search for the right model continues...
Then came the model that I'm sure everyone of you recognise - Su Ann!
She was relatively new to the market then and after i spotted her posing with bags in the pictures of the blogshop she was shooting for then, i knew she would fit the bill =)
And she delivered! She is pretty both in real life and in pictures, really bubbly and best thing of all, she had 10000 poses for each bag she modelled for. Definitely not an easy feat because asking a model to pose with a bag really limits the number of poses she can do and yet Su Ann aced every single shoot! Most importantly, all my customers love her! No wonder she later became one of the most sought-after models among the blogshops eh? ;)
When the stocks for my very first official self-manufactured bag came, i conducted my very first outdoor shoot!! =)
Extremely satisfied with my first lookbook too!! Su-Ann looking gorgeous in all shots, even though it was her first time shooting outdoots ;)
With good responses for our first self-manufactured bag, we moved on to manufacturing shoes too! We manufactured the extremely comfortable heart-shape cutout pumps and DnG-inspired wedges along the way, both designs well-loved by our customers and friends alike.
To reach out to a wider customer base, i also began selling our products at flea markets and bazaars. It is a whole new experience for me, having to now have to face customers (both old and new) in real life and hold a conversation while promoting Yventually products instead of hiding behind the computer screen. I would say my poly education trained me well. All the class presentations made me a more outgoing and chatty person. Even to this date, i still get the jitters before each bazaar but i guess i masked it much better now? haha.
Early 2012 saw us welcoming a new face to the Yventually model family - G!!
She was the queen of the NUS Arts pageant that year and i swear she is a living barbie in reality! Friends who helped out at my shoot cannot stop gushing on how pretty she is and i love how "model-y" she looks when she poses. A down-to-earth personality also made her one of my favorite models to date =)
Unfortunately, dear G had a really busy schedule so it was hard to get her to shoot all the time so here comes my favorite girl-next-door to the rescue - V!
Being a certified makeup artiste, V never once complain despite shooting in crazy hot weather and her girly looks also made her a popular choice among my customers =)
You guys also watched her transformation from a sweet feminine student model to an edgy fashionista as she made the bold decision to cut her hair like REALLY short, which caught me by surprise. Nevertheless, it actually brought out her pretty facial features and we managed to conduct 2 shoots successfully even with her new hairstyle =D
And right before i made the move to a dotcom, Elaine joined Yventually as our 3rd official model =) She was already a popular face in the blogosphere then (i try to avoid popular blogshop models to be honest) but i really like her cheery and sweet looks so i was so excited to have her model our bags and shoes!
See, she makes my pictures look so happy =D
If you are in love with her looks like we are, you can follow her on Instagram (@elaineypoop) and joyfulskies.blogspot.sg!
I made a few friends in this industry along the way in which some became my loyal customers and personal friends. Hence, several collaborations came along and I managed to co-manufacture Yventually's first messenger bag with dear Ace from Chaceylove =) Cannot be more thankful for a smooth collaboration and to have someone from the industry who will occasionally throw in suggestions and advice when i needed one.
In May 2013, WE MOVED TO A DOTCOM/SHOPPING CART WEBSITE!!! =D
www.yventually.com became official and goodbye unstable livejournal platform and confusing ordering system! I was fortunate to have a template to start off with but the CSS coding changes really did make me dizzy for a couple of weeks as I youtubed/googled my way through the coding changes. keke.
Let me know if you would like to see more changes to our website to make it better okokok? =D
As i officially began sourcing my own manufacturers and going on work trips late last year, Yventually has also been producing more self-manufactured bags since then, something i'm really proud of as we can finally call many of our designs our very own ;)
With the launch of our 100th collection, we added 2 more designs to our Yventually label, namely the Poppy 3-way bag and Olivia satchel. They are still available in limited pieces so you can check them out here:
Whew. Still can't believe we are at our 100th collection and getting so overwhelmed with emotions right now =*)
I would like to take this chance to say a big THANK YOU to all you loyal customers out there and HELLO to our new friends who just found us through different means. You mean so much to me and your encouragements/advice/suggestions really did help me bring Yventually to a greater height.
And also, to my lovely friends who never stop supporting me, THANK YOU too! Thank you for bringing my bags out and making sure all your other friends know that they are from Yventually! haha. Browsed through my photo albums and found these pictures that feature them carrying our products. hehe.
Well, that about sums up my blog entry for today =) Hope you all enjoyed reading (and laughing! =P)
Until next time~
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