ellen&ollie

New Spring 2011 Dresses!!

2011-02-24T11:02:00.003-05:00

the Shop Tart!

2010-11-15T12:44:00.004-05:00

Last week was so busy I missed shop tart’s ellen&ollie post on Thursday. Check it out!! Thanks for the post and THANKS for getting one of my dresses!!! This is the dress she got to wear to the Columbia Museum of Art Ladies Night!

the Shop Tart's post

New Fall Dresses!

2010-09-07T14:05:00.003-04:00

For more pictures go to the ellen&ollie facebook album

ellen&ollie in Baltimore, Maryland!!!

2010-07-16T09:49:00.001-04:00

My dresses are in another state! The latest boutique to carry ellen&ollie is Whimsy in Baltimore, MD!! I shipped them this morning, so they should be in the store next week! I am thrilled to be in 2 states now! I also have started new styles for fall and I can’t wait to put them up on the blog! These are the dresses for Whimsy:

Blush!!!

2010-06-28T11:07:00.002-04:00

My dresses are now in Hartsville, SC! The boutique is called Blush. These are the dresses in Blush.

Plaza Suite Reorder

2010-06-14T11:27:00.001-04:00

Plaza Suite in Greenville reordered these dresses. I LOVE the fabrics they picked!!

iPad Commercial

2010-06-02T12:06:00.004-04:00

The fabric I used for these dresses and skirts is in the new iPad ad!

Boutique #6!!!

2010-05-25T11:05:00.004-04:00

My dresses are now in SIX boutiques!!! I can’t believe it! I remember eating lunch with one of my friends and his dad after getting back from NYC and telling his dad I hoped to be in 2 stores this spring. I would never have thought I would be in 6 already!

The new boutique is Plaza Suite in Clemson. I am very proud to have my dresses in the city I went to school. I can’t wait for my friends to check them out when they get back to school!

These are the new dresses for the Clemson store. My dad is delivering them today!

Plaza Suite in Greenville!

2010-05-19T16:55:00.003-04:00

My dresses are now in Plaza Suite in Greenville! I use to get many of my function dresses at this boutique when I was at Clemson. They have moved to a new location since I was in school. They are now more downtown. My dad, the delivery man, says it is really nice! I am so happy to have dresses in Greenville!!

My dad is taking more dresses next Wednesday to another store I will post about next week, so look out for another post soon!!

Raleigh!

2010-05-03T17:21:00.005-04:00

Check out Lisa Jeffries blog post about my dresses!

http://hanginginmycloset.blogspot.com/2010/04/ellen.html

A few weeks ago I got asked to go to an event at NC State to sell my dresses. So LL came with me and we drove to Raleigh! We got there a little early so we could go shopping. they have an H&M up there. Not that far of a drive to get to an H&M!

Here are a few pictures from the event. Laura Lee looks like she is posing for all the pictures, but I promise she didn't even know I was taking them!

Fashion Show

2010-04-06T22:37:00.003-04:00

The Fashion show last night was wonderful! Fashion Board did an excellent job! My picture taking skills are terrible and I missed several of my dresses, but I did get the final walk on video!

LL and me in e&o

My mom, me and LL in e&o

USC Fashion Show!!

2010-04-01T11:14:00.003-04:00

The Shop Tart just posted about USC’s fashion board fashion show on Tuesday, April 6. I am so excited for my dresses to be in the show for the second year but even more excited to see the other emerging designers! They were all so talented last year! Come if you are in the area!!

blake&brady

2010-03-29T11:42:00.004-04:00

blake&brady is the newest boutique to carry my dresses!! This boutique is in Anderson, SC. I was so excited when the owner contacted me about putting my dresses in her store. All of my friends at Clemson love this boutique! My friend Liz use to go there maybe once a week. I wanted her to read this post and be surprised, but I was too excited and had to go ahead and tell her about it! I can’t believe just a year ago I was shopping at blake&brady and now my dresses are going to be sold there!!

She has already sold 2 and I just shipped them an hour ago. Hurry and get yours! These are the dresses now at blake&brady!!

A new dress for Sugar Boutique

2010-03-22T11:29:00.000-04:00

This is the third style at Sugar!

Become a Facebook fan of ellen&ollie!

2010-03-18T10:00:00.002-04:00

Become a fan on facebook of ellen&ollie and invite all of your friends to become facebook fans of ellen&ollie!!

Dresses at Sugar Boutique

2010-03-16T07:45:00.003-04:00

My dad took these 2 styles to Sugar yesterday and one sold before he could get out of the store! There is one more style going to Sugar that will hopefully be there by the end of this week or the beginning of next week!

ellen&ollie EXPANDING to another Boutique!

2010-03-11T09:24:00.003-05:00

I am so excited my dresses are now in another boutique in South Carolina. The boutique is called la di da and it is in Fort Mill. These are the dresses in the Fort Mill store.

New Business Cards!

2010-03-07T23:40:00.001-05:00

My cousin, Brian, has been using his letterpress to create my business cards. The first group of cards he gave me was just for “practice” They looked perfect to me, but he worked out the kinks and he gave me all new ones. I love the paper he used for them! My cousin Kelly, Brian sister, gave me this cute cardholder. It is perfect for my business cards. It even has the polka dots and the bird on it! Thanks again Kelly!

Saved the Best for Last

2010-03-03T07:38:00.003-05:00

This is my favorite of all the new dresses!

