DAZEY LA X SOLSTICE INTIMATES

SHOP THE SUIT HERE

I could not be more excited to announce our new collab piece with Solstice Intimates! I have been following their journey on social media since the beginning and have always been inspired by their amazing products and boss babe behind the brand, Natalie! She began Solstice just a few years ago sewing everything by hand and now it has quickly become a huge success. 

For our collab we wanted to incorporate the feel of both of our brands into one magical piece. With her gorgeous handmade silhouettes mixed with my hand-drawn graphics we knew it was going to be special. After some back and forth we decided to go with a mod pop-art look to match the bold spirit of the Solstice girl and playful feel of Dazey. The bodysuit is made from a soft beatable cotton with bright screen printed design. Wear it solo or with pants or a skirt! However you wear it we know you won't want to take it off ;) 

Solstice began with unique silhouettes and 70s styles sewn all in velvet. They looked different than any other lingerie I had seen before. Very playful, fun, and looked more comfortable and durable than your usual slinky silk underpinnings. I saw them as being more made for the wearer's benefit than anyone else. They are empowering and all about self expression. With amazing marketing, social media presence, and the support of their fans, the brand expanded. They now carry many more styles including amazing swimwear and dresses!

It only seemed right to include a Dazey Lady feature on Natalie along with the launch! Read below as she talks about humble beginnings, her inspiration, and how she's managing to scale her business!  PS Natalie is the red head babe you see scattered in between our lookbook photos :)

Model 1st look: Reid Cox

Photog 1st look: @danidazey

Model 2nd look: @uhclarice 

Photog 2nd look: Joseph Maddon

Solstice has got to be the coolest and fastest growing lingerie brands! How long have you been in business?

Thanks girl! We have been going at it just under two years. Solstice came about from my own personal love of beautiful underpinnings. I started just making for myself what I could not find in other shops. When I first started it was just the basics: bodysuit, bra, underwear, all in velvet only. I quickly realized that they were being worn as outerwear. I remember the first time I saw a woman wearing one of the bodysuits with jeans, like just as her shirt and at first I was confused. Then I realized I needed to step my game up if these pieces were the actual outfit and not just hiding under the outfits. From there I started adding more panels, colors, textures, etc. 

What did you do before Solstice? Did you get any degree in the art or fashion world?

Yes, I did get a degree in Fashion Design from FIDM in Los Angeles. I started a business with two other friends from school when we were all 18/19 and quickly learned I was in over my head. I didn’t know enough about the business side of things. I also missed my family in Arizona so I moved home about a year after finishing college. I planned to stay in fashion and was working to get an internship while working full time with MAC makeup and making a few wedding dresses on the side. I met my now husband, got married, and had our first baby. I was working lots of hours, and hours I did not want to be working so much with a family so I went back to school, got a job as a finance manager, and got my masters degree in business finance. The plan was to use my degrees to start my own business but I got really comfortable for about 10 years in my 9-5 desk job. I started making kids clothes as a creative outlet while I worked my normal job but it was not something that I felt could support my family doing full time. I put the kids clothes on hold and focused on my career in finance. I started making bras for myself, then my friends, and when others started showing interest I launched a site thinking I would have a few nice friends that bought some stuff and the site blew up the first day. I tried to get orders filled at night after work and when my babies slept but within two months I had to make the choice to quit my job or quit Solstice. Solstice won and I have not looked back since. 

What did you set out to create when you started? What makes Solstice different than other brands?

I am a no fuss jeans and tee kind of girl in terms of my outerwear but I have always liked to get a little more fancy with my underwear. The issue was always that I still wanted to feel comfortable. Underwire and constrictive fabrics make me nuts. I started making pieces for myself that made me feel pretty but still comfortable in my skin. I can't stand taking my bra off and having all those indents and red stab marks everywhere that I am sure any woman can relate to at some point in life. I try to find a balance between intricate beautiful designs but they still have to feel good on my skin and look beautiful peeking out of a low cut tee. 

So each piece is handmade. Did you began sewing each piece yourself? Tell us a little about your growth process as your are scaling.

