Slightly More Than 27 Dresses

Closing her doors at her Kailua store was a hard choice Deb of Mu’umu’u Heaven had to make as 2020 challenged and presented her with new opportunities. Deb, with her brilliant attitude hasn’t quit on her passion as her new opportunity is in the form of a virtual storefront. In order to make that come to life, she needed her entire inventory shot, ideally, on a white background. 

For round one, I scooped up  Emilia Perry for the trek to Kailua and general entertainment purposes while working with Deb. We scouted around Deb’s house for the best spot to place the mannequin. In pursuit, we discovered Deb’s ‘She Shed.’ Yes, she has a She Shed and it’s funking wonderful–bright, patterned, and a glorious future shoot location! Tearing ourselves away from that sanctuary, we started wondering, ‘Where is the most relieving place…?’ If you haven’t already guessed, the saving grace was the bathroom.

Deb’s bathroom has massive windows overlooking the mountains. Large windows facing east = indirect bright light by 9am. Bonus, the walls are white. And, I didn’t have to deal with wind blowing the dresses or random rain squalls. Ladies and gents, we found a winner. I set-up my tripod, Emilia arranged the mannequin and we were off to the races. 30 dresses and 20 tops later, Deb had enough to kick-off her website. I promised to return soon to finish the inventory.

The second go-around was even faster. All the kinks were ironed out from the previous shoot and I stayed til we shot every item. 87 dresses, 11 tops, and 1 pair of pants later (with the help of Deb’s assistant) we made it through everything.

Helping my friend keep doing what she loves, spending hours in a bathroom because of ideal lighting, getting to know a mannequin really well, and falling in love with gorgeous unique patterns,  I’ll take it! Every funking time. 

It’s not over til the Funk lady sings!

Dear Reader, that catchy closing line is under construction as there is a singing Funk and she may sing before it’s over so hopefully, her singing doesn’t signify the end or it may endure the test of time, stay tuned, dun dun dun