[ bento ] luxe essentials

Jan 24

How Important Is It, Really?

Team Bento is currently on our annual sabatical, this time taken in Georgetown, Penang. Of course, I couldn’t visit another country without engaging in a little of one of my favourite hobbies, window shopping.

Something rather curious that I’ve spotted here is that it doesn’t seem to be essential to provide information about either fabric or country of manufacture of the garments being sold. I’ve been trying to rationalise this in my mind, but for me these make up such a very large part of my measure of value.

Here it seems quite acceptable for garments to be sold with literally no tags except the one showing the brand. At first I thought it was perhaps just at markets – items that were handmade by emerging designers and thus more difficult to police – but on closer inspection in a department store I discovered that this is actually a widespread phenomenon.

In Australia of course, it’s compulsory (and legally enforced) that we show not only the fabric used but also the country of manufacture and care instructions too. There are even guidelines for how long the tag should remain readable.

So… how important is this information to you? Do you ever look at the care tag, fabric tag or country of manufacture before purchasing an item? Does it factor into your decision making?

Jan 16

2 Comments

Gosh

Something rather curious happened last week, and in the spirit of transparency, I want to tell you about it.

In about October last year, I did an interview for a major glossy magazine. The journalist asked me to put together a list of ways you could incorporate sustainable / eco-chic dressing into your life, matching each list ‘item’ with a product. I did just that, writing a very thorough list, providing facts and figures, interesting little tales and referencing not only Bento products, but a large number of other products that I use myself and really love.

I’m thorough about this sort of thing and the journalist was thrilled at the level of detail I’d provided (I figure it’s always better to have too much and to cut it back than too little and have to pad it out).

I didn’t hear any more about the article and figured that like so many of these things, it had be scrapped or put on the backburner.

So you can imagine my astonishment when I was sitting in my beautician’s waiting room last week and flicked open the magazine in question only to discover they’d taken what was effectively an article I’d written, stripped out every mention of me and of Bento but kept reference to all the other products.

Perhaps it was an accident. Perhaps they think I’m a nobody and never will be so it’s okay. Perhaps they imagine I’ll never advertise with them so no harm is done to their bottom line. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t cool… and it wasn’t a nice way to find out.

Jan 11

What a Milestone!

Organic Cotton Louis V knits

This week, we cracked the four-digit milestone for Facebook fans.

To celebrate, we’re offering a variety of very special offers.

The first is that all our knits are just $120 (and come with free shipping within Australia). Use code ‘FBKNITS’ to buy (shop.thisisbento.com). That’s WHOLESALE price, people.

We have both warm and cool weather options. The winter versions are 100% merino wool. Their summer counterparts are 100% featherweight organic cotton.

If you want to know about the other discounts, make sure you join the party on Facebook by liking our page – www.fb.com/thisisbento

Jan 9

The Ruby Dress Challenge

We were absolutely thrilled to learn today that Bento friend, fan, customer and devotee Cheryl Lin of Business Chic has set herself a very Bento-esque challenge: to wear our Ruby dress in black to work, every week for an entire year. You can read more about the project and follow her progress here: http://businesschic.com.au/2012/01/the-businesschic-black-dress-project/.

We thought we’d show our support and kick things off by giving her a few styling ideas to try. So here goes…

For a super serious board meeting:

White Shirt by Jil Sander at Netaporter

We know you’re not a fan of collars, Cheryl… but with the neckline on the dress it will stay in place so nicely!

To have a play with texture, we suggest pairing it with a thick belt that has some interesting detail. Patent would work well too.

Wide leather belt by Bottega Venetta at Netaporter

To make it all about your legs:

Wolford at Netaporter

Get a big snuggly when it gets cooler…

Cashmere knit by Gucci at Netaporter

Channel biker-chic:

Leather jacket by Dolce & Gabbana at Netaporter

And on casual Friday…

Boots by J.Crew

Bento denim jacket

Good luck, Cheryl! We can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with.

