Friday, April 15, 2011

Re-thinking Hotshiznik

I am a visual artist and vintage clothing seller. I am new to web design and social media, so I am apologizing up front for the look of this blog. It is in transition and I am learning. My look is an abomination at the moment,  I definitely need some pointers and opinions on whatever you see here.
I am also re-thinking the name 'Hotshiznik'. The name came on about 5 years ago as a sort of joke and now I am invested in it. I don't love the name, but is it too weird? I can always start a new shop with a new name, but I will lose some followers and credentials. What is in a name anyway? Its branding of course, but at least Hotshiznik is original. I could go with a flowery name like 'Lovely Ladies blah blah, or classy, chic something Vintage Voyeur? (Sorry if I accidentally used someones real name). Its like coming up with a cool band name almost. There are some great vintage clothing (e-commerce) shop names out there at the moment. But the names kind of have no bearing on the shops quality or success.
I have followed the big ebay vintage clothing sellers for a while and am in awe at some of the great styling, photography and art direction that goes into these sellers of vintage clothing. The sellers I am referring to use fabulous professional/ semi pro models (that are definitely not the sellers' friends or sellers themselves). Aside from the professional photo quality, these stores have been art directed, have a 'look' and the clothing has been styled by a pro as well. So are these shops run by an independent group of friends, boyfriend/girlfriend teams or some bigger conglomerate? I have worked professionally in the fashion/photo industry. I know what kind of production a professional photo shoot is. Even if the folks involved in these vintage clothing photo shoots are pros working on their days off, its still a costly, time consuming, logistical big deal.
So where does this leave the little independent vintage seller with a little semi-pro camera and a mannequin?

Eating humble pie.

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