We've Hit 101!

You know, when this whole blogging thing started for me a while back I didn't have a clue what to write about or how to write it..Even know I'm still lost about what to write yet amazingly we've hit 101 blog followers - thank you!!

I'm really delighted that our blog about our ladies t-shirts has entered into triple digits of readers, tis heart warming I tells ya..If you're a regular reader (oh and how I hope you are hehe) you'll have often heard me lavish thanks upon our supporters and customers but seriously - thank you! You're comments, support, purchases and sharing really motivate us to push on..

And so, time to name some names..Step into the spotlight Pure Harte, a fellow "Lofty" who makes some dreamy dresses and pushed us to the century mark - we're forever indebted..And then, numero 101, The Style Muser, a blogger we came across on twitter who is dishing out a daily dose of fashion trends - check out her musings...

At this important juncture, you, all 101 of you, what would you like to see me write about? Anything you want to know about LadyUmbrella? Anything been niggling away at you? Or, are you, dare I say it, enjoying the posts to date? Leave a comment and let me know and once again, thank you and ole!


P.S. Sharing is caring! Our IT boffins have have got a new Facebook "like" button and Twitter ReTweet button on the top of all our blog posts..Give them a click and make us smile!

Will You Win The Ultimate Style Test?

I hope you're heard about it by now but we have been lucky enough to team up with fashion industry insider Nicky Harris and top stylist Maria Fusco to bring you the Ultimate Style Test..The test being which LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirt would you wear on Christmas Day and how would you style it?

The competition ends at midnight tomorrow so you only have less than 30 hours to enter so you should go and check it now..We are giving away a t-shirt and a tote bag so there'll be two prizes! Even if you don't want to enter there are some amazing entries already posted worth reading...Both of us here at LadyUmbrella (as well as Nicky and Maria) are really blown away by some of the entries - so much detail and effort went into them so thank you if you've already entered..If not, have a go and if you can pass it on that would be uber excellent and help us out so much..Stay happy all..


P.S. Sharing is caring! Our IT boffins have have got a new Facebook "like" button and Twitter ReTweet button on the top of all our blog posts..Give them a click and make us smile!

LadyUmbrella Lands in India and...

I'm a bit of geek when it comes to keeping track of where our ladies t-shirts and tote bags get to travel to so needless to say when I received the picture to the right I was giddy. One of our totebags has travelled to India and now has a fine should to call home..

In the few months we have been open one of the thrills we've gotten is sending t-shirts abroad to far away (and presumably greener) fields..For posterity I'd like to quickly recap where we've sent t-shirts to: Vietnam, South Korea, America, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Norway, Denmark, Slovakia, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Scotland, Wales, England and of course Ireland. I'm scratching the head now with a fear that I may have forgotten some other countries but for now that is all I can remember. I really find it incredible that our t-shirts and tote bags have travelled to 21 different countries in such a short space of time and can't wait to see where the next new territory is...

So, LadyUmbrella has now landed in India but anybody care to hazard a guess as to where the next t-shirt or tote bag might go to?


P.S. Sharing is caring! Our IT boffins have have got a new Facebook "like" button and Twitter ReTweet button on the top of all our blog posts..Give them a click and make us smile!

LadyUmbrella and the Merry Go Round [New Design]

It has been a while since we launched our La Primera Coleccion of ladies t-shirts (we launched them on 20th of January 2010) and since then we've been busy in the lab working on new designs (well, Elena has anyway). Today we unveiled one of our new designs from La Segunda Colecction called "LadyUmbrella and the Merry Go Round"...If you like it please press that lovely green RT button just above - it helps us out big time...

Anyway, all of our t-shirts have a bit of a story to tell and this one is no different...It reads:

The yellow birds look on with dismay as LadyUmbrella hogs the pelican, indulging her childhood love of the merry go round...Garrett, the adventurer, looks on from above and ponders his descent to the waiting masses...

We're really delighted with how the shape of this t-shirt worked out..like our other t-shirts it is 100% pure combed cotton which makes it really soft to wear. If you have purchased one of our t-shirts from our first offering they were 180grms in weight but the new collection are 140grms - so slightly lighter to make them ideal for the summer...

So, I hope what you're saying to yourself know is "I just checked the site but I don't see this design..I want it - where is it?" and I'm happy to inform you that we hope to have our La Segunda Coleccion available on our site before the end of July - not too long to go..please, bear with us :)

There are more pictures of LadyUmbrella and the Merry Go Round on facebook so do check them out..We'll also be uploading more pictures of the rest of our designs in the coming days so do check back..Stay happy all - ole!

