Bear & Duck

A little help from our friends…

2008-01-16T16:45:00.000+11:00

No matter how engrossed with the Christmas spirit you are during the silly season, by mid January, I’m guessing you’re more than happy to wait another nine months before you have to read, hear or say the words Festive Season. That said we’re going to talk about Christmas one last time… then we promise no more “Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland” till mid December... when a life size neon Santa flashes at you from your neighbours front yard.

Christmas is a time for gorging on a feast of figure threatening foods and then sleeping it off for a good 12 hours. It’s about late night shopping, tartan ribbons, carols, inflatable reindeers, candy canes and puddings. And, somewhere amongst all the money spending and gift requesting, Christmas is also about enjoying valuable time with the people we love. In these times, we are reminded that not everyone is as fortunate as us, and although we’d like to think we look out for people in need all year round, Christmas is a better time than any to consider those who wont be decorating a Christmas tree, inhaling gourmet treats and unwrapping the latest video game console.

You may remember the in-house designed Christmas cards that were available on our site for purchase, with all funds from card sales going directly to the Salvation Army. The generosity of all those who purchased a $2 Bear & Duck Christmas card has helped us sell over 200 cards, with all those funds going straight to the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal.

High fives all round!

If you would like to find out more about the Salvation Army and their various campaigns throughout Australia, visit their website: www.salvos.org.au/

What's going on...

2007-12-12T14:34:00.000+11:00

Now that the work load is easing up and summer means we can brave the outdoors, it’s good to know what’s happening around the traps. We like to keep and eye on what’s hot and what’s not, and sharing what we stumble across with our mates.

So, if you’re a Melbournian with an appreciation for culture and a conscience for social concerns then the Human Rights Art and Film Festival is something not to be missed. The festival brings issues associated with human rights to the attention of Western communities through short films and artwork from around the globe. We’re a bit behind the eight ball in passing on information this month; (diverting all your attention to deciding if mum would like perfume or earrings for Christmas will do that to you) this festival ends on Saturday the 15th so check out the website quick smart. http://www.hraff.org.au/

How about revisiting a blast from the past? One of our Bear & Duck team mates recently got in touch with his inner child and visited the Dr Seuss art Display in Perth. He summed up the Dr Seuss experience with one succinct sentence. “The exhibition was fun, better than sitting in the sun, you should take you mum!” The art display is presented by Linton & Kay Fine Art Gallery at Dr Seuss Central on Hay Street (Opposite His Majesty’s Theatre).

The art work display is currently being exhibited and concludes on the 24th of December. We think it’s probably best viewed while eating green eggs and ham… but don’t forget to share! Damn, that didn’t rhyme.

Bear & Duck and Black Eyed Peas

2007-11-09T13:59:00.000+11:00

Once again our products have reached superstar status. They’re almost becoming a little too cool for the packing room… well, now that both Fergie and Will.I.Am from The Black Eyed Peas have a pair of our Egyptian cotton pillow cases.

We learnt from an article on contactmusic.com that one of Will.I.Am’s must have items to help him sleep on tour is his favourite pillow. Thanks to our mates in high places, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a night’s (or day’s) sleep a whole lot better with a touch of Egyptian cotton.

So, now they have some quality Bear & Duck pillow cases in their travel bags!

Span-tastic!

2007-10-24T15:18:00.000+10:00

While flicking through the Mx paper on the train ride home, I was a bit spun out to see a cat walk model sporting some spectacular spanner earrings. The caption below the image discussed the fashion shows intention to attract the interest of blokes. And what better way to get guys keen on high fashion than by throwing a spanner (or two) in the works!

Now, if you’ve been a Bear & Duck fan from way back you may recall we embarked on a similar male attention-grabbing journey last Valentines Day by teaming up our sheet sets with a free spanner (complete with signature purple bow). Who needs roses and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates? Well, most ladies do… But it seems a spanner is much better received by men than a cuddly bear the size of a small child.

Once again, Bear & Duck were ahead of the eight ball – spanners are so passé!

Let’s get organising – how to get the most out of your linen closet!

2007-10-22T08:57:00.000+10:00

Do you have to try and avoid a linen avalanche every time you open your linen closet?
Whether you have a whole cupboard dedicated to your manchester or just a few shelves, it’s important to consider these smart storage solutions… courtesy of the Bear & Duck linen league.

No shelves? Make your own
If the setup in your cupboard is inflexible, customise some space with baskets, plastic bins or plastic-covered wire shelving.

Separate shelves for separate rooms
Obsessive compulsive disorder is a debilitating affliction, but nothing spells domestic law and order like meticulously-labeled shelf edges. If you’re storing a whole household of linen, keep separate shelves for bed linen, towels, napery and miscellaneous bulky house items, camping gear and winter clothes.

Keep sheet sets together
Sort sheets into sets (flat, fitted, pillow cases) if you launder and store them accordingly. Each set can be a separate stack.

Bulkiest items at the top
Extra pillows, quilts, woolen blankets and sleeping bags will take up the most room in your linen closet and you might only reach for them a couple of times a year. Move these items to the top shelf… out of sight out of mind?

Vacuum bags double your storage space
Vacuum bags reduce a guest room of soft furnishings down to a neat stack of packets in no time. Vacuum bags are perfect for pillows, quilts, and any winter clothes or ski gear that take up too much space in your wardrobe.

Extend some TLC to your VIP linen
Family heirlooms need to be treated with a little loving care. Antique lace needs to be professionally cleaned and stored in acid-free tissue paper to protect against discolouration. If you only break out your expensive napery for a couple of dinner parties each year, it’s important to make sure all items are spotless before they’re returned to the linen cupboard.

Laundry day...

2007-10-17T14:48:00.000+10:00

Are you still pulling faded or streaky Egyptian cotton sheets off the line? Are your sheets not as good as they were when you first slept on them, even though you’ve only washed them once?

How irresponsible would we be if we provided you with the quality sheets but didn’t give you any quality tips on how to keep them looking and feeling their absolute finest?

Now, be sure to take notes… there will be a test on this later. Just kidding.

• First things first, before you do anything its worth knowing that it’s always an excellent idea to launder your sheets in a washing cycle by itself (launder – kinda sounds illegal, but we assure you this is all above board).

• If you have just purchased a new Bear & Duck sheet set, you might want to wash the set before using them. This is not imperative, although sometimes the fitted sheet does not fit as tightly over the mattress as some might prefer, so washing them to encourage a bit of shrinkage will ensure your sheet is wrapped around your mattress as snug as a bug… in a rug!

• Egyptian cotton is a natural fibre so washing your sheets in a hot temperature cycle can be devastating to the material and actually burn the fibre tips. It is wise to wash your sheets in cold or mildly warm water… but never hot, that’s a big no no.

