Ta-Ta for Now, CKB

After 11 fun years of living and creating CK Bradley, I am closing our doors for now. Later is another story, but rest assured that I have something brewing...

What an incredible trip it has been:

from our first photo shoot at Hammersmith Farm in the bridal collection circa 2002
to many run ins with the law during the shoots....

to belting the boys
the girls
and myself.
We had impromptu photo shoots on random afternoons in NYC,
and hot afternoons in farmers markets,
at the beach,on the dock,
on beautiful boats,
off beautiful boats,
and up the mast on boats.
We had run ins with people ALL wearing CKB at summer clambakes (ooops)
out an about at night,
outside the Whomper,
on random sunny afternoons,at wedding receptions,
and in our NYC store.
We've had fabulous Punch parties
Dorrians parties,
tailgate parties,
race to Tennessee parties,
wear orange Dickies parties,
and fake wedding parties.
We've had Cheerleaders,
cheer boys,
and bowling boys testing out CKB boxers.
There have been stores in Charlottesville and Richmond,
in Newport, NYC

and at temporarily at the Javitz center.
We've had belt contests with entertaining entries: Beach Bum
Banana Hammock,
and the winner, Beer Goggles.

We've had incredible CKB girls...(Vieve and Ebbie and MANY more)

Vieve, thank you for inspiring me to keep going and sticking by all my crazy ideas for so long!

-When One Door Closes Another Opens, Bradley

ps. the blog is stayin:)

To be Listed or not to be Listed?

I grew up in a time when everyone had land lines and answering machines. If you needed to call a friend, you'd thumb through the telephone book and find their home number.

In my case, the telephone book was the very BIG Manhattan Directory, BUT our name wasn't in it.

Dad wanted to maintain privacy and be unlisted, but it cost .50c a month to be unlisted. Rather then pay, Dad made up a name...Archimedes I. Zzzyandottie, with enough zzz's to earn the last spot in the world's largest telephone directory. I thought it was normal to have a last name beginning with a B, but listed telephone number under three Z's.

Add that to my list of abnormal normalcies.

Needless to say, this attempt at privacy got a lot of press and prank calls.

Kids prank called it all the time, Playboy featured it in June 1963 AFTER HOURS, and authors created characters inspired by this mysterious Archimedes.

"We regret to report that- as is often the case with sequels-Alexander Graham Bell’s recently published Manhattan Telephone Directory doesn’t measure up to the promise of the authors earlier work…Speaking of numbers, the author has audaciously undertaken the abandonment of the Romantic tradition of lettered prefixes (such as Murry Hill, Gramercy…)in favor of the futuristic device of the digital dialing system-doubtless in an attempt to depict the elimination of individual identity in an age of expanding automation. The effect , ironically, has been so dehumanizing his characters and the book itself. But perhaps most culpably, the redoubtable Archimedes I. Zzzydottie - a picturesque and familiar figure in all of Bell’s more recent works, has the distinction of taking the last bow in the book..."

From Collecting Telephone Books by Gwillim Law:

"We began to see elements of beauty and utility in telephone books. Archimedes I Zzzyandottie was last in Manhattan but first in our hearts. Our neighbor Charles suggested that we write to him and say that his name had been selected at random from the telephone book. (We didn't.)"

Even mentioned as a character in John Crowley's book: Little, Big:

"And the phone book, when (just hypothetically, there was no immediate need) he consulted it, listed surprising columns, whole armies in fact, of Rodriguezes and Garcias and Fuenteses, with great pompous Christian names, Monserrate, Alejandro, such as he had never heard her use. And talk about pompous names, look at this last guy, Archimedes Zzzyandottie, what on earth. "

-I wonder what names I can muster besides Camilla, Bradley

Cover Shoot

In case you wondered what happens when you mix salt and silk...
This months Quest Magazine cover.
(I may pay your dry cleaning bill if you send me a pic of you topping this pic)
Camilla Bradley in the Oscar Dress in Pink and Ryan Jones in the Cortina Dress in Yellow.

-Still Salty, Bradley

Spotted...

Spotted in CKB at the IYRS Gala.
L-R: CKB in the white Oscar Dress (with a belt from Mom's closet from the 70's)Barrett in last years Beachcomber, but available in 2 colors this season, and Jennifer in the Cortina Dress in yellow dupioni.
IYRS is the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, RI. Their annual party is one of the most fun summer parties out here...they transform the enormous workshop where wooden boats are brought back to life into something that resembles the a chic downtown night club in NYC. Well done whoever did it!
Later on at the Cooke House CKB Summer 2008 was Spotted... Gretchen on the far right in CKB 2008 blue birdsilk. Not to mention Ebbie in red, caught out and about after a tough day at the CKB store...and her sister Katie in CKB 2009, Pom Pom dress in white. Go girls GO!

