Jill S., a 50-year-old from southeastern Texas, is having a good year. In September 2008, she was offered a new job at a university in a heavily populated part of central Texas. Not only was the position a jump in title, it included a salary increase of 10%.
The community Jill and her husband moved to for the new job has plenty of shopping malls, restaurants and other entertainment. Jill and her husband even discussed the idea of buying her a new car as a sort of reward for her promotion. But she hasn’t; Jill says she almost feels guilty–or embarrassed–about her recent success in the tough economy.
In Depth: Ten Ways To Buy Luxury, Discreetly
“I hear that lots of folks are losing their jobs and people are going without. And I’m experiencing the opposite,” says Jill. “I’m very careful about what I say around other people now. I don’t talk about spending.”
Category Uncategorized | 0 Comments »We can’t say we were surprised to learn that Bobby Scalia Jr., the guy behind the flashy line Street Star Custom Clothing is a tattoo-aholic. After all, his designs — one-of-a-kind garments for men and women — are emblazoned with inked-up icons (think bull dogs, angel wings and flying fish) and phrases (“Live Fast, Die Young” and “Death Before Dishonor”) that also play homage to his home, South Philly. And they are anything but understated: Tie-dyed tees, key-hole LBDs, metallic and Swarovski crystal-ed up. It’s grit meets glitz.
Category Designers | 0 Comments »I started my learning curve when I made a career change, becoming a clothes designer after working as a technician in the aerospace industry for 18 years.
Sir Walter Design Clothing has grown significantly since we started out doing a lot of subcontracting work for other designers and companies.
I started the business with a $20,000 home equity line of credit and credit cards.
Nearly three years ago, I stopped using credit cards completely and focused more on finances. I started using debit cards and I’m continually working to pay off the credit cards.
Walter and Theme Hicks, co-owners of Sir Walter Design Clothing, say their biggest mistake was using credit cards to finance their home-based custom clothing business.
When a customer needs a payment plan, I insist on half up front. I used to take a third, sometimes less. I also changed my bad habits. For instance, I used to buy an abundance of fabrics and accessories to give customers more options. I no longer buy great volumes of fabric, hoping to offset costs when another customer might want the same fabric.
Category Careers in Apparel | 0 Comments »