Vintage Floral Dress

2010-03-01T08:23:00.001-05:00

One shoulder dresses

2010-02-26T11:07:00.003-05:00

Skirts

2010-02-22T12:27:00.003-05:00

Everytime Jodi sent me on an errand in New York I would look for elastic that was a different color than black and white. I have wanted this for so long and I still don’t understand why it is not carried in more stores. But on one of my last errands as an intern they finally sent me to a place that had every color. I couldn’t think at the time what colors I really wanted, or even how much I wanted. I should have gotten every color. I’m sure I would eventually use it! So far I have only used the yellow and purple for these skirts.

Tie Strap Dress

2010-02-19T08:58:00.003-05:00

I have to thank my friends for helping me with the straps of this dress. I made 3 dresses and there are 4 straps per dress, 2 in the front and 2 in the back. I had to turn 12 straps from the inside out, which takes forever. I took all the straps with me to work on during the Super Bowl. My guy friends even helped and I had them all done before half time!

U-neck Dress

2010-02-18T07:35:00.002-05:00

I love the vintage look of this fabric. I feel like all my New York fabric this season is floral.

2 more

2010-02-17T10:48:00.001-05:00

I am putting 2 dresses up today because I put all of them on facebook yesterday. The fabric for both of these came from New York. Most of the fabric I used for these new dresses is from NYC. I am definitely missing having the fabric/notion stores at my fingertips, but I can usually find what I need at House of Fabrics on Main Street. I am very lucky to have such a unique fabric store right in Columbia. The satin ribbon used on the first dress is from House of Fabrics.

2nd Dress

2010-02-16T10:39:00.003-05:00

I changed the design for this dress at the last moment. I had something completely different in mind for this fabric. This dress came to me while I was working out at the gym, as do a lot of my designs. I get bored while I run, so it is a great time to think about the dresses. The strap can be moved to any position on the shoulder and can be spread out to whatever width you want.

New Spring Dresses!

2010-02-15T08:30:00.003-05:00

I have been working for 3 weeks on these dresses. I put all of them in M Saturday. I can’t decide if I should put the pictures up one a day or put them up all at once. For today I am just putting this dress up.

There were so many things I learned from Jodi that were obvious, but making these dresses showed me how much I learned that I didn’t even realize. I took a lot of time with each dress to make it exactly how I wanted it to look. Jodi doesn’t stop until she has everything perfect. She checks every detail to make sure it is what she wants. So these dresses are the best I have ever made!

The 1st dress:

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T16:29:00.003-05:00

I have officially been selling my dresses for 1 year. I put the first dresses in M February 14th, 2009 and sold the first one that day too. This is a picture of the first dress I sold. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Last Jodi Arnold Event at the store

2010-02-01T16:32:00.002-05:00

This was my last event at Jodi’s store. We had a girl come for the event that makes jewelry out of coins from all over the world. My favorite was a gold bracelet with a penny on it. Lincoln’s eye was a diamond. I will definitely miss the parties at the store after work on Thursdays, but not the cold walk back to the subway.

At this event Jodi asked me what was the best and worst part of the whole experience. There is no way to have a best there was just too much that was so great. I can't even remember what I said was the best. I know it was a list of things though. The worst was easy to answer. The absolute worst part was being away from my family for so long.

Hannah, Jodi, me and Danielle

Hannah and Danielle

Snow

2010-01-18T17:09:00.003-05:00

When Laura Lee was visiting me in New York, my brother and his girlfriend, Langhorne came too. Langhorne asked me before they came what the weather was going to be like, so I told her there was a 30% chance of snow, but there was no way it would actually snow. Being from South Carolina, it never snows when it says it’s going to, so I had no idea. It hadn’t snowed since I had been up there. Saturday around 12, while we were walking around, it started to lightly snow and by 5 it was a blizzard. It ended up snowing 10 ½ inches, which is the most snow all of us had ever seen!

outside of my apartment

Will and Langhorne

My cousin, Elizabeth, LL, Will and Langhorne outside the Co. in Chelsea

Central Park

Will and me in Central Park

Room with a View

2010-01-14T14:56:00.004-05:00

This is the view from my window at my apartment. I loved looking out of this window. There is always something going on in NYC.

Night View

Snow!

New York Bakeries

2010-01-12T16:05:00.003-05:00

One of my absolute favorite things about New York is there are bakeries everywhere. I love just about any sweet there is but I especially love chocolate! Two Little Red Hens is right beside my apartment. I passed it every time I went home, so you can imagine how many times I went there. My favorite thing to get is their Harvest Cookies. They have dark chocolate chips, pecans/walnuts, cranberries, raisins and other dried fruit. The carrot cake cupcakes are also amazing. Another one of my favorite bakeries is Magnolias. There was one I could walk to from work, but I preferred the one on Bleecker Street in the west village. I prefer everything in the west village over midtown.

Regis and Kelly Round 2

2010-01-10T15:39:00.005-05:00

During the week Laura Lee was here I decide we had to try to see Regis and Kelly. We woke up at 5:15 and left my apartment by 6:00. We decided to take a cab, which my mom and I figured out was the best idea after we made the trek over to 67^th and Columbus Circle. We got there just in time to be first in the standby line. It was dark and windy, but definitely worth it!

They filmed 2 shows that day. Anderson Cooper and Kelly did the first show and then Mark, Kelly's husband, came for the second show.

Everyone called and texted after the show saying they saw us on TV! So I got my dad to record it for when I got home to watch it. I was almost done with the whole show and did not see LL or me the entire time and then it hit me Anderson Cooper gave the entire audience crack pie from his favorite bakery on 2nd and 14th street and they must have filmed us eating it. How embarrassing...

Anderson Cooper and Kelly Rippa. Anderson's mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, was also in the audience a few seats down from LL and me.

