Boutique Blog

A History and Guide to Breton Stripes 0

If you are curious about striped clothing that you can find at retail stores, there are various different kinds of stripes that clothing manufacturers go by in order to give of one of many different vibes in their articles of clothing.

For example, awning stripes are two very wide stripes of the same length meant to evoke simplicity and fun. Pinstripes consist of wide stripes alternating with a very thin stripe to give off impressions of sophistication and class. However, this article is about Breton stripes, which consist of one light stripe and one dark stripe, with the light stripe being slightly wider than the darker one.

Breton stripes are fairly common today in fashion, and men and women love wearing them just as much as manufacturers love making them. They’re a classic design that has only gotten more popular from over a century ago.

History of Breton Stripes

Origins of the Breton striped shirt come from France. Stripes were designed onto sailors’ uniforms for the purpose of recognizing their bodies if they ever fell into the water when out at sea. The French navy at the time all came from Brittany, and as a result, their striped shirts were known as Breton shirts. A total of 21 dark stripes were present on each of these shirts, representing how many times Napoleon’s army defeated the British.

Eventually, Breton shirts extended beyond the navy and was a garment worn on all kinds of nautical trips. These shirts were originally made of cotton or wool, so they also fared well in keeping sailors warm at night.
 
Breton Stripes in Fashion  

In the 1910s, the Breton shirt made its way into fashion, as well as other parts of the world, when Coco Chanel discovered the design while in France, and incorporated it into an upcoming nautical line.

Later in the 1950s and 60s, the French rekindled their relationship with the Breton shirt with the “nouvelle vague” or “new wave” movement. Various films used Breton shirts as attire, which was worn by stars of the era. This later caught on in Hollywood, as well, making this classic striped shirt as popular as ever.
Today, nearly every Frenchman and woman own a number of Breton shirts, as they have become a permanent staple in French fashion and have become synonymous with France itself.

How to Wear Breton Stripes?

LA wholesale clothing retailers likely do not have France in mind when they decide to utilize this classic black and white stripe design, but companies and consumers alike love the design all the same. Breton striped colors are mainly black and white in color, making them one of the best garments to wear with any other color.

Consider wearing clothes like jackets, kimonos, skirts, tops, and more with Breton striped apparel and this will add a whole new dynamic to your outfit.

Breton stripes are always horizontal; never vertical. With this in mind, wearing horizontally striped clothing can make your body look wider than normal. But so long as you are wary of your own figure, you can think of a couple of tricks to wear Breton stripes without changing the look of your body overall. If you are worried about how you look in horizontal stripes, try tops and dresses that are not form-fitting, or snug around your waist. So, experiment with something loose that still looks stylish.

The Breton design is a simple but classic design with an interesting backstory and a rise in popularity. This design is a must-own for any woman looking for that one garment to tie any outfit together.

Source Your Store Clothing Inventory from Wholesale Clothing 0

Whether you are an online retailer or owns a boutique in the local market, every boutique owner understands the importance of diversity of products that can help in boosting your profits and sales. Hence, you must always have a solid strategy planned to earn maximum profits with minimum investments. This is the only way to make your business sustainable for years in spite of dealing with challenges every now and them.

A wise sustainable retail strategy is to lower the cost per unit. This will ensure that your products are sold faster and have a good number of satisfied customer bases and the best way to do that is to start sourcing your products from wholesale clothing vendors for boutiques.  

Sourcing from Wholesale Clothing Vendors

Many boutique owners find it challenging to get the right wholesale clothing supplier for their boutique, especially if they are dealing with them for the first time. Working with a wholesale supplier has its own merits and demerits namely:-

•Spend Less Time in Sourcing Products – The last time you visited a website, were you shocked to see the same kind of clothes in two different stores? Yes! It is quite possible because wholesale providers deal with numerous boutique owners. Hence, they have product catalogues that they might have already shared with other boutique owners worldwide. But, even though you won’t be selling anything unique than others, it definitely minimizes the number of hours you would have spent in sourcing products for your boutique. However, if you want to sell something unique or your own designs, its best to start a private label clothing.
 
•Fast Turnaround Time – When you are dealing with wholesale clothing vendors for boutiques, you usually don’t have to spend much time in between procurement of inventory and display of materials. Wholesale vendors deal with boutique owners’ day in and day out. Hence, they understand the importance of time in this business. As a boutique owner, you just order products from a wholesale vendor, pay them upfront because if you are dealing with the first time, they would want to you buy a large number of products in your first order with 100% cash in advance to minimize financial risks and receive the product in couple of days. But, sometimes fast turnaround time may lead to some quality issues. Therefore, you should research your wholesale supplier by small orders initially and spot checking of quality before you put it on your shelf for sale.

 
•Deal with Established Brands from the First Time – Reputable wholesale clothing suppliers will always offer you established products that are well observed by the customer worldwide. Since they already have a great brand value in the market; you don’t have to spend your extra time or money on marketing these products. You will automatically receive good footfall in your boutique in the initial stages of your business. But, market enough for your customers to know about your boutique. Also, you need to ensure that your wholesaler is not charging you a higher price than others in the market. Hence, it’s important to know about the wholesaler first before you decide to work with them.

