News
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How To Get Your Dress in Your Size
Published Apr 10 2019 in boutique, Cherry Velvet, Cherry Velvet Dresses, cotton, dress size, Dresses, Fashion, Fit, Limited Edition, Made In Canada, sizing
Are you sometimes frustrated when you can't find your dress size? If so, we're here to explain how and why that might be and what you can do about it!
Maybe this is a good time to state that we are a smaller, boutique-sized company. While our active online presence may give the impression of a larger business, we are actually a team of just five individuals! If we manufactured our dresses overseas like a lot of larger companies, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. This is not something that will ever happen with us, as we are proud to be a Canadian company that manufactures our dresses in Canada. This is something that means so much to us as well as the knowledge that no one will ever be exploited while making our dresses. The good news is because we are small we can be more fluid and make small changes that we feel our customers want.
While we do our very best to offer the widest selection of dresses possible, it all comes down to the ratio of sizes. You may or may not know that most companies cut their production of clothing in a ratio. The majority of units will be cut in the most popular sizes (middle sizes) and the smaller and larger sizes will receive fewer units. This is common practice in the clothing industry and it's also how retail stores order clothing for their stores, too.
As a small online retailer with a local shop, we can't make masses of dresses in each print we offer. We usually make 12-40 dresses per each unique print and those units get divided up over the sizes we carry. That's not a lot of dresses per size as we make 8 different sizes! Unfortunately, some sizes can sell out quickly.
FYI, we're bringing the classic Chrissy Dress back and it'll be available in all sizes at our Studio shop and online soon in these new prints:
To avoid any disappointment, please consider ordering your size early. As we see an increased demand in different sizes, we'll add more units in those sizes. We truly care about you, our amazing customers and do our best to respond to all your requests. We're always listening!
We love to hear all of your ideas, feedback, and comments!
If you are in the Vancouver area this Friday and Saturday we would love to see you at our Studio Shop!
Join us this Fri, Apr 12, 2pm-7pm and Sat, Apr 13, 11am-5pm
@ 1635 Powell St. Vancouver, BC (Free parking is available)
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Our Gratitude for Logan Rudrum
Published Mar 22 2019 in Employee Appreciation
In any business, there are folks behind the scenes who help make everything work smoothly. Logan Rudrum has been working for the Diane Kennedy and Cherry Velvet brands since 2013, and many people don't know that Logan is often the glue that holds things together. He has brought both a unique history and a positive vibe to our offices.
Every once and a while, you’re lucky enough to have a co-worker like Logan. He has a diverse background that includes media, film, web design, and music, along with a passion for fitness and nutrition. He’s smart and great at his job, but also compassionate and thoughtful. Logan is an amazing photographer and has a wicked sense of humour. He’s the lone male working in an office of females – and he completely makes it work! He has a healthy respect for everyone around him and is always kind.
Most of our photos of Logan are of him behind the action, taking photos for the website and social media platforms that he manages. He always does what it takes to get the best angles!
We are excited to announce that Logan will be expanding his role with Cherry Velvet going forward to include a managerial role. His new title is Creative and Brand Director. We can't wait to see him thrive in this new position and we are all looking forward to his new concepts and ideas growing our company.
We could not be happier for him!
The most important thing we want Logan to know is how deeply he is appreciated. He is such an important and integral part of our company it's almost impossible to imagine Cherry Velvet without him. We truly value his presence and tremendously important contributions to each of us and our company.
Thank-you Logan and congratulations!
We ❤️ you!
XOX from all of us @ Cherry Velvet
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Caring For Your Cherry Velvet Dress
Published Mar 14 2019 in cotton, Dress, Dresses, fabric, Made In Canada, washing
Cherry Velvet dresses are super easy to care for. With minimal fuss, our high-quality cotton dresses will last you for years. They don't shrink or fade and are so timeless they can be worn over and over. You don't need to save them for a special occasion!
Here are a few tips to help you keep your Cherry Velvet dresses looking their best:
Care of Cotton Dresses
- Machine Wash, gentle cycle on cold or warm with regular detergent. It's important to wash your dresses with items that will not bleed out colour onto your dress. (For example, if your dress is black with a white print, don't wash it with other darks, wash it with old towels or sheets - something that will absolutely not transfer colour to the white part of your dress)
- Hang to dry
- While still wet, smooth out the wrinkles.
Yep, that's it. It's worth spending a few minutes on #3. Taking the time to smooth out the wrinkles after hanging it up will go a long way toward being iron free! Smooth the collar, put your hands in the pockets, run your hand along the hem until it's hanging straight.