• It’s recommended that you wash your sheets at least once a week or as often as you can (or be bothered). However with current water restrictions you can stretch your sheet set laundry day out to a few weeks.

• Show your sheets some lovin’ by ALWAYS using a Ph balanced laundry detergent. Try to avoid chlorinated bleach at all times, as chlorine is quite damaging to natural fibres. You may find that chlorinated bleach my damage the elasticity in your fitted sheet as well as the longevity, drape, gloss and sheen of your sheets. Non-chlorinated bleach is a safer option to use for fine linen and may be used occasionally if you absolutely must use it. However, your white or very pale coloured sheets, such as Bear & Duck sky blue sheets, should avoid coming into contact with these detergents at all costs.

Ok, there it is, sheet washing 101.

Important information... How to fold a fitted sheet

2007-09-27T11:28:00.000+10:00

Ok, despite sharing our “how to fold a fitted sheet” secrets with you in a past newsletter, we’re still getting emails of distress asking us for tips on how to fold a fitted sheet.

Now, pay attention, we’re guarding these words of wisdom like it’s the recipe for coca-cola and putting them straight back into the Bear & Duck safe.

Folding a fitted sheet so it sits nice and flat has the same degree of difficulty as nailing an inward one-and-a-half somersault with two twists off a three-metre springboard…

However, with our instructions there is no longer any excuse for your fitted sheets to be rolled up in a crumpled ball at the back of the linen closet. Follow these easy steps and you’ll be thoroughly qualified to work with the rest of the packers in the Bear & Duck sheet-folding room. These instructions are for right handers so do the opposite if you’re left handed.

1. Hold the sheet inside out by two adjacent corners of one end. Position your hands inside each of the corners.

2. Envelope your left hand corner with your right hand corner. With your right hand, pick up the corner that is hanging down in front and fold it over the two corners in your left hand.

3. Pick up the last corner and fold it over the three corners. The sheet will now be right side out.

4. Lay the folded sheet on a flat surface so you can straighten it and tuck in the elastic as you go

5. Fold the sheet into a rectangle and then fold it up until it is the size you require.

6. You now have a perfectly folded fitted sheet. Well done!

Extreme measures for extreme shoes...

2007-09-20T10:42:00.000+10:00

Cities around the world are wrapping up their Fashion Week exhibitions so, being the fashionistas that we are, we’ve been reviewing some of the articles on fashion trends, forecasts and faux pas from the UK, NY and Melbourne.

On one morning’s figurative flick through the online pages of The Age, we couldn’t go past this fashion article: “Deadly snake protects killer heels.” Mmmm… Five words that don’t really seem they should be in the same sentence. The London department store Harrods took a unique approach to store security and hired a security snake – a deadly Egyptian Cobra to be exact to protect a luxury shoe collection.

The Cobra’s security guard debut was for the launch of an exclusive footwear range. You’d think these shoes were made of gold to require the presence of a deadly cobra to keep sticky fingers away! Well actually, they weren’t far off gold. The collection did feature a pair of ruby, sapphire and diamond encrusted Rene Caovila sandals with a $152,700 price tag.

The cobra’s stretch as a security guard only lasted one day and its efforts proved more effective as a photographic feature than a shoe protector, although we’d still keep our hands behind our backs… no matter how well those jewelled shoes would go with that little black number.

And here we’re thinking our shoe boxes provided some fierce protection for prised foot wear. Although I think an Egyptian cobra, (did I mention they are poisonous?) might be taking too much of an extreme measure to protect canvas covered rubber Dunlop Volleys.

However, seeing we do specialise in fine Egyptian cotton, maybe an Egyptian cobra lurking around the office isn’t that much of a silly idea. Maybe a new name change is in order (we’ve only done it three times) Bear & Cobra, Cobra and Duck??

To view the article click here.

Our shorts have been spotted again, this time in Men's Health magazine. Our short shorts are not just for the ladies it seems!

You’re only as old as you feel…

2007-09-17T12:06:00.000+10:00

Gone are the days when the biggest decision you had to make was whether to eat the blue playdough or the red playdough, to spin around in circles for hours on end or to paint the walls with mums bright red lipstick or dads shaving cream.

Being an adult means a playdough snack is exchanged for lactose free yoghurt, spinning round in circles is replaced with a spinning class and it’s your own red lipstick or shaving cream that you’re cleaning off the walls. Despite this, we can still enjoy the frivolity of childhood through a new generation of music for kids and families.

Channel your inner 5-year old and move your body, your heart and your mind to the music of Cha Cha Sam She doesn’t have a big red car, a television in her stomach or live in a garbage can but she does have a collection of songs that bring children and their communities together. Through music and dance, Cha Cha Sam assists in developing a child’s emotional intelligence.

Cha Cha Sam is a Melbourne music collaboration that dedicates its talents to making music that encourages kids to play and communicate creatively in the early years of growth and discovery… like when they eventually discover dirt might look like chocolate but sure doesn’t taste like it.

The toe taping, head bopping tunes you hear on Cha Cha Sam were made in close association with specialists in children’s health, education and disability to be inclusive of special needs.

So who is Cha Cha Sam? Cha Cha Sam is a cheeky pooch who was claimed from the pound by a travelling band, she helps encourage the folk/pop songs that the little tackers go (mashed) banana’s for. It’s the perfect way to tucker them out to ensure they have a rejuvenating night’s sleep.

Cha Cha Sam just recently launched Up in the Sky, which has seven songs with lyrics and themes to help in teaching your children important skills. Hello, Hello is a track that encourages the social skills of welcoming people warmly.

At Bear & Duck we’re not just all about the hotel comforts but also the encouragement of exciting, educational and different ideas that are helping to culturally and socially shape our communities and the way we interact within them.

So, we decided to give a few Cha Cha Sam CD’S away. If you can successfully name the last track on the Cha Cha Sam CD we’ll send you a copy. Visit www.chachasam.com.au to find the answer, email it to: blog@bearandduck.com and we’ll send you a free copy. You must be a member to participate.

Wild things...

2007-08-29T15:40:00.000+10:00

Being a city slicker from day dot, my appreciation for Australian wildlife solely relied on the old episodes of Skippy that were on after school and Crocodile Dundee. You could almost put my knowledge of Australian native animals in a similar category to the one that explores most international views of Australia – that we get around in the pouch of a Kangaroo and all wear a Swag-Mans hat… even in winter mate?

Walking in between high rise buildings from day to day, rather than Eucalyptus trees can quickly make you forget that we co-exist with many Australian native animals, big and small.

Wildlife Victoria dedicates time and resources to current events and issues that are affecting wildlife survival. They’re keeping an eye out for the little fellas that we sometimes only pay attention too when we aimlessly flick through the channels and land on a news report on the effects of environmental concerns.

