CK Bradley

Costuming

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 17:20:00 +0000

I find myself in a Super Hero cape running around the house pretty often these days chasing my 2 and 4 year old boys who are, in turn, running around as Super Heroes, Knights, Cowboys, Bandits, Lego Smugglers, Storm Troopers, or anything else that has caught their imagination that day. And now October rolls around and you tell me there is only 1 day a year we are supposed to dress up?

Well, I'll dress up for Halloween, and all the days inbetween.

I'll dress up to meet a real life cowboy somewhere in rural Virginia...

To get gas in NYC...

To get coffee with a friend...

For an afternoon Stroll with the family,

For Sunday Funday,

For Castle Building,

For Lawn Mowing,

And Door Sitting.

-Dress Up and Go Out Bradley

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 05:30:00 +0000

We have moved to beautiful Marblehead...and good old Gurdy (my first child, the Land Cruiser) LOVES her beach access, Jack loves his new friends, Boe is still heads up looking at a sea of Pom Pom's, and I am inspired by my new surroundings. Thank you Marblehead!

-One Hat at a Time, Bradley.

Quest Magazine: Mountain Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 06:00:00 +0000

Quest Mag's Latest Issue...An Apres Wedding with Pom Pom's Galore

See the other fabulous weddings (besides my DREAM wedding on the cover)

click here.

-I Love Skiing AND Ballgowns, Bradley.

Pom Poms ON!

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 15:25:00 +0000

Pom Poms are a family affair....

-Can't Have Enough Boys in my Life, Bradley

The 'Chic' Accessory: The Scarf

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 21:41:00 +0000

Here are some pictures of my Mom from the '60's and '70's...the inspiration for so much of what I create. And often the instigator to bring something back. It's time girls. It's time for the scarf to make headlines again...scroll down to see the latest CK Bradley accessory: the Scarf.

And as it so happens, we have just come out with 4 silk scarves at www.ckbradley.com for you to begin your love affair.

-I Love a Good Comeback, Bradley

Grape & Berry Pickin'

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:01:00 +0000

I didn't think I'd be 8 months pregnant climbing onto the hood of our old Willys Jeep to go grape picking...but then again, I didn't think we had a backyard LACED with concord grapes begging to be plucked and simmered and spread all over some yummy bread. SO climb and pluck I did...my very content grape tester Jack lent me his bucket, and before you know it, we had picked 20lbs of grapes.

Then we headed to Sweet Berry Farm for some raspberry picking so we could make some sort of raspberry/grape jam. When I get into something, I get INTO it. So we were on a fruit pickin' mission.

60 jars of raspberry/grape jam later, it was time to celebrate with something that wouldn't stain our lips red...

-Chasing Grapes and Berries, Bradley

"I DO"

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 21:50:00 +0000

For a girl who dreamed of eloping... two weddings is A LOT.

But my husband lured me in very tactfully. For our first set of nuptials he tempted me with...

snowmobiles,

a yurt with an aisle bordered by skis, and beautiful MONTANA.

Which of course got my head spinning with visions of Moon Boots, Pom Pom Hats, Apres Ski Suits, and best of all, a convertible Apres ski suit/wedding dress.

First I had to knit the Pom Pom hats...

Thankfully I had a very able helper-

The next project was to design the ski suit/dress: I started with the classic CK Bradley Apres 'Ski Boogie'... and added a wrap around ball skirt made of the same 'high tech' fabric.

Obviously I wanted a real wedding dress look, so going jacket-less was a fashion must.

(In the event you want to use parsley in your bouquet, as I was set on doing from age 5, use flat leaf parsley...the curly kind wilts FAST)

Then to outfit the flower girls in Moon Boots & CK Bradley Pom Pom Hats,

And get Jack the ring bearer settled in his sled.

Our guests arrived by ski lift, snowmobile & on skis

Lined up with daisies to reel me down the aisle...

And before I knew it, I said 'I DO'!!!

There were a lot of highlights...and many to thank, especially BC of the YC, but I can't say that arriving on a snowmobile wearing Moon Boots under a wrap around ball/ski skirt weren't high on the list.

