Sunsets on the Eastside is now available nationwide (and parts of the US)! We have a few select pieces up on our online store with many more to come in the near future. Check it out and let us know what you think.

http://www.sunsetsontheeastside.etsy.com

Love,
Kirstin

So I recognize that I just posted pretty recently but I have a little more to say ( for those of you know me, I know you wont find that shocking) .

So here are some shots of the show and the pieces that are in the Love, Me store. ( there is one more piece in Love, Me then shown here that I will post when I get a pic of it)

This shots are taken by Ian Smith a friendly photog who we met the first night of AFW at the media night.

I'm going to post a pic of us at media night too also taken by Ian.

There is also a review of Friday night AFW by the coast with a mention of us that i'll post here.  If you didn't get to see the event they did an excellent job of giving you a sneak peak of us and the other designers. 

http://www.thecoast.ca/ArtAttack/archives/2009/03/28/atlantic-fashion-week-friday-night-recap

So us designers have decided to rewind ourselves back to high school a little.

 Once upon a time we all started out by designing our own clothing to wear the next day at school just for the fun of it. It was all about what we would want to wear.  But since the company has started we haven't had the chance to make clothing for ourselves. This is something I have really missed.  When someone asks me if I made the article of clothing I am wearing, I would love to not have to say " No, sorry it's not". 

Not to worry though folks, we will keep designing for you but we have to start flaunting our clothing too, and this is something I cannot wait to do.

When you have to take other peoples ideas of what is pretty into account when designing, it becomes much much harder then you'd think.  This has often caused me a lot of stress.  So when I started to think about what I would want to wear... ideas came in droves and droves. I forgot how easy it was to think up fantastic ideas when I stopped thinking about others opinions of the designs and started designing for me.  So for the next little while you will be seeing us three designers hopefully flaunting our own stuff just for ourselves.  Maybe if the reception on the clothing is good enough we'll make more so you can enjoy it too! 

 So feel free to ask " Did you design this?"  So I can say  proudly ...."Yes!"

-Jackie

*sigh of relief*

Wow the last couple months have been absolute craziness!  

We've completed 3 successful shows ranging from a school charity event to Atlantic Fashion Week.  

We are proud to say that all three of the shows we have participated in have been for Charity.  Charities are one of the things we absolutely love to be involved in. Our first event was for Free the Children put on by a group from Colonel Gray High School, the F.L.A.R.E event put on by Talent PEI was for The Children's Wish Foundation, and finally AFW was for OneXOne. 

These events make us proud not only to be representing PEI but to say that we have helped others in need at the same time. 

Our first show was only 9 pieces which were all redone pieces a.k.a eco friendly!  That was so much fun to do.   I really enjoy redoing pieces and giving them a second life. It's so much fun to see a dated piece of clothing turn into something current and beautiful.  

The second was 12 pieces with original pieces featured.  Other talents were involved in this show such as some of the islands ever talented singers and dancer which made the show that much more fun to be involved in. We had tons of fun because some of our previous models made it home to participate in the show as well as some new ones which made it that much more fun.  We love our models more then life, they are a joy to work with and I would just like to Thank them so much because without them our clothing couldn't come alive and look as beautiful as they make them.  

Finally we did Atlantic Fashion Week.  This collection was supposed to be focused on Spring/Summer but we decided to do a Hybrid collection of S/S and Fall/Winter. Any excuse to go and visit Halifax is okay with me but throw in a fashion show and I am more then there!

The first night was media night and chatted with some lovely people, got to know our models, and made some new contacts.  It's intimidating to go to an event where you know barely anyone and try and rep your company but we pulled it off which required some getting over our fears. We felt so good after and  it was completely worth it. We went back to our hotel with so much confidence for the big show.  