The association endeavor to facilitate community awareness on matters relating to Australian wildlife, which is one of the most important steps towards rehabilitating our injured or endangered fury or four-legged friends.

Not so long ago, Wildlife Victoria organised a linen drive. Naturally Bear & Duck were eager to help out, linen is our specialty! Some of you Bear & Duck members that have been part of the team way back when we were Vilain Boutique might remember the linen drive that we contributed too. It seems Old sheets, towels and pillow cases work well as makeshift pouches to help transport injured animals or to keep them warm and cozy in the shelters.

Wildlife Victoria has been at the forefront of animal care since 1989 and provides assistance 24/7 through the appropriately named information and rescue phone line – Wildline. If you would like to donate to the association or find out more information, visit: www.wildlifevictoria.org.au
To celebrate Wildlife Victoria’s good work and dedication, the team at Bear & Duck is throwing them a little boat shed bash. This weekend, Saturday the 1st of September is the “Aussie Wildlife Fur Ever” cocktail party held at the Melbourne University boat sheds. All proceeds go directly to Wildlife Victoria. It promises to be a night jam packed with food, drinks and live entertainment. For more information and to get your ticket to the wildest event this spring has to offer, check out: www.bearandduck.com/aussiewildlife

We're living in a material world...

2007-08-10T13:06:00.000+10:00

It seems celebrities are no longer content with their contribution to the music scene, the silver screen or the playing field. It appears having a face widely recognised for pioneering massive sunglasses or diamond encrusted teeth, makes you an authority on environmental issues, your right to vote and the War in Iraq.

A celebrity putting their two cents in on social concerns is not the only business they want to stick their $15,000 nose into. You would think having young girls modeling their fashion sense on the latest picture of you in Who Weekly would be enough for most high profile stars. They also want their face and name on absolutely everything that you can purchase for a small fortune. Well I suppose, we are living in a material world and… well, you know the rest.

Hillary Duff has a range of children clothing, Sarah Jessica Parker has perfumes and Jeniffer Lopez has taken it up a notch and even branded wildlife with fur items featuring in her fashion line. (Which we don’t endorse - faux fur all the way.) You can pretty much cover yourself head to toe with celebrity branded clothes and accessories and become a walking trademark on par with the Beckhams. Victoria pulls off the short hair style so well don’t you think?

Now, your bathrooms, living rooms and bedrooms can enjoy a bit of super star status. The pop star most widely recognised for her bottom rather than her musical assets is now introducing a new line of home wares.

Yep, spinning around in short shorts just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore for Kylie. To date, Australia’s biggest pop export has developed an underwear line and beach ware clothing range that is available in lingerie shops and department stores. And now, Kylie has been negotiating a home furnishings line through the British Department stores Debenhams and John Lewis. An article in The Age on the 23rd of July briefly explains that Kylie is in the process of designing bed linen, towels and curtains with friend and stylist – William Baker. The new home ware products aim to be available in stores next year.

We knew it wouldn’t be long until everyone caught on to the benefits of top notch bed and bathroom accessories. Let’s hope Kylie takes a leaf out of the Bear & Duck book of linen etiquette and indulges in some Egyptian cotton.

Rock On...

2007-07-18T12:05:00.000+10:00

Picture this: the world's biggest green-field festival, 700 acts performing on over 80 stages, mud you could lay bricks with, rain, a crowd of 177,500 people, rubber Wellington boots… and Egyptian cotton sheets. It seems our products have reached global recognition yet again (just like our Summer PJ shorts) achieving a celebrity status worthy of an appearance on Larry King Live - Paris Hilton had to go to jail to get her spot on the show!

We discovered that last month, Egyptian cotton sheets made their way to South West England, getting loose at Glastonbury Festival. If you’ve been to a weekend festival before you’ll agree that sleeping doesn’t rate too highly on the priority list. If you manage to find a bit of spare time to squeeze in some shut eye, it is most likely in your brother’s old sleeping bag and your uncle’s tent from 1979. Even if you spent two weeks pay on the latest camping gear - the “Genesis Plasma Three-Season Extreme Self-Inflating sleeping bag,” comfort never really seems to be a key feature, especially when sharing your sleeping space with someone who has a tendency to steal your inflatable mattress.

If your shares in a banana plantation in Greenland just recently produced a high return, then you could have enjoyed the Glastonbury Festival from the exclusive Camp Kerala. Unlike our products, you have to actually be a rock star to have enough spare change to afford this lavish accommodation.

There were 75 luxury tents that overlooked the Glastonbury festivities… and the “commoners” knee deep in mud. For a mere $14,200 you could experience “The Glastonbury Ritz” that featured king-size beds, sheepskin rugs, duck-down doonas, showers, toilets (that flush) and… wait for it… Egyptian cotton sheets! Like our Summer PJ shorts, we’re a little stumped on how our sheets made it to the U.K… unfortunately I can’t devise any clever six degrees of separation link between our Bear & Duck gift wrapping loft and the tunes at Glastonbury.

In a few weeks time, Australian music junkies will be basking in the melodic rays of Splendour in the Grass. It’s not quite as big as Glastonbury… but it still involves mud and tents. A few lucky Bear & Duck employees will be ending the working week early and heading off to Byron Bay for the festival, while the rest of us sweat it out in the office and look forward to a weekend of laundry, dinner with the parents and babysitting. While they don’t have the funds to create a Splendour in the Grass equivalent to Camp Kerala (complete with Egyptian cotton sheets) they will be passing out in style (like true rock stars do) by adding a touch of luxury to their ratted old tent with their Bear & Duck Plush Lounge Blankets.

P.S. We just received an email informing us that our Shoe Boxes have been spotted in Sydney, live on stage in a performance of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Thank you Linda for letting us know.

Ch Ch Changes!

2007-07-02T17:04:00.000+10:00

The trusty Wikipedia site tells us that change denotes the transition that occurs from one state to another… or something along those lines.

When I think of “transition” I’m always reminded of the awkward gangly girl from school who eventually grew into her long limbs and had the rest of us blown away by her Miss Universe like capacity at the five-year reunion.

So you could say that changing our name from Vilain Boutique to Bear & Duck is our metaphorical leap from being an uncertain teenager to a mature confident being.

Well actually, it’s not as deep and meaningful as that. Names are a funny thing, like a tattoo, they are stuck with you for life and can almost be just as painful. We sympathise with all the kids out there whose parents were a product of the hippy movement and consequently named their children Goddess Poet Rain Puddle Smith. Even though we thought Vilain Boutique rolled off the tongue quite nicely it did prove quite a mouthful to pronounce for most people.

My mum always tells me that variety is the spice of life, so as the kids today say, at Bear & Duck we're “keepin' it real.” The jump from Enfant Vilain to Vilain Boutique and now to Bear & Duck reveals our intention to stay current, offer the front line luxury products for the home and provide interactive activities and interesting (or useless) facts to keep us in the game. No bench warmers here… although we do like oranges.

