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Way Back When: Ralph before 'Ralph'

February 23, 2010, 6:53 am
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Back in the early 80's before Ralph Lauren (at least in my mind) had really made it BIG, he and his wife Ricky were looking for a rustic escape from NYC. They happened upon our place in the Hudson Valley, the Awosting Reserve...then began the fun.

One day my Dad said 'we're going to Awosting for Lunch with Ralph'. Now Awosting was 1.5 hours away by car, and we'd go up there for the weekend...NOT for Lunch. For lunch we'd go to the hot dog stand which we called the Umbrella Club on 5th and 62nd, or SoupBerg around the corner, but not Awosting. I was confused.
I (about 6yrs old) squeezed into the seat on the back of Dad's fold up Raleigh bike and he rode us to the 63rd Street Heliport. Ralph arrived in his black limo, we boarded a Helicopter, and 20 minutes later we were at Awosting. I could get used to this!
One of the reasons I am posting these pics, is I adore looking at Ralph's clothing...what he wore when he was casual...these look like khaki riding pants..and that BAG! To DIE FOR.
He and Ricky came up several times for hikes...love Ralph's belt buckle...
Ricky....you are SO elegantly casual...This is the bedroom Ralph and Ricky would stay in when they were round for an overnight... Ralph fell for this bed and 'Log Cabin' feel, and his installations in Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus for that season were inspired by this room. And in true Ralph fashion, he brings back the "Log House" look...

What fun we had with the Laurens. I actually went to a Tom's Shoes event at Bergdorf's and ran into David Lauren who I hadn't seen since I was maybe 6...I went up to him and introduced myself, and he definitely had NO IDEA who I was. Oh well.

I met with Ralph in 2000, the first year of CK Bradley, and he gave me what I consider to be great advice. 'Don't design what other people want you to design. Design what you love and you will succeed.'
Thanks Ralph. and PS. I could use some more advice now!

-Doing What I Love, Bradley



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Way Back When...Salvador Dali

March 9, 2010, 5:28 pm
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Salvador Dali. Mad genius. Spanish surrealist. Wearer of pin stripe suits. Fascinating eccentric who had a 'thing' for my Mom.

They met one day through Carlos Alemany, who spun Dali's surrealistic creations into jewels. By their second meeting, Dali presented my Mom with one of Alemany's jewels...a ruby pin with a LIVE incandescent beetle attached...yes. LIVE. Beauty EXPONENTIALLY increases when it is fleeting I suppose....

In the early 60's Dali gained a lot of publicity in his search for the last color to finish his Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. For weeks he searched the sewers of NYC hoping to find the missing color! Oh eccentrics....

Then Dad gets a call at home.

It's Dali. He wants to see Mom and Rudy, the parrot. He always ignored Dad completely.
Mom and Rudy

Dad had had enough of Dali and his enormous entourage coming into the apartment, and suggested they meet at Rumplemeyers, a fabulous ice cream spot at the St. Moritz. It was Sunday afternoon, and Dad, Mom and Rudy often shared an ice cream after bicycle polo in the park. (yes, bicycle polo...)
Rudy would perch on the top of the tall sundae cup in absolute ice cream parrot heaven, and lick it clean.
Just as they finished, Rumplemeyers went dark...Dali and his entourage had arrived. The cloud of people stayed outside as Dali swept in through the revolving door.

And what was sewn into Dali's right shoulder of his pin striped suit? A bird perch!!! After all...how else would you meet a parrot on a Sunday afternoon...

He cupped his hand beneath Rudy now sitting on the pin striped perch and directs him to 'pew pew'. Dad has had about enough of this, and directs Rudy to 'poo poo'. Sure enough, Rudy ruffles his feathers, and dumps right in Dali's hand. (This was surely inspired by the 18th Century artist, Jauques Louis David, who finished his last great painting with the caca de dauphin, or the crown Prince's poop color...Dali might have thought Rudy's poop was a worthy 20th Century adaptation. )

Dali disappears through the revolving doors as fast as he came in, and it is suddenly light again outside as the cloud of onlookers follow him down Central Park South.
The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus is announced as finally finished soon after. And in the Bradley family, we like to think it was Rudy that did the trick...or at least got Dali OUT of the sewers.

-Love Eccentrics, Bradley.
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Way Back When - How I got to Newport

March 11, 2010, 8:50 am
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This was my first post ever posted back in July of last year, but posts get buried, and I thought you guys might enjoy this story, since it will provide good background for ones to come!