Apres Ski Boogie Girls

Pom Pom Heaven

Oh...and lest I forget the men in KILTS! But that's for another day...

-One Down and One to Go, Bradley

Pom Poms and Bugles...

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 02:53:00 +0000

It's no secret I'm Pom Pom Hat obsessed...the only secret was that I thought I started the obsession...

But it appears my father may have had something to do with it....as I was 'pommed' at an early age

(and may have acquired a 2 stroke engine fetish back then too...)

Needless to say, I have bit of a Pom Pom stash...

And OH the stories these Poms can tell!

But now that I get to pass on my quiver of Poms to Jack, its time to spread the wealth...

(and time to teach little Jack to play reveille)

Check out our CK Bradley FB page to order a limited run of CK Bradley Pom Pom Hats for you and your wee ones.

or email me at ckbradley13@gmail.com

-May Your Pom Poms be Perky,
Bradley

Wedding - Newport Style

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 16:22:00 +0000

Newport is good at a lot of things...and weddings is one of them. I like to think I'm good at a few things too...and on that list is 'in the air' action shots AND the unexpected.

And by unexpected, I mean...down the aisle she walks in white...

And later on when the music is right, she flips her skirt to reveal a blue n' white surprise of navy grosgrain ribbon stripes...

Katy...you rocked it. Thanks for having ME make your dress and making it look SO GOOD.

Then we found a vintage chintz for the CK Bradley bridesmaids dresses

added some crazy socks from New and Lingwood to make the boys ensembles a little unexpected...

(the mini PACMAN on these socks will make the worth-chatting-up woman swoon)

And paid our respect to Charlie's Angels...

Thank you Maaike Bernstrom Photography

And Quest Magazine

To a life full of joy and happiness to our happy & dapper couple!

-Grosgrain Ribbon Runs Through my Veins,
Bradley

CK Bradley is Back...

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:54:00 +0000

Well, its about time. I know. And trust me - I have been traveling the globe, chasing snow, falling in love with everything from Lederhosen to Aspen, from my Bernese Mountain Dog to life back on the East Coast. And FINALLY, after a 3 year hiatus, I am ready to design dresses again. You won't have to take up skiing or follow me to the nearest mountain town anymore ...

I have worked with the MOST wonderful people over the past year, (thank you ALL!) and there will be surely many chapters of CK Bradley to come, but this is how the latest chapter was inspired:

First I did a lot of research.

(CKB Sonoma Dress)

I fell in LOVE with Lederhosen and Dirndls (thanks to you Jeffrey)

I spent 2 years making ski suits to infuse a side order of fun in ski towns all over,

(CKB Apres Hot Dog Bibs and Ski Boogie Jacket)

And of course on the slopes as well:)

I even called a 19' Airstream Bambi my home for a few months of a ski season

and LOVED it...

(CKB Apres Hot Dog Bibs)

I hung around the most dapper, interesting and wonderful men,

(Yusha Auchincloss and John Dalsheim here)

(CKB Coaching Gown)

I took Tula for weekly mud bath spa days,

I traveled to London for one fabulous Polo Match after the other,

and to see Olivia and her daughter Sophia (my god daughter)

(CKB Bamba Dress)

I delivered a lot of pizza to hungry Polo enthusiasts...

(CKB Cannonball Dress)

And finally came back home to Newport and started designing dresses again.

It took ALL that and more to get me here...

(CKB Dress with no name yet...)

So....my next venture?

And the unveiling will be at the Junior League in NYC, Dec 5-6th ONLY

11am-5pm and 6pm-10pm both days

130 East 80th St

Please email me ckbradley13@gmail.com

if you would like me to save a ticket for you.

I will let you know when the new www.ckbradley.com

website launches, and will post pricing and styles as soon as I have more to show!

-Sewing Furiously,
Bradley

Lobster and Wicker

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Summer to me means dances on the beach, salty sun kissed skin, seagulls circling to steal freshly cooked fries, mopeds and the sound and smell of a 2 stroke engine, old corked backgammon boards, fog horns, flowering privet, minty beachcombers, night swimming and LOBSTER.