Jan 5

1 Comment

You’re Giving Us A Bad Name…

One of my favourite things to do is window shop – particularly at sale time. Not in the traditional sense of the idea, but with a fashion industry hat on.

I love looking at what didn’t sell and thinking about why. Estimating cost price for garments and determining whether the retail price is even vaguely reasonable.

In my latest round of window shopping at Myer and David Jones (department stores are best for this kind of outing) I was absolutely shocked and – let’s face it – appalled at the calibre of garments being passed off as “high end designer”. It’s not my business, interest or intent to bad mouth other labels, so I’m not going to name and shame anyone here. What I will say is that when I’m evaluating a garment this is what I look for:

Longevity of style – is it very very seasonal? Is there anything about it that can be reused in the future, or has been reused from previous collections in terms of cut?
Origin of manufacture - I don’t have any major issues with offshore production if it’s certified fair trade (beyond the whole ‘supporting your local economy’ argument), but it’s a very clear fact that the cost of production in significantly reduced when it’s done in developing countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, India, Pakistan, even Romania etc.). There’s no arguing this. Additionally, production in these countries means substantially higher ‘minimum’ orders are required, so the cost per garment is lower again. Before I started Bento I once got costings to manufacture t-shirts in Mexico. They were $3 apiece, INCLUDING fabric!
Materials used - many people believe if something is (for example) 100% silk, then it can reasonably be compared to all other fabric that is 100% silk. The fact is silk, like cotton, wool, cashmere, linen, and every other fibre comes in varying degrees of quality. In the case of silk, it can be treated in many different ways and these different treatments change the price point. Many fabrics not only come in different qualities, they also come in different weights. So that ’tissue tee’ you got sold on for being ‘soft, lightweight, breathable, etc.’ is actually just cheaper than its heavier counterpart.

Given all this, I was pretty horrified by a diffusion label tee I found in a department store that was $80 reduced from $249 which was made in China from a Cotton/Polyester blend fabric. It did have a rather gorgeous print on it though.

During my excursion, these were the labels that really stood out for me as being worth the cash:

Jayson Brundson
Ellery
Dries Van Noten
Ginger & Smart
Chloe (main line)

Importantly though this outing drove home for me the fact that we probably don’t charge even nearly enough for Bento items, and that if all those other labels can achieve such success charging completely outrageous prices then I’m sure we can do very well too.

How do you decide whether something is ‘worth it’?

Jan 3

Style Synonyms – A Peachy Cool Combo

Ugh… somehow the heat always makes the concept of ‘chic’ seem like an impossible ask. This week’s Style Synonyms look is pretty perfect for a day spent in and out of air-conditioned buildings when the temperature extremes mean layers are your best friend.

How do you stay stylishly cool when the weather heats up?

Ivory Blazer over White Tee with Peach Wide Legged Trousers

Peaches and cream

Bento 'Blair' jacket in foiled linen

: Bento ‘Robin’ cotton tee

Acne wide leg crepe trousers

: Habbot flats

: Christian Dior sunglasses

: Gold Bangle Bracelet with Diamonds

Dec 29

7 Comments

A Big Question

Ever since my first week writing this blog, I’ve been asking you for your input.

Readers of this blog helped choose our sizing system.

Readers of this blog decided what fabric we’d use to line our clothes.

You even selected images for our first lookbook.

So now I’m coming to you again and asking for your opinion. Why? Because Bento isn’t about me. It’s not about the designer or the brand. It’s about you. It’s about the people that make it and wear it, so it’s important that you have a say in these things.

Now it’s no secret that Bento is all about ethical and sustainable fashion. The reason I keep working to make Bento a success is for one simple reason:

To provide the world with clothing that is both luxurious and sustainable – in terms of style, people and environment.

As far as I know, Bento is the only label in the world that does this. Some are luxurious. Some are sustainable in terms of some elements (but not all three). I don’t know of another that has the same ethos as us.

