The Monogrammed Life: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013 2 comments

Did you accidentally leave your water bottle sitting at the gym? No problem. It won’t get picked up by the wrong person because it has your initials on it. Monogramming is all the rage—no longer is monogramming only used for handkerchiefs and cufflinks, but more so for everyday products. I even saw a little girl with a monogrammed hair bow the other day!

According to the dictionary, a monogram is a design consisting of two or more alphabetic letters combined or interlaced, typically one’s initials. The encyclopedia furthers the explanation by stating that monograms were anciently used as a seal, badge, or arms. They were first used on coins, but later on documents. Only the elite—such as princes, dignities, magistrates, and notaries—had and used monogrammed items.

On into the 20^th century, the notion of monogramming being elite remained. Even though it was a more commonly used practice, monograms were only etched or embroidered onto treasured possessions. However, Melinda Dement, owner and operator of Dement Studios, who has been monogramming and embroidering since 1980 and giving educational seminars at Imprinted Sportswear Shows, does not think it is about being elite. She feels it is not about what is getting monogrammed, but more so it is about the technology doing the monogramming. Traditionally speaking, monograms were drawn by extremely skilled artists. Modern technology has standardized lettering, which in turn has made monogramming available to a mass amount of the population.

A mass amount of people is an understatement when it comes to the popular monogram company, Marley Lilly. Currently their Facebook page has 65,108 likes and their Twitter has 46,723 followers. If it gives you any sense of their popularity, I have updated these numbers more than three times while researching monogramming. After enquiring from the company’s customer service department, I learned that the company has experienced rapid growth. It originally started out in a recent college graduate’s home with a single embroidery machine. Now—four years later—the company is ran by the woman and her husband and they have a large facility with over 25 employees. The products that they now offer range from clothing and jewelry to bags and iPhone covers.

“We have always loved monograms and their sophisticated and preppy southern appeal. Growing up in the South monograms have always been big! We are just happy that the rest of the world has caught on and that the trend continues! Whatever we can do to keep the ladies looking classy!” said Brittany, Marley Lilly employee.

When it comes to Virginia Tech students, monograms are just that! Around campus I have personally seen a number of monograms on a huge variety of products. Clothing as simple as t-shirts are now being monogrammed on the pockets, which is turning the plain grungy shirt into a classy day-wear. I spent time asking multiple girls in my sorority how they felt about monograms, how many monogrammed items they owned, and what the items were.

“They are a cuter way to identify your belongings,” said Heather Fernandez, who owns a monogrammed blanket, luggage set, and multiple hair bows.

“They are classic and have gone in and out of style for many years. They are a fun way of expression,” said Anna Hubbard, owner of monogrammed clothing, luggage, and home décor.

“I enjoy their look. I feel they add a special addition to items, and I like being able to make it more personal,” said Jennifer Attard, whose planner is monogrammed, as well as a few of her pieces of jewelry.

“Personalized stuff is in style. Plus it makes something even more unique to you,” said Dorothy Willis, who claims to own more than 10 monogrammed items.

Aside from personal views, I wanted to get a more reasoned opinion so I asked Catie Stockdale, who is a senior in the apparel program, to explain the apparent trend and popularity of monogramming. “I think that monograms are so popular because it is a very obvious mode of self-expression when we all live in a world where all girls follow the same trends and dress pretty similarly. I think that the ornate designs and combinations of letters are very individualistic and give the person a fun logo that is unique to them, like they are their own brand, their own person. It is a great outlet for identity and self-expression, especially combined with fashion. Plus monograms started becoming popular after Lauren Conrad was seen wearing a gold Jennifer Zeuner monogrammed necklace years ago,” said Stockdale.

However, style is not the only reason to monogram your possessions. Monogramming can also be a very functional practice—especially for kids. No longer do scarves and gloves have to be tossed from the lost-and-found box. Lunch boxes and book bags will not be mixed up anymore. Sorting laundry is being made easier—just look for the initials!

Elizabeth Mayhew, writer for the Seattle Times, contributes the trend to branding and logos. This day and age it is all about promoting yourself. On Facebook users upload all of their pictures, hoping for the most likes and comments. On Twitter users unleash all of their inner feelings. On Instagram users share pictures of exactly what they are doing at the moment. Lastly, on Snap Chat users give their friends an up close and personal view of their face. The world we live in thrives on being the unique individuals that we are. Thus, having monograms is like having our own logos.