So IF you have a friend with a willing house, take-your-breath-away view, enough curious turquoise wicker to transform the lawn into a worthy wicker-art exhibition,

Enough chairs and tables so that you only sit on someone's lap if you so choose...

A bar with the usual suspects,

Enough geraniums to make you swoon,

You should have a lobster dinner.

(not JUST because these summery treats are so darn cheap right now!)

Insert our willing host, organizer and dapper dresser, Robert REDD

Add some friends for the turquoise wicker...

And some fabulous legs to distract the boys...

Enough women to make your host willing to entertain again, and again, and AGAIN...

AND Lobster for all.

And if you weren't so distracted by the view, the wicker and the lobster, you might even catch a glimpse of this beauty - wicker, tassels and all.

-Inspiration for my Next Dress,
Bradley.

The Scottish are Coming...

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:30:00 +0000

I've been wearing a kilt since Moon Boots were hot the first time around.

Dad is a Mackenzie, Mom was a Monteith and a Kerr. I never really gave this much thought until a good friend mentioned he'd polled our friends, and 85% of us were Scottish. So what would you do if you found that out? HAVE A PARTY of course! (thank you JOHN...) And have it sponsored by CK Bradley with tartan accessories.

Ingredients for a Scottish Ceilidh:

(Ceilidh: a social gathering with Scottish folk music)

First you'll need a lot of tartan, preferably your own, for decorations.

Then an afternoon of sewing 101 to make decorations for the guests...

And another afternoon to make something to wrap yourself up in...

A barn or a tent or a field...

The CK Bradley Whomper to carry decorations for the empty barn, tent or field,

(flowers courtesy of the side of the road)

Tables to dress up to match your friends,

Enough silverware to wonder if you're seeing triple....

THEN ADD

A yellow school bus,

Men in kilts,

The dress you made in your kitchen out of a table cloth

A quiver of boys that know how to look THIS good and are fine with your less than perfect bow ties,

(Don't worry ladies..the man with the dangling bow tie does in fact know how to tie a bow tie)

A surprise Kilt Inspector,

And enough grass and stone wall to layer your guests for a group photo.

THEN SHAKE IT UP WITH...

A Scottish band and dancers to show you some moves from the land of bagpipes.

Yes, Wall Street Journal, it is official, THE SCOTTISH HAVE COME

to beautiful Mount Hope Farm, in Bristol, RI.

(John thank you for polling your friends...and organizing the party)

-I Like Men in Kilts,
Bradley.

From the Dress Archives

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:01:00 +0000

Yves St. Laurent said that '...what is important about the dress is the woman who is wearing it.' I agree, but sometimes it's the dress that takes on a life of it's own and transforms the woman. In fact, the yellow dress below did just that to me.

I was a freshman at Columbia and at a Black Tie affair at St. Anthony Hall. Everything was intimidating from the older girls clinking their champagne glasses to the boys sitting lazily on the dark green leather club chairs smoking cigars. I was in this yellow dress.

I was a girl who'd just left the womb of all girls boarding school until I zipped it up... and then miraculously...amid the sophisticated boning and layers of yellow chiffon, I became a woman. It took a couple compliments for the confidence to take hold - I know, it's strange, but don't you remember the first outfit that made you all of the sudden grown up?

While I was in the Newport warehouse getting inspired by dresses that have been handed down to me and collected for most of my life, I came across this one. Color's a bit dull, and it nearly disintegrated in my hand, but I will forever remember this dress for its lessons it gave me 'in attention to detail.'

This dress will never be worn again unless I'm looking to streak at a moments notice, but it reminds me that a dress may have many incarnations - from transforming a girl to a woman, or reminding a designer that its what's inside that counts.

-Awaiting my Next Transformation,
Bradley

Way Back When - New Zealand

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:21:00 +0000

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Dad always told me that mom was born in a hammock at the base of a beautiful waterfall somewhere outside of Auckland, New Zealand. I don’t know if that was true or not, nor can I imagine my grandmother, Mummy Lita, going through hours of labor pains in the late 1930’s prior to WWII, residing or resting in a hammock instead of a hospital bed, but Dad has a way of making things poetic…and everything about mom was poetic.

