23 December 2012

Last minute gift? We've got it.

Need a last minute gift, we can help. 
Order a Ses Petites Mains gift card
we can email it to the lucky person --
no need to worry about shipping costs and belated packages.  


We can arrange a gift card in whatever denomination you need, too,
just email us with your needs if you don't see what you like in our store.

Merry Christmas from Ses Petites Mains!

**Shipping charges will be deducted from cost of order at time of processing,
you will pay only the value of card that you select.

21 December 2012

Let it Shine!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I cry a lot.  There are lots of tears of joy (I'm happy to add) and those due to overwhelming, sweet gestures or sentiment.  Just about every episode of "Modern Family" does it to me, too, you must simply ask my daughter how embarrasing that is!

Somehow, though, in the tremendous sadness and horror of last's weeks events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, tears just didn't come.  I refused to even allow myself to glance at the televised images, instead carefully scanning The New York Times for updates, but never dwelling too long.  It was truly more than my being could manage.

Then today, as I waited in line for my coffee, en route to the Winter Festival at my daughter's school, I read Wayne LaPierrer's comments about how we should provide armed guards at all of our children's schools, as a manner of keeping them safe.  Likening our children to banks & Tiffany windows.  Never once questioning whether there should be the guns in the first place.  Having a gun, and many of them, certainly didn't help Adam Lanza's mother, I must add.

I was taken aback by what seemed an absolute refusal to see any connection between the horrible ambush at Sandy Hook and our openly lax gun laws.  But still no tears, only unbelievable outrage that this is the 'big idea' that will ensure my child's, and all children's, safety--not to mention the safety of the rest of our community.

Later, as I sat and watched the final act of my daughter's Winter Festival--the darling kindergarten class (6 year olds, mind you) sang, "This Little Light of Mine".  And then, the week's grief was unleashed--tears came and came and didn't stop.  I cried for the 20 beautiful souls that weren't able to sing at their Winter Festival; and for the families that will never see their gorgeous, spirited children again.  I cried for the parents who had to imagine what their child's final moment was like--the terror of it all.  I cried for the teachers, who so bravely gave their own lives to protect the sweet, little school children who were hiding in cabinets and closets and in other unimaginable places.

Our wonderful Head of School reminded all of us that "This Little Light of Mine" was borne out of the Civil Rights Movement, when people had to push against huge barriers to overcome injustice, and not lose faith, even when situations seemed utterly bleak.

What better song to sing, to remember those that we lost, and to help remind us to battle against this huge barrier, to push for reason & safety.  And to not stop pushing until we get it.

Ironic, that this all happened on the shortest, darkest day of the year--the Winter Solstice.  I'm hopeful, that as the days lengthen & the sun shines longer, that these little lights will shine & lead the way for us all.

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine...in their honor.

- Charlotte Bacon
- Daniel Barden
- Rachel Davino
- Olivia Engel
- Josephine Gay
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene
- Dylan Hockley
- Dawn Hochsprung
- Madeleine F. Hsu
- Catherine V. Hubbard
- Chase Kowalski
- Jesse Lewis
- James Mattioli
- Grace McDonnell
- Anne Marie Murphy
- Emilie Parker
- Jack Pinto
- Noah Pozner
- Caroline Previdi
- Jessica Rekos
- Avielle Richman
- Lauren Rousseau
- Mary Sherlach
- Victoria Soto
- Benjamin Wheeler
- Allison N. Wyatt

Happy Winter Solstice!

What to do on the shortest day of the year? 
We love to revel in the darkness--light a lantern and walk along a path.   
And remind ourselves, of the beautiful pattern of nature--that heads us into winter,
at the very same time that the days begin to lengthen. 

Living in San Francisco, Winter Solstice seems less significant than what I remember as a
child growing up in the Midwest.  The cold & dark Chicago Winter needed these punctuations of time, to help us gear up for what was ahead.

Now, with our extremes of our Winter being rain & wind, its less of a hardship,
but still beautiful to recall.

 And, my daughter, being the San Francisco creature that she is, adores
the fog & dark & damp.  So she is actually sad to learn that the longer days
and hope of Spring are now on the horizon. 

Oh, how things change.   And that is the beauty of the Solstice.

20 December 2012

in my neighborhood, storefronts on Valencia Street


Walking to my studio, after I dropped my daughter at school this morning,
I had the delight of discovering this holiday storefront...

...a wonderful shop making the most of a stack of books and twine.  
Wouldn't you agree?



If a tree of books isn't on your wish list,
you should still check out
Accident & Artifact

They are quite genius at finding just
that right objet --
either rare, vintage
or one-of-a-kind.  