It's Easy Being Green...

2007-06-29T10:14:00.000+10:00

Just to throw a spanner in the works, here is a little mythbuster to ponder on in light of current environmental debates. If going green gets you going then you should check out smallust.com because this month’s edition is all about the environmental issues that have everyone talking.

A recent article in The Age asks if hand washing dishes are more environmentally friendly. I bet most of you are saying yes, right? Well we hope you didn’t bet any Vilain Boutique sheet sets on it because apparently the answer is false!

Chats about being environmentally conscious in day-to-day living have bumped conversations about the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode right off the Friday night drinks discussion list. If you have yet to throw your two cents worth in on the going green issue then maybe you’re not cool enough! (Or hot enough??)

The Age article, “The Dishes are Done,” suggests that a dishwasher when used appropriately, can save time, energy and water and in most cases leave your dishes cleaner than when your attempt to do them after your last guest leaves your wine and cheese party.

A study completed by Bond University found that dishwashers consume about half the energy and a third of the water of hand washing. The study concludes that when comparing the washing of 140 dishes by hand with a 12-setting dishwashing machine, hand washing used 63 liters and required 4.2 kilowatts of energy to heat the water, while most dishwashers only used 15 to 20 liters and 1.5 kilowatts of energy.

BUT… don’t breathe that sigh of relief and throw out the washing gloves just yet. The Swinburne University National Centre for Sustainability reminds us that there are a few little variables to consider.

Some people choose to rinse their dishes while others move them straight from the soapy water to the dish rack. Some people prefer to wash after each meal and other people wait till the end of the day to do one big clean up. Then there are the odd households that are lucky to wash their dirty dishes once a week! Some might call these people untidy, I call them energy savers.

If only plastic plates weren’t environmentally unfriendly!

If this has got you scratching your head in interest then don’t forget to check out the Small Lust website.

If you would like to read this article, click here.

Summer PJ sets – Paris says: “That’s hot!”

2007-03-27T15:44:00.000+10:00

Imagine our surprise when we opened this week’s edition of New Weekly and discovered Hollywood’s favourite incredibly-shrinking celebutante, Nicole Richie, strutting around the set of The Simple Life in one half of a Vilain Boutique Summer PJ set! While we wouldn’t exactly put her at the top of our VB ambassador wish-list, she’s a serial best-dressed-list topper and she does have a knack for jumping on trends before they crash and burn in the mainstream (read: massive vintage sunnies and leggings under shorts – sooo 2006).

A quick scan of our database failed to reveal any members – on either side of the Pacific Ocean – exhibiting her details. Unlike her Simple Life co-star Paris Hilton, Richie has never graced our shores, so we’re scratching our collective head wondering how she got her bony little hands on our hot green running shorts (as you know, we only offer free postage and handling to customers within Australia).

We can only conclude that Richie’s new BFF, the equally-incredibly-shrinking ex-Popstar Sophie Monk passed them onto her. The Queenland-raised “singer/actress” is now based in Hollywood and is engaged to pop punk “rocker” (we use these terms rather loosely) Benji Madden, and his brother and Good Charlotte bandmate Joel is dating – you guessed it – Miss Richie.

But wait – here’s the best bit – all four of these AAA-list celebs are expected in Sydney next month to co-host the MTV Australia Video Music Awards! How sweet would it be if Nic and Soph hit Bondi Beach in matching VB shorts?!

While any publicity is good publicity, quite frankly, we’d prefer our shorts to be photographed on celebs with more generous proportions, or at least people who our customers wouldn’t want to throw headfirst into a Sizzlers all-you-can-eat buffet. After a quick conference in the Vilain office, we decided we’ll be sending off some Summer PJ sets to Scarlett Johansson, Libby Lenton and Chloe Sevigny. Watch this space…

Come and support Paddling for Refugees!

2007-03-23T13:14:00.000+11:00

Yes, yes, it’s been a while between blog posts, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been keeping our friends posted (bad pun, sorry) about all the news with us. Between our wicked Wednesday newsletters and our online forum, our members can hear from us more often than their family members if they like – that’s the way we like it. But Ok, we will do our best in the coming weeks so our blog doesn’t feel like the neglected child. More posts more often!

We heard about this great community initiative, Paddling for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, last year when its founder Simon Keenan completed a 2,226 km, 114 day, solo paddle down the Murray River (pictured below). His adventure raised more than $13,000 to help refugees and asylum seekers who are living in Australia on Bridging Visas and Temporary Protection Visas.

Although these refugees are living lawfully in the community, many are vulnerable and desperate because they can't legally be employed, they have no access to Medicare, and no access to Centrelink or other government services. Paddling for Refugees and Asylum Seekers estimates there are more than 1,000 of these cases in Melbourne alone, and some have been on these visas for over 5 years.

As we type and upload this post, Simon and his band of supporters are preparing to paddle the length of Melbourne’s Yarra River to raise more funds and awareness of their initiative. They’ll finish off with a Mega Benefit Celebration on Sunday afternoon at Melbourne Rowing Club near Flinders Street Bridge in the city. The entertainment includes performances by hip hop groups TZU (pictured below), Diafrix and Symbiosis and short films will screen. They’re also running a raffle or an auction, not quite sure what… but we DO know there are some fabulous prizes to be won, including a VILAIN BOUTIQUE SHEET SET – just the thing to curl up in after a big day of kayaking in the great outdoors! We’re really chuffed to be supporting the Mega Benefit Celebration and you can be sure some of the Vilain crew will be getting down to TZU on Sunday night!

Tickets are $20/$15 concession and available on the door.
All proceeds will go to Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project.
For more info, check out http://www.paddlingforrefugees.org/

Trendsetters with a capital T.

2006-12-15T12:44:00.000+11:00

Madonna, Britney and co fork out a fortune paying people to tell them what’s going to be “so hot right now” in July 2008, but really… all they need to do is hang out with the Vilain Boutique team to pick up some pointers. Let’s face it, we’ve got the zeitgeist by the scruff of the neck, according to this month’s Cleo magazine.
Remember when we posted about our new-found obsession with table tennis (scroll down if you haven’t read it yet)? Well it seems ACP’s most fashionable and celeb-savvy publication might just have this URL down in their “favourites” list. Check out what they have to say about table tennis being the next scrabble/poker/yogalates/south beach diet blah blah blah…

We’re officially extending an open invitation for Dave Grohl and the Butterscotch Stallion (a.k.a. Owen Wilson) to drop by our loft and challenge us to a game. We’ll provide the sweat bands and raisin toast for half-time snacks...
Big thanks to Bridget, our VIP from the ACT for bringing this to our attention. We love it when people read our blog and then contact us with semi-relevant celeb gossip. It makes our day.

