Bestowed collection 13 is available now.

Written by Sarah Garrett-Hodoniczky

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Posted on December 05 2019

This 13th Bestowed collection is one that is very Australian. Not only was it 100% Australian made like everything we create, this one was styled and shot on a Heritage listed Farm out west in the Queensland country as seen in the previous blog story. The colours are natural and muted like the countryside and the lightweight organic cotton was the perfect weight to wear on a 39 degree day.

This collection also reflects how things are at the moment here in Australia, a dry and parched land with resilient people doing what they need to do, just getting on with it. That's how it was on the photo shoot day too. It was hot.... so? Just do what we are here to do, do it the best you can and do it with a smile on your face. 

This collection has no frills or sparkles, it's all about comfort and feeling at home with what you're wearing. The shapes are simple and flattering and most of them feature pockets, not 'only for decoration' pockets but large pockets you can put stuff in. These garments are easy to wear, easy to wash and made ethically & sustainably here in Brisbane, Australia. 

This collection has some new shapes, new colours and a new print. The beautiful Dill green that we dyed last summer in our Superfine cotton fabric is now in the sturdier organic cotton jersey that we use for our dresses and tops. Along with the new Blackberry colour, these two colours are screen printed with the new 'Cascade' print. It's a soft flowing print, the leaves float down the garments and offer a subtle pattern.

The Rose dress is back again but in a new version (see the two pics above). Not only is it in the new 'Cascade' print, I did contrast back side panels and front pockets, highlighting those design features. This dress was super popular last summer, and I had many people asking if I was going to do a new version, so here it is. 



The Blythe maxi dress is back in the new colours and print but this year we have also offered a new length, the midi. This is about 15cm shorter than the maxi. I was asked by many people to shorten the Blythe maxi for them, so here it is! The midi will be a maxi on some people depending on your height, and even though it's easy to shorten these garments that have raw hems, you now have two lengths to choose from. This style has a 'joey pocket' at the front and higher neckline. This maxi dress is my 'go to' style in summer. Every time I wear it I feel great!

You always ask me for sleeved garments, so here is a tee that's not a plain boxy tee. The Alana tee has a nice short sleeve that's not tight up under your arm, a simple turn under and coverstitched neckline instead of a rib or bind, flattering panel lines and asymmetrical hemline. The Alana tee goes over any skirt or pant and I am sure that one will not be enough in your wardrobe!


The Abby top and dresses are new to the collection too. I wanted a new cutaway singlet shape to replace the classic Dita dress which we have had in the collections since the first one in 2011. So the Abby was born and comes as a top, midi dress and maxi dress. Above is the midi length Abby dress, coming mid calf on Jess our model (Jess is 180cm tall) but may be longer on most other people. 

The Abby maxi is pictured below and is a full length maxi, I just love wearing Bestowed maxi dresses. 

Both lengths in the Abby dress have generous front pockets and the back has a contrast yoke. This creates a 'vest like' look and has an inverted pleat at the centre back of the skirt part to add a little more fullness to the skirt while keeping the yoke more fitted. 


The Abby top has all the same cute back yoke detail as the dresses but a top length. It has less fullness and I wanted it to sit over the top of skirts and pants without being too flared. I have worn this style over and over lately and it was my choice to wear with the Mellow pants to the photo shoot in the heat. It's simple, lightweight, breezy, and very easy to wear. 

The Dayvan pants that were new to Bestowed last summer are in a green combo colourway (pic above with Abby top) This green Dayvan pant has a little stretch in the fabric and the same fabric is also available in the Mellow pants. 

The Mellow pants are available a new fabric, 'paper cotton' which is a crisp stretch cotton, lightweight with lots of stretch! These pants are the kind of pants you put on day after day and panic when you have to wash them because you want to put them on again. The graphite and green colourways are in the pics below and we have topped up the sizes in the Japanese Indigo dyed cotton version too. 

When we were getting the screen printing done for this collection, we decided to also print the 'Cascade' print onto some of our organic cotton stretch fabric is the nice grey marle. We have made some Lara 7/8 leggings in this and the new Daria tunic. These stretchy tunic styles are great to wear over leggings as it gives you coverage if you're like me and don't feel comfortable wearing leggings on their own!

All these styles are now available for you to purchase and we thank our customers for choosing to buy locally made. When we support locally made we support our community and keep the industry going, it's something I have always been passionate about. 

I would love to hear what you think of this collection, our photo shoot, or anything else you would like to share, so email me if you want to or leave a comment below,

Cheers

Sarah

 

Comments

3 Comments

  • Comment author

    Sustainable is the new cool! Choose wisely

    Posted by Lana Murpy | May 09, 2021
  • Comment author

    Hi Bobbie,
    I have sent you an email.
    I like getting feedback from customers and I take note of what styles and shapes people are asking for, however we can’t create styles specifically for people unless it fits in with what we are producing.
    We only make small runs of garments (between 30-80 mostly)but in our price point we are not able to do ‘made to order’
    I do try to add sleeves where possible but the high summer Bestowed collections are always launched at the beginning of summer therefore making it the coolest option is best for us.
    The lightweight shrugs in Bestowed from the superfine cotton are perfect to add sleeves and they make any outfit or dress sleeved with the lightest coverage.
    Let’s see what I come up with next? As it’s Autumn there will be lots of suitable shapes.
    Cheers
    Sarah

    Posted by Anonymous | January 20, 2020
  • Comment author

    HI,I’ve been asking for a maxi dress with sleeves (like the Alanna tee) and a high neckline, you still haven’t produced one. I know the Grevillea dresses had sleeves but such huge necks that the sleeves would have slid off my shoulders. I do like a bit of cover at my age!

    Posted by Bobbie Oliver | January 19, 2020
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