If you're going somewhere special or your dress has come fresh out of the box, go ahead and iron it with steam on a cotton setting.
Hanging around
When it's time to hang up your dress, be sure to give it a little room in your closet so it can hang freely. That way when you are ready to put it on again it will be crease free and ready to go when you are!
Wear your dress!
It's very important to take your dress out and wear it whenever possible. You'll want to accessorize in a way that's appropriate to the destination although not having a destination in mind is perfectly alright. You may illicit wistful stares and long lingering looks when wearing your dress. This is quite normal. You may also be approached by other women demanding to know where you found your dress. Just send them our way and we will look after the rest. Don't forget to smile and say "Thanks!".
Find our most recent Cherry Velvet Dresses in our New Arrivals section & please join our mailing list for tips, first looks & more here!
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Elly Mayday's Message to all Women
Published Mar 08 2019 in Ashley Luther, Body Positive, Elly Mayday, Ovarian Cancer, Plus Model
You may have heard about Ashley Luther, also known as Elly Mayday; a body positive model that, sadly, recently passed at the age of thirty. We spent a day with Elly back in 2013, shortly after her diagnosis and want to share her video message again with all of you.
Elly's message is about Ovarian cancer -a much less talked about, but a very serious type of women’s cancer. Did you know there is no screening test for cancer of your #ladyballs. This is a somewhat controversial name for your ovaries, but it does require both knowledge and guts to beat this difficult to diagnose disease.
The teal green shade of her hair represents the colour of the Ovarian cancer ribbon. These photos were all taken just before she planned to shave it all off. (due to the expectation of hair loss from Chemotherapy)
It's important to our designer, Diane, to spread awareness, as not only did she lose her Mom to Ovarian cancer at a very young age but also her Sister-in-law as well.
There is no one specific symptom for Ovarian cancer and these symptoms are generally vague/non-specific (often mistakenly attributed to other causes). It’s called ‘the disease that whispers’ for good reason: it’s often overlooked and under-diagnosed.
Do you do a breast self-exam every month? What about going for an annual pap test? These simple steps could save your life. Taking care of your #ladyballs is not as straightforward.
These are the symptoms to be aware of:
- Swelling or bloating of the abdomen
- Pelvic discomfort or heaviness
- Back or abdominal pain
- Fatigue
- Gas, nausea, indigestion
- Change in bowel habits
- Emptying your bladder frequently
- Menstrual irregularities
- Weight loss or weight gain
Other symptoms…
- Mass or “lump” in your pelvis that you can feel
- Inability to eat normally
- Pain during intercourse
- Vaginal bleeding
We hope we’ve inspired you to catch up on any tests you haven’t taken lately, and brought attention to ways to help spot Ovarian Cancer. Please also consider taking a moment to share this post with all the important women in your life so that they’ll be aware, too.
RIP Ashley Luther / Elly Mayday
XOX Cherry Velvet
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Meet Leah Tuttle, Clothing Rep Extraordinaire
Published Feb 28 2019 in Cherry Velvet, Cherry Velvet Dresses, Dresses, Fashion, Leah Tuttle, Leah Tuttle Agency
Fashion can be a tough industry – to survive, you need to surround yourself with awesome people. Cherry Velvet is very lucky to be represented by our dynamic and gorgeous agent: Leah Tuttle.
Leah’s agency focuses on Canadian designers who create clothing for sizes XS to 3X. When she was getting started, this was seen as a risky and rocky path in an industry obsessed with fast fashion and cheap imports with high margins. Lucky for us, another customer introduced Leah to our sister company, Diane Kennedy, knowing that Leah was the right agent to represent the brand. When Cherry Velvet got started a few years later, Leah was on board from the start.
Leah is a quintessential Cherry Velvet girl herself! She has the sass and style that goes so well with our vintage-inspired dresses. Her delightfully feminine curves look amazing in so many pinup styles – that’s why we’ve used her as a model on more than one occasion.
We even named a dress after her; the Leah dress came in both black and blue lace. There was also a velvet flock version that Leah modelled for us. (Perhaps it's time to bring back this cut, maybe in classic black lace...?)
(Leah Tuttle: centre)
Having an agent who genuinely appreciates and wears your product is really special. We love sharing the excitement of fresh styles and fun prints with Leah, and we know that she always has our back.
We consider ourselves very lucky to be represented by such a remarkable and lovely lady who truly understands our market. Thank you, Leah, for your unfailing support, unparalleled work ethic, and for being the strong, resilient, and incredibly beautiful human you are!