It all started on an island called Sanibel at dawn, on the first day of Spring. If you like sea shell collecting, this is a great place to go. My Dad somehow convinced my Mom (his girlfriend at the time) and his colleague, Yusha Auchincloss, to get up at dawn so they could get the best shells. Barefoot and sandy, my father, John Atwater Bradley, proposed to AND married my mother, Marilyn Monteith Bower that day. Yusha (above in 2008 with Me) was the Best Man and became my Godfather.

Mind you, I am skipping A LOT on how this event came to happen....from my Dad spending the previous night in Jail, getting a last minute marriage license, not to mention finding a minister to perform the ceremony at dawn. But that is a story for another day. So we'll move on.

Why Newport? Well, with Yusha as extended family, we made annual summer trips to Hammersmith Farm in Newport, RI.This Pic is of my brother, David in front of the "Big House" at Hammersmith in the '70's

David Bradley, Jamie Auchinlcoss and Yusha Auchincloss: Windmill at Hammersmith Farm in background. 1970's

I didn't really understand the significance of Hammersmith Farm growing up, nor did I understand why buses and ferries full of tourists flailing cameras would pull up to the dock on a regular schedule. I do know now, and in case you don't, Hammersmith Farm was the Summer White House during the Kennedy Years from 1961-1963. Built in 1887, for John W. Auchincloss on Newport's oldest working farm, Hammersmith, was the summer residence for the Auchlincloss family for 4 generations. Jackie Bouvier's mom, Janet Lee, married Hugh D. Auchincloss after divorcing Blackjack Bouvier who took to the bottle after the market crashed (or so I was told).
1945, Newport. Jackie top left, Yusha top right, Janet Auchincloss in Lee's arms.

Here is where it gets cute. Yusha, a young boy then, attending Groton School, was SO very excited about Jackie becoming part of the family. He remembers thinking she could be possible girlfriend material...not really understanding that they were 'related' now that their parents were married. Love it Yusha. And you had good taste Yusha, Jackie sure was cute.

There was always a week or so growing up that my Dad, me, the bird and whatever dogs we had would make the pilgrimage to Newport for the 'social' part of our summer. This time for me was TRULY vacation. And I say 'social' because the rest of my summer was spent in the Gunks, at our place called the Awosting Reserve.
At Awosting, I slept outside every night, took baths in the stream, and had rigourous daily lessons and activities taught by my English Au Pair. Math skills never improved, I HATED swim time in our fresh water black bottomed pool, and washing my hair with the crayfish biting my toes was not normal.



The black bottomed pool...


Stream Baths with the Crayfish

So IMAGINE how excited I was to go to Newport where I got to put on pretty dresses, took a bath in a bath, got to sleep inside, and had going to the Beach and Cocktail parties on my schedule for the day. H E A V E N. My room was the top floor of the Windmill overlooking Narragansett bay. Mmmmmmm.

OK...might have chopped off the top floor, but you get the picture. It was a big change from my mountain top mattress beneath the stars.

And then came dress up. Newport meant no hiking boots, no sneakers. It meant party shoes and party skirts. It meant counting blades of grass instead of cutting and raking them. I loved Newport.

Hammersmith Farm, Windmill for Yusha's Birthday
Me(in a dress!), Dad, and Pyrma and John Pell

My passion for dress making certainly had a few of it's origins in this beachy leisure town...

And that's the story of how I got to Newport.


Yusha Auchinloss and Me: Awosting Reserve, circa 1982

-Still Wear my Dresses that Short, Bradley
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Sneak Spring Peak!

March 23, 2010, 12:29 pm
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I get SO excited for Spring and Summer...not only because I live by the beach and the sailors return, but mostly because I LOVE COLOR, and with Summer comes more color.

The design process happens much differently for me than for most who went to school for fashion design. I dream it up, chicken scratch it and play with it. Play with color, play with prints, play with vintage numbers hibernating in the warehouse...just plain play.

And this year we are manufacturing in Fall River, MA...good old USA! There will be silks, batistes, stretch sateens and prints in heavenly colors...and here's the sneak peak.
I always seem to gravitate to kelly green. It is fresh and I love it.
And who am I kidding...I LOVE corals and oranges
The main print in this drawing is one we call 'Moroccan Geo' inspired by all the geometrics in Morocco. I was in a wedding there a few years back, and was forever changed.
We sipped foreign concoctions in the most intricate tents...These guys played music while we sipped. It seemed everywhere you looked were more beautiful patterns and textures...and a few years down the road CK Bradley's Moroccan Geo was born.