Balancing business growth and sticking to my handmade roots has been a learning process that I am still getting a grasp on. To this day I still myself sew at least 10 hours a day. Every piece that is shipped I still touch. Last year it was just me, alone in my kitchen sewing like a mad woman. Within about six months of starting I realized it was at a point where it was impossible for me to do it alone. I had a very hard time with that concept but people were already waiting six weeks for orders and I knew that any longer than that and folks would lose interest. I know I wouldn't want to wait that long! So I put out an add for a seamstress and interviewed countless people and cried for weeks trying to find someone that I trusted with my baby. I finally found a woman, Kim is her name, and she had 25 years experience in manufacturing of swimwear. She is perfect and has taught me so much and helped me to improve my product along the way. She sews way faster than I do so she does most of the everyday pieces and I do the specialty and one of a kind pieces. We also have my husbands childhood friend, Dan who helped me with my kids brand and learned to sew knits so he sews with me most days as well. From the beginning I wanted to do swimwear but I have never sewn a swimsuit in my life. They are a whole other beast. I have a small batch manufacturer in Los Angeles that helps me with those, which is why they are ready to ship and not a 4-6 week wait situation. They have also been slowly incorporating some of my everyday designs into their process so hopefully we will be able to add to our ready to ship line as we progress with them. I will never stop sewing. We have built a clientele of women who have a hard time finding ready made pieces. We will always cater to those with the long or shorter torsos, mismatched top to bottom ratios, etc. In order to do that, we have to make the pieces to order just for them. Those are my people, the ones that have been there rooting me on since the beginning. I have rows of patterns special made with customers names on them that I will always adjust as their bodies change. We also just bought a rad workspace so I am now (just as of this week) out of my kitchen and the hope is to expand, hire more people to help sew, and get my wait time down. 

What do you attribute to being the biggest factor in your insta-success?

My husband, Joseph Maddon, is an incredibly talented photographer. He did fashion photography before we started Solstice. We had built in models that are dear friends and he is able to create a culture for our brand based on his pictures. We always want Solstice to feel like a community that people want to be a part of and we are mindful of that and how we use social media. I also have a social media/marketing manger, Kat who also does customer service so many of our customers know her. She does fun stuff like read up on algorithms, media trends, and keeps our brand looking exciting. I never want my customers to feel like just another email so we keep things small, personable, and tight knit. Everyone involved in this venture is personally invested and we pour our hearts into this. The goal is for that to be evident in every garment that leaves our hands. 

We obviously LOVE your aesthetic and 70s vibe. What’s your inspiration when designing? 

My grandmother is a huge inspiration in my life. She taught me to sew when I was very young, about seven. She made my dresses for church and quickly taught me to make my own dresses for church. I wanted a new dress each Sunday so I had to quickly learn to hold my own. I cherish everything about this woman. She has hundreds of photo albums in her home documenting every life event raising her eight children and each of something like thirty of her grandchildren and great grandchildren now has dedicated photo books. The importance of these photo books for me is that growing up I studied them as if they were novels. My grandmother was and is the epitome of cool and her wardrobe in those photos will forever be burned into my mind as the ultimate style. She wore the most amazing outfits and looked like a total badass with a bunch of babies on her hip while wearing floral maxi dresses, her locks in a huge bun on top of her head, and cat eye glasses. I will forever be pushing myself to capture and recreate the image of what is “cool” that was instilled in me by Sandy. 

Solstice uses a wonderfully diverse group of models and often posts photos of pubic hair and lady-nipps. Somewhat “radical" marketing we admire, but some people may find this shocking. Whats your thought process and intention behind this?

We do not have any sort of formula for who we choose to represent our brand. The models on our site are primarily dear friends that we knew prior to starting Solstice. We are always looking for new people to partner with but it has much more to do with how they move, how comfortable they are in front of a camera, and what they represent as a human. Our models are moms, artists, bloggers, dancers, athletes, advocates, students, scientists, explorers, and all around badasses. What makes a photo enticing is not how toned or tanned the subject is. It’s that coy little smirk. It’s the disheveled imperfection that makes that subject relatable. I will often choose a photo where maybe there are twisted straps or the actual product is represented less than perfect but the woman wearing it is flipping her hair in a way that exudes sex appeal. Those are the pictures I want to represent my brand. I’ve had friends stop by, soaking wet out of the shower, no makeup on and I begged them to get photos taken for the site before our coffee run. You know when you wake up in the morning and the person laying next to you just looks so perfectly natural and comfortable? That’s it, that’s the look. 