XOX Cherry Velvet
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A Magical Fabric Collection - De La Luna
Published Feb 21 2019 in De La Luna, Magic, Witches
When I first saw Tula Pink's wonderfully magical De La Luna fabric collection, I knew I wanted to make dresses from it. The feature print is a beautifully detailed, but very large scale print with witch faces painted in the Day of the Dead style. My challenge was to design a dress for this fabric. That's how our new Minerva dress came about, as the vehicle for this "Possessed" print and other larger scaled prints.
Tula's original pencil sketches of the De La Luna sisters:
Tula Pink, (the designer of the fabric) wrote a wonderful story to go with her collection:
"The De la Luna Sisters are the not so distant cousins of the Von
Black sisters, who made somewhat of a name for themselves a
few years ago in collection called Night Shade. While the Von
Black sisters drew their power from more earthly elements, the
De la Luna sisters cull their magical gifts from the spirit realm.
Once a year, as fall crashes into winter, the matriarchs of the De
la Luna clan call on their ancestors, acting as vessels for their
vast power.
Maria De la Luna, the youngest of the three sisters can see into
the great distance of the future as she draws her power from
the most clairvoyant spirits in their lineage. She uses her prophetic
sight to write letters to mean girls informing them of the
exact time and place that they will die or sometimes when their
boyfriends will break up with them depending on how mean
they are.
The middle Sister, Magnolia De la Luna, is perhaps the most cunning
of the three although it’s hard to tell because she doesn’t
wear glasses and everyone knows that the smartest people always
wear glasses. Magnolia, Maggie for short, draws her power
from the spirits of earth and bloom. She uses her potent power
to cultivate and nurture vast gardens and lush landscapes for
her highest paying clients. Oh, did I forget to mention that she
runs a surprisingly successful landscape architecture firm in their
prosperous south Texas town?
The oldest sister, Venus De la Luna, the undisputed caretaker
of the whole De Luna clan and best friend to her cousin Scarlet
Von Black has a vary mysterious past. Venus leaves a trail of
admirers where ever she goes. Great empires have fallen under
her angelic gaze. Many great men sit alone in padded rooms
spending endless days and boundless nights whispering her
name to no one in-particular. She swears that she did nothing to
encourage their favour and was only, ever, minding her own business.
Just because these men choose to buy her gifts from her
extensive online wish list is truly no fault of her own"
If you're a fan of death's head moths, skulls, evil eyes or witches check out the dresses we've made from the De La Luna collection here.
Diane for Cherry Velvet XOX
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A Note from Kim, our Social Media Manager
Published Feb 07 2019 in Kim, social media manager, staff updates, what's new
I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about a new job as I was on my first day at Cherry Velvet. I knew I loved the product and the brand, and I was looking forward to workdays spent using words and images to promote gorgeous dresses across the internet.
I knew that there was an enormous amount I could learn in this role. It’s been amazing to watch the design process, and to see how a concept becomes a garment. I came to more fully understand what “Made in Canada” really means, and I was proud to be working at business run by a female entrepreneur whose business model insisted that every stitch be sewn here in BC. I also fell in love with the fabric selection process – there is so much cool stuff out there! No spoilers allowed, but let me simply say that there are some awesome dresses coming.
Working the studio shops was incredibly rewarding. I know how difficult it can be to find outfits that make you feel good. Today’s stores are full of cheaply-made, disposable clothing that fits poorly and flatters few. At Cherry Velvet, my most memorable shoppers were the ones who came in with low expectations, defeated from past shopping disappointments. It was a joy to watch the excitement level grow when they realized that they looked amazing, not just in one dress, but in so many styles! I joined in the giddiness when shoppers discovered fabrics that suited them perfectly. Having friends who came by and ending up finding things they loved was an excellent added bonus.
Unfortunately, my time at Cherry Velvet is ending. Why? Every time that my partner and I have visited the Okanagan, we’ve wanted to stay. He was way down the transfer list, so we thought it would be years before we could get out of the city and into the small-town life we were craving – we were shocked when we were told that he’d start at the Kelowna office in March 2019! Relocating means that I need to leave my position here.
I started as a Cherry Velvet customer, and became a proud team member. Now, I’ll go back to buying and wearing the dresses as a consumer (this Stacy dress is at the top of my shopping list!), but I’ll keep my pockets full of business cards. I need to keep telling the world why this is a great company with wonderful products, and I will keep spreading the gospel of retro class with modern sass!
Farewell... but not good-bye!
XOX Kim
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Dresses with Sleeves
Published Jan 31 2019 in Dress, New Arrivals, Pin Up, Roxy, Shelly, Stacy, what's new
One of the advantages of being a small business is getting to know your customers. We love meeting you, seeing your photos on social media, and hearing your feedback. You told us that you want dresses with three-quarter sleeves, so here they are!