The new Spring line arrives May 1.

-Finishing Touches, Bradley
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What I want to be When I Grow Up

March 25, 2010, 9:07 am
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It started out simple. I just wanted to grow up. And grow out. I can't tell you how many times my dad would catch me with tennis balls stuffed in my bathing suit.
Tennis was a HUGE part of my life growing up. I was always on the court watching my Dad, chasing balls...and wearing my favorite whites. I wanted to be Chris Evert Lloyd, and played tennis against a ball machine for hours.
In highschool it continued, and at this point I was pretty sure Tennis was going to be my life. It was my life in high school, with a side order of Salisbury boys.
When I was too old for Tennis camp, it was time for a 'real' job...and my first job at 15 was working at Minnewaska State Park on the Maintenance Crew. Finally being tall was good (it sucked at high school dances when all the boys were shorter) But now I looked older, and my Boss had me driving the Crew truck around assuming I was old enough! That in itself was HEAVEN. I learned to use a chainsaw, spackle walls and change the oil on a dozer, not to mention drive a big dump truck. Not exactly the background of a girl designing dresses for Black Tie and weddings...now is it?
By now I was at Columbia in NYC, still with no idea of what I wanted to do. I joined the sailing team, drank enough to damage my voice for eternity and took a semester off to write a children's book...in hopes of that getting me into Princeton where my Dad was class of '54. Only, I got my hands on my Dad's old Nikon F camera, and decided to photograph climbers in the Gunks instead. The Children's book could wait...and so could Princeton.
That Summer I life guarded on Fisher's Island and thus began the calling of the Ocean...
The following summer was life guarding in Newport at Hazards Beach...but life guarding wasn't going to turn into a profession unless Baywatch came my way, so onto sailing it was.

I crewed on the 12's in Newport, namely the beauty Nefertiti. Learned a lot, and realized I could do this for real if I wanted...as I was still unsure of what to do.
My last summer before graduating from Trinity I worked at Rockwell Group, a pretty incredible Architecture firm in NYC. David Rockwell, its namesake, rented a log cabin from us at our country place, Awosting. That summer I discovered I loved DESIGN. I loved architecture. I love the creative process that went into the details and how they affected those within a given space.

Rockwell Group has done everything from Nobu, a fabulous sushi restaurant in NYC to the set of this years academy awards. When I left that summer with a job offer upon graduation, one of the sweet girls in the Interiors department gave me a cloth bag that looked like a brown shopping bag. I sewed some ribbon on it...and thus began the CK Bradley tote...THANK YOU ROCKWELL GROUP!

I was on my own from there on. And TRUST me...despite having a fashionable mother, I was one of the LAST persons at Trinity that you would have thought would go onto design clothes. Classmates would have bet more on my teaching at Outward Bound.

It's funny how things turn out. Variety can breed opportunity, it certainly did for me.

-Go Seize the Day, Bradley
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New House...

May 5, 2010, 8:16 am
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Commitment SCARES me.

The boys who come in and out of my life figure that out pretty quick. But the animals I have acquired are slowly teaching me the ways of commitment. In fact, Tula has lured me into giving up my furnished church only to move into an unfurnished house... Oh how persuasive puppies can be!Minimum Commitment rules for decorating the new place: Only use fabrics and furniture that I already have. No investing in permanence!

I wanted valences in my bedroom. Wood is a commitment. Cardboard is disposable. So cardboard valences it is. I am not proud of this, but not ready for further commitment yet. So...the how to's of making your place look a lot better than it is...for CHEAP.
Cardboard from Michael's. $2.99. (foam core was $9.99 and didnt come big enough)
I duck taped sides to the front.

Then staple gunned batting and the fabric onto the cardboard and added more duct tape for a better hold.
I stapled ribbon loops that will hang on cup hooks that i have screwed into the ceiling.

This is the room post cardboard valences.
Post Valences. Big difference huh?

One project down, many to go.
-One Day I'll be able to Handle the Commitment of Wood over Cardboard, Bradley.
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Tula SUPing

May 14, 2010, 8:35 pm
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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.
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Made in the USA

June 9, 2010, 8:45 am
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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

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W Boat Summer Photoshoot

June 16, 2010, 11:59 am
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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.
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Spotted...