Sunshine and Feeling 5k Fine [VID]

You are may not be aware that we are trying to get to 5,000 fans on our facebook fanpage - hehe, I hope you've heard about it ;)

Anyway, we are close now, closer than ever before, to 5,000 fans which is really incredible for us. There are only two of us involved with LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirts, myself and Elena, and we are just blown away by the support we have received. Since launching our fanpage in August we have honestly been overwhelmed at the response we have received and we are really humbled and thankful. You guys, the people who read this blog and leave comments on our fanpage etc, are giving us a chance at living our dream and words can't express how thankful we really are...

Even though words can't do our thanks justice and our video skills leave a lot to be deisred we have endeavoured to make a vid to give you thanks and a big thumbs up..

We basked in the sunshine for about 3 hours or so to record it and needless to say I got sunburnt - felt the heat radiating from my arms, ears, neck and face last night. Elena on the other hand though found it chilly at times...Irish skin is just not cut out for the sun I guess..

Anyway, enough of the talk, enjoy our vid and if you can press that great big RT button above - might just help us get to 5,000 fans before my birthday which would result in a partay and a half..

A Sell Out Saturday!

We have had another first and it would be wrong for me not to blog about it hehe..We had a very busy Saturday yesterday and sold out of all of size 12 "Away with the Birds". We're both happy and sad that this has happened.

We're happy obviously because we now know that "Away with the Birds" is our top design and to sell out of it in one size is a way of reassuring us that we are doing something right with our ladies t-shirts. Also happy because a great fan of LadyUmbrella, @xxMissNovemberx, got the last one and we wouldn't want her disappointed and having to wait...

Ah, having to wait - part of the reason that we are sad that we have sold out. We really want people to be able to get the size and style they want when they want it and hope that those who want to get an Away with the Birds in size 12 aren't too disappointed - we still have all other sizes and styles available ;) It is now possible to stake your claim and pre order a size 12 (or 14 or 16) "Away with the Birds" as we hope to have them in stock soon - send us a mail or leave a comment here or on our facebook fanpage and we'll put you on the list..Please RT that info with the handy green RT button up the top..

It is no surprise that we sold out due to our sale and it's great to see so many people ordering our t-shirts..All orders received today will be shipped tomorrow so take advantage of the sale, get the extra 15% off coupon and get the t-shirt you want before it's sold out..You can order now from our online t-shirt shop whilst the sale is in full swing..Stay happy all..ole..

Bonus Batch Bingo!! SUPER SALE

Right now you might be mumbling to yourself "bonus batch what?" but I'm here to demystify and enlighten you...Basically, Bonus Batch Bingo is a chance to win a free ladies t-shirt...interested? then, I suggest you read on..

You may have seen our video "The Art of the Hangtag" where we explain that each of our hangtags get rubber stamped and then signed, numbered and dated...We are going to use the hangtags as the 'bingo cards' for Bonus Batch Bingo. Using the power of www.random.org we will randomly select one unique hang tag number from all of the t-shirts we have sold so far. Whoever this hangtag belongs to then has one week to contact us with a picture of the hang tag and t-shirt and to let us know which t-shirt they would like as their prize...then, we'll ship it to them - just like that...

So, you might be reading this thinking "but I don't have a t-shirt so how can I win one?" which is a good question. The simple answer is you can't BUT..to give you every chance of entering for a free t-shirt we have slashed 5 euro (about $6.75) off the price of our t-shirts AND if you have a coupon code you can also that ;) Why not get a 15% off coupon code? ...and yep, we still have free shiping worldwide!

And, Bonus Batch Bingo is going to be a regular occurrence and your hang tag will be entered into every draw - make sure you're entered for the first draw! If you don't have t-shirt get one in our online t-shirt shop and avail of the huge discounts and maybe even win another..The sale will start tomorrow (23rd of April) and last until May the 1st and we'll then find out who has won a FREE t-shirt..

How does that sound to you? Who is feeling lucky?

All Hail Sir David!

What a day! I have to catalog this day..I'm a fan of firsts, first sale to a new country, first sale of the full collection, first boutique to stock us - basically things that I deem newsworthy in the life and times of LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirts. Today proved to be another one of those much sought after firsts...

As usual it was a busy day in LUHQ as we were working on our new designs (oh, I said it! - coming soon, ole), networking with fine people and had a nice number of orders (thank you!) to pack..We launched on the 20th of January but today is the first time that every order we received contained a common design. We had lots of orders for 2 t-shirts and single t-shirts but every order today contained, you guessed it, LadyUmbrella is Friends with Sir David Attenborough - all hail Sir David. Perhaps a lot of folks came across the great review it got a while back from the awesome Loving this Tee blog - I guess I'll never know but a bit of mystery never bothered me ;)

So this is Sir Davids moment in the limelight and I'd like to tell you a bit about it. You may or may not know that each of our designs has a story that goes along with, for Sir David it reads:

"Both an environmentalist and conservationist LadyUmbrella is always trying to help the planet. This scene portrays LadyUmbrella raising awareness about the melting ice caps by scoping out the penguins three; Pat, Richie and P..."