We've got your Summer camping solutions all sewn up...

2006-12-15T11:01:00.000+11:00

When you think of an annual event in December that involves fun and frivolity with family and friends – not to mention sunshine, eskies and deck chairs – most of us would instantly think of December 25 or the Boxing Day test. But for a music-loving chunk of the Vilain Boutique team, last weekend’s Meredith Music Festival was the main event for the month. If you haven’t heard about this festival, it’s a three-day extravaganza of top-shelf musical acts from Australia and overseas, set in a sunburnt dustbowl on a farm between Geelong and Ballarat. The heat was relentless, the dust was debilitating, but anything’s bearable with sunscreen and a stocked esky.
We’re thrilled to confirm that our products are the perfect accessories for a weekend of hot, sweaty and grubby bush bashing. A baby blue flat sheet added a touch of class to our camping area when we spread it out like a picnic rug.

Just as we anticipated, the Summer PJ sets proved to be ultimate outfit for 42 degree weather. In total, there were 12 pairs of retro running shorts at the festival site. Several Vilain friends brought out multiple pairs for the weekend. We snapped Allie, Jane and Meg on the hill on Saturday afternoon just before the Drones came onstage and ROCKED OUT big time.

Spreading the Word - VB style

2006-11-28T10:48:00.000+11:00

As our membership base has grown in the past few months, so has the interest in hosting Vilain Boutique product parties. Truth be told, we haven’t been able to keep up with demand for them, and so it’s turned out that those members who have harassed and harangued us have been the ones who have seen party packs turn up on their doorstep! We’ve really appreciated the feedback from our party hosts, because it’s helped us as we fine-tune the party pack contents and host incentives. General consensus is that everyone loves the 25% discount across-the-board that party hosts and guests are eligible for!
A word of advice – if you’ve submitted a host-a-party application through our website and haven’t heard from us, give us a call in the office – we can generally discuss all the particulars in one phone conversation and it saves a lot of emailing backwards and forwards.

[serving suggestion only]
But this post isn’t just a dos and don’ts of submitting party applications, it’s an official congratulations to our awesome party host Rachel from Seabrook. She managed to smash existing sales records for Spread the Word parties, she signed up one of her guests to host another party in January, AND she even documented the occasion with impressive photography that puts Vilain Boutique’s wannabe stylists to shame. Unfortunately we couldn’t include all the photos Rachel sent us (we LOVED the catwalk shots modeling our Egyptian cotton bath range though) but the photo above gives you an idea of all the goodies you can test out in our party packs. Thanks Rachel!!

Trust us, we've been busy. Really.

2006-10-24T13:15:00.000+10:00

It's always the Catch-22 scenario with blogging. Whenever we're doing completely newsworthy things that we should report on in the blog, we're too busy to update it. In addition, whenever we have some spare time in which to update the blog, this is often the time when it seems there's nothing too exciting to report. Since it's been a while since our last update, you can safely assume it's been crazy town at Club Vilain for the past month or so. Here are some highlights:

1. Table tennis is the new YouTube. As far as addictive office antics go, our new addition to the office is right up there. We look much cooler than these kids:

Issues such as ‘who pays for the first round at Friday night drinks’ and ‘who takes the wheelie bins out on garbage night’ are swiftly addressed with more aerobic benefits and showmanship than your standard game of paper, scissors, rock. Stay tuned for Vilain Boutique’s upcoming range of sweat bands and sports bags.

2. We launched our Stackable See-Through Shoe Boxes with a free giveaway. After our inaugural mailout last month (see previous post) our packing crew had all bases covered before we'd even finished counting how many pairs of shoes we each had. Since then we’ve noticed a disparity in the office between us normal people whose shoe collection is well into double figures, and those weirdos who have less than FIVE pairs of shoes. How do they live?! We don’t know either.

3. Team Vilain has grown! We now have a dedicated team of packers who have got the order and dispatch processes down pat. The rest of us are feeling a little obsolete to be honest. On the upside, our Christmas party is now going to be a cracking affair. And we’ve got enough people for a decent round robin table tennis competition.

4. We’re battening down the hatches for what we’ve heard is a pretty insane experience for any new retailer – CHRISTMAS. Sparkly trees are already popping up around town and we’re learning that early December now constitutes “last minute shopping” when you’re ordering stock and estimating what customers will want to buy. Make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter – we’ve got lots of options planned for members who want to do a one-stop shop this year.

This is the size of Myrtle and friends

2006-09-08T17:37:00.000+10:00

In response to a query we had yesterday, here's picture of some of our lovely silver goodies so you can see how big they are. They are just fabulous. I'm wearing Sweet Deer on my coat today. Just in case you were wondering.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness...

2006-09-04T19:26:00.000+10:00

It’s September, we just had a couple of days above 20 degrees, and I’m rediscovering the pleasures of open-toed shoes… Ok, so it’s not quite Summer but it’s definitely time to get excited about Winter officially being over. And definitely time to spruce up your living space with some good old Spring cleaning. OBVIOUSLY we’ve got our own ideas about the best techniques for sprucing up your sleeping quarters, but here are some other handy hints to help you embrace your inner Sadie the cleaning lady…

1. Chances are you’re not the only one sleeping on your mattress. Dust mites aren’t the most charming bed companions, but you can minimize their proliferation by giving your mattress a regular wipe down with a hot damp cloth and a thorough vacuum, paying close attention to indented or buttoned spots where dust lodges.
2. When it comes to bathroom cleanliness, prevention is better than a cure. Keep a squeegee in your shower and encourage users to give tiles and shower doors a quick once-over after they shower. It’ll do wonders for preventing mold and slimy soap build-up.
3. Make your kitchen sink shine like new by filling it with really hot water, adding a cup of bleach and letting it soak for an hour. Drain and rinse thoroughly and then scrub with Ajax or baking soda, and rinse again.
4. Reserve window-cleaning projects for an overcast day – the sun’s rays will cause streaking.

Phew....all out the door

2006-08-29T15:00:00.000+10:00

Right...we are off to the pub.

We have just shipped off the final bags of free gifts and its fair to say we are exhausted... great to see some of our customers who have received their gifts are taking the time to post on the forum. We LOVE feedback so please keep it coming, good and bad, we want to hear it all.

Thanks to all the helpers who came in over the last few days to help us iron on, stamp, stuff, stick, lick and label. If anyone out there is in Melbourne and would like to be part of our "Mailout SWAT team" feel free to drop us a line.

We offer the unique opportunity to see the inner workings of possibly Melbourne CBD's only 4th floor Manchester warehouse... If you love linen it's better than Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!

Seriously, if you'd like to help out in future drop us a line megan@vilainboutique.com we pay in cash, sheets, towels and love (in any combination)...

Free, Free, Free Frenzy!