You guys started out making very unique velvet pieces but have been expanding to things like swimwear and dresses. Whats on the horizon for your brand? In five years now where do you see Solstice? 

My vision changes daily based on what is presented to me by our community and customers. Since we are handmade to order we can evolve at the drop of a hat. If something doesn't work out, we pull it and try again without having stacks of inventory to lose. We are currently focused heavily on inclusion. We created the unisex Billy Brief after we started getting emails about men wanting to join the party. We will continue to expand in that area. Right now we offer custom sizing but I want to have a standardized plus size range within a year. I don’t have experience in grading patterns for plus size but the folks that make our swimwear are working on grading patterns and creating samples for us. Until then I just take measurements and make each piece individually but I really want to be able to offer more in terms of sizing. Another avenue we are working on is a wider range of products for our transgender customers. We have some samples out for testing and are making some pattern revisions but this will be coming soon as well. As we get requests, I do my best to accommodate each person that I come across and if there is a need, we will offer it to the masses. 

What's your biggest piece of advice to an aspiring entrepreneur in the fashion space?

The fashion industry is so fast paced and fickle. I have to just not even pay attention to what anyone else is doing and get all hung up on it. I do what feels right for me. I sometimes find myself checking out other brands and being like, “Crap, why didn't I think of that.” Learning to just sit back and trust myself has been a huge part of my personal and professional growth. I had to stop worrying about what anyone else was doing, if people would like what I was making, or if it would sell. I have had a few pieces not sell and had to get ahold of my self-doubt and just move on. In the end, I only have to answer to myself and know that I put my heart into each piece I create. 

What does being a Dazey Lady mean to you?

I love that Dazey has the same ideals of culture and friendship. Above and beyond creating a brand, you are creating a community. I love that stuff. I love that when I purchase from a small business I am buying into the dreams of the creator. 

 

 

Dazey LA x Marloe - Feature and collab clutches 

I met Analisa of Marloe a few months back when she reached out to me via email. She initially proposed doing a collaborative shoot but after looking at her website I had more in mind! I instantly feel in love with her gorgeous leather goods. She fuses simplicity with unique design elements giving the bags a unique twist. I also love the bright pops of colors she throws into the mix!

We met up for coffee and discussed details on how we could work together. I began carrying a handful of her bags in the Dazey Lady Shop, a section of our site dedicated to selling and supporting other female entrepreneurs. I also began carrying her bags on my body everyday LOL ;) The pink layover tote fits my laptop perfectly and is so comfortable to wear! I also use the black bucket bag as my everyday go-to purse! They were doing so well on the site that when Analisa approached me about a collab I was SO on board. I've always wanted to see my designs on leather. The two pieces came out gorgeous and I am so proud of them. Nothing like working with a fellow female on an amazing project!

Below we have a full feature on the boss babe behind the brand and on our collab pieces! Analisa began sewing all the bags herself out of her house before moving to her current studio. I love small beginnings stories like this. Be sure to check out all the fun Q & A's, photos, and our collaborative designs below! 

SHOP OUR COLLAB & HER BAGS HERE

1) What were you doing before Marloe? Walk us through your career up until the point you began your company!

No success story is simple. Mine is a success story of emotional roller coaster proportions. I quit my stable job as a visual merchandiser to set off on my own in order to discover a new me. What an undertaking! I was interviewing over and over for various creative jobs in leading companies, but there were no call backs. I was broke and unemployed for almost a year leaving me with no choice but to go back to retail in order to pay the bills. Funny enough, I met my soon to be husband, at the company that hired me for sales. He knew that retail was not where I wanted to be so he encouraged me to do some creative volunteer work on the side. I left retail once again to volunteer my time at a well known, leading event company based in LA. I learned so much from them but the biggest take away was a simple pile of faux suede that they threw away. Which I naturally scooped up for a creative project.

I volunteered two days a week and the rest of my days were spent job hunting. Again, I was down on my luck. No one wanted to hire me for creative positions. In order to fill my time, I started messing with that pile of fabric that the event company threw away. I decided I was going to finally master the art of using a sewing machine. That was easier said than done. It was awful! I couldn't sew a straight line to save my life!

