With a little bit of help from our friends

This morning, while my partner (Ge) traipses around beautiful Thailand

I (B) am lounging about, waiting for the little one (you know: The Bump) to show up. I am thinking about friends.

Pregnancy is one of those life events that makes you realize how interdependent we all are and how indispensable our friends are: those girlfriends who help you laugh off the hormone attacks, the ones who bring their camera to immortalize your bump, the ones who fill your fridge and the ones who tell you everything will be ok. 

It's the same in business really. Commerce classes will teach you that "love money" is so important to raising your start-up capital....but how about all that help that doesn't come in the shape of dollars but makes a world of difference. 

From the very start BandGe has been carried forward by the generosity of Ge and I's friends. Take a look at the pictures on our site (www.bandge.com)...they are all professionally done during countless Sunday afternoons. I imagine our benefactor could have spent them furthering his own projects. 

Our like campaigns, our purchasing, even starting this blog have all been courtesy of our friends. Nowhere has the value of this help been more apparent than in our April photo-shoot: They were all professionals, they all gave us their time. It was the first warm and sunny day after a hellish winter...yet they spent it helping us build this business....how is that for a little help from our friends 

Janine putting her innate talent for fashion to work styling our models 

Our models lounging about waiting for their turn in front of the camera

Jiad from http://www.therearmirror.com/ working his magic with the camera

Jiad and I checking out the prints

These pictures of the photo-shoot for instance...all graciously provided by Vincent....the one with the really nice shoes! 

So this one is for you our friends...of today and tomorrow...thank you for carrying us forward and up with your generosity. 

How about you? tell us about those moments that would not have happened without the help of your friends. 

How to care for your BandGe scarf - Comment prendre soin de votre foulard BandGe

(Please scroll down for English version)

Alors...En raison de son indéniable utilité publique, cette entrée de blogue sera une des rares à être  complètement bilingue. Sugar Sammy serait fier de nous. 

L'arrivée de la nouvelle collection printemps - été, ainsi que la fête des mères ont entrainé une recrudescence des achats de foulards. Il est grand temps de vous outiller pour garder votre BandGe spick-and-span.

D'abord...la majorité des foulards BandGe sont en coton brut et sont tissés "à la main", du moins artisanalement avec un métier à tisser genre: 

Ça donne des pièces uniques qui n'ont pas la finition mécanique des productions de masse. 

Ensuite...comment le laver? Ce sont des morceaux fragiles et l'idéal est de les mettre au cycle délicat ou mieux lavage à la main de votre machine. Vous pouvez ensuite les mettre au séchage sans crainte de les abimer...au contraire c'est un matériau qui se prête bien au séchage. Faites juste attention qu'à la longue ça ne rende pas la couleur du foulard terne. 

Voici où ça se corse. Après le lavage et avant le repassage votre BandGe ressemblera à ceci:

Foulard bleu ciel 

Foulard gris

Deux choix s'offrent à vous pour les défroisser: repassage régulier ou machine à steamer:

Coton 

 

Le résultat :):

Foulard bleu ciel 

Foulard gris

Alors...la morale de l'histoire messieurs-dames: pas de panique au premier lavage de votre foulard. Vous ne l'avez pas détruit, il a juste besoin d'un bon repassage. 

Pour ceux d'entre vous qui avez offert un BandGe en cadeau, faite donc une B.A en faisant suivre ces instructions. 

Here's the english version. 

The spring-summer collection's arrival as well as mother's day have led to a spike in purchases of BandGe scarves. Thus we feel it is more than time to equip you with the proper knowledge of how to care for your very own BandGe.  

First thing to know...most BandGe scarves are made of raw cotton weaved with a loom like this: 

This process results in unique pieces that don't have the polished finish of machine produced garments. 

So how does one wash a BandGe scarf? It is quite delicate and ideally you want to wash it in the delicate or hand-wash cycle of your machine. You can then safely put it in the dryer. In fact, the cotton reacts quite well to a dryer cycle. Just be careful not to do that too often so the color doesn't fade. 

It is when the scarf comes out of the wash that things become tricky....because it will look like this: 

Before: light blue scarf 

Before: grey scarf

You have two options. You can use a steamer or a regular iron. The iron would be on the cotton setting.

Cotton 

 

Here is the result :):

After: light blue scarf

After: grey scarf

So ladies and gents....don't panic the first time your scarf comes out of the wash . It is not destroyed...it just needs a good ironing (for those of you who hate to iron, you can probably make a fashion statement with the chiffonné look) 

If you offered a BandGe scarf as a gift, be a pal and forward these instructions. 

Le vrai signe que le printemps est finalement arrivé

On soupçonne qu'il est là pour de bon au vu des sandales ouvertes, de la folie des séries, des nids de poules spectaculaires et des verres de rosé (notez le pluriel) sur une terrasse...mais le vrai signe du printemps, c'est les textures et les couleurs de BandGe qui changent. 
On ne s'emmitoufle plus, on se drape dans des voilures diaphanes, des bleues, des roses, des blancs...des couleurs qui capturent le soleil quand il hésite encore à s'installer pour de vrai....

BandGe's first steps

There are two ways to start a business. You can take a couple of years to write a business plan and analyze markets, trends etc... or you can go for a run with a friend. 

We chose the latter: 

Ge: "So, I've been thinking of starting a blog or something to share stuff I like with people"

B: "Yeah? Like what type of stuff?"

Ge: "Oh I don't know...Scarves, food..."

B: "Really? I brought back lots of stuff from Ethiopia last time I went but haven't got around to putting them up for sale yet." 

B: "Shall we do it?"

Ge: "Let's."

There you have it, ladies and gents. That's how our brainchild was born. Of a common passion for beautiful things. Two different women, two unique women, one vision. 

The plan: Explore the world (virtually or in person) to bring you back those things we love. 

The reality: B has a bun in the oven and won't be travelling anytime soon. Ge is training for a triathlon. 

Life is grand! 

April photoshoot

The Montreal dwellers among you know that we don't get sunshine and warmth together very often. But the day of our very first photo-shoot was an exception to that rule. We truly felt like we were ringing spring in...we felt glamorous, stylish, just generally IN. Of course you know how that story ends....we got the fashion right, but the weather well...sorry.