It was the depression of the 1930’s. Roosevelt was in office, Adolf Hitler was Chancellor in Germany, and my Grandfather, Grandpa Dick, was United Kingdom/Canada’s Commonwealth Commissioner of Trade stationed in New Zealand. He and Mummy Lita married in Winnipeg in the late ‘20’s and moved to the Netherlands for diplomatic duty following their union. Being an ambassador’s wife came with many perks…there were social engagements with the who’s who of the world, and diplomatic passports to whisk them through any airport, seaport or sticky scenario. (or so the stories go...)

L-R: Mummy Lita, Grandpa Dick and a Friend

at a Polo Match Abroad

Anyway, being a diplomat’s wife was quite a special life. Only downside, or upside depending on how you look at it, was there were never too many years in the same place.

Back then a lot of things weren’t talked about, marriages lasted lifetimes and hand written letters were the most common form of communication. In fact, if it wasn’t for these things, what happened next never would or could have happened.

Grandpa Dick couldn’t help but turn heads wherever he went. He was 6’5” with bright blue smiling eyes and something pertinent to say to anyone whether it be Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, (Hirohito’s son who Grandpa Dick taught how to play the net in tennis) or a waitress pouring coffee at a local diner. Surely his secretary Claire wasn’t blind to this – and Grandpa Dick charmed her to no end.

Crown Prince Akihito

(net game was considered a tad aggressive by the Japanese at the time)

Claire was a native Kiwi, happily married to her childhood sweetheart with one exception: her childhood sweetheart was sterile. Claire’s doctor had given her a couple options – she could adopt a child or ‘go on holiday’. That didn’t mean go on a trip, drink Bloody Mary’s, relax and forget about it…it meant get pregnant by a man other than your husband.

Claire wanted a child more than anything, and telling her husband he was the reason for no children would have been devastating to him and their marriage. So Claire and Grandpa Dick ‘shared a holiday’ and Claire soon delivered a boy named Thomas.

Upon hearing Claire was finally pregnant, her husband was ecstatic. I can’t image how Claire felt…a combination of joy and relief coupled with guilt knowing the child was not from her husband, but from my grandfather. There was also the dilemma that Grandpa Dick and Claire truly loved each other in addition to loving their spouses.

Grandpa Dick and Mummy Lita moved to Australia following a reassignment shortly after Claire gave birth to Thomas. Life went on as normal in both families. But even through life's twists and turns, ups and downs, one thing remained constant: Claire and Grandpa Dick wrote letters to each other for almost half a century.

Fast forward forty-five years: Claire’s husband has passed and she doesn’t have long to live. Thomas is now 45, with children of his own, and after all these years, his mother finally shares her secret with him.

Imagine finding out at 45 that dad is not your biological father!? Claire hands her son 45 years of love letters written by the name of a man whose name he’s never heard before…yet whose blood he shares.

Thomas boards a plane to Spain, which was where the most recent letter was postmarked, and sets out on a quest to meet his biological father.

When Thomas walked into Grandpa Dick’s room, there was no question as to who he was. They were spitting images of each other. Finally, after almost half a century, Grandpa Dick met the son he knew only by Claire’s decades of letters.

As if by design, my Grandfather died soon after his first encounter with his son, perhaps feeling free to move onto another realm now that his life was complete.

And now I have family in New Zealand.

-Life is Full of Surprises,
Bradley

Chicken in the Dishwasher....

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:20:00 +0000

I never really thought much about the stove in our cabin's kitchen, but when the movie Julie & Julia came out a few years ago, I thought a lot about it. Why didn't they call us? Maybe Julia Child didn't tell them? She probably had so many stoves in her lifetime that nobody was interested that one of her first Garland stoves is in our kitchen at home in Gardiner, NY.

I can't say that I was that interested either. Afterall, it was just a stove. And a HUGE cast iron one at that.

I remember watching the movie Julie and Julia, and awaiting the moment when Julia Child mentions one of my favorite Julia cooking tricks that my Dad used all the time. But it was never mentioned...in the movie that is. In real life however, on a sunny day in 1967, on the day Julia offered her old Garland stove to my Dad, she confided to my Dad and the great James Beard, one of her secrets for a moist turkey or chicken: Put it in the dishwasher.