As a youth (this is where it gets juicy so press the RT button hehe) I watched a lot of nature tv shows so naturally (like that huh?) I ended up watching and learning lots from Sir David Attenborough. His ability to give such detailed information about animals in, at times, compromising and dangerous situations with his trademark style and delivery was astounding. The thing that I learned most though I think from watching his shows is the ability to observe. The reason he was able to place his life in jeopardy is because he was alert, he was observing, looking for signals or signs of danger and threat and so was able to get some of the remarkable footage that he got.

Our "t-shirts tale" above is what came to my mind when I first saw the design Elena had done. We know it's not going to save the world but it is our tribute to a really great man and if some people read the story and think a little about conservation and helping our environment or make a positive change then tres bien. For those of you hungry for LadyUmbrella trivia the penguins three or so named because, well, it rhymes. On a more meaningful level though they are also 3 old skool (with a k) amigos of mine that I had the pleasure of sharing a stage with for a few years. In a former life I was the singer and guitar player in a band called Made in Taiwan with Pat being the lead guitar player, Richie the bass player and P the beat meister - some great times..

But, back to present times and I've crunched some numbers. Our online t-shirt shop has been live for 80 days and 80 nights - just about enough time to travel around the world...

And on that note, I bid you adieu wherever you are in the world, hope you enjoyed the tidbits of trivia (really, I do.. would love to hear what you think, leave a comment and let me know) and stay happy...



P.S. the second picture, with the typewriter, is our t-shirt on the set of the upcoming British movie Booked Out which is due for release later this year - pretty cool huh?

We Have a Winner!

What a manic few days it has been. We decided to give away a free ladies t-shirt because we reached a mind boggling 4,000 fans on our facebook fanpage. To enter into the draw all one had to do was let us know which t-shirt they liked or was their favourite...we didn't expect what would happen then...

People went crazy for the t-shirt..We've never received as many retweets on twitter as we did over the last two days..On top of that tons of people shared it on facebook and in total we got a staggering 189 entries - some great fun comments so thank you all for entering and spreading the word..

Anyway, when we decided to make a movie for the draw which you can see just below..Hope you like it and why not press that glorious retweet button in the top right :) Mad thanks go out to our independent observer, the man behind the Wise Owl, the one and only Skip.



As the video says we have a consolation prize for those who didn't win the t-shirt..For the next 24 hours the coupon code twenty24 will get you 20% off and free shipping so feel free to take full advantage of it in our online t-shirt store...

And, this blog is home the unseen footage, the "rigs" and things that we don't put anywhere else..and here is a gem, an out take from the Big Prize Draw video - Elena going loco - enjoy..



Would love to hear what you think about the video so please leave a comment..stay happy all, ole..

P.S. - don't forget, 20% off NOW..go go go..

FREE T-SHIRT ALERT

It doesn't happen very often but we are giving away a free ladies t-shirt to celebrate getting 4,000 facebook fans..We're really happy to have gotten so many friends so want to give a t-shirt away for free..To enter all you have to do is leave a comment either here on our facebook fanpage and let us know which design is your favourite..You can enter now and closing time for entries is 8pm GMT on Tuesday 13th April..good luck :)

33% Discount Code for just 3.3 Days!!

Hello all..hope you are keeping well..just a short blog post to let you all now about our crazy 33% off discount code..We passed 3,333 facebook fans and to celebrate our ladies t-shirts can be purchased using promo code fourthrees. The code will be valid for just 3.3 days - there is a countdown timer in the top right hand corner :) All you have to do is go to our online t-shirt shop and choose which one you want..Using the promo code prices become just €19.99/£17.60/$27 - enjoy...

Tested in the Sunshine - the Unseen Bits

Just a short blog here to give all you LUFANs a glimpse at some of the unseen photos/things from "Tested in the Sunshine" - a photoshoot we did in El Cotillo, Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands for LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirts. We have got more pictures for your perusal on our facebook fanpage but what you can't see there is this short video of when things don't run smoothly - enjoy.

I like to talk about the rigging and set up often used to record or do things here at LadyUmbrella. And, this is no exception. As there were only two of us there to record to Tested in the Sunshine and we were both in it we had to fashion some sort of rig. This consisted of putting a chair on a table to try get the height right for the video. It was close but it wasn't perfect so we then used the case for the BBQ utensils (yep we did some grilling, fun times) to get the height spot on. We did a few takes and noticed that the wind was making the sound quality awful so try counteract it we set up a haven for the camera - 2 rocks, a firelighters box and a towel draped over the lot. All in all it worked out all right got my thumbs up.