Please click on the picture to see it bigger and notice how Anderson Cooper is staring directly at me! He came over and talked to me about my boots during one of the commercial breaks.

Hugh Grant

Judy Dench

Mark!! Show #2

Jude Law

The second show was filmed for the week of Christmas so they gave the entire audience diamond earrings and a cashmere sweater, scarf, gloves and hat!!

Gossip Girl

2010-01-03T16:59:00.002-05:00

The one thing I wanted to do before leaving New York was to see Gossip Girl. The day Laura Lee came to New York Gossip Girl was filming. As soon as she got to my apartment, we went to Chelsea where they were filming to see if we could find them. We found all the trucks, but didn’t see anyone famous, so Laura Lee found someone working in one of the many trucks parked on 3 streets. She asked him where they were and what was going on. He showed us a sheet with all the scenes they were filming that day, where they were filming and what actor and actresses were in each scene. We saw from the sheet that we had already missed Chuck Bass, but everyone else was still there.

Then a different crew member came up to us because he could hear out southern accents. New York people love southern accents. I will miss the attention I got just from talking. He told us to come with him. He showed us which trailers belong to which actors. So, we were standing outside Chace Crawford’s trailer with the man, while LL told him that Chace and her were getting married and so on. Then the guy looks behind him and then looks back at us and says Chace is coming. LL and I were in shock and the guy runs off, because he shouldn’t have showed us or told us all the things he did. Chace turned the corner and was walking toward us. LL and I just stood there. We had no idea what to do so we just stared at him. As soon as they got close enough to his trailer, that we were still standing outside of, the body guard immediately said not now ladies, not now. And then Chace looked at us and said no we can take one. So we took out our cameras, while the body guard was still yelling hurry up ladies, we don’t have time for this. We got 2 pictures. LL closed her eyes for her one chance at a picture with Chace. She will never forgive herself. We ended up seeing Blake, Leighton, and Taylor that day.

The crew members told us to come back that night because they were filming outside. So of course we came back for a scene of Jenny drunk and stumbling and a scene of Nate and Serena getting into a limo.

LL, Chace and me outside his trailer

LL closing her eyes

Finally an Update

2009-12-29T09:27:00.004-05:00

I keep getting request from all of you to update my blog. So here is a quick update. I would have done this sooner but everything was so busy during December with all my visitors!

Brittany came to visit again! We both love Christmas and everything that goes along with it! We tried to see as much as possible in one day that is Christmas in New York.

Everywhere we looked that day there were Santas. I finally had to take a picture because they were seriously everywhere. This is in the subway.

Tree at Rockefeller Center

Outside of the Plaza Hotel

Me, Brittany, and Brittany's friend from high school Sammy

Live with Regis and Kelly

2009-12-02T07:59:00.003-05:00

My mom and I decided to wake up at 5:40 Monday morning and try to get into Live with Regis and Kelly. It worked! We had to wait in a standby line from 7-8:30. Then they sent all the standbys through security, but they still didn’t know if they would have room for all 20. My mom and I were numbers 10 and 11 in the line. At 8:50, 10 minutes before they start filming they brought us in! It was well worth getting up early and waiting in line.

We were the audience for Monday’s show, but we will also be the audience for December 29, 30 and January 1. Those are all vacation days for them so everything is prerecorded. It’s crazy how they film! It was so exciting to see it all! Regis and Kelly were the exact same on camera as off camera. I always wondered what they did during commercials and they stayed out and talked to the audience!

Laura Lee and I will definitely try to get in to the show when she comes to visit!

Before the show started

Regis walking to work

Matt Dillon

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-30T18:45:00.003-05:00

I have gone to my aunt Ann's house in Rock Hill for Thanksgiving for 21 years. This was a big change to stay in New York and have Thanksgiving here. My mom, aunt, uncle and cousin came to NYC for Thanksgiving. My mom was here for almost a whole week! We did so much this weekend. I showed them everything I knew to show and then my cousin, Elizabeth, who has lived here for 3 years showed them around too. She always has the coolest places to take me! I love walking around the city with her. I was terrible at taking pictures this weekend, but I got a few of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and then one of all of us on our stroll through Central Park. I had a great week/weekend, but missed my dad and brother!

Ugly Betty

2009-11-23T21:21:00.003-05:00

I work on 39th and 7th Avenue and Ugly Betty happened to be filming on 29th and 7th today! It was interesting to watch. They were filming America Ferrera walking down the street over and over and over. She is very pretty and a lot tinier than I thought.

Roxy and Erin from The City!

2009-11-19T23:04:00.002-05:00

I met Roxy and Erin from The City tonight! They were both really nice!

Work Day

2009-11-16T23:05:00.004-05:00

I’m trying to remember to have my camera ready everywhere I go. I found these elves on motorcycles at Union Square on the way to Jodi’s store the other day.

Since the time has changed this is now what it looks like when I leave work. My mom and I have the worst sense of direction. I have been here for almost a month now and I still have to think when I get to 7^th Avenue which way do I turn. I know to go towards the lights of Times Square, so it makes it easier!

2nd Weekend in NYC

2009-11-09T21:18:00.003-05:00

Jamie, my roommate, has been telling me I need to eat New York pizza, so for her birthday Saturday we ate pizza for lunch. She swears Totonno’s is the best pizza place in our neighborhood. We all split the pizza in the picture. She was right it was very good.

Saturday night we went out for her birthday and then I went to a place called Ship of Fools where a bunch of Clemson Alumni were watching the Clemson game. My friend, Krystal, has a friend Bryn that started the Clemson Young Alumni group. They get together for all the games. It was a lot of fun, but I will definitely have to find somewhere else to watch the Carolina Clemson Game, but I have heard there is a Carolina bar downtown somewhere!

