Chinese Dress Sale

Only $12.99 - good news and bad. I went through my inventory today and surprise! I had a few pants and dress sets that were not what I thought they were.

Girl's Red Traditional Chinese QiPao Dress/Pants Set w/o zipper

List Price: $29.99 Our Price: $12.99 You Save $17.00!

Girl's beautiful red traditional Chinese dress pant set. This style was the traditional Chinese clothing worn during the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). This elegance red Chinese dress/pant set will transform your little girl to a beautiful and elegant Chinese Without zipper.

Girl's Pink Traditional Chinese QiPao Dress/Pants Set

List Price: $29.99 Our Price: $12.99 You Save $17.00!

Girl's beautiful Pink traditional Chinese dress pant set. This style was the traditional Chinese clothing worn during the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). This elegance red Chinese dress/pant set will transform your little girl to a beautiful and elegant Chinese princess! No Zipper!

				Girl's Purple Traditional Chinese Dress/Pants Set
				List Price: $39.99 Our Price: $12.99 Sale Price: $12.99 You Save $27.00!
				Girl's beautiful purple traditional Chinese dress pant set. Uses Frog Knots and snaps on top (NO ZIPPER). Sizes 12, 14, and 16

My QiPao Challenge

There was a miscount in my inventory, and of course a customer ordered the size that I was out of! Beautiful QiPao Chinese Girl's Dress and so I called my supplier to get some more, and yesterday they said they were moving. No answer today so I went to downtown to their location and managed to get one. I get back, and of course there is a new order that I am also missing the dress!

I guess I will be counting inventory tomorrow!

California Earthquake - business as usual

'Jaded' Californians see quakes as part of life - yep, that's us! 5.6 Magnitude

Minor shaking, checked to make sure my documents were saved, and kept on working. I stopped by my home at lunch to check nothing had been broken. Cell Phone network was overwhelmed for a while (everyone calling to see if their family and friends were OK).

Blogging and getting the right format

My favorite, and only daughter, just gave me a new template. Unfortunately since she's busy with studying to get ready for next year, she did not have time to do some final touches. So I was trying to do that working on adding in things that were missing (like a title, couple of old posts, width was not right, etc.), and I gave up on that and thought why not try to edit my existing template. Looks like the colors are done using gifs as a background color. Anyway, it's not going to happen tonight.

Snaps Vs. Zippers Vs. Frog Knots

Traditionally Chinese Girl's QiPao Dresses and Vietnamese Girl's Ao Dai's Dressess used knots, usually frog knots. In ones you buy, I have seen some with knots, snaps, and of course the traditional Frog Knots. I like the zippers, they make it so much easier to take on and off. Snaps, I feel they ruin the look a little of the dress. Frog Knots look nice, but they are challenging to put on.

Comicon

Tomorrow my husband and only daughter are going to Comicon in San Diego. I am not sure what it is, besides I would rather stay home. I am sure I will get a full report when they get home.

Girl's Dress Photography Challenges! What a Day!

I had a couple of orphan girl's dresses that I had no pictures for. Orphan Dresses are those that I will not be getting in the future and I only have a couple, may be only one dress left so I put them in my girl's dresses clearance section. So I was taking pictures of 7 dresses including front, back, waist, bow, details, etc. So I went to the computer to upload the pictures, and something happens to the memory chip! I then go to download a computer utility to save the file, but it won't unless I register it. So I look back and see, sponsored search results. So then I download another one and that does not work! So I am about to start pulling my hair because of all the time I will lose. So then I go shopping to buy a new memory card along with a few other things- the danger of going shopping...

Then today, I thought why not, and I contacted the memory vendor to see if I can return and get an exchange under the warranty. It's looking pretty good right now, they paid for the return postage and I just dropped it off at FedEx today. Wow on the customer service! The company is Kingston that I have heard good things about. A former co-workers daughter worked there and loved being there.

Slips - Are the disappearing?

Pardon Me, Your Slip Is Not Showing from the WSJ about how slips are disappearing and getting pretty hard to find. It's on my to do list to track down a slip supplier, since they make my girl's dresses look so nice and fluffy.