And so, there it is ..another blog in the can and another rig exposed. What do think of the Tested in the Sunshine video anyway? or impressed by the rig? let me know, love to hear from whoever reads this...stay happy..

2010 - The Arrival of LadyUmbrella

Hello LUFANS, this is just a short post to let you all know that we haven't forgotten about launching :) It has been a long time coming but finally we are happy with our ladies t-shirts and on the brink of launching. It has taken about 16 months to get LadyUmbrella to where it is now and we hope that the world will take kindly to our own brand of womens fashion.

Each of our t-shirts are 100% combed cotton and every aspect of them is created by the lady behind LadyUmbrella, Spanish designer, Elena Montes Casado. Everything, from the shape of the t-shirt, the neck label, the designs and our hang tags.

Each of our t-shirts customised hang tags will be signed, dated and numbered by Elena so that each t-shirt is truly unique to you. Not only that but all of our t-shirts will have free shipping worldwide and you can get a 10% discount by joining our facebook fanpage and leaving a comment letting us know which design of ours is your favourite..

We are really excited about launching and can't wait to start shipping our t-shirts all around the world. The long awaited arrival of LadyUmbrella t-shirts is almost upon us - which design is your favourite?...

Stay happy, LadyUmbrella..

How LadyUmbrella Comes to Life Video

Hello all..just a short blog post to herald the era of cinematic goodnes here at LadyUmbrella t-shirts. Some of you may recall that we recorded a movie a weeks ago which has been edited supremely to become "How LadyUmbrella Comes to Life".

The man in charge of the edits was the very capable, the Latvian Spielbert, Mr. Ivars Burtnieks. You can find more of his videos on his youtube page. We are most thankful for the time and effort he put into making our video and can only say good things about him. If you want a video made he is the man to get in touch with..

Anyway, without further ado I'll leave you with our movie - How LadyUmbrella Comes to Life - sincerely hope you enjoy and want to know what you think? You like the clouds in the background? Know all about us after watching it? Want a tee? Feeling happy?

A t-shirt photo shoot fairy tale pictorial..

Hello LUFANs, I apologise profusely for the lack of updates in the last weeks but I now have the pleasure of recounting the tale of the LadyUmbrella t-shirts photo shoot and showing you pictures that you won't be able to see anywhere else.

So lets kick off the update with the photo shoot. On Saturday 28th of November we enlisted the help of model Elaine O'Carroll, make up artist Ciara Thompson and camera man Darren Christie from Life in No Motion Photography to take some photos our beloved t-shirts.

After just 5 hours sleep an early start for me was remedied by 2 turbo boosted cups of coffee..the door bell rang three times as the team assembled in LUHQ to enter the room which we had "rigged" (I'm a big fan of describing the rigging efforts). We applied wrapping paper to the wall to create the backdrop. The room had to radically transformed to make space so the bed was put up on its side against the wall and used it as the accessory rack - the mattress was delicately wedged into place in a different corner of the room between wall and wardrobe. Another feat of engineering was our wind machine - Ciara doubled up and daintily jigged from zeyphr to gale and delighted the Beaufort scale fanning Elaine with a shoe box lid - golden. Hopefully the pictures depict the scene and check out Elaine wearing "LadyUmbrella is Friends with Sir David Attenborough" (yep, we have changed the name of the t-shirt to give proper kudos to the great man).


Darren snapped frantically and captured the magic as it unfolded. The whole day was an enjoyable one. A pizza break and lots of laughter with the lights.. The lighting providing a never ending muscle burning challenge to me as I tried to keep the illumination steady and constant whilst not laughing too hard at the fan machine in action. Sometimes I laughed too hard though.

A total of about 8 hours were spent in the room taking about 452 pictures not to mention the pictures Elena took. Time thankfully flew though and and we are very pleased with the results - check out Elaine rockin' "What Came First - the Chicken or LadyUmbrella". This blog post coincides nicely and announces the fact that we are now uploading the finished photos - firstly to the LadyUmbrella Facebook Fanpage and then to our website when we open our store doors (which, I can reveal, will be soon [and I know I've said that before but we hope to receive the t-shirts on Thursday - you heard it hear first sush])..

We have already uploaded two designs and will upload the remaining 4 in the next 4 days - check them out and let us know what you think..which design will be your favourite?

And so, the fairytale ends..lots more tales to recount to you though in the coming days so stay tuned and stay happy...