We learn best when it's fun!
The Training Night Swimsuit-a-thon.
Every six weeks or so, we all get together for a Staff Training evening. These start off with a yummy dinner (usually pizza and hot chips) and some socialising, before properly getting into the content of the night...
Published:
May 04, 2024
These training sessions are a fantastic opportunity for our team to see any new stock that has come in, go over any updates to our computer systems, share some nice customer experience stories and hear from our managers about any other important information. We're always aiming to find ways we can improve our service and make your experience in-store and online, even better. These training nights are a great opportunity for that. To keep it fresh and engaging we often have some type of activity to encourage team building and have a little bit of fun!
Because swimwear has been flying off the rails lately, with many of our customers heading overseas to warmer places; last week’s fun activity was to make a one-piece swimsuit out of a pretty random collection of materials. We were split into three groups, given a bag of things to use, (including tinfoil, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, balloons, foil tassels and sellotape) and fifteen minutes to create a swimsuit worthy of Bondi Beach, or a resort somewhere tropical.
With all the styles of swimwear we sell in the shop, there are plenty of unique features and benefits to each swimsuit. But surely you can't make a 'craftsuit' that does it all?
So here was the ultimate test…
After fifteen (ish) HECTIC minutes, one person from each group stood up to “sell” the rest of us their group’s swimsuit. This included a description of the swimsuit, including its key features and benefits, and a retail price.
As you can see, our creations turned out fabulously! Once on display, it became clear there wasn't an obvious winner - all the designs were on trend, creative and thus (albeit slightly obscurely) beautiful.
Generally 'rust-resistant' isn’t a necessary feature for a swimsuit, but it helped sell this one. Attachable flotations aides help those learning to swim. But at over $200 this was the most expensive.
Loving the waist-defining features of the diamond cut-out panels and chic belt! The Violet-blue colour was gorgeous! A frill on the neckline is often very popular and helps elevate the suit to a higher level of luxury.
Who wouldn't love a “miraculous sheer powermesh” band - it promises to be flattering! As you can see, it is also very Va Va Voom - the additional breast enhancers were a free 'gift with purchase'.
Don't they look amazing merchandised in with some of our other (more practical) swimsuit offerings?!
Check out this play-by-play from one of our Fitting Specialists
Split into teams and armed with a number of craft supplies, including of course, hygiene strips (although, as per usual, we definitely recommend you keep your briefs on while trying these designs), an intense competition ensued. Fuelled by pizza and inspired by some of the features on our swimsuits that you all know and love, we began creating our piece. First, came the pattern, which we quickly decided would be based upon Jantzen's Cosmopolitan One Piece. A flattering v-neckline, coupled with some tassels in place of the ruffles that are on the original suit - a gorgeous detail that adds texture and breaks up the colour. We stuck to a full brief style for the bottom half of our suit (plenty of cover for the areas you don't want to fall out) and decided to match the front to the back with a low v-shaped backline. After our pattern, came the fun decisions! While we were limited to our tissue paper colour supply, we decided to make our suit reversible. Blue on one side, and pink on the other (colours that we've been seeing in a lot of our suits this season), as well as triangle cut-outs on either side of the waistline, to flatter and accentuate. At this point in the competition, time was running low. We stuck our aforementioned tassels on, and then we were finished!
The night ended with the completion of our new staff photos - which you can see on the updated Our Team page. Hope this gave you a wee laugh. But in all seriousness, please know that we take our product knowledge and team development very seriously - we just make sure we keep smiling while we're learning!