2006-08-23T13:26:00.000+10:00

We have been floored by the response to our Free Hand Towel/Face Washer giveaway.

We wish to sincerely apologise to any one who has missed out. We had no idea the response would be so overwhelming.

Steam was coming out of our server and Jase our trusty webmaster was in a state of nervous melt down but he was secretly loving it… so much data… (sigh) Jase, get out of the stock!

Over 1000 visitors were successful and we are madly chasing our extremely hard to track down supplier to restock… where are you!?!

We will be re-launching the special as soon as we can confirm new stock so if you are keen to be among the first to hear about its return we suggest you sign up to our mailing list on the site.

To be as fair as possible and reward people for their support when the offer relaunches we are going to offer it to our mailing list and wait a day or so before it is posted on the site so any one who originally missed out will get ample chance to take up the offer.

Thanks heaps for your support and patience.

Got to run, packages to stuff and all that…

Lost in the gift fair labyrinth...

2006-08-16T12:37:00.000+10:00

Team Vilain Boutique had a rather exciting excursion out of the office last week. We went to our very first "industry" trade fair at Jeff's Shed and the Graham Centre (another huge aeroplane hanger-type building in Port Melbourne). The theme was loosely gifts and homewares but it pretty much included everything from camping thermoses to Russian Babushka dolls to imported Indian throws and everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) in between. On the whole we really enjoyed the sense of exclusivity that comes with wearing a barcoded lanyard around your neck. You're not allowed to take photos in there so this is a photo off the Gift & Homewares Australia website (I think it might be from the Sydney show though...):

We were also decked out with fancy red show bags that came in handy for holding the 3,753,037 leaflets and pricelists and product ranges that every single stall holder at both venues gave us. It was a bit like when you go to yum cha, everyone says be a bit discerning pace yourself and don't feel you have to sample everything all at once... but you always do and then three hours later you're stumbling around the never-ending isles of stalls feeling like you're trapped in a labyrinth except everything you see is wholesale prices and it's like you've been on a Christmas shopping expedition for four days straight.
We saw lots of great little items that we want to offer in bedroom, bathroom and kitchen bundles. Lots of great children's wear and accessory brands that might only be stocked in a few shops around Australia. We're pretty keen to add kitchen-themed products to our range, and we ordered some samples of aprons, table cloths and tea towels and now delivery men keep arriving at our office with boxes of goodies and it really does feel like Christmas...
We're currently trying to sort through the multitude of pamphlets we collected at the fair so if anyone has any products they'd like us to pursue and maybe offer in our shop please tell us!

We've been posting out products for FREE!

2006-08-15T13:09:00.000+10:00

Isn't it ironic how our blog is meant to keep readers informed of what we're up to, but as soon as we start getting run off our feet with lots of crazy different ventures we don't get time to blog about it?
Hopefully regular readers will already know about all this, but we've been flat out sending out FREE samples of our new baby wear and sleep wear products. Our lovely illustrator and textiles designer Penny Gibbs (she's responsible for the pen and ink drawings on our homepage) came up with some cute embroidered baby bibs which we paired up with matching baby beanies.

When we offered 20 sets for FREE they went all went within a day or two. People can still buy them on our site and they come in a cute little drawstring calico bag - they're pretty much alredy giftwrapped and ready to go!
Then we thought, what the hell, let's give away some white camisoles and see what our members think. They're great quality stretch cotton singlets from American Apparel and also come in a Vilain Boutique calico bag. This is what they look like:

Farewell Amelie and Christopher!

2006-08-01T10:38:00.000+10:00

If you're a regular watcher of this blog and our website you might have noticed that we're dropped the Enfant and expanded the virtual dimensions of our business to a Boutique. Enfant Vilain no longer, it's all about Vilain Boutique from now on.
Why the change? The official story is that our rapidly expanding product range (just wait, Ok? we're juggling about 3,236,564 balls at the moment) defies classification (gasp!) and we thought it would be easier to group everything together in a nice boutique with polished floorboards and lots of natural light (that's our vision anyway). The unofficial story is a touch seedier.

Our two pyjama-clad cuties, Amelie and Christopher, who helped us launch the site back in March let all this cyber infamy go to their heads. What started as a promising collaboration between us and two Wiggles-loving toddlers started to echo the editorial pages of New Weekly. Outrageous contract clauses and a rider that made Diana Ross look like Mother Teresa. What can we say? We're citing irreconcilable differences. "Team Enfant" and "Team Vilain" t-shirts will soon be available on our website.

More tips for washing towels...

2006-07-05T12:26:00.000+10:00

Karen from South Melbourne had this to contribute to yesterday's open question about washing towels:
"...you should air-dry your towels and then put them in the dryer for only 10 minutes at the end. This way the towels last longer and stay fluffy. Other thing is that if the towels have a "band" woven into them, this way the bands won't shrink and pull the towels out of shape."
Sweet! Our new friend Karen can look forward to receiving an EV present in her mailbox very soon (that's a hint for all you readers - send me an informative email and reap the rewards!)...

To soak or not to soak... that is the question.

2006-07-04T16:40:00.000+10:00

Since we introduced towels into the shop we’ve witnessed numerous debates regarding whether towels should be washed before first use and if so, how they should be laundered. For the record, I didn’t wash my white Enfant Vilain bath sheet (I admit, I couldn’t wait) and it’s better than ever, but it seems there are just as many washing techniques for towels that people swear by, as there are ways for making "perfect" poached eggs…

We’ve already been warned against washing towels with fabric softener because it apparently makes the towels less absorbent. Our good friend (and towel aficionado) Janet has offered some sage advice for ensuring you get the best out of your bathroom accessories:
“After years of washing linen, I have found that the best way to care for towels & bath robes is to soak in the washing machine overnight in cold water, then wash as normal. I did this straight away with your products & they are great. No need for softeners & they stay soft & fluffy for a long time.”
Think you’ve got a better technique for washing your towels? We’d love to hear about it… Write a comment on this post or send me an email – megan@enfantvilain.com.

Show us your arts!

2006-06-27T12:01:00.000+10:00

Do you know someone whose deserves more exposure for their arts or crafts? Someone whose creativity deserves more recognition?
Enfant Vilain wants to hear from you. There’s an awful lot of crafty creatives out there who deserve to have their handiwork acknowledged and applauded, and Enfant Vilain is there to assist!
We’re about to launch a new section on our website that will sell small runs of funky odds and ends on behalf of emerging artists and designers.
We’ll be featuring limited edition collections of jewellery, clothing and handicrafts so we want to hear from people who want to sell their wares through Enfant Vilain.

We also need some sounding boards for the crazy hair-brained artsy ideas we’ve been coming up with. Our brainstorming board in the office is filling up with photos and Post-It notes for products and design ideas we’d like to incorporate into our website.
If you have any ideas or know someone who’s itching to take their talents to the next level, get in contact with us at megan@enfantvilain.com.