Friday was spent crazily shopping for an outfit for that night.  The night before I wore a skirt made by my friend James White which gave me that extra boost of confidence I needed.  I knew I needed to find something equally as confidence inducing for the big show though.  I will admit to some jealousy on the part of Katryna who found a very pretty dress (on sale!) but my new beautiful shoes worked as a band aid to my jealousy. In the end I didn't find anything new but I pulled some stuff together and felt pretty darn good never the less.

Considering AFW is the biggest show we are involved in during the year it was a little stress inducing, but It was more than worth it.  All 21 pieces made it down the runway and we received great feedback. We felt on top on the world after the show chatting with people and we absolutely can't wait to do it again.  

If you are interested in watching a portion of the show there is a good clip on Haligonia.ca that I will post below. If you start the clip at 10:49 then thats where our clothing hits the runway.

http://live.haligonia.ca/community/1093-local-fashion-designers-raise-the-roof.html

I'll also include some pictures( taken my Josh Webb) of the dresses we have put in our fantastic Halifax based store called Love me! Boutique.  This store in on birmingham street off Spring Garden and we strongly encourage you to go not only check out our stuff, but there is tons of beautiful Canadian made stuff there as well.  

Finally we are proud to say that Sunsets on the Eastside is finding a new way to contribute to the island fashion community.  The spring issue of Panache magazine features a DIY project taught by us so you can make a fav old t-shirt into something new and fabulous.  You'll have to check out the mag to know exactly what I'm talking about!

Up coming SOTE events:

Sunsets will be showing at The Fringe Urban Festival during may.  This event is a really cool mix of events such as fashion, urban art, dance, and sports.  Definitely something you will want to be checking out!

http://fringeurban.com/home.htm

Here are the links to the pictures because we aren't allowed to upload:

http://pa.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000bIQvlTJWxAE

http://pa.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000Lkh8R0Bwmpg

http://pa.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000GL_8ww4pY_E

http://pa.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000k0QM_5BMLWY

If you have any questions for us or comments on our collections feel free to post here, on facebook or e-mail us at sunsetsontheeastside@gmail.com

-Jackie

Passion

How I've missed this feeling. It's amazing to see how one area of your life can affect the rest. Alot of time has gone by since I've made a new piece of clothing that I actually put my heart into and I can feel the effects already. I wake up feeling happier, more creative and more willing to put all of me into what I'm doing. In other words I've rediscovered a passion that I let fall by the wayside for too long. Now it's not like I've let this go for years, but it has been a number of months. Either way I need to keep this up, if only for my own sanity, so as not to slip into sedation.

We're preparing now for fashion show season which is one of my favorite times of year! The work is difficult but that necessary push to get ourselves in gear is such a motivator that we so desperately need. Keep an eye out, we have two confirmed shows in February and most likely more in March and April. In the mean time keep checking this blog and our facebook group for updates!

Love,
Kirstin

The artist high

There are many creative things in this world that leave me feeling amazing. A small number of which I would be considered talented at, however I do them none the less because they make me feel great.  That feeling I have officially dubbed "the Artist High".

Now typically for me activities such as making clothing ( the obvious), writing ( the slightly more obvious), dancing, and one more thing that very few people are aware that I enjoy doing.

Drawing

This would be because I do not consider myself to be highly talented in this field of art and because it is something that many people feel like they can judge without any expertise. It can be intimidating to share this type of art.  Or that is my excuse. 

However tonight for the first time in a V.V. long time I grabbed a piece of paper and a clicky pencil and let it flow.

Now, the picture of a young asian girl that I produced may not be particularly realistic, or in fact look as if she is asian, but I am still proud of it.  

I forgot how amazing it is to remember all the other things you can do when you tend to focus on one thing.  

The other side of it is that I was making something that was just for me with no one else in mind.  To be completely selfish in what I was creating let me work a little more freely and produce something I love much more. 

So I would hope that this would encourage you to remember that thing you used to do as a child that you loved, and perhaps was not the best at, but truly enjoyed and practice it a little, see what comes out of it.  Whether it be an instrument, a sport, or in my case drawing.  I can pretty much guarantee that this will be a pick me up and a good way to remember who you really are.

