We are so proud to have had Elizabeth Layton as part of our team this past year!

Liz graduated in December from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Communications major in Business Ag. She is currently back home in Santa Rosa looking for new opportunities to spread her talents. We loved having her as part of team Rosie and wish her
the best in all her future adventures!
We know that for us she will always take her Rosies spirit with her.  Thanks for all that you did Liz, you will be missed! 

Liz  is being replaced by Katie Crawford. Katie has been a part of Rosies for 10 years, she has been a Rosies model, helped create product ideas, worked at road shows selling and now we get to have her use her unique talent for writing by taking over the blog , newsletter and face book posting. Rosies has a lot planned for 2012 and we welcome Katie’s voice to keep the Rosies community connected.
 
-Sharon Moore (Rosie’s founder)

New Year brings a new contest for Rosies! Get ready to pose for the camera and bring out those maps, to win lots of Rosies gear in 2012! 

Here is how you play:

1. Have someone take a picture of you in your favorite Rosies gear in front of a fun location (ex. a popular landmark)

HINT: we are looking for backgrounds that provide good clues without giving the location away! So, don’t stand in front of a sign telling what the location is! Also, the location should be something other Rosies can figure out, so a picture in front of your personal farm would not be as good of a choice as a picture in front of a hometown landmark.

2. Email the photo to us at info@rosiesworkwear.com Each month we will select one picture to post on our webpage. If your photo is selected you will WIN A PRIZE!!

3. Go to our webpage to try and guess the location of the selected photo. The first one to correctly respond will WIN A PRIZE!!

This past weekend Rosies Workwear headed down to the Rosebowl flea market in Pasadena to be a part of the 2,500 vendors featured every month.  Celebrating over 40 years of business, this was like no other flea market we had ever been to.

After checking in around 6am (flea markets open early!) we set up our booth and patiently waited for the gates to open to buyers at 9am.  We had the opportunity to talk to many different people and promote the Rosies overalls and coveralls – we had such a great time (and even did a little shopping ourselves!)

It was wonderful to hear how many women appreciate workwear designed to specifically fit them.  We were also able to inform women how convenient overalls and coveralls can be for many activities some normally wouldn’t think of.  Workwear doesn’t just have to be “at work”.  Gardening, home repairs, and do-it-yourself projects are all great times to wear your Rosies.

If you find yourself in the Pasadena area on the second Sunday of each month, this is definitely a flea market you should check out.  For more information on the Rosebowl flea market, visit their website at http://rgcshows.com/RoseBowl.aspx.

Halloween is fast approaching and we have some great ideas for easy decorations at your home!  Have you been wondering what to do with your old overalls and coveralls?  You know the ones we’re talking about, those paint stained, dirt covered, lovingly worn overalls that you have since traded in for your new, clean (temporarily) ones.  We have taken our old overalls and converted them in to Scarecrows!  Using an old pillowcase, we painted our scarecrows face on to it and then used the old overalls as his clothes, stuffing them with straw.  You can use any old boots for his shoes and then set him up wherever he will serve you best!  We like placing ours on the porch where he can greet our visitors.

Here are some other “how to” ideas for fall decorations from http://www.hgtv.com/topics/halloween/index.html

1. How to make a Halloween pillow

2. How to make a table runner

3. How to make spooky lanterns

4. How to make a life-sized Halloween ghost

5. Creepy carnival tents for an outdoor Halloween theme

by Elizabeth Layton, Rosies Intern

Last Friday we left rainy California and made our way to hot and sunny Puyallup, Washington for the Mother Earth News Fair!  (We thought the weather was strange, too!)  Expecting to head over to the show and set up our booth on Friday, we were surprised and disappointed (to say the least) when we received an email telling us that the truck our shipment should have been arriving in was involved in a hazmat spill.  The truck wouldn’t be able to get to the show until Saturday evening, leaving us Rosie-less for one full day at the fair.  Not letting this new information get us down, we followed our own “Rosies can do it” advice, put on our overalls and acted as our own booth on Saturday.  We met many amazing women and wound up almost selling out of our overalls on Sunday alone!  We really enjoyed getting to meet some of our Rosies girls in person and hearing all of the wonderful stories they all have to share!  Seeing the great turnout at this Mother Earth Fair got us excited for the one in Marin, California in September.  Anyone who couldn’t make it to the one in Washington – we hope to see you in Marin!

While getting dirty is fun, getting the stains out of your Rosies isn’t. We have had many of you ask us what’s the best way to clean your workwear so we decided to give you some tips and tricks we have learned:

Sherri Gamble, winner of the Dirtiest Rosies Contest, shows off her paint stains.

• For all stains: We have found that using good old Spray n’ Wash and Oxyclean work well. You can use stain removers as well, but you should test it on your Rosies first before applying.

• For grass stains: We blogged about this a while back, but this remedy is an easy homemade solution from Mrs. Clean. “Pre-treat the grass stain with warm water and vinegar (no fruit vinegar) or water and rubbing alcohol. You can then rub the mixture directly into the stain and then wash it as you normally would. This mixture is known to get out the stain. Another option is to take some ammonia and mix it with one teaspoon of vinegar and then repeat the above steps. All of these methods work great at removing stains.”