Mayhew also believes that modern technology contributes to the easy branding. She believes that the ability to view personalization on the screen before ordering it makes the whole process more pleasurable. There is no more waiting for your shipment to come in with your fingers crossed that it all looks the way you intended.

So what are you waiting for? Monogramming has been made fast and easy by our generation. Join the trend, and brand yourself.

Written By Cait W

Cait is a recent graduate of Virginia Tech, where she majored in Communication and minored in Popular Culture. Within her major, she specialized in electronic and print journalism. During her time at Tech she was a charter member of Gamma Phi Beta and served on the executive council. She is currently residing in her hometown of Halifax, Virginia. Cait is working for her family business, while continuing her job search.

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Marley Lilly Campus Reps Across the Nation

Can we start this post by saying how much we LOVE our Campus Reps?

They have seriously been ah-mazing! We had no idea what to expect when we started this program at the end of last year! We seriously thought we would be lucky if we had 25 applicants. At the end of the first weekend, we had over 50 application e-mails in our inbox. When we finally stopped taking applications sometime in December, we rounded out the program with 129 lovely reps from all across the nation.

Anyways, back to the program…

When Kelly first brought us the idea to have a campus affiliate program, it was the beginning of November, we had a manageable order queue and were looking to get the word out about Marley Lilly before Black Friday and Christmas orders starting pouring in (literally). Like most of her good ideas - the campus rep program was thought up during another sleepless night with her then newborn.

Within 24 hours of coming up with the Campus Affiliate program, we had a promotional flyer, ordered what we thought would be more than enough hair ties and wrote a blog post that we were excited to share with the world.

When we finalized the numbers, we were shocked, slightly overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done and quite honestly - didn't know where to start!

Can we just say that we definitely appreciated your patience as we worked through the growing pains of this program?! Due to the overwhelming response, it did take us a lot longer to send out all of the goodies but we are proud to say that all 129 packages have officially been mailed! It may have taken us a few months - but hey, we did have a LOT of hair ties to tie (17,500+ to be exact)

Without further ado, here are the stats on the Campus Rep Program:

129 Campus Representatives

28 States

25 Organizations

90 Campuses

17,874 Women

Largest Chapter: ZTA at Arkansas (381), Campus Rep: Kaci Sturgeon

Smallest Chapter: KD at Longwood (52), Campus Rep: Elizabeth Nelson

Since we know that everyone loves a good competition, here's how the organization stacked up. (Did we mention how proud we were that we had SEVENTEEN Kappa Delta reps? #AOT!)

Kappa Delta - 17

Chi Omega - 9

Phi Mu - 8

Zeta Tau Alpha - 8

Alpha Chi Omega - 7

Delta Zeta - 7

Kappa Kappa Gamma - 7

Alpha Omicron Pi - 6

Delta Delta Delta - 6

Delta Gamma - 6

Alpha Delta Pi - 5

Alpha Phi - 5

Sigma Kappa - 5

Alpha Gamma Delta - 4

Alpha Chi Delta - 4

Pi Beta Phi - 4

Pi Sigma Sigma - 3

Alpha Sigma Alpha - 2

Alpha Sigma Tau - 2

Sigma Sigma Sigma - 2

Delta Pi Epsilon - 1

Gamma Phi Beta - 1

Omicron Pi Alpha - 1

Sigma Pi Lambda - 1

Tau Pi Alpha - 1

We'd also like to give a BIG shout out to our #1 Campus Rep - Jullian Farrington! She had SEVENTEEN orders placed with her name written in the "Where did you hear about us?" location when her chapter members, friends and family placed orders on our website! So...

SHOUT OUT to the Chi Omega chapter at NC State University!

So, You Love Marley Lilly and want to share Marley Lilly with your organization on campus? Be sure you are following us on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to hear about any new campus rep programs we will be offering in the future.

We can't wait to continue working with our lovely reps and see where the fall semester takes us!

Until then...

Peace, Love & Monograms,

Marley Lilly Staff

PS - Can you believe that we tied over 17,000 hair ties? We must seriously love our jobs.

The Monogrammed Life

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