Sunday was an adventure. I did laundry for the first time since I have been here. I was thinking it would be similar to washing clothes in Manning, my freshman dorm. It was nothing like that. The machines were smaller, Amanda wasn’t there and you can’t leave your clothes and come back. I do not plan on doing it again until my mom comes for Thanksgiving. It really wasn’t that bad after I asked a million people how to work the machines and where everything was. I will be a pro next time! After that, I met Bryn at Union Square and we went to the Young Designers Market, which I had heard a lot about and was dying to go to. It was very interesting. I got this ring. I can’t put up pictures of the other things I got, because they are all Christmas presents!

Next we went shopping at Mango, where I got these cute leggings! Then we went to TOPSHOP!!!! I will do a better blog post on that later, because that places deserves it’s own post.

Brittany Came to Visit!!

2009-11-04T20:06:00.006-05:00

One of my best friends from Clemson, Brittany, came to visit me for my first weekend in the big city. We had such a great time. I was so sad for her to leave Sunday. Saturday she was dying for frozen yogurt from forty carrot at the top of Bloomingdales. I hadn't even had time to go to the 59^th street area yet, so I was very excited to see the 9 floor Bloomingdales! We split a sandwich, so we would have more room for dessert! Then we went across the street to Dylan’s Candy Bar!!! For those of you that watch Gossip Girl, this is where Rufus bought all that candy for the trick or treaters on last weeks episode! I have thought about that place every day since we went. I want to buy everything in there. After exploring the 59^th street area we headed downtown to Union Square, my favorite part of NYC so far, to get our Halloween costumes. We decided to be rock stars and found everything we needed from Forever21, which was ridiculously packed. We had to wait in a 20 minute line just for a dressing room. Brittany has lots of friends from high school living here so we went out in Soho with all of them for Halloween. We first went to her friend Sammy's apartment, where Leighton Meester use to live!! I wish I would have taken more pictures. People were so dressed up in the strangest costumes! Sunday we watched the New York Marathon. We walked all the way from my apartment on 85th street to 31st street, where the bus picked her up. We stopped a few times to do some shopping! I can’t wait for Brittany to come back!!

Restaurant in Bloomingdales where we ate lunch

Our delicious vegetable sandwich

Frozen yogurt we got 2 days in row. Day 1, Brittany got plain yogurt with granola and blueberries and I got Butter Pecan and Chocolate. Day 2, Brittany got (I can't remember but something similar to day 1) and I got chocolate with oreos!

Dylan's Candy Bar

Brittany and employee

These are favorite candy of celebrities and their signatures. I only took pictures of my favorites that we could find.

Penn Badgley and Blake Lively

Rachel Bilson

Mary Kate and Ashley

Brittany and me as Rock Stars. I promise my stomach was not out all night. I don't know why it looks this way in the picture.

Brittany and a few of her friends

Shoes that made the costume. Brittany wore ones with gold sequins all over.

Jodi Arnold's First Store Party!

2009-11-02T20:48:00.004-05:00

I am finally moved in to a bedroom!!!!!! I am done sleeping on the couch and living out of a suitcase! Since I was able to unpack, I found my camera cord, so I can finally post again!

Jodi opened her store first Tuesday. We had a party at the new store Thursday! It was so much fun! That was my first time seeing it and it is so cute! It is a pop-up shop open through December. There was a great crowd. We had sushi, which I tried for the first time since I was so hungry, and cupcakes from Crumbs that are to die for! Jodi let me pick out a dress for the party and then she got the lady that sews in the office to hem it for me too! Come by the store and shop! It is located at 56 University Place. I am hoping some celebrities come in to shop while I am working!

View from outside

cupcakes from Crumbs

Vicky made all the artwork and it is for sale too.

Danielle, marketing/PR intern, my new Mint dress and Jenna

Hannah, another pr/marketing intern. One of my best friends from home, Margaret, is one of Hannah's best friends from Washington and Lee!

Jodi Arnold's article on Van Jean

2009-10-28T21:12:00.003-04:00

Check out Jodi Arnold's new website and read this article she wrote about her trip to Van Jean, where I met her! The pictures are of Vicky Barranguet and the bags she painted for the Van Jean event. I have one! Next week I will start blogging more about NYC. I just have to get unpacked first!

Busy in New York

2009-10-27T10:43:00.004-04:00

This is what I wore to my first day of work with my new black sweater my mom and I got at H&M this weekend! I promise I will update about New York, but I am so busy. I haven't unpacked anything, so I can't find my cord to my camera right now. I am currently waiting for UPS to deliver my bed. That's why I have time to write this post.

Check out Chat Tea Kathy's blog. She nominated me for a blog award! Thanks girl!

Skirts

2009-10-22T16:52:00.002-04:00

I am blogging again, because I have nothing to do. I finished packing a few days ago. Emily gave me today off to get the last minute things done before leaving. I am done sewing, so I seriously have nothing to do. These are the skirts I forgot to take pictures of last night. They are all corduroy, except for the black and brown stripe one.

Also, check out shop tart's blog post about last night's party/trunk show!!

Flowers my cousins sent me for good luck before the trunk show yesterday! So beautiful and such a great surprise!

skirts

fuchsia corduroy skirt

black and brown stripes

mint green corduroy skirt

purple corduroy skirt

black corduroy skirt

Trunk show Pictures

2009-10-22T10:30:00.003-04:00

The trunk show was a lot of fun. It was sad that it was my last day of work, but we all went out afterwards! I forgot to take pictures of the corduroy skirts. I will take one today when I go up to M to say goodbye. You can kind of see them in the pictures.