I know... the dishwasher is not for chicken. But Julia went on to explain over lunch at Le Pavillon in NYC, that Americans just don't know how to prepare a proper turkey. In order for the skin not to separate from the meat, you tie the chicken up and place it in the dishwasher upside down on the Rinse & Hold cycle. (Obviously NO SOAP) What this does, is bring the bird up to temperature before putting it in a hot oven, which makes the hot oven less of a shock, and the bird retains much more of its' juices. Voila.

So later on that week, Dad drove his WV Bus up to Cambridge to pick up Julia's old Garland which she was replacing with a newer Garland that wouldn't rust as fast.

It soon became family tradition to put chicken or turkey in the dishwasher before the oven. And our chickens were the juiciest around!

Word spread pretty fast, and before you knew it, friends would come back from weekends with us and tell their parents how incredible the Bradley's chicken was. So...naturally, Moms wanted to know HOW did Mr. Bradley do it?

After a fancy dinner one night at the Museum of the City of New York, a couple at my Dad's table asked about his secret with chicken...and Dad happily went on, in his Julia Child accent, about her dishwasher trick. The wives at the tables listened speculatively.

A week or two later, Dad got a call from one of the husbands. "How dare you tell my wife to do such a silly thing with the chicken! We are being sued by our building for clogging the entire building's drainage system and have ruined our washing machine! It's going to cost us several thousand dollars because of you. My attorney will be in touch!"

Confused, my Dad asked: "Did you say washing machine?" Well, oops. There it was. His wife put her chicken in her washing machine, not the dishwasher. Not very logical...but that's coming from a girl who thinks it perfectly normal to put a chicken in the dishwasher and turtles in the bathtub. Needless to say, the husbands attorney apologized for his client, and no suit was filed.

Julia...thank you for the laughs and stories your chicken in the dishwasher secret inspired. And thank you also for letting me learn to cook on your old stove. It gets a bit rusty, but don't we all.

-I Like it Juicy,
Bradley.

Dad, Is it True?

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:08:00 +0000

Dad married Mom on the first day of Spring in 1965. Mom had no idea she was getting married. There was no engagement party, let alone ring. There was just a business trip to Miami where she tagged along with Dad and his partner, Hugh Auchincloss. There was however, a quick stop over in Sanibel Island to go sea shelling at dawn before meetings in Miami later on that day. It was in Sanibel at dawn that a minister came bounding out onto the beach and performed the ceremony, and Dad married Mom.

Mom and Dad Wedding Day, March 21st, 1966

Before the surprise nuptuals at dawn in Sanibel, Dad had courted Mom in NYC and escorted her to many a party...but ONLY during the week. Though he was quite taken with her, he was pretty convinced that his weekend escape routine was something that would make her run.

One day Mom asked where he went on the weekends. So she got the invite and a packing list. (blue jeans, sneakers, etc..)Dad would have bet she didn't own blue jeans, and the only sneakers she had were for tennis, but wanted to warn her is wasn't going to be a trip to Southampton or Litchfield.

So he picked her up on a Friday afternoon in his Mark VII Jag
(I have such an affection for cars...and thought a visual here was crucial considering what is to come)
And to his surprise, she was dressed perfectly for the weekend ahead...

Dad had decided to put this fancy girl to the test. They drove 2 hours out of NYC to what is now Minneswaska State Park, but was then a cabin on remote Awosting Lake, that was Dad's weekend retreat. They parked the Jag, loaded up groceries into woven basket packs and hiked for 45 minutes before arriving at Lake Awosting. THEN, they loaded up the canoe, and paddled across the lake to Dad's cabin (still actually there, but in severe disrepair). All in all, an hour and a half trek from car to cabin. (Dad didn't let on that you could actually drive the whole way to the cabin, because that would ruin the test)

And then, he made her sleep in a tent.

The next morning, Dad awoke to the view of mom casting her fly rod into Awosting Lake. He chuckled, as the lake was a 'dead' lake, meaning no fish could survive in it due to excessive minerals. But no need to stop her artful routine. After all, it's not often a guy is pleasantly surprised that his seemingly citified love interest is talented in the ways of the fly rod...