July 11, 2010, 9:01 am
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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
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Cover Shoot

July 30, 2010, 6:27 pm
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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
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To be Listed or not to be Listed?

August 30, 2010, 6:09 pm
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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 noimmediate need) he consulted it, listed surprising columns, whole armies infact, of Rodriguezes and Garcias and Fuenteses, with great pompousChristian 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 musterbesides Camilla, Bradley




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Ta-Ta for Now, CKB

September 27, 2010, 2:02 pm
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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:)
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Article 11

November 30, 2010, 6:52 am
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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
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How Many Knee Socks...

January 4, 2011, 8:52 pm
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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
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Last of CK Bradley Dresses Available!

January 6, 2011, 8:10 am
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We have about 100 pieces left. All dresses $120. All skirts/tops $60.
That's right. Last chance guys!
email ckbradley13@gmail.com to order
Sizes listed below styles




-Now to Make you ALL SKIERS, Bradley
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Apres Roadtrip Begins

January 22, 2011, 12:02 pm
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So my 3 month road trips to snow laden mountains out West has begun....

First I got the Whomper re-outfitted...


Then Tula, me, 1,000 Apres cups, hats, 1,000 T Shirts, barrels of my favorite cereal, bins of my favorite clothes, grade B maple syrup and a whole lot of 'what if's' hit the road...and somehow managed to drive 2,300 miles in 2 days and a night. Conditions were AWFUL...with visibility at 10' during the snow storm in Nebraska and the pure ice on I80 through Wyoming. Cars off the road everywhere...but the WHOMPER pulled on through..and we made it to Ogden, UT in time for dinner.

Then we picked up 2 new passengers and some hot new studded tires for the Whomper.
One passenger was for Tula, (Summer above)
And one for me, Ali, (below)
Off to ship orders....the website is now taking cc's....so if you want any t-shirts or pom pom hats get em while I have the time to send them!

-Blogging from Mormon Country, Bradley
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Ski Gear and Camping...

March 5, 2011, 10:01 am
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What do ski gear, fashion and camping have in common?
Me, right NOW....
This was Mom in the 1960's in Gstaad...
Enough inspiration to quit designing dresses and start designing ski clothes.

Then me, today.
If someone told me 6 months ago, I'd be living in an Airstream and launching a women's ski apparel line, I would have laughed. What would the summer people say? "Did you hear? CK Bradley is living in a Trailer!"

Now trailer living can be tasteful....I look back at the family albums and see Mom and my brothers 'roughing it' in the woods
But that is more camping...not 'trailering'
Everywhere we go we see signs reminding us that the Bambi Airstream behind us is not welcome in these parts. Aspen is at the top of the list.
Just yesterday, after arriving in Aspen for Fashion Week, when I was about to give up on finding any place to park the Bambi, a big truck pulls up alongside us on Main Street in Aspen: "Nice Airstream" one of the guys says..."Follow us"
It's like the Bambi was our ticket into a new very exclusive club.
The boys showed us where to park, and the rest keeps getting better.
The guys and Ali in front of their much larger Airstream

Now, out West, I BRAG about living in an Airstream. People pull us over just to get a closer look at the Bambi, invite us back to their place for parties in hopes of hanging out in the Bambi, ask for Bambi tours and beg us to tell our story.
And all along we thought it was the Apres Girls they liked.

Bambi: thanks for increasing sales and getting us more attention than hot pink retro suits, 2 dogs and 2 Apres Girls could get on their own.

-I am Happily Living in a Trailer, Bradley
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Telluride AIDS Benefit Fashion Show

March 10, 2011, 6:45 am
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Telluride has an incredible fashion show every year to benefit AIDS research...There were looks from Kenneth Cole, Perry Ellis,


Looks from Lela Rose, Nanette Lepore, Jill Stuart,

Looks that barely covered the girls,

Looks that barely covered the boys....


And then the looks that came from Apres by CK Bradley...


The best part of the Apres show was that the girls stripped off their suits at the end...and those pics I may have to leave to your imagination. It seems that whether I am designing dresses for chic cocktail parties in Palm Beach or ski suits for the 'it' places of the West, the same results apply....the wearers are getting sassy...Keep it up girls, you inspire me every step of the way.

PS. All models are local Telluride residents...that town has a pool of hotties to pick from! (note to self: add to list of possible places to move)

Thank you Stash and all the people that made the show such an incredible event!

-Getting the Mountain Bug, Bradley
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Dad, Is it True?

April 2, 2011, 10:08 am
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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.
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