M girls + LL

My cousins Stephen and Kristi came!

Trunk show TODAY!

2009-10-21T09:10:00.007-04:00

It is finally here! Trunk show starts this afternoon. Here are the dresses. If you want to order one call M Boutique and Emily will ship it to you! If you are in the area come by M from 3-8. We will have cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and don't forget all M clothes are 15% off today!

Mustard velvet pocket dress, with wide elastic waist. Sizes: 2,4,6

Black stone dress with elastic belt, size 4

One shoulder sequin square cut out with scallop hem, sizes 2,4,6

Vintage print long sleeve dress, sizes 2,4,6

Teal satin, silver sequin bow dress, sizes 2,4,6

One shoulder scallop with blue metallic, sizes 4 & 6

Tie neck dress sizes 2,4,6

ellen&ollie Trunk Show

2009-10-20T09:16:00.001-04:00

Trunk Show is almost here! I have finally finished all of the dresses. I will put up pictures tomorrow morning. M is offering 15% off all M merchandise during the trunk show. I can’t wait!!

Brian and Amy's Wedding

2009-10-19T09:05:00.004-04:00

Brian and Amy’s wedding was beautiful. Despite the chiller than expected weather it was perfect. It was held outside at Rose Hill Estate in Aiken, which was such a gorgeous place. I wish I would have gotten more pictures, but I was just too cold.

Amy and me at the rehearsal dinner. I made 2 dresses to choose from for the rehearsal dinner. There will be one that resembles this one at the trunk show!

Will and I before the wedding. My brother loves to wear his ellen&ollie ties!

My family

A few of my cousins. Elizabeth, the girl in the middle, has on a dress from M!

I got so many compliments on the shawl I wore. It was my grandmother’s.

Brian's getting married!!

2009-10-16T09:18:00.001-04:00

My cousin Brian is getting married this weekend. I can’t decide which dress to wear to the rehearsal dinner and which one to wear to the wedding. I want to wear a Mint dress to one and an ellen&ollie to the other. The dress I am wearing in the pictures is the Mint dress I am going to wear. It’s my favorite Mint dress. I want my grandmother and aunts to see it. The two girls on the right in the middle picture were my first ellen&ollie customers!

Dresses for fabricworm

2009-10-14T08:38:00.003-04:00

I made these dresses for the girl I order the majority of my fabric from. I have been ordering fabric from fabricworm since before I was making dresses. The fabric I used for my very first dress came for fabricworm. I was honored when she asked me to make dresses for her to wear to the Quilt Market. I was so excited to work with the Japanese fabrics she picked out! I had enough of the strawberry fabric left over to make her a skirt!

Moving to NYC!!!

2009-10-08T08:37:00.003-04:00

I do not know where to begin with this blog post. When I met Jodi Arnold last week she offered to help me out in any way she could. I was very surprised with how nice she was. I never imagined someone in her position wanting to help someone like me. She is so busy, how could she even think about helping me? I met with her again Thursday and she said I could come up for a week and stay with her!! I couldn’t believe she was going to let me stay with her. She said I could go to work with her everyday and see everything that goes on. I was freaking out so excited all weekend. I emailed her Monday to see when I could come, because I was so anxious to go and see everything. I was planning to go for a week after my trunk show on the 21^st. THEN she emailed me Tuesday and asked me to be a design intern!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe this is happening!! I’m leaving right after the trunk show!

A Chorus Line

2009-10-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

My dad loves musicals, so this weekend we all went to Charlotte to see A Chorus Line. My mom, Laura Lee and I all wore ellen&ollie. We had great seats and the cast was amazing. I can’t wait for South Pacific!

Meeting Jodi Arnold!!

2009-10-01T09:48:00.003-04:00

Last night was so fun. Jodi Arnold was really really nice! I can’t believe how down to earth she is. She was so easy to talk to. I wasn’t even nervous talking to her. I am glad Emily was there though! These are a few pictures of Emily and I with Jodi Arnold!

MINT by Jodi Arnold

2009-09-30T08:23:00.004-04:00

Van Jean, a boutique on the same street as M, is having Jodi Arnold of MINT come to Columbia tonight to show her new winter and holiday collection. I can’t wait to see her new designs and meet her! I made this dress Monday night and I am considering wearing it! I am newly obsessed with sequins!

The weekend

2009-09-29T08:25:00.004-04:00

My Clemson reunion weekend was amazing! We all said it felt like we had never left. I love that place. I wish we could have gone for a week.

Friday night I wore the gold dress and LL wore the dress with the cut out in the front. I did not get any good pictures of her in the dress, but I have a few of my gold dress.

It rained all day Saturday, so I mainly wore a raincoat, but I did get a picture of my butterfly dress with my cousin Sydney who is also wearing her ellen&ollie dress!

Clemson Weekend!

2009-09-25T09:11:00.002-04:00

Friday night:

Gameday:

I can’t believe it’s finally here! We are going to Clemson today! I can’t wait to see everyone! I haven’t seen most of them since graduation. The first 2 pictures are what I am deciding between to wear tonight. I am leaning more towards the gold dress. I am going to make that dress with sequins where the gold is when I get home from this weekend. The next 2 pictures are my choices for the game. It is a 70% chance of rain on Saturday. My entire 4 years at Clemson it did not rain a single game until our very last game. This was the Carolina Clemson game and it has rained at all the games since then. Laura Lee has packed lots of ellen&ollie too so I will be sure to post pictures on Monday! Ahhhh I’m so excited!