If you're in my neighborhood,
you should visit them--
381 Valencia Street 
San Francisco, CA 94103

Enjoy this holiday greeting, we are mad for it!


The Baa Studs, Extreme Shepharding...
and you thought Shawn the Sheep was cool?!

Happy Holidays from Ses Petites Mains!

Gertrude is everywhere & we love her!

Imagine how Gertrude's circle skirt twirled as she rode
the revolving door, at least 20 times! 
It was as though we were seeing dots--oh, we were!

Gertrude couldn't be sweeter & we love her!

19 December 2012

The real Must-Have--Joy.

Joy.  Peace & Love too, from Ses Petites Mains!

We love our fans!



We loved seeing our happy customer
in her Gertrude dress of chiffon dots;
worn with her Bespoke, Ella Jacket in Stitch Silk. 

She's couldn't be more ready
for the special occasion,
to which she was headed!

Thanks for sharing,
your gift card is on its way!

Contact boutique@sespetitesmains.com
if you need help with special occasion.

18 December 2012

Happy Holidays!


Must-haves and now even more so, save 25%, today only!

Shop Ses Petites Mains' Must-Haves Collection, TODAY ONLY, and save 25%.
Get your Must-Have pieces,  just in time for the holidays--
to leave under the tree or for the party around the tree.


Enter 'musthaves' at checkout.
Email boutique@sespetitesmains.com with any questions.
Offer good, all day 12/18/12


17 December 2012

We love our fans




Our inbox was a little bit sweeter today, due to this photo...this beautiful wedding attendant wore our
Cecelia dress, in floral embroidery with tissue silk tie, from our Bespoke Collection.  

A Junior Bridesmaid extraordinaire, I say!

Thanks for sharing.


Ses Petites Mains stars in the month of May!

Thanks See Kai Run, for making us part of May...
our Audrey Skirt is perfect with your Penelope sandal!

See our full Press page here...

13 December 2012

On the 13th day of Christmas...

...I left a chocolate peppermint cup in my daughter's Advent calendar. 
She surprised me with this beautiful draping of a jumpsuit that
I discovered when I got to my studio this morning. 


A gift, only a mother like myself, could love!

Happy Holidays & may your days be full
of all that makes you smile.

December in San Francisco

Our tie-dye Christmas cookie -- Jerry Garcia would be proud

12 December 2012

December in San Francisco


Photos, clockwise from top left--
City Hall, in lights of the season;
the War Memorial Opera House, home of SF Ballet's Nutcracker;
the stage awaiting the opening scene;
a ticket stub;
& the profile of one, very excited, Nutcracker fan.

11 December 2012

Happy Holidays from Ses Petites Mains

  As our gift to you, please use our shopping code 
 'happyholidays' at our tiny chic boutique &
save 20% on all your purchases.

We will even ship them for FREE!**


Shop www.sespetitesmains.com
girls clothing sizes 12mo - 16 years,
happily made in San Francisco

offer expires Friday, December 14, 2012.
**shipping deducted at time of purchase

10 December 2012

the Magical Bridge Fundraiser

Ses Petites Mains was thrilled to take part in the holiday fundraiser for
Palo Alto's Magical Bridge Playground
, the nation’s first, fully-inclusive
public playground designed specifically for the disabled.   

Ses Petites Mains, along with other Bay Area designers, including
Wati Designs
Shawn Burke Bags, & Angelacasa Designs were on-hand
to sell their unique product and offer a portion of the proceeds to help fund the project.   

(from left to right), me, Wati Grossman & Shawn Burke
 
It was an inspiring day--and one that raised more than $12,000. 
Thanks goes out to Jill Asher, who offered her home, as the boutique &
to Olenka Villarreal, who has been a driving force behind the project.
ses petites mains' Ella jacket & Zelda dress,
accompanied by Angelacasa's beautiful
handwoven Columbian jewelry. 
Adds just the right whimsy to our pieces,
wouldn't you agree?!

tiny chic jewels, ready to ship

We just received a great big, colorful shipment of tiny cord necklaces,
ready to ship, just in time for the holidays.  

See our collection of jewels, tiny & chic and customize-able,
at our tiny chic boutique. 
Most pieces are ready to ship, the same day
(i.e. perfect for last-minute gifts!)

Trunkshow moved to online!

We had to postpone our Holiday Trunkshow,
originally planned for December 11, 2012
at Caitlin Pardo de Zela's Noe Valley home. 

We will get back to you with an alternate date in the New Year. 
As our gift to you, please use our shopping code 
 'happyholidays' at our tiny chic boutique &
save 20% on all your purchases. 
We will even ship them for FREE!**

Shop www.sespetitesmains.com
girls clothing sizes 12mo - 16 years,
happily made in San Francisco
offer expires Thursday, December 13, 2012.
**shipping deducted at time of purchase

05 December 2012

Our Holiday Benefit Trunkshow, Friday December 7

We are looking forward to the benefit trunkshow for
the Magical Bridge Playground,  on Friday December 7. 