A bit later he smells something cooking on the open fire.

After getting no bites in Awosting Lake, Mom took to the stream nearby and guddled for trout. She'd learned this technique with her father in Canada on fishing trips as a girl...and, well, imagine knowing trout so well that you find their hiding spot in a stream and they LET you pick them UP!

Yes, mom caught a trout with her bare hands. I'm surprised Dad didn't propose right then and there.

But, soon after, the once social couple in NYC...

got married at dawn on the first day of Spring, and the rest is history.

Dad in lederhosen (don't ask) and the boys a decade or so before I came a knockin' at the same cabin on the same lake where Mom won over Dad after guddling a trout.

-Dad, I know It's True,
Bradley.

How Many Knee Socks...

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 04:52:00 +0000

Can I fit in my duffel that must last me 3 months on the road?

'Like' our Apres FaceBook page for updates and discounts.

The Bambi Airstream that we are renting for 3 months is smaller than my closets at home. Now, I KNOW I don't need dresses, curling irons and all my boots: high heeled, flat, over the knee etc...BUT I will need some 80's Prom Dresses and a full bin of bikinis and hair pieces JUST IN CASE. Can I tow a trailer BEHIND a trailer for the sake of costumes? Hmmmmm.

If I can't bring an extra trailer with a quiver of costumes...I may just have to wear knee socks (always room for those) and a Mogul Masher Vest.

and a Pom Pom Hat. It's all about keeping your upper body warm anyway, right?

And since I haven't even left the salty state of Rhode Island for snow capped mountains YET, I have had to resort to having 'shows' indoors...great for stripping down for try on sessions, bad for getting action snow shots. Here's a bit of action:
I'll keep the updates coming...we may even have a website soon for pre-orders! For those of you too eager to wait, email: ckbradley13@gmail.com with questions.

-Still Salty, Soon to be Snowy, Bradley

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:52:00 +0000

A new adventure begins. CK Bradley Ribbon Belts brought endless scavenger hunts, contests, and dapper belted boys. CK Bradley Dresses brought fun and frolic to the everyday cocktail party, and the ever growing desire for me to do things in my CK Bradley Dress that hadn't been done before. I have been getting restless with the confines of a dress, and have found another design realm that NEEDS MY HELP.
Ski Mountains.

I'm SICK of not having ANYTHING to wear skiing. I don't want to look like a boy in baggy snowboarding pants, or some technical genius in the latest in high tech gear with reflectors for search and rescue teams when I've probably fallen right beneath the lift. I don't want the cougar look with some getup that's tight in the rear and poofy up top covered in embroidered dragons, leopard print and tassles. Don't get me wrong...I like animal prints, but way better hidden beneath my ski suit than splattered all over it. And vintage stuff is great...but old and cold.

So enter my next adventure:

There are bibs beneath which are actually the HOTTEST part of the suit

OK, so not that hot on me, but give me a D cup and these things start flirting on their own.

The navy blue racing stripes down the sides also are also throughout the Jacket back and arms...and are Spandura - a heavy weight Spandex. A size Small fits a 4-6 and is so darn comfy you might want to replace your bathrobe with the bibs. In fact you don't need to ski to own one of these...just live in a cold place. I tend to think these bibs (pants) fit me better than my favorite pair of jeans - which means I might be wearing these out to bars this Winter.

The colorful outer fabric is Nylon Rip Stop, and there is a layer of insulation as well. Comfy, warm...SEXY!!!!

I am taking pre-orders now. The Bibs are $550, Jacket $450. Ready to ship beginning of January, 2011.

I will be hitting the road starting in Vermont, then headed West to every big mountain January 1st. If you are going to be skiing this Winter, Apres might just be there. Any leads on trunk shows in different mountain towns, let me know so we can set them up. Otherwise look out for us on the slopes, and on the road. I will update as the adventure expands.

-Hot Dog, Bradley

Interested in investing in Apres? Email ckbradley13@gmail.com

Ta-Ta for Now, CKB

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 21:02:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:09:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:27:00 +0000

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...

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:01:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:59:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:45:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ck bradley) — Sat, 15 May 2010 03:35:00 +0000

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.