Ole Miss!

2009-09-24T17:08:00.003-04:00

The Carolina Ole Miss game is tonight. This dress just sold at M to an Ole Miss customer! I didn't even think about it being their colors! I'm thinking about wearing this style dress but in a purple fabric for the Clemson game this weekend. I will have dresses for both teams at the game tonight!! Go Cocks!!!

Labels

2009-09-23T08:29:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe I had to order new labels already! I remember when my cousin Brian told me the smallest order I could make from the label company was 100. At the time I thought I would never use up all of them. 100 dresses is a lot. I ordered 250 this time, so I have a lot of dresses to come in the future!

New Dress for Sugar

2009-09-22T08:27:00.003-04:00

Sugar sold out of this dress in the other fabric, shown in an earlier post, in 2 DAYS!! I couldn’t believe it when she told me Monday that they were all gone already! These are the new dresses for Sugar. I like this print with this style dress better than the last one.

Gameday Dresses

2009-09-17T14:56:00.002-04:00

These are a few dresses I made for M for Carolina's first home game Saturday! Cait, the model, works at M and already bought the dress with the bow at the neck! I am going to the Clemson game next weekend and I am thinking about making the first dress in purple or a new style that I haven't put up on the blog yet.

The Business Cards are in!!

2009-09-14T08:34:00.003-04:00

My grandmother with a few of my cousins!

My cousins, Samantha and Lucy, with Samantha wearing one of her ellen&ollie dresses.

Yesterday we had an 80th birthday party for my grandmother. My cousin, Brian, brought me the "first round" of business cards. He says the colors aren't right yet, but they look perfect to me! He made these on his new letterpress.

Sugar Boutique reorder!

2009-09-10T08:50:00.004-04:00

Sugar has already reorder the navy dress with flowers! They also order this fun dress that's great for Clemson games!

Order Online!

2009-09-08T08:31:00.004-04:00

I finally have an answer for all the emails I get from people not from South Carolina! I have opened an etsy store! You can order ellen&ollie dresses online now! Here is the link to my store: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7261779

These are the dresses and skirts listed on etsy right now. Laura Lee is such a good model!

Sugar Boutique's blog

2009-08-28T16:46:00.004-04:00

Sandi, Sugar Boutique owner, wrote about her new ellen&ollie dresses on Sugar's blog!! This is what she wrote:

We recently brought in a new line designed and handmade by Molly Stevens of Columbia, SC. The line is called Ellen & Ollieand it's cute, easy to wear styles made with fresh fun prints! They retail for around $140 which is not so shabby considering each piece is handmade with love, straight from Miss Molly. Check out this fabulous style we just got in last week...

So excited! Thanks Sandi!!

Christina's favorite things blog

2009-08-27T20:19:00.004-04:00

Check out Christina from Christina's favorite things blog. She is wearing her ellen&ollie maxie dress. Her husband ordered this from me for her birthday! She looks so pretty in it! Thanks girl!

Sugar Boutique!!!

2009-08-24T08:40:00.004-04:00

I am so excited to have my dresses in another boutique! The owner of Sugar contacted me a few weeks ago to see if she could carry a few of the new styles. Sugar is in Greenwood, SC, which is about an hour and 45 minutes away. So Laura Lee and I went up there to check it out. After getting lost several times, we finally made it to the brick road. Sugar is in such a cute location. The road it is on is brick. We both loved Sugar and I am thrilled to have my dresses there!

These are the 2 styles in there right now. I hope to add to this when I get more fall dresses ready!

dress #6

2009-08-21T08:41:00.004-04:00

I thought I put up all the prefall dresses on the blog but, my friend, Amanda, came into M yesterday and said she hadn't seen this dress. I forgot to put it on the blog. I don't know how I forgot about this dress. It took me forever to make, but it was worth it. A girl I went to Clemson with bought it last weekend and it looked amazing on her!

Dress #5

2009-08-12T09:24:00.002-04:00

I thought this dress up on the way home from the beach a few weeks ago. Dresses always turn out better when I have a lot of time to think about them.

Dress #4

2009-08-11T09:01:00.003-04:00

I have had a lot of people ask me which dress is my favorite out of the new ones and this is it. This is the first dress I designed for this pre-fall collection.

Dress #3

2009-08-10T09:29:00.005-04:00

I love this fabric so much that I just order more of it. I made this dress for myself in a different fabric, but I think it looks best in this one. This dress can be worn all the way through fall by adding a turtleneck. The neckline is ruffled. It has an elastic waist and elastic at the bottom hem.

Dress #2

2009-08-07T08:54:00.005-04:00

I have hesitated on ordering this fabric for a long time, but I decided to take a chance and I ended up loving it! This dress is great to wear now, since it is still hot, but can also be worn with a turtleneck or tights when it gets cooler. I had some trouble and had to do 2 practice versions of this dress. I couldn’t get the measurements right at the neckline and the armhole. This is definitely one I need to make for myself!

A skirt I could wear every day!

2009-08-05T08:45:00.003-04:00

This skirt was so fun to make. The waistband is elastic, which makes it super comfortable. I wear mine all the time now! I plan to make many more skirts like this in different fabrics. I actually got new fall/winter fabrics yesterday for when the weather gets cooler.

With many of the styles and techniques I use, I have to talk it out with my mom first because she is such a problem solver. If I am ever unsure of how to make something look a certain way, she will figure it out! I was thinking of 2 ways to make this skirt and needed her opinion to help figure out the best way. After we figured it out, I ended up making 4 skirts in 45 minutes! I’m sure she gets tired of my interrupting phone calls to ask sewing questions while she is at work, but sometimes I am too excited to wait!