A change is as good as a holiday...

2006-06-13T13:40:00.000+10:00

Three months in, and time to reassess the website content. Customer feedback suggested the jury was still out on some of bed linen colours. Green with Envy didn't seem to sit with linen lovers as well as some edible alternatives. Ditto for Putty. So now you'll see these have been changed to Avocado and Cappuccino. Same colours, just different names. And we finally changed Baby Blue to Bambino Blue. Thanks to our EV friends who gave us their us their opinions... by all means, keep them coming!

Spreading the Word about EV...

2006-06-06T19:01:00.000+10:00

Another week, another couple of milestones for this little three-month-old baby... The highlight for this week has been packaging up our very first 'Spread the Word' party pack to send to one of our members in Sydney who's organised a get-together in a couple of weeks. The lovely and capable Carla (EV's parttime event organiser/party liaison/photoshop tutor) has been busy finalising the contents of the package - product samples, discount coupons, even some snacks and bubbly to get the party started...

Carla would love to chat with any of our members who are interested in being EV ambassadors. If you've already tested our bed linen and like the idea of obtaining more products, send us your details via the 'Spread the Word' page on our website. Carla will get in touch with you!

Fashion photographers and stylists beware!

2006-05-29T11:35:00.000+10:00

Oooh! I posted that photo of the hamper we made up last week then realised we should have shared some of the other shots we took. Just quietly, Sarah and I are starting to fancy ourselves as a bit of a photographer/stylist duo. Today: EV office floor with 4-megapixel digital camera; next month: photography studio at Conde Nast headquarters, Manhattan. Watch out Mario Testino and David LaChapelle.
You could say we drew on a variety of styles and aesthetics during our photo shoot. Ok, so the first one slightly plagiarises a previous EV banner involving some lush green grass...

but we started to splash out a bit once we got the products out of their bespoke packaging...

then we kind of mixed it up a bit...

We might have a bit of a play with some of them on photoshop this afternoon and you'll soon see the results on the website.

Conversation topics around the EV water cooler* (in no particular order):

2006-05-29T10:21:00.000+10:00

- We wrapped up and delivered our first ever Enfant Vilain hampers last week for two great fundraising events. We thought they looked so snazzy we had another impromptu photo shoot before the baskets left the office...

We donated some sheet sets to the Urban Seed mission, which operates out the back of the Collins Street Baptist Church (see www.urbanseed.org). Our hamper was a raffle prize at a classical music concert on Thursday night. We also donated a hamper to the Butterfly Foundation, which supports people with eating disorders, for their Ball on Saturday night. Unfortunately for us the tickets sold out in record time and we missed out, but there's always next year... Check out www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au to see what good work they do.

- We've got another ad booked in www.SaleGuide.com.au this Wednesday. We were absolutely overwhelmed with enquiries and orders after our first advertisement back in March, so fingers crossed this one is just as popular. If you're not a subscriber, sign up! If you're not already an online shopping addict you soon will be!

- Our newest EV recruits are 'taking it to the streets' this week in Melbourne's CBD. Carla and Sarah will be carding unsuspecting office workers on their lunchbreaks with EXCLUSIVE offers to save lots and lots of money when you buy things on our website. If you're one of those people who avoid eye contact, ignore our friendly smile and march past us on the footpath then YOU'RE the one who's missing out...

*we really do have a water cooler

Let's stay in bed all weekend.

2006-05-05T12:57:00.000+10:00

Grey skies, drizzle, it's dark by 5.30pm, it's "soup weather" as my mother would say... gotta love Melbourne in winter. Except it's not even winter yet. We're only just out of April! Thank GOD we got heaters in the EV office this week because I was starting to feel like the Michelin Man cruising around the office in my ski jacket and scarf.
We're thinking this can only be good for business though - who wants to be anywhere else but in bed when it's so bleak outside? Ok, add 'infront of a roaring fire at the Empress or Double Happiness' to that rhetorical question.
The EV office is quite the little hive of activity. Our team has almost doubled in the space of a week, requiring a trip to Ikea yesterday for more trestle tables and desks. As we speak, Jason is doing the standard post-purchase routine of circling the flat pack with a cordless drill, wondering aloud why something that looks so straight forward can be so confusing.
Sarah and Carla will be coming in two days a week to help out with the marketing and party plans respectively. Both are as keen as mustard and brimming with hot ideas. It's all happening!

calling all manchester mavens!

2006-04-27T12:45:00.000+10:00

Given the scores of linen aficionados who came out of the woodwork when we needed feedback on our products a few months ago, I'm guessing there must be a lot of people who have a thing or three to say about bath towels.

We're currently in the process of putting together a range of terry towelling treasures (unnecessary alliteration = too many coffees before lunch...) for the EV shop and we might need some neutral parties to give us advice. Just some feedback on what you look for in a decent bath towel, how often you'd shop for new towels, what sort of towels you'd consider buying as gifts for other people, how many old towels you've accumulated in the boot of your car that you have no intention of ever using after a shower but which might 'come in handy' one day... (we don't really need that information but, come to think of it, it's one of those facts of life that rates alongside the missing-sock-in-the-wash and buttered-toast-always-landing-face-down, isn't it?)

If anyone is keen to have a chat with us and inspect some of our towels, drop us an email - ruwan@enfantvilain.com - and we'll be in touch!

beyond the bedroom... to the bathroom

2006-04-26T19:34:00.000+10:00

The EV team ventured out of the office this week with the rather exciting mission of checking out some new inclusions in our product range.
Could anything be more comfy and tactile than Egyptian cotton sheets? Apparently so... Egyptian cotton bath towels! It looks as though our supplier will be offering us some seriously soft and absorbent towels in eight colours, ranging from face washers right up to bath sheets. Not sure on the specifics yet, but I'm already anticipating our gas and water bills skyrocketing once i get my hands on a couple of those bath sheets and suddenly need to shower three times a day...

Aha! People actually read this thing?!

2006-04-04T12:46:00.000+10:00

We were positively beside ourselves when we received a response to some out-loud musings published on this very blog last week. We had been struggling to decide on an appropriate name for the sheets-formerly-known-as-Baby-Blue and then we received the suggestion of Bambino Blue. Unanimous thumbs up all round. Why not extend our cosmopolitan references beyond French to Italian?!

Our new member Emily was kind enough to email us with some enlightening information about the colour blue that briefly made us realise how darn cool it would be to work for a paint company and get to invent the 2,623,690 variant names for cream and beige. Awesome. So Bambino Blue it will be, very soon - we're just about to update the site now.

And no, we're not just going to poach Emily's great idea, pretend we thought of it ourselves and leave her empty handed. Emily wins a set of pillow cases for her good work, so let that be a lesson to all of you...!