So I practiced until my lines got better. Then I taught myself how to make a tote. A few samples later, I finally made a somewhat presentable version of a tote. I had no intension of making a career out this, but my tote came in handy for my intense volunteer work. Part of my job description was driving and running errands all over the LA area, from Santa Monica to North Hollywood, to Downtown LA and back to Culver City, where the event company's HQ was located. Well to my surprise, everywhere I went, people wanted to know where I got my bag!

2) What got you into bag making? Are you self taught? Would love to hear about how began making them.

It all started when I used a tote that I made as a time filler project. I couldn't go anywhere without at least one person complimenting or asking where they could buy that same bag. I always laughed when people asked where they could buy one, only because I couldn't believe that my sewing skills had gotten so good, that my tote looked store bought.

So, my "ah-ha!" moment happened right after that experience. I thought, "Well, people are constantly asking about my tote, I am a walking billboard, why not start an online shop for my totes?!" So, I did just that. I had really good sales with orders coming in constantly. Eventually as Marloe grew, I stopped producing the faux suede totes and started making genuine leather product, which I also taught myself how to work with.

3) How long has Marloe been around? Would love to hear the journey of how it began.

Marloe officially turned three years old this year in March! We're still a very young company, but we've come a long way, and hopefully have a full journey ahead of us.

4) You now have an employee and your fiance helping you out! How have things changed since you first started?

At the beginning it was literally just me! I was a single lady boss running the show. It was crazy once I started to get more inquiries than I couldn't manage alone. It got to be pretty challenging to make all of the endless orders and still have the time for meetings and all that comes with running a business. My fiance came to the rescue and took over my sales and marketing sector. I have since hired a part time production assistant that does just that, assists me in the production of Marloe goods.

5) Production can always be tricky! How do you plan on scaling that as the company grows?

Marloe has already come so far since I started this company three years ago. I started making bags from my home office in this tiny nook. Now housed in a warehouse, I still want to make sure that everything is made in house to ensure quality and Marloe standards. Not to mention, being able to provide a fair price to my customers. 

As Marloe grows, I hope to continue to add to my production team and continue to produce Marloe goods in house. My goal is to always remain affordable without compromising quality.

6) What makes Marloe different than just grabbing a bag from a department store?

Each Marloe piece is hand prepped and handmade in our warehouse studio just outside of Long Beach, CA. I personally hand pick each leather and make sure that it's tough and durable while still being soft and buttery to the touch. I never want to sell anything to my customers that I wouldn't use myself. All of our bags are priced fairly because I make each bag by hand with the help of my in house production assistant.

Marloe goods are different in the sense that our bags are not mass produced. Most of our designs are made to order in small batches. We hand trace the pattern onto the leather, then hand cut. Every step in the process is thoughtfully handcrafted in house.

Each bag has a story behind it. I designed each piece based on my own personal style, travels, and experiences. Some of my designs are even named after important people in my life. The Martina Backpack is named after my Dad, Martin. He taught the art of being a business owner. I have never met a more hardworking person on the planet. The Leena Cross- Body was named after my Mom, Avelina (ah-veh-leena). She taught me that one handbag is never enough! (haha).

7) I love your unique and simple logo & name! How did you come up with it?

Simple was always the inspiration for coming up with a logo and a name. For weeks I wrote down words and phrases and weird word combos. After a few ideas, I knew I wanted my company to have a, single, strong, but also, feminine word/name. I then heard the name Marloe in a song and thought, PERFECT! It was exactly what I had pictured as the name for my company. Then I jumped on my computer and started designing my logo in AI.

8) So you have a side hustle still, tell us how and why you choose to balance both.

I had no real need of getting a side job other than I missed visual merchandising. I'm naturally very good at it and it's weirdly therapeutic for me.

I do the majority of the visual merchandising at 6th and Detroit, a vintage home goods shop in downtown Long Beach, CA. It sounds crazy and oxymoronic, but merchandising at 6th and Detroit is my zen. It's my spa day two days a week. It's pretty insane having a side gig while running a very busy and successful company, but I love it. It's something that is quite fun for me.