Customer Feedback - Why so hard to get

I just found an embarrassing error today on my site, www.elitedresses.com that has been there about two months, and nobody mentioned to me!

I appreciate customer feedback so much, so if you see something not right please let me know!

Size 14 Girl's Dress Day

Today was the day for selling size 14 girl's dresses. It could be related to the minor error I fixed where size 14 accidentally got deleted for a while, but that was a while ago. It's amazing how complicated this E-Commerce thing is! And I just found another error. Some days it feels like all I do are clean up and organizing. The good thing is it makes the next day so much easier when everything is organized!

Live Chat - It actually works!

The live chat is about half way down the page on the right, and it does work. Since my hubby is online way to much of the time, you will probably get him. He chatted with two customers tonight. His goal was to catch up a bit, Mondays are like that, but chatting with a customer always has higher priority!

18 Coloring Pictures are up!

New coloring pictures are up! Lots of cute pictures of girls in dresses.

So which is my favorite?

This one still, it captures the dress so perfectly:


It's a hard choice, because they are all so cute.

Top 100 China Adoption Related Sites

Top 100 China Adoption Related Sites now has a link to EliteDresses.com I should have put a direct link to Chinese QiPao Cheungsam Girl's Dresses and Vietnamese Girl's Dresses - Ao Dai Cuoi

Saving Gas with shopping Online!

This sounds hopeful and makes a lot of sense - To Save Gas, Shoppers Stay Home and Click I have found it takes a lot of visits to many stores to find the right Girl's Dress, and with the price of gas so high shopping online makes sense. Especially with free shipping that I now offer.

Summer - What to do for Academics

Summer is here, and another week and my daughter finishes her Summer School?

So what can I do to make sure my daughter stays on track? My goal is for her to practice piano, do some Math, and watch some educational video's I bought for her. What I have asked her to do is a daily time sheet so she can see where her time is going.

Free Shipping for orders above $85

Starting today, I am offering free shipping for orders shipped within the US of $85 and above for Girl's Dresses. Shipping will be done via Priority Mail.

Chinese Girl's Flower Girl Dress

A customer ordered a Chinese Girl's Dress today and I assume it was as a Flower Girl Dress. What a nice idea! Another customer had ordered a Vietnamese Girl's Dress a while ago also as use as a Flower Girl's dress.

Too many weddings, not enough dresses

Too many weddings, not enough dresses - I understand this issue. My husband does not! Some good advice - "You never want to look like you're going to a bar or a lounge.

Girl's Piano and Concert Dresses

I visited the Museum of Making Music and I thought about what a young lady should wear for a piano recital or concert. My experience with with piano recitals, orchestra concerts (cello), and vocal concerts (choir). For them all I recommend a girl's formal dress, a longer one. The colors depend on the season, but the burgundy girl's dress is just a favorite of mine.

The museum was interesting and was mostly about American made Pianos. I did not realize that the 36" Spindle piano was developed because people had smaller houses during the 30's and 40's, and this replaced due to cost the traditional 50" upright piano. The museum had a Yamaha Concert Piano (may be a C7), that was actually a desk! You could not tell till you got next to it and noticed it was only half a piano. There was a Kawai Grand Piano that had a clear top. There was also a Pearl River Grand piano with a clear top that had been auctioned for only $10K. Pearl River is a Chinese brand, that has been improving. There was also a Chickering, which is a brand we almost bought. And of course there was a couple of Steinway Piano's. My major complaint against the museum is all the Piano's said please do not play! It would have been nice if the had a Steinway Piano that could be played. If they had a Bösendorfer Piano (wonderful piano, but the cost...) for playing that would be nice. But since it's American made (mostly), the museum would not (which does not explain the Kawai, Yamaha, and Pearl River Piano's).

Originally my daughter started playing on an upright, a Steinway and Son that is a good value for what it is. Then her piano teacher said she was good enough that she needed a Grand Piano to progress to the next level. So like a good parent, we then went on the great piano hunt and found out about Pearl River, in house brands, Piano's made in China with actions from Germany or England, Piano's that are only assemble in China, Grey market Yamaha, Grey Market Kawai, older pianos such as Chickering, and of course Bosendorfer. It was very education and we met some nice people, and people who were not so straight selling piano's. We finally bought Kawai Grand Piano that takes up most of our living room and it sounds wonderful! Only headache is we still need to sell the Schafer & Son Upright Piano.

