It's our Birthday! Looking back on the last year...

It's Hannah Elizabeth's first birthday this April and we're taking time to look back over the last year and what we've been doing. I'm so proud of what I've managed to do in the first year as well as having many more things planned for the next years to come.

The picture above was when we first got the studio, decorating the walls, moving the new industrial machines in and making the place feel more homely. I was so happy on getting my own studio, somewhere to call my home and get all the creative juices flowing. 

The events we have attended have been fun and I've learnt something from each one. Coalfields festival, Rotherham Show and Barnsley Christmas Market were 3 fairs I stood at and each was just as fun and all in a different setting. Each of them led onto other things like stockists and new customers. However I have now decided that I wont be attending anymore 'craft' type fairs but my last goal is for a Vintage fair. I also helped out at a ladies night fashion show in Rotherham which was a lot of fun and our first fashion show with my clothing, as well as meeting these 4 lovely ladies that modelled for us. 

Reba Unique was the first shop I stocked with my clothing, the shop is great for stocking local independent designers so it made sense to also be in there. I get a section to put my items in and often get to be in the window and on other mannequins around the shop. The shop has a good range of different styles from other designers and accessories to accompany them, giving the customer a place to get a whole outfit whatever the style they're after. I've loved being a part of the shop and around other like-minded people and its also quite handy being just around the corner from my studio.

Junction 36 was the second local boutique to stock us, more on the quirky side of independent designers with the shop owner being a bag maker, specializing in leather clutch bags and more. They also have other great local designers like t-shirt printers with a sailor theme, draped dresses, quirky crop tops, accessories and more. 

BitterSweet Boutique in Rotherham was a lovely shop with furniture and home decorations, mixed with clothing and accessories. This shop had all sorts to offer and especially a mix of pastel coloured items and a vintage shabby chic style. Unfortunately my clothing didnt work in the shop and didnt appeal to their customer base in the quiet town centre. However this came about from the Rotherham Show and the charity ladies night fashion show, so it proves everything leads onto another.

Our online presence has slowly been building with our website, blog and social media. Our blog's best post to date was the Pastel Hair Inspiration, sparking at around 800 views, as well as some smaller posts which one of our favourites being the DIY Collar displays. The website is still in its infancy but is slowly growing in page views. Last summer we did a photoshoot with our S/S 13 collection and was a lot of fun, this created more awareness with my photos being shared across social media.

Last but not least, me...I have learnt so much over the last year and I know I still have so much more to learn about! I hand sew our own collection, stand at the events, try on (and sometimes keep) our dresses, i'm the cleaner, the accountant, the marketer and more and I have to say...I love it! I'm still finding my feet and realising my style but I know I will keep growing along side my business in the years to come. So please do continue to support me in any way possible as I couldn't have done it without the support network around me. Thank you all so much!

p.s. We have a birthday discount code on our website, use code PARTY1 for 25% off including on bespoke orders. www.hannahelizabethfashion.co.uk 

Hannah Elizabeth Spring/Summer 14 Lookbook

I'm a little behind with Blog Friday this week, but I'd love to share with you our S/S 14 Lookbook. It was so fun doing the photoshoot, working with our model Grace and photographer Joey to come up with a simple and effective lookbook. We wanted the pastel tones to really show in the photos and still have a vintage hint with the styling and poses.

Model: Grace Stead

Photography: Joey Little

Clothing: Hannah Elizabeth

S/S 14 Hannah Elizabeth Collection @ Junction 36

Junction 36 is a great little independent boutique at Hoyland Common, Barnsley, featuring many of local independent fashion designers such as Cottonarts, Emily Sharp, Lisa Loves, Alice Takes A Trip, Dying Tree and more. The shop has great regular customers and often ask for bespoke orders from each of the designers. The shop has been there for over 3 years and was set up by the founder of Cottonarts who already had a great customer base from making her leather bags. Here's photos of our collection in the shop.

S/S 14 Design Evolution: Rosie Dress

The second in our series of showing our design evolution is featuring our Rosie dress, a fit & flare vintage inspired dress with short sleeves and finishes at the knee.

In the original sketch it had full length sleeves but decided to make them sweeter by shortening the length to just above the elbow.

This toile (crazy cheap fabric was used) was when the main dress was together before adding sleeves and collar. Was already loving the subtle silhouette and couldn't wait to see it complete.

The completed toile/mock-up looked so sweet and vintage-esque, especially with the pointed collar.

The first properly made dress in the design was a printed jersey fabric and we really liked how the darts created these lovely falls through the skirt.

And the second dress made in the design was a Paris crepe fabric and vintage fabric collar. This fabric was more stiffer and held the shape more better throughout the skirt.

S/S 14 Design Evolution: Francis Dress

We are starting a little series of the evolution of our designs. Starting from sketch drawing to finished articles. Our Spring/Summer '14 collection is still basking in the pastel loveliness but with more collars and sleeves, following both current trends and looking at vintage styles to make a beautiful modern mix.

Our first design we'll be looking at is the Francis dress, featuring a shirt collar, elasticated waist, box pleats and gathers and decorative buttons or braiding decor.

From this drawing, we decided to put in a short zip in the back so that the shirt collar could be opened for access but the rest of the dress would simply pull over. The skirt has a series of small box pleats as well as it being gathered into the elasticated waist, this creates a wonderful full skirt.

This first dress was the toile/mock-up of the design, checking all the patterns I'd drafted were correct. It all worked out right and for the photo we pinned on some pink buttons to see the effect. This shirt-style dress had instant interest over on our Facebook.

Because we loved the pink toile we made, we decided the first dress had to be a pink beauty. We also had these flowers that were originally in a braid together but we cut them up and put them down the front of the dress. We thought it looked so cute and girly!

The second dress in this style was a more sophisticated take, in grey and lilac with mismatched buttons. We loved this one too and shows the opposite side of the design.

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Hannah Elizabeth S/S 13 Lookbook

Hannah Elizabeth Spring/Summer '13 Lookbook

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Photographers: Charlie Skipper & Jacob Heptinstall

Model: Grace Stead

Make-Up Artist: Jacob Heptinstall

S/S 13 Hannah Elizabeth Inspo.

Hannah Elizabeth is currently under way of starting up its very first clothing line, set to release this Spring Summer. A lot of planning, researching and collecting is needed before even putting pen to paper in designing the garments. Here are three mood boards, representing the colour palette, fabric choices and design elements.

The colour palette will consist of lush lilacs, candy pinks, mint greens, soft lemons, peaches and sky blues. A full array of Pastel tones to keep a lovely feminine and girl feel to it.

Fabrics will have plenty of laces with embellishments. chiffons, satins, meshes, etc. I'd love to keep my fabric choices towards tactile, touchy-feely an flowing type materials.

The design elements will mostly be towards dresses but also in skirts, blouses and shorts. Dresses with elasticated waists to give fullness in the skirts that are longer at the back than the front. Batwing tops and lace overlays will be nice additions and the lace trimmed shorts for extra cuteness.

IFB Project #88