Through The Years

Media Run Digital

This is one of the most personally useful infographics I've ever seen. Probably the only one I've every felt passionately about. What an incredible archive! Can you believe how many are listed as unknown? Tragedy!!! Can't wait to see what Sunday brings. (#Lupita.) What is your fave?

Bags & Bottoms

1. Pour La Victoire Elie Mini | 2. Nina Ricci Ballet Bag (Similar) | 3. Annabel Ingall Isabella Tote

I know we are all craving some sunshine and warm weather. In my humble opinion, this is the most shoppingest time of the year. I know you may think Christmas, but I swear, the Spring Shoppies is a whole different compulsion. So much color, shapes are so much more fun. I think Spring is a good time to consider a bag change; clean out your overloaded Fall bag and go for something fresh and different. I really love these neutral options, cream and taupe will go with everything and can be worked in when Fall rolls back around too. I also have to remind myself that Spring isn't just about frocks; I always make that mistake and then only have a pair of jorts to wear when a dress won't do. These pastel and floral options represent some of my favorite colors and can be dressed up or down. I'm really excited about pretty florals (as you may know). What trend are y'all most into for Spring?

1. A.L.C. Crepe Shorts Mint | 2. BCBG Ingrid Skirt | 3. Jill Stuart Claudia Shorts 

Flower Bombs

Joie Skirt + Top

Apparently everyone is lusting after Spring Flowers. Florals are EVERYWHERE for Spring-on your bag, on your umbrella, on your PJs. I personally love a really dainty, sweet floral but there are some gorgeous abstract and large scale options happening too. Here's some inspiration for your Spring shopping list; there are plenty of ways to fit florals into your wardrobe even if just with accessories!

Floral Dress: Jill Stuart | Cosmetics Case: Hudson + Bleecker | Floral Print Umbrella: Kate Spade NY | Hello Blossom Samsung Case: Kate Spade NY

Shop more florals below!

Bunches Of News

I have a few bits of exciting Ramey Rhodes news and happenings that I want to share with you guys! First, we are winding down Fall and ALL of our remaining looks are marked down to half-off! Snag your fave now before it's gone! And thanks to everyone for their tremendous support over our first season!!! It's been bonkers.

 Now we are hard at work on Spring now and can't wait to share it with you! After much research, we decided to apply for a Kickstarter project, and we are so proud to have been accepted. If you're not familiar, Kickstarter is an awesome crowd-funding site that has generated almost $1 billion in startup money for small businesses just like us. It's not a free ride, we offer rewards to our donors, things like pretty prints from our Spring sketches, t-shirts and even your pick of items from either Spring or Fall '14! We'll even be doing pre-orders! Our Kickstarter will fund our immediate start on our Fall '14 collection, which will enable us to go to market and reach a national audience. We want to join Raleigh businesses like Lumina Clothing (a successful Kickstarter alum) and others in creating a cluster of sustainable, creative jobs right here in our hometown. As of now we are over 40% TO OUR GOAL! We're not even half-way through our fundraising period! There's no pressure to participate, the beauty of Kickstarter is that people get to invest in businesses they believe in and products they want to see. Even sharing our project on Facebook helps us more than you know! Pledges of even $1 or $5 help us sooo much in getting to our goal.  

Here is the link to our project, and be sure to check out the other local projects, they're awesome:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/347336911/american-made-style?ref=city

We are also up for a small business grant of up to $25,000 from FedEx and you can help us! All you have to do is click the link below to vote. It LITERALLY will take 10 seconds. Each vote gets us closer to VICTORY! (Hee.)

Click here to vote:

http://smallbusinessgrant.fedex.com/Gallery/Detail/f06c6c80-2c8b-4382-85c0-9aa514af5b79

And finally, I'm so stinkin' excited, we were selected to show our Spring collection at Savannah Fashion Week this May! I love this city, and as a former resident I'm so looking forward to heading back down! We will also have a series of trunk shows surrounding SFW so be on the lookout for dates! Woo! 

All Lacquered Up

House Beautiful

I really like a home improvement project, which is great, because I'm really poor. I am a totally HGTV aficionado, and although I don't typically agree with their "design choices", I think it's good to see what you can do with some elbow grease. If you've been on Pinterest, Facebook, or actually been to a real store you have probably noticed the #lacqueredeverything trend in home decor. I'm all in. INCLUDING...walls (and ceilings). But I have financial limitations so I had to look for another way to achieve the look. Enter Evie of Finds. She immediately suggested the Benjamin Moore "hybrid" paint, which is called ADVANCE, in the high-gloss finish. She gave me some tips and tried to temper my expectations so as not to over-promise!

I hit the local ACE Hardware and was off. I was painting the narrow hallway of a pretty standard ranch-style house and I wanted something dramatic so I went with classic Hale Navy. The result is pretty badass if I do say so myself. It's like an oil paint for your walls. You can wipe just about anything off of it. The combination of the dark color and the glossy feel add a little bit of edge. I will post pics soon, once I get mirrors/art hung and lighting figured out! I'm considering this super cool star pendant from Furbish, but I'm not sure it will give off enough light? We'll see. Below is another room done in Hale Navy so you can see what I'm working with, as well as some lacquer inspiration for ya. 

Hale Navy

Lonny Mag

Sexy Black

Emerald

Navy In Architectural Digest

Farrow & Ball's Off Black

Navy On Navy

Lacquer On The Ceiling

Lonny Mag (Again, cause it's that awesome...)

Patience | Goodness | Joy

Joy II from Caroline Ceramics

I'm blown away by Caroline's new Fruits of the Spirit painting series over at Caroline Ceramics. Her talent is just endless it would seem! With names like Joy and Patience, they would be a happy addition to any art collection. There are several different sizes to fit a variety of nooks. Get one while you can!

Patience IV

Joy I

Goodness I

Joy III

Goodness II