Dress #1

2009-08-03T06:52:00.001-04:00

This dress is now for sale at M. I was really unsure of it after I made it. I thought it might be too much with the bold fabric. I loved the fabric, but I didn’t know if everyone else would. I almost didn’t even show it to Emily at all. But thankfully the girls loved it! It has a wide elastic waist and asymmetrical pleats at the bottom. The fabric is silkier and stretchier than regular cotton.

Fall is Coming!

2009-07-30T11:51:00.003-04:00

I made this skirt Tuesday night and decided to make a few for M, so these will be in the store soon but in different fabric.

I am so excited to put pictures up of the new fall dresses!! This is just the first set of fall I have been working on, so the styles are transitional from summer to fall. I will be putting the pictures up as soon as we put them out at M, which will be in the next couple weeks.

This 1^st set of fall dresses and the next set I am working are influenced by the 1940’s. My dad is a huge movie and TV buff. He loves for me to watch his favorite movies and TV shows. We have been watching Winds of War and War and Remembrance. It was very good, but I would recommend watching it with someone who knows history. I would have been lost without all the side comments from my dad. The fashion in this mini-series is amazing!

Final Dress of the Summer

2009-07-07T09:17:00.003-04:00

This is the last summer dress I am making. Amy, my soon to be cousin, has a wedding to go to with my cousin Brian. Brian is the cousin that creates all my labels and hangtags. He is currently making business cards for me with his new letterpress. I love the way the dress turned out. Amy is gorgeous and she will make this dress look amazing!

Big Bow Black Dress

2009-06-30T09:21:00.002-04:00

I can't even remember how long ago Laura Lee asked for this dress. I am trying to finish up everything I have to do before I start dresses for the fall. I have one more summer dress to make for my cousin to wear to a wedding and then buttons and holes to repair for my brother and dad. I love this dress in black. It looks so classy.

shower curtain

2009-06-29T09:20:00.002-04:00

I have never made a shower curtain, but I knew it couldn't be hard. My best friend, Laura Lee, redecorated her bathroom at home. She scraped all the wallpaper from the walls to paint the stripes, and did a bunch of other great things to the bathroom. She wanted me to make a shower curtain to match the new room. We already had the fabric and just didn't know what to make with it. There is a fabric place near Clemson, where we went to school. I used to always make Laura Lee go with me. She loves black and white, so she knew she would somehow use this fabric for something.

Dress for Krystal

2009-06-25T09:13:00.001-04:00

I wore this dress the first night out in Cabo! My neighbor saw the dress in pictures and asked me to make her the same one. I made this dress last summer and forgot how much I love the fabric. It took me a while to a find the fabric again. I have enough left over to maybe make a skirt.

One strap dress

2009-06-24T08:42:00.003-04:00

My first attempt at this dress, the last picture, was a mess. It was way to big at the top and falling off. I had to take the sides in and adjust the strap placement before I was ready to put them in M. The ones with the butterfly fabric are in M!

Skirts

2009-06-23T09:08:00.003-04:00

I made a few skirts last winter to wear with tights. They are cotton so I have also been wearing them this summer. Emily wanted me to make some for M. So here they are! I plan to make a few more for the fall. I love the thick elastic in the green skirt and I will definitely be using it again soon!

Business Cards!!

2009-06-16T09:37:00.003-04:00

Check out my new business cards! My cousin, Brian, designed my e&o label, my hangtags and now my business cards! He is creating them with his new letterpress! I can't wait to get them! Thanks Brian!

At the Beach

2009-06-08T08:56:00.005-04:00

I am at the beach for the week. These are a few of my many cousins. The coverup I am wearing is the first dress I EVER made!

M Boutique's new website

2009-06-01T08:40:00.003-04:00

M Boutique's website is up and running. Check it out here:

http://www.shopmboutique.com/

I am listed under designers!!

3 New Styles for M Boutique!

2009-05-29T07:57:00.002-04:00

Here are 3 new styles for M Boutique. I came extremely close to keeping the pink and orange flower one for myself. Here are the sizes:

Pink and orange flower: can fit a large range of sizes because of the elastic

Colorful tree dress: 2 & 4

Gray and lime tie straps: 4 & 6

I am also hoping to add one more new one Monday!

2nd new style

2009-05-28T09:17:00.002-04:00

I made this dress yesterday. This is another new summer style for M. This dress in different fabric will be in M today along with 2 other styles. I will have pictures up of all the new dresses soon!

I have been so so busy trying to finish the new dresses, but I promise I will email all of you back today. I am sorry it has taken me so long to respond to all of you. I really do appreciate all of your emails and comments!!

More Summer Dresses

2009-05-25T09:51:00.002-04:00

First, check out the blog Pretty in Pink Megan. She wore the long maxi dress this weekend and it of course looks great on her! She also wore the big yellow bow dress to her bridesmaid luncheon and another ellen&ollie dress on her honeymoon!! Thanks Megan!

I am making 4 new summer styles for M Boutique and then I am moving on to Fall. This is the first one I have tried made. It looks weird because of the back, but it looks great on. I finished it Thursday night and I was not happy with it. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it, or how to make it better. Finally when I woke up Friday morning I decided to add pockets with buttons. There was still something that wasn’t working for me. I think it is the fabric. I don’t think the fabric goes with the style.

Dress for Langhorne

2009-05-18T09:06:00.002-04:00

My brother has been asking me to make a dress for his girlfriend for a while, but I didn’t know he was really serious until this weekend. I thought this style would be perfect for her. It is hard to see from the picture that the print on the ruffle is from one of the one shoulder dresses. I think this will look so good on her!