Craving Coverage
Many women tell us they feel more comfortable with covered arms, often because of perceived flaws. Those wonderful upper limbs that we use to carry and dance and hug get subjected to endless scrutiny. Of course, we love your arms (and all your other beautiful body parts!), but feeling confident is paramount. If you feel your best with coverage between your shoulders and elbows, we’re here to help.
Asymmetrically Adorable
Our Shelly dress has been one of our favourites in recent years. With a deliciously full skirt, Shelly has excellent twirl potential, and the buttoned cuffs finish the sleeves perfectly. The star of this design is the neck detail – three sweet buttons and a two angled straps draw the eye. This dress is currently available in three lovely prints.
Ravishingly Retro
Roxy joined our collection last year. This dress has a wonderfully vintage vibe, with an open portrait collar and a crinoline-ready skirt. The Roxy comes in five solid jewel tones, and blends beautifully with a multitude of accessories.
Flattering Fit
Our newest 3/4 sleeve dress is the Stacy. This cut was created to highlight your assets, with a ruched bodice and a chevron shaped underbust design that emphasizes your waistline. Right now, you can get Stacy in a spicy, fire-engine red, and a deep, regal purple – stay tuned for black and navy pinstripe versions coming soon!
Remember, we also sell shrugs, so sleeves can be added to any of the dresses you love. And please keep telling us what you want to wear, because we’re listening!
XOX Cherry Velvet
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Get Ready for Galentine’s Day!
Published Jan 23 2019 in Dress, Holidays
Let’s face it – Valentine’s Day can be stressful. If you’re in a relationship, there are so many expectations built up around creating a perfect date. If you don’t have a significant other, you’re inundated with media messaging about how supremely important romance is supposed to be in our lives. How did it all get so complicated?
Remember when we were in grade school, and we used to give out Valentine’s cards? They were handwritten and sweet, and we all gave one to everyone in the classroom.
Let’s get back to celebrating friendship. Get ready to celebrate Galentine’s Day!
Did you know?
We did some homework, and learned that the Galentine’s Day tradition originated in 2010 in an episode of Parks and Recreation. The show’s lead character, played by Amy Poehler, throws her annual "Galentine's Day" party for her female friends. This festive event takes place on the day before Valentine's Day, and is all about celebrating the unique bonds between women.
How do I celebrate?Make a plan to celebrate the fabulous women in your life.
We lean on our female friends, because we know we can. These are the ladies who are there for you through every crisis, every celebration, every upheaval, everything! Think back to some off the best times in your life, and we’ll bet that your girlfriends were involved in more than a few.
On February 13, gather your besties and enjoy the laughter and joy of an epic girls’ outing.
What should I wear?
A night out is more fun when you all primp and prep and sparkle! Choose a Cherry Velvet dress with flowers or hearts, like our Brigitte dress in Sacred Heart, for a themed look.
We’re having a Studio Shop on Friday, January 25, 2pm-7pm, and on Saturday, January 26, 11am-5pm – bring your friends and find the perfect outfits for your Galentine’s Day celebration.
XOX Cherry Velvet
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Bring on the Bling!
Published Jan 11 2019 in jewelry, New Arrivals, Pin Up, what's new
A fabulous necklace or pair of earrings can add just the right finishing touch to any of our vintage-inspired dresses. When that retro style jewelry is handmade right here in beautiful British Columbia, it just makes sense for us to offer it on our website and in our studio. Choose your favourite!
Signature Sparkle
It’s no secret that we love cherries. Our new Cherry Bling set celebrates this iconic fruit with a truly delicious dose of glitter. The red version is available now, and the pink and maroon versions will be online soon.
Hot Stuff
For a truly “striking” look, check out our Light My Fire necklace. Inspired by matchstick-themed textile prints from the 1940's, the metal pendants and earrings have hand-enameled red tips.
Captivating Shades of ShimmerThere’s definitely some magic in our Atomic Lights set. This dazzler captures the eye, reflecting shades of purple, magenta, blue, turquoise, and green.
Awesome AtomicIf you keep an eye on our website, you’ll have noticed that many of our models have been wearing our Atomic necklaces. The Black Atomic is infinitely versatile, and we also adore the Burgundy, Hot Pink, and Ruby Red versions. With mid-century modern design and lustrous glass beads, you’ll want them all!
(If you’re wondering about that adorable bowling fabric, stay tuned... It’s a sneak peek at our upcoming Strikes & Spares dress.)Whichever set you choose, remember to snap a photo and tag us on social media – we love to see how you make these pieces your own!
XOX Cherry Velvet