As 2011 draws to a close and 2012 is upon us, I have the following very big question to ask you. It’s just one question, but it will require some thought. And if you read this blog, I genuinely hope you care enough to contribute.

Bento items are typically priced as follows:

T Shirts $75 – $195
Knits $195 – $295
Skirts $245 – $295
Jackets $495+
Dresses $395+
Denim $195 – $345
Shorts $245 – $295
Trousers $395 – $445

I’m not going to justify these prices. What I am going to ask you is this very big question…

What would you need to get to invest that kind of money in an item?

Fit? Longevity of style? Origin of manufacture? Care? Tailoring? Bespoke detailing? Quality of workmanship and fabric? A maid to dress you in the item? I don’t care how outrageous it is. I don’t care if your initial response is “I can’t afford to spend that much” – you live in the Western World. You have this sort of money, you just can’t justify it based on your experience with clothing to date.

Men, women, old and young – I want to hear from you!

Dec 23

3 Comments

How To Shop Smart In The Sales

It’s a well-documented fact that retail isn’t going well right now… not just in Australia, but all over the world. And whilst many stores have started their post-Christmas sales early, we all know they’re keeping something up their sleeve and there’s likely much more to come.

Bento was built on the idea of less is more. Buy less, but spend more on each item. Buy better quality and pieces you’ll love rather than spend your hard-earned dollars on cheap junk that will quickly find the back of your closet and ultimately be the source of a rather frustrating ‘what was I THINKING?!’ moment. Quality over quantity.

Of course, sale season is a great time of year when you can get more bang-for-your-buck and fill your wardrobe with those covetable, timeless pieces and more fashion-forward finds for a fraction of the original price. But that’s only if – IF – you’re smart and you don’t get distracted by the allure of big discounts and well-known brands.

So, without further ado here are our tips for getting the most out of the biggest sale time of year…

1. Do your homework - now’s the time to go through your wardrobe and think about what pieces you’ve actually wanted for when getting dressed throughout the year. Now’s the time to buy those nude pumps, statement necklace or cropped black jacket. If you go in focused, you can come out victorious.

2. Ask yourself this question - if your house was burning down or you were making a quick getaway in the middle of the night Bond-girl style, would you take this piece with you? If not, is it really worth spending your money on? Save the cash from this purchase and all the others in the same category and put it towards something you’d risk your life to go back in to that burning building and rescue.

3. Learn quality from advertising - just because it has a brand you recognise on it, doesn’t mean it’s good quality. Check elements like the location of production, sturdiness of stitching, care instructions, fabric make up and any if there’s a guarantee.

Overspending in the flurry of sales is a lot like overeating in the flurry of parties. You might be able to justify it to yourself at the time, but the time will come later when you’ll wish you’d been smarter in your choices.

But that just means you should focus on the caviar and stay away from the potato chips.

Enjoy!

Dec 13

1 Comment

What’s Basic To You?

At the Bento studio, whilst everyone else is thinking of Christmas 2011, we already have our heads in Christmas 2012. Why? Well… our next collection will be in stores by then. In designing this collection, I’ve looked back to the original Bento style philosophy – luxury basics – and worked from there.

This plan got me thinking however… what constitutes a wardrobe basic? To be fair, it’s definitely different for everyone. That said, I’d like to think that we all have some level of ‘staples’ in our wardrobe across all sorts of styles. Denim. Beautiful tees. Silk shirts.

What are your basics? Please share… now’s your time to have your input!

Sam

Dec 12

Style Synonyms – Black on Black

You know how sometimes you see a look at everything tells you it shouldn’t work but somehow it does? That’s how we’re feeling about this week’s Style Synonyms look. Black on black on black is one thing – it’s hard enough given all the varying shades of black out there, but this gorgeous specimen takes it one step further and does leather on leather… in all black.

Unquestionably, she’s working this urban uniform… but we say try at your own risk.