Planning to Open a Boutique? You Might Want to Consider These Factors Before 0

The fashion industry is a multi-million dollar industry and a lot of people are venturing to earn fame and money. Whether you are looking to open a retail store or a boutique, there are many strategic factors to consider before starting your own business. Right from location to suppliers of material, every point requires proper thinking.  

The three important factors to consider before starting any kind of business are – location, finances, and product. You don’t only want to understand the financial aspects of your new business, but where to do you want to sell and who is your target audience. There are companies available to offer assistance for every part of your business. For instance if you are planning to open a boutique and you are short of finances, you can work with banks or other financial institutions for loan, for location you can call real estate agencies to find you the best location to market your business and for product, you can go for wholesale clothing suppliers for your clothing business. Let’s further understand each and every factor in detail.

Arranging Finances

For any new business venture, big or small, finance is the most important and primary aspect to consider. Without the right amount of money, you won’t be able to pay for the location and raw material. If you are looking to open a boutique, you would need to invest in a location that is easier to locate and able to draw your target customer. You would also need to invest in the marketing of your boutique to ensure that your potential customers are aware of your business. Lastly, for procuring the material, you can speak to wholesale clothing suppliers. In short, finance is “the” most important part of your endeavour.

Location of Store

The location aspect should only be considered if you are looking to open a retail store. Online boutiques don’t need to location driven to start their business, though they would require a space (big or small depending on the size of business) as a warehouse for storing the inventory, packaging and delivering. Retail stores need to select a location where there are good footfall and large windows that can excite customers to walk in.

Procurement of Material

Boutique owners either create their own style of clothing or go for wholesale suppliers to procure stock. But even before that, you should have a clear picture in your mind about the style of clothing you want to offer. If you are planning to open a modern trendy store, you would have to update yourself with the latest trends in the fashion industry.  Once you have a clear understanding of what you will offer, you would need a provider for your inventory. Wholesale clothing suppliers are the best people to get discounted rates. Since you would be acquiring inventory in bulk, the rates are discounted. They usually reduce per unit price as the quantity increases. If you go for online wholesalers, you can visit the website and view their offerings. To sum it up, they help you reduce the financial burden for inventory due to lower costs of clothing.

These Fun Fabrics Are What You Need for Summer 0

Summer could come knocking at your door at a moment’s notice, which means the wool and polyester garments go back into the closet. Now cannot be a better time to get ready for summer and put together some stylish summer outfits for casual and/or for business.

But what is great to wear for the summer? You might have concerns that you will get too hot or will sweat too much, even when you’re with friends who might not be sweating at all. Just when you think that you wear clothes that are suitable for warm summer days, you still feel quite uncomfortable. The truth is, there are just certain fabrics of clothing that are more suitable for sunny weather than others.

There are a select number of materials for wearing when it’s hot outside, so here is how to buy wholesale clothing for the summer: 

Weight

If a fabric is light and airy, that makes for a great garment to wear for the summer weather. You can easily tell if a dress or shirt is light simply by holding it in your hand. If you can sense some weight inside the fabric, then it might not be ideal for wearing on an extremely hot day.

Breathability

Garments with fine threading and loose weaves make for breathable fabrics, so it’s not exactly enough for garments to be light in order to be completely breathable. Some people often consider weight and breathability to go hand in hand with one another, but it is possible for light fabrics to be tight-knit, as heavier fabrics can also be loose-knit. 

Color

Color also plays a role in preventing the wearer from sweating when it is hot outside. For how to buy wholesale clothing for the summer, consider light colors such as white or tan rather than darker colors, as lighter colors tend to reflect sunlight better. Wearing a black or dark colored garment will definitely contribute to how your body breathes; you might as well be wearing a black leather jacket.
 
But now that you have an idea of what makes a fabric great for wearing in hot weather, what are some fabrics that you should look for in summer clothing?

Cotton

Cotton is one of the most popular fabrics for clothes, and has been around for a very long time. Cotton is light and breathable, but can also feel fuzzy and soft, almost like wool. Cotton also can absorb moisture, such as your own sweat, and can dry at a reasonable rate. Cotton can also be washed by a machine and has decent durability and affordability.

Linen

Linen is one of the best materials to wear for summer dresses, and it is so effective that it is what summer bed sheets are made of too. They are lighter than cotton, and they feel as smooth as silk. It also can dry just as fast as cotton. One takeaway from linen is that it can get wrinkly and crease easily.
 
Silk

Silk has a nice sheen to it, making it look more lavish than cotton or even linen, for that matter. Silk can be both tightly woven and loosely woven for added breathability. Silk, however, is not very durable, so if you do manage to sweat, the fabric won’t take kindly to it, unfortunately.

Rayon

A synthetic material, rayon is made from an artificial process to give itself woven fibers. Rayon can help make colors pop in dresses better than any of the other materials. The takeaway from rayon is that this fabric can only be dry-cleaned, so washing machines should be off limits.