I want people to understand that it's a different era. You have to do what makes you happy. If you want to have multiple jobs then you should do all the things you want to do. Now, don't get out of hand and start a million different projects but if you can do at least two things that you love at the same time, then do it!

It took me a long time to let go of what people might think. I was afraid for a long time that my customers would no longer think of Marloe as a successful and legitimate business if they saw me working part time at a shop, but there's something to be said about people who can do both. It's incredibly humbling to walk into my office and run the show, answer emails from big companies wanting to work with Marloe and then two days a week answer to another lady boss and still feel powerful.

9) What does being a Dazey Lady mean to you?

To me, being a Dazey Lady means always supporting fellow women. I feel that society has engraved in women's mind to think of each other as competition. I think that stems from the fact that even though, times are changing, there still is a lack of opportunities for women. Which forces us to compete for that one job.

I think is time to change that mentality and start encouraging change. Let's work together and push each other to do better and to be better.

 

I met Kailee of I'm With The Band Headbands a few months into Dazey. I spotted one of her bands on instagram and HAD to shoot them with the tees! We met up at a coffee shop so I could pull some pieces and ended up talking for hours. She's such a sweet soul and amazing lady! We have become good friends and help each others business out all the time. That's what female entrepreneurship is all about :)

A collab seemed necessary. We have been working on these babies for MONTHS and production was super tricky for these speciality prints. But it was worth it and they are finally out! Hand drawn with love by yours truly @danidazey and printed on Kailee's gorgeous velvet turbans. You can shop the collab pieces HERE.

Of of course in natural Dazey Lady fashion we had to feature the BABE behind the bands Kailee. She is a super girl boss who get's ish done. Creep her Dazey Lady words of wisdom below and our little magical shoot featuring all her bands along with our collab pieces!

www.im-with-the-band.com #BABESINBANDS

Huge thanks to Victoria lady boss of Wallflower SF for hanging during the shoot, styling, and snapping some BTS instax/duo photos :)

1) Dani - Tell us about your company! How did it start? How long have you been doing it?

Kailee - My company, I'm With The Band is a headwear company that creates amongst other things, headbands! It started with a vision to combine all the things I love (music, fashion, health and wellbeing) into one and make it something rad and tangible. My IWTB journey started 3 years ago.

2) Dani - What inspires you and gets you excited!?

Kailee - I get super inspired and excited by the music, culture, fashion and attitude of the 60s and 70s. I also get inspiration from all sorts of things like hand painted tiles, architecture, color, texture, other cultures and a little nature reset always helps!

3) Dani - What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced?

Kailee - As a small business you wear a lot of hats, so it can be a bit tricky to manage my time super well. Aside from achieving brand recognition, I'd say my biggest challenge is production and all the ins and outs of managing it whilst maintaining a product I'm super proud of and thrilled with.

4) What’s your #1 piece of advice you’d give to a girl trying to start a business?

Aim to do something you love and are passionate about and start anywhere. If you're passionate and believe in what you're doing it will keep you going and inspired through all the trials and tribulations of starting and running your own business. It's never going to be the perfect time to do anything, it just doesn't exist. It always sort of re inspires me to know that you can literally start anywhere... you can start in the middle, beginning or end, but just start and put one foot in front of the other and before you know it, you'll be somewhere you've never been and you're on your way!

5) Dani -Where do you see your company going the next few years?

Kailee - World domination? Just kidding... I see I'm With The Band growing into a lifestyle brand of sorts, with more and meaningful offerings that inspire people and more collaborations with authentic and aligned brands. My goals for the company are ever evolving but one thing I know for certain is that I want to grow my business into something that nurtures the human spirit, helps people and gives back to things I believe in.

 

6) Dani - What does being a Dazey Lady mean to you?

Kailee - Well first of all, it's a real honor! It means strength, independence and unapologetically reaching for the stars. Believing in yourself through all the peaks and valleys of owning and running your own business. Knowing there's a group of badass babes that have your back when the the struggles of entrepreneurship aren't always all daisies is such a gift... so grateful for my fellow lady bosses! Most of all, it means doing what I love, spreading love, light, positivity and good vibes, following my heart and working daily to grow it into all I know it can be.

 

 

SPREAD THE LADY BOSS LOVE!!

Xx- Kailee & Dani

You can shop the collab pieces HERE