• For grease and oil stains: Rubbing lard/shortening on the spots, then washing them as you would normally. This may take a few tries, but it should eventually start to work its way out. Or, spray some WD-40 on the stain and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then rub some dish detergent onto the stain. Rinse the area, apply more dish detergent onto the stain and wash as usual.

These Rosies have been used for three years and still look like new.

• For paint stains: Pour warm water and rubbing alcohol (generous amount) onto stain and work stain out with toothbrush. Or, spray the stain with some hairspray and rub with toothbrush. Wash as you would regularly. To remove oil-based paint, apply paint thinner onto spot with sponge, rubbing as much of the paint off as you can. Then rub liquid detergent and wash in hot water.

*Remember to test any cleaning solution you use before using it.

If stains don’t come out, wear your Rosies with pride! Stained workwear shows that you like getting dirty, plus they give your Rosies a little personality.

Rosies founder, Sharon Moore

It was about 7 years ago when Rosies’ founder, Sharon Moore, enrolled in her first welding class.  It was in this class that she got the idea for Rosies Workwear. When she went looking to buy coveralls to wear in class, all she found were ones designed for men. They were big and bulky and not in the least bit feminine. As they say necessity is the mother of invention, so Sharon created Rosies Workwear.  Since then other women welders as well as women mechanics, builders, painters, DIYers, farmers and gardeners have discovered the tough, durable and stylish overalls and coveralls that is Rosies. While we are thrilled to share with so many “can do” women, it’s welding that holds a special place in our heart.

Unfortunately, we are in a small minority. It was mentioned on carmenelectrode.com, a blog for women welders, that according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of women working in the welding industry has actually declined – it is now LOWER than 6%. The news isn’t all doom and gloom. Check out this video we found on Carmen’s website. It’s of a girl’s summer day camp which is called coincidentally, Rosies Girls.  As the blog says, “It’s a place to learn skills (carpentry, welding, etc) that build confidence…This is an awesome way to introduce girls to career options that even today don’t seem accessible to women.” We couldn’t agree more.

From time to time, Rosies features a guest blogger. Below is a post by Nicky Warner. Nicky frequently contributes to blogs, specifically ones about womens workwear.If you would like to contribute to Rosies blog, please let us know.

During the 1940’s, the Second World War revolutionised the role of women in the workplace as former housewives took up positions in munitions factories, exchanging seamed stockings for industrial workwear clothing and replacing their high heels with a sturdy pair of protective boots. The working woman grew to be represented by the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter, the famous lady in protective workwear and a bandanna who proclaims “We Can Do It!”

While some women returned to their old way of life at the end of the war, the era paved the way for those who weren’t afraid to roll up the sleeves of their workwear uniforms and get their hands dirty. Since then, countless women have stepped into mens work boots to continue Rosie’s legacy.

While working in a wartime factory must have been a trying and tiring experience, many women today find fulfilment in  jobs that were first considered to be traditionally male occupations. Real-life Rosies are everywhere; they strut proudly in their workwear trousers and heavy boots, embodying the spirit of that cultural icon who effortlessly combined mascara and red lipstick with denim workwear overalls and toned biceps. Women in workwear scale construction scaffolding, brandish welding tools and emerge from under the bonnets of newly-repaired cars with grease-smeared, smiling faces. Even ladies who prefer a less physical occupation will don workwear overalls to tend to their gardens, paint their homes or tackle DIY renovation projects. All are labors of love.

The reward of hard work and fully throwing yourself into a physically demanding project is undeniable. And of course, every hard-working lady wants to look her best while going about her day. Womens workwear design has come a long way since the 40’s, and ladies in stylish, feminine workwear are a common sight.

What is your labour of love? Are you a welder or mechanic, or do you slip into your workwear clothes to enjoy a day of gardening? Share your story with Rosies and tell us what tasks bring joy to your day!

Believe it or not, July is anti-boredom month. We asked Rosies what they do when there is nothing to do. We think this Rosie said it best:

Darlene Nieman Morris I’m still waiting to find out, if I ever have nothing to do!

Thanks for sharing and we couldn’t agree more. In between traveling, visiting with our fellow Rosies and starting a million projects, we’ve been busy working on some new clothing items and colors to add our line of overalls and coveralls. We think you’re gonna love them. Speaking of love. We’re ramping up for our Labor Day giveaway, we’re calling “Labor of Love”. Tell us what your labor of love is (gardening, horses, welding, working on cars, ranching, etc) and submit a  picture of yourself in action on our Facebook page and have a chance to win our “classic” denim coverall.
It’s perfect for fall clean-up. Not exactly everyone’s labor of love. But you might as well do it in style.

The work Rosies love to do usually takes us outside. While we are by nature sun loving creatures, it’s important to make sure we protect ourselves from the sun’s harmful effects. WebMD reports, “Exposure to the sun causes most of the wrinkles and age spots on our faces and is the number one cause of skin cancer.”

Below are a few tips from WebMD and Rosies on how to protect yourself:

• Apply sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or greater 30 minutes before sun exposure and then every few hours thereafter
• Wear sunglasses with total UV protection
• Wear hats, long sleeved shirts and pants. Pair Rosies overalls with our long sleeve shirt and top it off with our cap and voila, your got yourself covered.

• Avoid direct sun exposure as much as possible during peak UV radiation hours between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
• Eighty percent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is acquired before age 18. As a parent, be a good role model and foster skin cancer prevention habits in your child
• Avoid tanning beds