And just look at this wonderful assortment of designs that will
be ready for the taking.

See full details about where & when here...

A bit of holiday cheer, in such a cheerful way!

So much to love about this--cute kids, sweet instruments &
the playful attitude of all involved. 
Enjoy
I just wish Mariah had called me about her dress!  C'est la vie.


04 December 2012

Dots of Joy!

 

Back to school

Last week, I took a brief break from our holiday 2012 sales &
spring 2013 prep to dash over to the California College of the Arts (CCA). 
I had been invited, as an industry professional,
to take part in their formal critique of the senior level students' thesis collections.

The whole experience made me think back to my NYC days--I had known the incredible experience of having been mentored by exceptional design talent
while I was studying at FIT.
My eagerness to figure out how design rooms operated,
translated into my non-stop apprenticing.  From couture studios in Soho,
to mass-market lingerie workrooms in Midtown, to tiny, independent design studios
near Wall Street--I finished my course at FIT with a
varied perspective that only the real world could have provided.

So, I was thrilled when Amy Williams,
CCA's Chair of the
Fashion Design Department, asked me to
take part in their critique.
It was my way of giving back to an industry that has given me so much. 

As the rain poured down outside, I, along with other CCA staff & industry folk, sat in CCA's beautiful Portrero gallery and took in the students' presentations--mood boards, garment sketches, flats, draped muslins and lots of thoughtful discussion.  It was great to see so much variety & inspiration in the students' work.  And as comments were made, it was impressive, and telling, to see how each student could manage the critique. 

All in all, I shared in the students' excitement at what they had started and felt a pang of tension realizing just how much work they still had to put into their projects.  It's exactly what makes me love this process while still feeling humbled by it, all these years later.

Good luck to the whole bunch, as they now get ready for their big May show!

Bonne chance!

A gift to you, from ses petites mains -- ends today!

Today is the last day to shop & get our gift of an intial charm cord necklace... 

Shop our tiny chic boutique and with each
$100 purchase you make, you can select a sweet
initial charm cord necklace--the perfect gift for your tiny chic someone!

Simply enter code "charm" at checkout. 
Offer good through December 4, 2012.
 Happy Holidays from ses petites mains tiny chic clothing.

03 December 2012

longing for something

Looking for a little inspiration & slightly wistful for the warmth, after all this rain...maybe I'm dreaming of a new long board for Christmas, too.  Take a peek...
Kassia Meador & Mikey DeTemple - Farewell to Summer from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.

holiday trunkshow updates!

Here are some more details for ses petites mains' holiday shopping events--

Join us Friday, December 7, 2012 in Palo Alto
8:30am - 1:30pm
775 Hamilton Avenue, in Palo Alto, corner of Hamilton and Guinda

A shopping event to benefit the first, public park in
the Bay Area that will be fully accessible to the disabled. 
ses petites mains will be in good company, sharing the space with beautiful product
from our good friends at Wati Designs, Shawn Burke Bags & and others!
415.533.1695 for more details  

----------------------------------

Tuesday, December 11, 2012
9:30am - 12pm
1119 Castro Street at Elizabeth Street, in San Francisco
hosted by Caitlin Pardo de Zela

Join us for a fun morning of drinks, snacks & great shopping.
Deals on ses petites mains apparel &  our tiny chic jewels, as well
as, select items from Bobinette, for boys.  
Enter a raflle for a gift card to www.sespetitesmains.com, no purchase necessary. 

Email us at contact@sespetitesmains.com with any questions,
or for shopping codes, if you would like to attend but can't get there!

Happy Holidays from ses petites mains!
 

29 November 2012

Holiday Bespoke orders, out the door.




We are preparing to ship  this lovely Bespoke order, but thought we would give a sneak peek first.  

Our Ella jacket in the beautiful black stitch silk, with chiffon dots trim.  The perfect something to throw on over the Gertrude dress in cherry dots (remember that trim?).

Let us help you get ready for your special holiday occasions, email us at boutique@sespetitesmains.com

Gifts of the season--& a giveaway


We just added a new Pinterest board
of our favorite ses petites mains holiday gifts.
We'd love it if you followed us!

And feel free to leave a comment & tell us which
ses petites mains' piece is your favorite holiday style.
We'll choose a name at random to
receive a $30 gift card to ses petites mains.

28 November 2012

Reclaim your gift card!




To all those who have received a
ses petites mains' gift card
& have yet to redeem your value,
please contact us at boutique@sespetitesmains. We will, happily, reissue you a new card, for use in our new tiny chic boutique.