Dress Up Little Girl Advertisement

I saw a cut advertisement today, that said dress your self up, and had a picture of three little girls in formal girl's dresses with crown's on their heads. It was a very cute picture.

Initially when I saw it, I thought it was advertising a modeling school for little girls. Using the headline dress up with the pictures of little girls. No, it was actually advertising a beauty/cosmetology school that was not for little girls. Such a cute picture, that had little to do with what it actually advertised.

Customer Service - Being Fair

It's a balance that I try to error on the side of the customer. The idea that the customer is always right is important, but sometimes it's challenging. Since I reduced my shipping charges for girl's dresses I am not getting the calls and E-Mails asking for a lower shipping amount, I am getting praise for having low shipping rates. That looks like it was the right move. I had one customer ask for a 50% discount on a girl's dress that is already in clearance, I explained that would not be fair to me because I would lose money. They then went down to 15%.

I have exchanged so many E-Mails with this customer, and they still have not bought the one dress they are interested in. It's important in my opinion to have great customer service, but 13 E-Mails so far about a $19.95 purchase is a bit much.

Picking the right girl's Dress

Picking the right girl's dress can be challenging. Especially with a second opinion... Yes, that cute little Princess is often a bit opinionated about what they will be wearing! And this can cause just a few headaches for the poor Mom shopping for her daughter, no matter what the age.

So what is a poor mom to do? If they are old enough, let them doing the searching for the perfect little Princess girl's dresswith a set of guidelines. That way Mom just needs to do the final approval and payment! Or Mom can come up with a couple selections and pass it by your little Princess. Choosing the right girl's dress that everyone agrees on can take a while. And if it's for a wedding or a color coordinated event, this adds even more complexity to it. And if it's for a group of kids, then I suggest a parent makes the decision. Of course it helps to pass it by the other parents, I still a little bit unhappy about a group my daughter belonged to that bought dresses that were not appropriate and I had to pay for! Good thing was the following year they bought new dresses that were so much better.

Dresses and Books

My husband runs another site the sells Learning Chinese children books and I have noticed there seems to be a difference between buying a girl's dress and a book. Buyers are much more careful about buying a girl's dress than books. May be because it's worn, the fear of returns over the Internet, or ? I am not sure. I do have a 100% dress guarantee.

The Techno Savvy of 10 Year olds

I was E-Mailing today back and forth with a customer about what girl's dress would be best for them, and I just found she is 10 years old. Wow! I had no idea. It came up because they had placed an order via Paypal and her Mother needs to finish the transaction.

Orphan Dresses - Moving Quickly!

It's nice my orphan dresses are selling pretty quickly. orphan dresses are ones that are in clearance section and there are only a few sizes available, and have been marked down to really good prices. I just sold a cute yellow one today (last one of that style!) for only $14.99, should be $24.99.

I have a couple of other girl's dresses I need to put up. It's a bit of work to add girl's dresses to my site. Take the pictures, write the description, and take the measurements. I bought them before I understood how much work it was to add one dress to my site. But they are so cute! Now I only buy things I get more than one of, and can get more of.

I am full of admiration for people who do this all the time on eBay to sell one item. Wow!

Wonderful Customer Letters!

Two E-Mails I received from customers today! Thanks so much for sending them, they really made my day!

hi there, i purchased a beautiful white dress from you and it was perfect, my daughter looked like a little princess in it and she was chuffed to bits she had comments about it all night. so thank you very much. I have taken some pictures but they were on someone elses camera so as soon as i get time i will email them over to you. i will be recommending you to all my friends as you gave such a great service with fab results.

