Bestowed Collection #14 - Pre-Summer

The fourteenth Bestowed collection is a wonderful Pre-Summer collection that keeps you cosy warm in this cooler weather. 

If you haven't had a read of the previous journal story, I recommend that you do if you want to know about the special location and our beautiful model Amanda that we did some shoots with 7 years ago. 

This story is to fill you in on the actual garments available in this collection, all cotton of course like every Bestowed range. I created this collection from what fabric we had here, what was stored under the cutting table, ends of rolls, the last roll of each colour of the Dichondra print from summer. In fact the only thing I purchased was one roll of white because I felt that the crisp white was the only addition it needed. 

I have to start with the Haven Coat. I'm a total sucker for a black flowing coat, nothing beats it for me! I do have a few but I felt like there was something missing in my selection. I love my Annabel Coat from a few seasons ago, however it's not quite warm enough at the moment, I needed a double thickness version, fully lined. So I got to work and I created the Haven coat from the base of the Annabel coat, added flare to all the bottom panels and made some new huge pockets. I fully lined it to make it cosy warm and so the collar was more substantial. I wanted this coat to wrap over or hang loose but not with ties like it's predecessor. So I added belt loops by stitching some cotton webbing down the side seams and then made belts. The belts are from the same cotton webbing that we have sourced from a new supplier who makes it in Australia, as we are searching out local manufacturers for all our haberdashery where possible.

The Haven Coat was named because you feel safe and snuggled when you're wearing it. A sanctuary in a garment! It uses 5m of black organic cotton jersey (Australian made of course) and it's quite weighty (880grams) which is part of it's instant appeal when you put it on. We have made this garment a limited edition, a total of 30 made, 10 size small, 10 size medium and 10 size large. 

 The Almeda tops are back again, with a couple of little changes. The 2020 version has a coverstitched hem and sleeve hems. The edge of the big cowl neck is still raw as this makes it sit better, but I wanted to make this small change to the hems for collection #14. 

There are some great options colourwise as I found a small roll of dove coloured organic cotton under the table, so we were able to do a small run in that colour option too. The roll of optical white we got is slightly thicker (190gsm) so it's quite substantial and not sheer at all. It is a great winter white garment, sure to brighten up your day. We have made black of course and both colourways in the Dichondra print we did in summer, dill green and the rich blackberry, both with the black print of this trailing plant.

The Perla long sleeved top is one of my most fav tops to wear. It was just crying out to be made in a patched version. I had small rolls of all sorts of knits from past Bestowed collections. In fact the charcoal and indigo ones were from the 3rd Bestowed collection that we did with Amanda 7 years ago. I played around and found a combo that worked using 5 different fabrics in each top. It took me a few afternoons to cut them as I had to do 5 separate cuts, but I love the result and we got to use fabric from storage, zero waste!

Another left over from that 3rd Bestowed collection that Amanda modelled in was some of our Superfine cotton, a 45cm wide strip that was 180cm long. It was from the neckline of the Robin top that we don't have in stock anymore. I got the cutter out and made a new long scarf we have called the Retrieve Scarf. After a wash in rainwater, we have a new super soft scarf option in limited quantities, in black, indigo and white. 

Many of our customers love the Andromeda top, a great long sleeved top in our Superfine cotton, that has extra length in the sleeves as well as the body. I love layering with mine, creating winter dresses by putting one under one of the sleeveless summer dresses. We have topped up the black stock and added a little colour, dill green (pictured above) or the lively amulet.

I styled most of this collection with existing pants/skirts and leggings. The only new 'bottom' is a full length Lara legging in the grey marle with the Dichondra print.

I always want to help people to be able to create easy to wear outfits, so dressing is a breeze and not something complicated. In this shoot I've shown how I create simple outfits that I can wear before and after Pilates or Yoga. I started these combos with the base layers of Lara long leggings and a Daria tunic. This combo is great and the tunic comes down over the hips making a 'legging look' more covered and flattering. 

The Daria tunic and Lara long leggings come in the grey marle print or plain black. All the combinations look great, especially when you add a long sleeved top. Now that it's cold I like to add an Andromeda top when I go to Pilates (see pic above)

The Almeda tops look fantastic over this base combo, any colour works!

As always, all the Bestowed collection is made here in Brisbane, all the organic cotton knits are made in Australia too. We have always been committed to local production and have never chosen the option of 'designed in Australia' but then made off shore. Our makers have worked with us for 11 years and they are paid Australian wages with all the benefits. Our garments are picked up in our van as our makers are within a 30km radius of our home studio, therefore no need for all those individual plastic bags and shipping from overseas. 

I'm really keen to hear what you think of this collection, so leave a comment below or feel free to contact us via email ............

Thanks for reading,

Cheers

Sarah