Dresses to Order

2009-05-15T08:46:00.004-04:00

I have gotten so many emails and messages from people not in South Carolina wanting to order a dress. Thank you all for your interest. It means so much to me to read all of your emails. Emily and I have been working to get back to all of you. We sent out an email a few days ago with the dresses I have right now for you to order. If you did not get the email, these are the dresses and sizes:

Blue Big Bow: 4

Pink Big Bow: 4&6

Yellow Big Bow: 4

Sweetheart neck short dress blue: 4&6

White tie at neck: 4

Aqua pleated at front neckline: 6

Pink/zigzag 2 toned: 2

One shoulder cars: 4

yellow/orange/green diamond shapes with pink tie waist: 2 One shoulder zigzag: 4 short sleeve red/coral: 2

If you want to order one of the dresses listed M Boutique’s number is 803-765-2243 or you can email emily@shopmboutique.com

I will be making new styles every week, so check the blog for new dresses!

Graduation Day

2009-05-14T08:55:00.004-04:00

This is my family after graduation. My mom is wearing the other dress I made for her. She later decided to wear a belt with it, which was the perfect touch. I have raided her closest for her vintage belts many times, so she was surprised to even find one. She found one from when she was in high school. I must have overlooked it or it would have been in my closest!

My brother is wearing a seersucker tie I made him 4 years ago, which I had no idea he was going to wear. The ties were one of the first things I learned how to sew. He of course got the very first one. My dad still wants me to make ties along with the dresses, but the dresses are just much more exciting. My dad also didn’t realize we were all wearing ellen&ollie. He said he would have worn his tie too!

Graduation Weekend

2009-05-13T08:37:00.003-04:00

Graduation weekend was so busy. We had Liz’s party Thursday night. At the last minute I was debating which dress to wear, the long dress with the sweetheart neckline or the long strapless with the ruffle top. This is my mom, me and LL in ellen&ollie before Liz’s party. My mom is wearing the cars dress I made for her. I am wearing the strapless one I decided on (with the help of Laura Lee and Amanda). I did not make Laura Lee’s dress, but I made the clutch for her last summer that she is carrying.

2 New styles for M

2009-05-06T10:16:00.000-04:00

I have had so much time to sew since classes ended! I have 2 new styles ready to take to M. The dresses should be there by Monday! The long dress is my favorite of all the dresses I have ever made. I want to wear mine all the time.

My Graduation Dress

2009-05-05T09:10:00.002-04:00

I cannot in any way believe that I am graduating this Friday morning. How can 4 years go by so fast? I am so sad to leave Clemson, but also very excited to be back in Columbia. This is the dress I made to wear to my graduation. My mom also sent these buttons from the store in Columbia. I decided last minute to add the slanted pockets to give it a more vintage look!

Since I graduate at 9:30 in the morning, I am guessing I will want to change at some point in the day. I made this skirt to wear later that day with the left over fabric from the dress I made my cousin last week. I am going to wear it with a blue top my friend, Amanda, gave me for my birthday!

Another dress for my mom

2009-05-04T09:49:00.004-04:00

This is one of the dresses I was waiting on buttons to come in to finish. The buttons turned out great!

Buttons!

2009-05-01T08:51:00.004-04:00

My cousin has 9 weddings to go to this year. She asked me to make her the cut out back dress to wear to one of them. I never get tired of the print she chose. I am going try to make a skirt with the left over fabric! I also figured out a buttonhole on my new sewing machine for the first time! It took me so many attempts to finally get it right! The button makes it easier to get on and so cute! I am going to change my cut out dress to have a button at the top too! My cousin lives in New York and she sent me buttons for my birthday this year! I could not have been more excited. I love unique buttons! These are from a store in New York that is full of unique buttons!!

Long Dress

2009-04-30T08:31:00.003-04:00

This idea came to me Friday afternoon. This is my first attempt at strapless and there will be more to come! I originally was imagining this dress to be short, which I still might make later, but then I decided yesterday morning to make it long. I am loving long dresses for the summer. I think I will wear it to Liz’s graduation party. The ruffle at the top makes me think of something my mom would wear when she was my age. I just ordered fabric to make the other long dresses with the sweetheart neckline for M!

Graduation Dress for my Mom

2009-04-29T08:05:00.002-04:00

I am making 2 new dresses for my mom so she can wear one to my graduation. This is the first one. I hope it’s long enough. I am almost done with the second one, but I am waiting for my mom to send me buttons from a store in Columbia so I can finish it. I plan to make my graduation dress today, but I need buttons for that one too. The buttons should be here next week! I will have pictures up as soon as the buttons get here!

Other 2 Clover Styles

2009-04-28T09:18:00.005-04:00

First, I want to say I am so sorry to all of you that have commented under my posts. I had no idea there were even comments there. I am new to this blogging thing and I am really sorry I did not get back to any of you.

Most of you want to know how to get the dresses. There is not a way to order them online right now. Emily from M boutique and I are working on a way to make the dresses available to those of you who are from out of town!! I will keep you updated!

I am really happy with the way all 3 of the styles turned out and I can't wait to send them off to Jacksonville!! I am so so excited to have ellen&ollie dresses at Clover!

Clover!

2009-04-22T07:52:00.006-04:00

I am so excited for my next project! Clover Boutique in Jacksonville, FL contacted me a few weeks ago to ask about ellen&ollie dresses for their store. I am thrilled to have my dresses there!!! This is the first of three styles I am making for Clover. I really like the way the peacock fabric looks in the one shoulder dress!