None of us feel good all the time! But finding clothes that fit well, are beautifully cut, and are in flattering colour tones, will go a long way to making us feel brighter and better, even on the dreariest of days.

Which colours do your friends tell you that you look great in or what colour are you wearing when they say how well you look? Getting the colour and shape right can be as rejuvenating as a face lift and is considerably cheaper!

With Love Trading has been going since the spring of 2009, and was born out of my desire to share my love of colour and design with women within the UK, by developing and producing a small luxurious collection of beautifully fitting, flattering clothes in easy to wear colours.

In the current disposable climate, many brands are made of cheap fabrics designed to last only a few weeks. ‘With Love’ has striven to provide you with a selection of the finest naturally based fabrics at realistic price points, which will last the test of time and reduce some of our global waste. The British climate can at best be described as inclement, which means that choosing the right fabrics are key to any good collection.

How do we decide what fabrics we will use for new collections?

Although we have stood by our old favourites of cashmere, silk and cotton, we have also added a couple of fantastic new fibres to the collection, that of viscose and Bamboo. Although many of these fibres may not be the cheapest, they are certainly the kings of their sector. I have been working hard to educate myself on many of the processes required to the fabrics to get us to the manufacturing stage, and thought you might find it interesting too.

These are a few of the questions that I have asked my Chinese factories along the way:-

What makes cashmere so special?

• Weight for weight it is the softest, lightest and warmest wool in the world…
• It is the under wool grown by cashmere goats to keep warm at high sub zero altitudes.
• It can only be harvested once a year in the spring once it becomes warmer, and must be hand combed off the goats.

Why is it so expensive?

• The intensive labour of the hand combing is one of the factors that make it expensive.
• Our cashmere only comes from the sustainable and regulated source of the Mongolian grasslands of China.
• We use only the finest grade white cashmere and dye the yarn before it is spun to give greater depth and vibrancy of colour
• It takes about 8 goats one year to produce enough cashmere to produce one of our 2 ply jumpers.

If you love your cashmere as much as I do. I hope that this extra information gives more interest and value to your little bit of luxury, and makes it all the more special!

Why include cotton, and which cotton should we use?

Cotton is the principal clothing fibre of the world!

Why do most people love cotton?

• It washes well and is hard wearing.
• It is a natural fibre made from the cotton plant seed pod.
• It has good smooth properties, and as such is great for people with allergies.
• It is as comfortable to wear in the winter as in the summer.
• The fabric absorbs and releases perspiration quickly.

We have applied a special silk finish wash to the cotton to give it that lovely soft comfortable feel. What girl can manage without at least one cotton shirt in her wardrobe?

I personally love silk. They sat that all Leos have an obsession with the luxuries life has to offer and why not!

What is it that makes silk so special and why have we included it in the collection?

Silk is regarded as one of the most beautiful of all the textiles.

To quote Oscar de La Renta:- “Silk does for the body what diamonds do for the hand.”

What is silk and what makes it so desirable?

• Silk is a natural protein fibre produced by the spinning glands of the silk worm and is the strongest natural fibre in the world.
• It has fantastic thermal properties. It is as warm in the winter as it is cool in the summer.
• It is naturally wrinkle resistant.
• It has a luxurious glossy appearance and sensual sheen.
• It is hypoallergenic and works well for those with skin sensitivities.

How could we overlook the queen of all fabrics within the collection?

Bamboo… Is it only valuable for Pandas?

We try hard to keep up with new Fabric developments and one we have embraced with great excitement is Bamboo.

Nature really does provide us with some of the most incredible resources and bamboo truly is one of these.

• It is deliciously soft next to the skin and as a drape and weight similar to modal but without the chemical processing.
• It is a round smooth fibre and is good for those with skin allergies.
• The fact that it is very quick growing and needs no pesticide or fertiliser renders it a sustainable fibre.
• It has natural anti bacterial properties, which resist bacteria which live on clothing causing odours. Incredibly these properties are not lost when the garment is laundered.
• It also has great insulating properties, making it cool to wear in the summer and warm in the winter.

I guarantee that you will love it and am prepared to give a full refund for those of you who order it and don’t like it once it is delivered!

Viscose, this is our latest addition to the collection:-

Our inspiration for the latest collection comes from the 1930’s and 1940’s with their flattering lines looking at:-

• Bias cuts
• Crepe and silk fabrics
• The famous designs of Madame Vionnet of Paris Couture Houses.
• Tea dresses

We have applied an updated and contemporary With Love twist. We have chosen to use viscose for our tea dresses, skirts and tops, as it has a silk like aesthetic, with superb drape.

What is Viscose, is it synthetic?

• Viscose is one of the most confusing of fabrics.
• Unlike other manmade fibres, viscose is not synthetic. It is made from wood pulp naturally occurring cellulose based raw material and as such is more like cotton and linen than thermo plastic based synthetics.
• Why have we included it as one of the fibres in the collection?
• Viscose is soft and comfortable next to the skin.
• It’s more moisture absorbent than cotton, breathable and comfortable to wear.
• It does not build up static electricity and will not pill.
• Due to its high absorbency it is easily dyed and retains vibrancy of colour.
• It costs substantially less than silk thereby enabling us to offer well made, stylish garments, with lots of movement at affordable prices.

We hope that you like the new designs and fabrics we have embraced. We as always welcome feed back from you. Let us know what you think. Email us and let us know what items you would like to see form part of future With Love collections.

With many thanks and best wishes

Emma

On behalf of the With Love Team.