And I am caught leisurely blogging on a sunday morning...wait make that LUNCHTIME on a sunday afternoon! Time to walk the puppy....

-Hoarse Voice, Bradley

W Boat Summer Photoshoot

Certain sailboats, just like certain men, really know how to make me swoon.

The W's are no exception. Donald Tofias was nice enough to let the CKB team take out White Wings, a w-76 for a shoot yesterday. Wind perfect, sun in full force, and company entertaining.
(CKB in Purple Moroccan Belles Shirtdress, Ebbie in Green Moroccan Cortina Dress and Hannah in the Multi Stripe Oscar Dress.)

Last year we jumped of the stern in dresses for a bit of a splash
But this year things were a bit more tame. Plus, it was hard to forget how cold that water was last year....

Here, L - R: Ebbie in the Pink dupioni Oscar Dress, CKB in the Yellow dupioni Cortina Dress and Hannah in the Green dupioni Oscar Dress.

Ebbie in the Belles Shirtdress in Coral Island
Hannah in the Navy Dupioni Cortina Dress and Ebbie in the Navy Silk Moroccan Geo Oscar Dress.
A little catnap before round 2 of the shoot...
We left the crew of White Wings ready to call it a day.
And then I swooned. This time for a new breed: Speedboat.

next thing you know there was a harness...

and 2 Girls in Oscars on the Spreaders
Then all 3.
Oh the things these boats make us DO! Or is it the boys that are on them?
Thank you to all the SPEEDBOAT Crew for making our day.
Ebbie had so much fun we had trouble getting her down.
-Speedboat added to the Swoon List, Bradley.

Made in the USA

I can't pronounce half the places people are getting their clothes produced these days...from little towns in China, Peru, Bali to India. There are a lot of options out there, and we have decided to come HOME.

Welcome to Fall River, Ma. Once upon a time, Fall River was a mecca for apparel and bag manufacturers, so today it is filled with empty factories slowly filling up. It's fun to see a place begin to come back to life, a place that is now in my new backyard, and home to CKB production.

This is the fabric being laid out for cutting...

This is a small run of Chelles Halters ready for sewing.
And the Chelles Halter ready for wearing.

-Fall River sure beats the 7th avenue in NYC, Bradley

Tula SUPing

I am kind of a SUP-a-holic. (SUP= Stand Up Paddle) Last summer alone, I stand up paddled so much, I tore some nasty stuff in my arms and was in rehab for the winter. All that meant was no arm sports, just leg ones. And luckily for me, I LOVE the leg ones.

So now I'm onto the leisure SUPing. And who better to paddle around with than Tula.
This is a slow sport that gives you an AMAZING core workout. And if your feeling frisky, Paddle Surfing is a bit more exciting...but less my speed.

We started out slow...after all, Tula is NOT a water dog.
I had to make sure she could float...

Then we moved onto the board and steady knees...

Then to a stand and sit position...

And finally it all came together. All I could wonder now was how on earth I was going to give her the dog treats I had stuffed in my wet suit without sending us both to an icy finish.

-Thank Heaven for Random Friends that Drive by in Cool Trucks with Great Cameras, Bradley.

New House...

Commitment SCARES me.

The boys who come in and out of my life figure that out pretty quick. But the animals I have acquired are slowly teaching me the ways of commitment. In fact, Tula has lured me into giving up my furnished church only to move into an unfurnished house... Oh how persuasive puppies can be!Minimum Commitment rules for decorating the new place: Only use fabrics and furniture that I already have. No investing in permanence!

I wanted valences in my bedroom. Wood is a commitment. Cardboard is disposable. So cardboard valences it is. I am not proud of this, but not ready for further commitment yet. So...the how to's of making your place look a lot better than it is...for CHEAP.
Cardboard from Michael's. $2.99. (foam core was $9.99 and didnt come big enough)
I duck taped sides to the front.

Then staple gunned batting and the fabric onto the cardboard and added more duct tape for a better hold.
I stapled ribbon loops that will hang on cup hooks that i have screwed into the ceiling.

This is the room post cardboard valences.
Post Valences. Big difference huh?

One project down, many to go.
-One Day I'll be able to Handle the Commitment of Wood over Cardboard, Bradley.