Lose the embarrassment and self evaluation, just do!

It's worth your while!

-Jackie

Baby it's cold outside!

 Tis the season my red nosed friends!!

Now I will be the first to admit that, for some odd reason, I was not at all excited for christmas this year.  This could be some lingering unhappiness attached to last christmas when it ended.  I often find the day after christmas,  or perhaps the day after new years, to be THE most depressing day of the entire year, and for some reason last year especially bad  and I was still feeling jilted.

However I think the magic of the season ( because folks I truly believe that there is magic to this) overtook me. I am now one of the frantic shoppers eyeing what the other person has in their cart in case it's a suitable gift idea for someone I know.

Of course it has taken some time for this to kick in on part of .... exams..  

Urghh it seems like they are a necessity but it also seems ever so cruel to put ourselves through this huge amount of stress before "the happiest time of the year". Or maybe that's the whole idea, I dunno.  What I do know is that I think I appreciate it a million times more this year because it truly is a break for me. Also this is the first year where I don't live at home so going home actually kind of seems like a treat to me.

As per usual the first half of this post has nothing to do with clothing.. ha ha.. moving along then

What is new with us you might be wondering?

I would love to tell you but then I might have to kill you.  Kidding of course but we have a big project in the works at the moment that most certainly deserves some build up before the announcement.  Here are some hints:  clothing, guitars, pins

Ohhh the mystery! 

Work on spring 09  will be commencing shortly.. as in whenever I can kick my lazy bum into gear and actually do something productive clothing wise.  The most painful thing was that I got the biggest surge of creative inspiration on monday but I had to deny it because of studying for economics....grrrr... that's one more reason why I hate economics.

So because I'm in the mood for giving I gave you a sneak peak at our latest photoshoot, which was as kirstin stated FANTASTIC and we love everyone we worked with.  Feel free to let us know what you think!

Happy Holidays all and get as fat as you like,  who really cares?

Photo credit : Patrick Callbeck

Make up: Ellen Connaughton

Clothing: by us!  ( duh!)

Jewelry:  Kirsta Cousins

Many, many Thank You's...

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but genuinely good publicity is so much more thrilling! As of late we've been getting lots of coverage from local media, specifically from The Buzz and CBC News Compass. We are so grateful for all of this attention and the wonderful people we have been working with.

Thank you to The Buzz's Ann Thurlow, who is an incredible spirit and a joy to work with, for the lovely article she wrote about us in December's issue. You can view it here ( http://www.buzzon.com/frames/frames_community) or pick up your very own hard copy (for free) at locations all across the Island as Katryna mentioned below.

Secondly, we'd like to send a big thank you to Sara Fraser and the folks at CBC for the story they aired about us on today's edition of Compass. We are so please with the final edit and greatly appreciate this opportunity. You can view the piece at (http://www.cbc.ca/video/popup.html?http://www.cbc.ca/ondemand/compass.asx) for the next 24 hours we are roughly 50 minutes into the program.

Also, thank you so much to Ellen Connaughton, for her makeup expertise at our most recent photo shoot and Krista Cousins, for lending us her beautiful jewellry creations. We loved working with both of you and hope to again in the near future! You can find Krista's gorgeous pieces at (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30633856&id=183600421#/group.php?gid=18850036508&ref=ts).

Finally, Thank You Patrick Callbeck for the amazing photos!! We are so happy with the shots of our Fall/ Winter '08 collection and are itching to show them to everyone!

We will be posting Patrick's pictures here very soon with prices so you can all have a piece of Sunsets on the Eastside's first ever Fall/Winter collection! (perhaps even for Christmas gifts....)

Love,
Kirstin

P.S. I've got one piece finished for Spring/Summer '09 and another in the works! We're all very excited for what's to come....