As Frank sings... we wrap...

2006-03-30T18:20:00.000+11:00

Operation wrap and pack is in full swing... the air is thick with D&G Light Blue as Frank's dulcet tones drift through the office.

A strange calm has come over EV HQ as the focus moves from arm waving, helicopter view positioning and concept development to the very real task of kicking orders out the door!

Looking forward to the reaction of our first customers. Please send feedback, we'd love to hear if you were delighted, distressed or dumb founded.

megan@enfantvilain.com

Paper cuts sting...

2006-03-29T10:55:00.000+11:00

A bit of a late start today... big sunglasses and even bigger cup of coffee... Interstate friends who needed entertaining... who knew you could get up to so much on a Tuesday night in the city?

Arrived at EV HQ to find a flurry of activity in our inbox. All we can say is we LOVE Melissa at www.saleguide.com.au and all her wonderful subscribers!

We've had referrals, we've had sales and we even have our first party booking. Champagne and goodies on its way shortly...

Struggling with internal debate on the best name for our blue (currently baby blue)... maybe you can help?

Feel free to drop us a line ruwan@enfantvilain.com. If we use your suggestion we'll ship you a set of pillowcases for your trouble!

Got to go now, wrapping, packing and all that stuff.

First Sale....Woohoo

2006-03-24T22:18:00.000+11:00

We pushed the site live today and had first sales within a couple of hours of launch. Site hits have gone through the roof and best of all people are signing up for the great specials and are passing on to friends.

Planning a campaign in www.saleguide.com.au next Wednesday so expecting even more activity. Melissa who runs the site/list is excellent, very swicthed on and professional!

Biggest danger we face now are all the paper cuts from wrapping. Who said bed linen wasn't a dangerous caper!?!

Loving what we are doing, so full of energy and ideas. Getting the site live just feels like the beginning of so much more to come...

Site going live...celebrations begin

2006-03-23T15:41:00.000+11:00

Hi all, really quick post. We are finally launching site as I type. Had a little premature celebration dinner at I Carussi II in St Kilda. Pizza outstanding but unfortunately we came back to the office only to find lots more little things we had to do before the site could go live. At 3am we called it quits but have been beavering away at keyboards all day... Maybe we will have to have ANOTHER celebration dinner tonight!

We're working on it!

2006-03-22T12:00:00.000+11:00

Ok so it's now Wednesday and the shop isn't live. Like all good things, the devil is in the detail. The more time we spend thinking about it the more great ideas we have and the bigger the project becomes... I guess anyone who has ever worked on an online project knows what we are talking about.

Anyway, we have drawn a line in the sand. ABSOLUTELY no more additional features! So expect to see the site and shop go live late on Wednesday.

We are positively tingling with anticipation. We don't know if we'll be run off our feet or deafened by the silence.

It's like that moment before the big party you are hosting. Will people turn up? Will the party be a flop? Who knows really... it's not until the next day when you're picking beer bottles out of the pot plants that you think to yourself. Hell yeah, that rocked... What can I say, please come to our party...

2006-03-17T13:34:00.000+11:00

The enfantvilain website is going to be up and running on Monday evening! That means our 'store' is going to be open for business. Up until now, the EV homepage has been running a competition to name our two pyjama-clad characters. All you people out there who have contributed suggestions have been added to our mailing list and will be the first to know about upcoming specials and discount vouchers. Whoever suggested the two best names will win a brand spanking new sheet set in your choice of colour and size. We'll be notifying the winner at the start of next week.

The response to the naming competition was pretty impressive - the grand majority of them certainly surpassed my lame suggestion of Jack and Jill in terms of creativity and originality. It looks as though we'll be spending this weekend sifting through all the entries. I'm feeling a bit anxious and overwhelmed... is this what all new mothers go through?!

2006-03-16T14:39:00.000+11:00

For the past few weeks we’ve been debating how we were going to put a unique spin on the product images for the EV website. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but photos of sheets generally aren’t that… uuh… exciting. All we really garnered from hours of vigorous research (Ok, so we flicked through a stack of manchester catalogues) was that there ARE people out there who can actually fold a fitted sheet so that it sits square. We’re still struggling with that…

Last Saturday we landed at Birrung Marr for our photo shoot armed with our EV products, a Polaroid camera and more DIY enthusiasm than the team from Backyard Blitz. Birrung Marr, down near the Yarra river and that new Citylink freeway, has the most lush grass in the world. Who knew so much fun could be had with grass and boxes?! We went through a couple of boxes of film in no time.

I just love the instant gratification of Polaroids. Actually, maybe it’s because I love singing ‘Hey Ya’ by Outkast the ENTIRE time as an excuse to ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture’…

Shake it like a polaroid picture

2006-03-16T14:32:00.000+11:00

2006-03-09T18:33:00.000+11:00

We finally got around to setting this up!
The last month or so has been pretty hectic in preparation for the launch of our bed linen range. Bed linen. That's right. Sheets. Fitted sheets. Pillow cases (or, if you want to be all fancy pants, call them pillow shams). Have I lost anyone yet? If you told us three months ago we'd all be fluent in linenbabble I would have thrown a no-name hand-me-down polyester blend sheet in your face. How times have changed. After roadtesting one of our Egyptian cotton sheet sets in January I suddenly realised why those women put their bodies on the line in the manchester department at the Myer stocktake sales. NICE SHEETS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. As in, you won't ever want to get out of bed, so life as you know it may quickly come to revolve around remote controls, stable tables and bed sores. Fingers crossed, I'm not quite there yet. You know how Linda Evangelista said she'd never get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day? I'm seriously getting to the point where I wouldn't get IN a bed if the sheets had a thread count below 200 per square inch...

So Enfant Vilain came about when we realised how normal, socialised people like us generally associate bed linen with generic, shrink-wrapped parcels that you might buy once a year on sale. Ok, that your mother buys you once a year on sale. Where's the fun in that? Sheets should be bought and wrapped and unwrapped with tender loving care. Nice sheets make bed so much more fun and snuggly. Egyptian cotton sheets will outlast regular ones by YEARS. I mean, it makes perfect sense to everyone here in the EV office, because we're all converts. But seriously. Take my word for it.

So at the moment we're working madly towards launching the website and online shop at www.enfantvilain.com. The biggest issue facing us is what the hell we're meant to name our two little Enfant Vilain characters (FYI: it's pronounced on-font vee-lah. For all the non-francophiles out there, it means 'naughty child'). Jack and Jill? Jacques and Renee? Carrie and Big? Go to the site, plug in your ideas and who ever gets naming rights wins an Enfant Vilain sheet set! How good is that!

Welcome

2006-03-02T09:48:00.000+11:00

This is the blog for
www.enfantvilain.com

Please stay tuned for updates on our progress as we build your brand.