Tina from the UK
Girl's beautiful White Organza and Satin formal dress with lace and pearl details

Hi. I just received my order of a purple traditional pants set for my daughter today. It's beautiful! I ordered it because my daughter is in a Chinese Immersion program at school (she will be in 1st grade in the fall). They celebrate Chinese New Year with a big program where all the immersion students do a Chinese dance in front of the whole school, and we are encouraged to dress our children in traditional Chinese costumes. I am so glad I found you site, and found these wonderful outfits that are not expensive, yet made with such high quality workmanship. I have looked around at local shops that sell Chinese outfits for much more, and was pleased when I found your shop that had the same outfits for half the price! I bought an outfit last year, and was very pleased with it. I will be sure to come to your site every time I have a need for a Chinese outfit, and I will be sure to tell the parents of the students in my daughter's class where to find beautiful Chinese clothes. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Mary Anne

Wedding Coloring Pictures

I am thinking about doing more Coloring Pictures | Wedding with an emphasis on weddings. I need to look at my logs to see how many downloads of theColoring Pictures for Wedding there have already been. Each picture would need to have cute flower girl's dress in it.

Suggestions are appreciated on what I should add!

Fancy Dresses that are proper

Texas Ranch Moves From Raid Toward Runway per the New York Times. We live in an amazing country!

At least they offer long sleeve dressses, I have had the hardest time finding them. All of my girl's formal dresses are short sleeve currently.

Red, White, and Blue

Happy Fourth of July!

• Red - A girl's Burgundy Dress is close
• White - Many girl's dresses in White. This one on clearance is wonderful - Girl's beautiful White Organza and Satin formal dress with lace and pearl details
• Blue - This is a nice blue girl's dress

At the Smithsonian, they have the flag that flew over Fort McHenry. And in Georgetown, where we stayed, they have nice, small monument to Francis Scott Key who wrote the Star Spangled Banner. My family enjoyed visiting Washington DC and seeing all the monuments, especially my husband with his trusted guidebooks and interest in history. His first time there. Visiting the US capital is a great way to see what the US is, and your local congress person's office can be of great help. Congressman Gary Miller's office did a great job helping arrange our trip.

Dressy Dress Girl's Definition

Dressy Dress - what does that Mean?

Dressy means per dressy per Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary means a formal dress, as in a dressy affair. One that is smart looking. Another definition is Showy or elegant in dress or appearance.

So a dressy dress is a dress that is more formal than a regular girl's dress. I have seen a few customers who are using this term when looking for dresses for their little princes. Often for Flower Girl Dresses, but sometimes for girl's party dresses and girl's holiday dresses where a dressy dress is needed.

Another word and phrase, dressy dress, I will need to add to my dress definitions terms page.

10 Suggestions - No - I won't wear that dress

The Positive Power of "No" about how it's a good sign when a 2 year old refuse wear a Flower Girl Dress. The article never does say how to get past this, basically saying it's normal for 2 year olds to try to get some power by doing this.

Situation:
Unhappy kid, out of their normal environment surrounded by lots of strange people. May be missed her afternoon nap. Assume no practice was done.

10 Suggestions

1. Make sure your kid has something to do fun, such as a coloring book. Here are some cute wedding related pictures for coloring.
2. Make sure your little princess gets her beauty sleep. This could even be taking a nap in a car outside the church.
3. Lots of practices so the flower girl is used to her role.
4. Read tips Choosing a Flower Girl, Flower Girl Responsibilities, Flower Girl Tips and Ettiquette for Flower Girls. Read them to your daughter and answer any questions.
5. You can try the power play. Wear this or else... You may get a crying flower girl which is not great.
6. Give them a choice, they can wear what they want but then people will laugh at her, or the dress that everyone will say wonderful things about. Reverse psychology.
7. Have your daughter participate in the decision on which dress to wear (gently guided) and promise to wear it. This way you can use the you promised.
8. Have a person she respects, such as the bride say how beautiful the flower girl looks in the dress.
9. Have the a person she respects/idolizes such as the bride say how much it means to wear that dress.
10. Explain to the Flower Girl how she will be acting like all the other big girls by wearing the dress, and doesn't she want to act like a big girl and not a baby? Bit of psychology that can be used at this age. Later they figure this one out. Kids are amazing smart!

Coloring Pictures are finally here!

Update! I got three wonderful coloring pictures done! They are wonderfully done!

It took a while and getting them so they matched what I sold took a little work, but I am very happy with the results!

Now the question is should I do more?