Friday, April 24, 2009

World's most expensive sling?

If you have $1,120 to blow, you can spend it on a Sakura Bloom handwoven and hand dyed Laotian silk ring sling. The fabric does look beautiful, but I keep thinking of all the things I could buy with $1,120: a used car, enough cloth diapers for many new mamas, several months of groceries...

Speaking of slings, though, I've been thinking about starting to make silk dupioni slings, along with my usual linen ones. They wouldn't be handwoven or hand dyed, but they also wouldn't cost over $1,000. I'd probably charge around $70, depending on the price of silk dupioni. So I need your input: would you pay that much for a fancy silk ring sling?

14 comments:

  1. I would pay $70, yes! If you made it, I might even pay $80. :)

    (I would not pay $1,200. My goodness, no.)

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  2. That's not the most ever paid for a carrier, although it might be the highest retail price; I think there have been wraps auctioned off for more than that. Which boggles my mind no end, except I know there are strollers that go for that much, too.

    I think $70 is totally reasonable for a comfortable, beautiful sling. :)

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  3. Silk? Yeah, $70 sounds fair. When I hear that a sling is silk, I automatically assume the price is hovering close to or exceeding the hundred dollar mark.

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  4. I've sold mine for as much as $60, though in this economy, I have them at $45 right now. The going rate is between that and about $120, depending on the brand.

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  5. Are you kidding me? $1200 for that plain ol black scarf? For that price, I'd at least expect a cute print!

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  6. I'd never buy that one, either, but for what it's worth, they make sure the fabric is made under good working conditions, fair-trade practices, and they pay their workers well. So it's not like they ran down to JoAnns and bought some fabric off the rack and priced it at $1200; a lot goes into it that isn't necessarily seen.

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  7. $70, sure. $1200...not so much.

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  8. My unbleached cotton sling was $85 (it's a Heart2Heart sling), so for $70, I'd definitely buy a silk one ... if my hubby would let me ;)

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  9. I wouldn't pay even $70. I'm a cheap-O! I would just make my own. Actually, I don't even think I would want a silk sling, because is going to get dirty if I use it all the time. And if I have it only for special occasions, it may only get used once or twice (not worth it for the price).

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  10. Already have paid that and more for a nice carrier! :-)

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  11. Mallory--I'm a lot like you in that regard: too cheap! That's why I started making slings in the first place. Anyway silk is actually very durable and machine washable, so while it *looks* all fancy, it's actually stronger and longer lasting than cotton or linen. And a more slubby weave like dupioni (as opposed to a satin or charmeuse) has enough texture to hide small marks, etc.

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  12. 1200 for the baby to wipe it's nose on, poop on, pee on, throw up on, etc....

    I'm cheap and would never pay more than $40 for a sling/carrier and even then it had better be good! High end, nice silk fabric and the work and time it takes to create - $70 should be worth it!

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  13. I know a woman who makes and sells really pretty silk slings on etsy (babypockets.etsy.com) She sells them for about $60 I believe, and doesn't seem to have any trouble with turnover. I don't know her type of silk or how it would compare to yours etc, but I think the $60-70 range is probably very realistic. :)

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  14. Yes, I probably would! I don't often have reason to dress up, but it seems I'll be in a wedding and likely holding my newest baby. (Wedding is in spring, baby is due in october) So I'll probably be hunting for a snazzy sling that will go!

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