Thread: Labels - are they important?

Brainstorm with me about labels please.
I have sew in labels for all my costumes. Pretty generic. They say Hand made design created by Eshta Amar and then my website.
So I am going to order new labels soon and I have a couple thoughts and ideas. I know Hanan's labels aren't even spelled right half the time - bally dance costume is all they say and eman has the golden lotus. Bella just says bella.
Since I only make a maximum of 5 costumes for any design I was thinking of a sew in label with my name and website and then underneath I could get a really thin sharpie and write the name of the costume and the number like first, second, etc...and final.
Is this crazy? Am I reading too much into it or would other dancers appreciate this?
Would it help them hold value over time?

I'll admit to blasphemy. I almost always remove all of the tags from my costumes. After seeing one too many tags end up dangling out of dancers' belts or bras as the tag stitching came loose, I decided to remove most of them.

I had an Eman with a label that said "Golden Louts." No joke.

I'm not really a label person, so I don't have a helpful answer... just couldn't resist sharing that. Heee.

well mine don't fall off I can tell you that for sure. Cause I stitch all around the sides and directly into the lining. I just get asked for one-of-a-kinds all the time and the place where I get most of my fabric only sells one-of-a-kind limited run stuff from France so I just kinda thought it might be cool. But if no one thinks it is important I won't bother to do the extra work. I'd rather spend the time getting custom storage boxes.

Labels are useful in terms of resale value and can make the pieces seem more exclusive. Hand-written labels seem really cool to me. Use a permanent fabric marker, like the ones we used to have for school uniform labels- they must still exist.

Originally Posted by eshtabellydance

well mine don't fall off I can tell you that for sure. Cause I stitch all around the sides and directly into the lining. I just get asked for one-of-a-kinds all the time and the place where I get most of my fabric only sells one-of-a-kind limited run stuff from France so I just kinda thought it might be cool. But if no one thinks it is important I won't bother to do the extra work. I'd rather spend the time getting custom storage boxes.

No worries - I wasn't thinking about yours falling off LOL I think the ones I saw dangling were from one of the Egyptian designers that just puts them in with two stitches.

I think that the tags could help with getting people familiar with the brand and I am sure yours would be really nice. I've always wondered if the designers put a special bead or something on to be able to prove something is a knock-off. ;) I am guessing re-sale would be the most important place for the tag to exist.

Based on what I've seen I think it would be great to know the design name. Maybe that could be written in custom storage box!

I liked the custom labels with "edition" # :)

Originally Posted by RaqOn

I liked the custom labels with "edition" # :)

Me too! Seeing a label like that would make me feel like I had a real couture piece in my closet. Which of course I would, because your designs are so lovely. But it's just an extra "specially handmade for me" element that would make me treasure the costume even more.

Speaking of which, I really need to email you about a custom order. Do the words sage green, olive green or moss green sound doable to you? ..g.:

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I had an Eman with a label that said "Golden Louts." No joke.

..l;,..l;,

I like the idea of the numbers, too. It reminds me of the numbering that is put on limited-run art prints -- if you marked, for instance, "4 of 5," it would make clear that there were only five of that costume in the entire world, and this particular one is Number 4. I think it would be great for resale value and for making the wearer feel like she has a real work of art.

i like the idea of signing them with a sharpie and numbering them. hallah used to sign the inside of my belts with a sharpie; her name and the year she made it. those are really sentimental for me. so similarly, i think you r customers would appreciate your signature, date and edition # in their special, custom creation.

I like a label in a costume because it feels like the item is more exclusive and it's easier to resell a couple of years from now. Bella writes a number in every label, I always felt it as extra exclusive. I also wondered if she kept a record of every number, so you could order a costume similar to number 372 with the fabric from number 819.

For me, the name of the designer and the costume name/design would be enough. Big tags get in the way.

I love the idea of a label with helpful info.

Ok I'm gonna do it! Labels take a while to make so I will order mine soon when namemaker has the next sale. Thanks for all the imput!

I bought flared pants from a vendor that used black labels imprinted with her company name and website. The info was in silver metallic ink. She used a silver metallic Sharpie to designate the sizes on each tag. The name of each style was written on the back so reordering for the group was easy.

Originally Posted by sabrinabellydancer

i like the idea of signing them with a sharpie and numbering them. hallah used to sign the inside of my belts with a sharpie; her name and the year she made it. those are really sentimental for me. so similarly, i think you r customers would appreciate your signature, date and edition # in their special, custom creation.

Ditto