Yosemite in all its colors & textures


We had to share this fun collage, featuring the unbelievable beauty of Yosemite.  

My daughter, in her vividly colored wool, skipping along, surrounded by
the sunlit Half Dome;
the Ponderosa Pine puzzle-like bark;
& the striated rock walls of Vernal Falls.  

Truly inspiring.

I'm going to hold onto all these images and
find a few tiny chic interpretations. 
Stay tuned.


Holiday trunkshow lineup




Its beginning to look a lot like the holidays,
with trunkshows all around. 
And we hope to see you at one or all! 

See a complete listing of our upcoming
trunkshows here...

Feel free to email us with any questions.

Happy Holidays from ses petites mains.

27 November 2012

holiday shopping at ses petites mains



cord necklaces in time for the holidays



 
Eiffel Towers, flowers (or fleurs, whichever you like), peace signs & initial charms--whatever inspires you, we'll string it on a brightly colored cord and ship it in time to go under the tree.

Order yours by Wednesday,
November 28 & you'll save 20%. 

See our entire collection of cord necklaces at
our tiny chic boutique.

Enter 'thanks' at checkout for savings.

26 November 2012

Its Cyber Monday but we're still thankful!

Thanksgiving has, somehow, come and gone already.  
And today, as Cyber Monday speeds by, I'm still thinking about all for which I'm thankful.

We were lucky enough to spend some of the holiday at Yosemite National Park.  But not before we cooked & baked and toasted good friends & family.  Tiny felted owls, courtesy of my daughter, decorated the tables, while others polished the silver & still others kept close watch over 'the bird'.

I had the rather pleasant job of desserts, which always seems like a bit of an easy feat.  
They don't have to be timed & served to temperature, which alleviates a great deal of pressure.  
But they do have to be delicious and beautiful and push guests, to push their own limits, 
as to just how much the palate & waist can stand!  The empty pie tins seemed to hint at success.

Yosemite Falls
Table cleared, felted owls & silver, carefully put away, we packed the car & headed to Yosemite.  The heated canvas tent of Curry Village was in sharp contrast to all the lovely trappings of the day before.  
But the simplicity of our accommodations was overwhelmed by the grandeur of our surroundings.  
We hiked to the top of falls; 
marvelled at the site of El Capitan; 
and ice skated for hours under Half-Dome, 
a full moon and a star-filled sky.

Surrounded by those that I love, 
in such a breathtaking space, 
it was hard to not feel 
overwhelmed by thankfulness.  

Now back to work with our new website and the holiday season kicking into full gear, 
I'm reminded of how thankful I am 
to be able to do the work that I love 
and have the opportunity to share it all 
with so many lovely clients.

And for that, I thank you.

20 November 2012

We have a new website...

...and we'd love it if you dropped by to take a look.  
And use our code 'thanks' to save 20% 
on ALL ses petites mains purchases, through this weekend.


feel free to leave us a comment with your thoughts, too.  
We also love to hear from our customers!

14 November 2012

Our Holiday Trunkshow

We had a great time at our Holiday Trunkshow, last week.  
Stacy Achuck hosted the event at her beautiful home and 
invited Mill Valley's The Store 
& Zin Hefer from Stella & Dot, to also partake.


We brought along our Off-the-Rack Collection of holiday dresses & 
our Bespoke Collection, where customers were able to create their own dresses 
with the colors & fabrics of their choosing.

We couldn't resist sharing these photos, of one of our favorite customers.  
She wears her ses petites mains' Lainey dress & Peony Blossom, oh so beautifully. 
 Looks like she is ready for the holidays.



 If you need help getting ready for the holidays--just contact us, we are happy to help!

12 November 2012

Veterans' Day





Remembering our Veterans today and their enormous sacrifice.  
With a red poppy & the beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson, which reminds of their true sacrifice and the delicate balance of 'victory'.  
You are not forgotten.
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory

As he defeated--dying--
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear! 


07 November 2012

Our Holiday Trunkshow


In the Bay Area?  Then join us for a lovely evening of shopping & catching up.  
Order your Bespoke dress, in time for the holidays, or one of our great dresses, in stock.

Email us at boutique@sespetitesmains.com for more details.

Here's to tiny chic first holidays!

perfect for your little one's first holiday--or 2nd!


Currently in stock at our tiny chic boutique.  
in 12mo, 18mo & 2t (amethyst only).  

For larger sizes or additional colors, order yours in Bespoke -- 
 email us with questions.

05 November 2012

dresses for the season

Cecelia dress in floral embroidery

Shop our tiny chic boutique to find your perfect dress.
Free shipping on orders of $100--discount applied at time of ship.


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