13 replies to this topic

[tess]

OK I was reading the other thread about all the sex questions and something posted my MK got me thinking, so instead of posting this in there I wanted to start a whole new thread.

MK I hope you don' t mind me quoting your post over here

MamaKoala, on 30 July 2011 - 10:20 PM, said:

It's been a while since we had a good thread about stockings and the latest Nappy brand on the scene..........

I've been noticing lately that there seems to be a butt load more MCN brands on the scene than there was when I started using them (a little over 2.5 years ago), back then there was Ebay cheapies and then the biggest contenders (I am only talking WAHMs here too) were CK, beetlebums, GF,SS and a smattering of others that I can't recall. However now there is so so many makers and more appearing out the woodwork everyday. Some of them appear to be pretty average in what they do, most of them middle of the range, not crappy but nothing to really make them stand out from the crowd, and of corse then there are a few that really have the WOW factor.
Now please please don't get me wrong I love being spoiled for choice and I would NEVER discourage anyone from chasing their dream to make and sell MCN's

However do you think that having so many options for brands on the market is what is causing us to chase less at stockings and the reason that we no longer have full on discussions about the latest brand to pop up.

I think its great that all these makers obviously mean that more people are being exposed to mcn and more people are using them all the time.
I personally have had very very few stocking in the last few months that have got me really excited, people seem to be leaning towards ruffles and things making them the biggest part of stockings forgetting a lot about those of us with boys or even those of you with girls who don't want the ruffles and nappies you can't put pants over.

hmm.. Im not sure, these are probably just random pregnant woman ramblings I've just noticed some big changes since I've been around and I wasn't sure if it was just me

[kazza02]

No you're right, but I think it came down to competition and jealousy at times. No-one was allowed to whisper about a stocking because that would increase the competition or discuss what they were after because then people would fight before the stocking. Then there were the "what did you get?" threads after and the green eyed monsters would come out again and I have heard (never experienced) that some were pm'd and harrassed for winning a particular nappy that someone else so desparately wanted.

Stash pics were picked on and berrated for "excessively overconsuming nappies" rather than admiration (jealousy again?) and fluffy mail became a thing of the past, I suppose when the 2nd hand market was rife there wasn't much point buying from a sales thread and then posting what you had received. I really miss stash pics and fluffy mail pics

I remember the days when I first came here, Sabrehunter and I refer to them as the "Top 5" - Beetlebums, auriels, sugarshots, CGR's and DM's. Impossible to get and worshipped and of course GF who could do anything you ever dreamed of. You just waited patiently to aquire your own and usually it was one or 2 rather than 30 or 40.

I guess "copy cats" also brought alot of angst around the traps as well unfortunately

Just my observations from the last 2 years

[MissEdumacated]

Well I only left for a couple of months....when I came back, I hadn't heard of a single brand.

Theres all these new ones popped up I've never heard of (and probably a lot more):

Envious
Little Britches
Bazooples
Bella Bums
Zoo Baby
Miamoo
Wozzleberries
Bare Rumps
Grovia
Fi Fie Fo Bum


Thats just from going 5 pages in (so 2 weeks) in both FS & WTB ads, and just scanning the titles for names. Thats a lot of brands/nappies to pop up in a couple of months LOL.

[mummy2declan]

Couldn't agree more about the stockings.. everyone all into girly ones which doesnt bother me to much as i have DD in cloth still..but struggling to find some nice boys onces that arent custom's. Most of DS2 stash in medium & large are customs from NicNaps. fair few customs from GF & Angeltears because i couldnt find anything that jumped out at me.

[tte]

No I don't think it's just you - things seem to have changed a lot since i came here, I miss the old cloth section where there were daily threads on one brand or another or a stocking - the new format of the cloth section just doesn't seem to get used like it used to. I have noticed a lot of threads where people have said they are "over it", wont spend a lot on nappies etc, - so maybe a lot of the older members here are just not posting as much about cloth (children TT or already happy with the stash) and the newer members have so much choice that they don't need to discuss it so much I don't know but I miss the stach pics too- (very few and far betweeen now), fluffymail (sometimes that thread isn't posted in for weeks and weeks), just seems like the "excitement" of nappies is missing a bit. I too find with boys it's harder to find nice nappies - and I'm so not into ruffles even for my dd. I am finding I come here less and less - if I post a thread about cloth there seems to be 1 or 2 replies if lucky and the truth section seems to be where all the action is.

Edited by tte, 31 July 2011 - 12:10 PM.

[4Cherubs]

Kane has TT'd so I no longer follow cloth.
Market seems more aimed at girls with an abundance of frills & bling.

[bethers]

i have a newborn, but i'm not into frills and bling. in fact i think i own about 3 embroidered naps in my whole stash.

what's the point when she's got clothes on over the top? i just want a nappy that works and works well.
mostly i am using GFs, envious/goochi and popins. they work and i like em.

[teddy]

The industry has definitely changed a lot! Customs and pretties are becoming increasingly complicated as are the expectations of new and exciting designs. Believe it or not but there is only so much we can fit on a nappy and the really elaborate ones can take up to 6 hours to make.

[MamaKoala]

I remember when 'bling' nappies were in and very hard to get, and when there were only a few embroidery designs available. It was impossible to get a custom from anywhere, and you can forget about frills, multiple embroideries or 'scenes'. Now bling is out and I haven't seen them for about a year. Splitzies are no longer the ultimate nappy. People can't seem to give their custom's away, and you can have embroidery and frill vomit on almost the entire space of the nappy, front, back, side etc.
There are some pretty cool designs out there with using multiple minkee cuts to create a picture . Like what earth child used to do. I very rarely see a nappy swap.
While I would love a couple of really pretty applique or embroidered nappies for under DD's skirts, with baby legs (because I've rediscovered my love of leg warmers), I really am not a fan of what is available, and the nappy makers I prefer seem to have slipped off the scene a bit.

[kitartas]

i also think a big factor that NA is not now the only place to talk about this type of thing - so the stockings are discussed just as much - just on FB instead of here

a lot of the new brands sell primarily or only on FB so they are targeting those FB chat groups and that is what people on FB are hearing about - also and honestly i'm not trying to sound nasty here - but most of the people on NA still love those SS, CK, BB and CGR and aren't interested in trying anything new - any threads that are made about new makers just kind of die in here, so where someone might post about a fe fi fo bum stocking on here one - (i picked that name from the list up there - you guys might not have heard of her in here but on the FB pages she is pretty huge) - but in NA the first post about one of her stockings may not get a response at all or if it is a response more like comments of who is she and where did she come from and maybe a bit of thinly veiled scepticism - so most probably next time she has a stocking no one will bother to post it in here at all

so anyway that's just my observations - not JUST from the point of view of my business but as someone who likes to observe - but i can say i haven't seen a comment in here for months and months about a firefly collectivve stocking - but we had over 500 online for our last stocking so it must be being discussed somewhere

[MamaKoala]

kitartas - I think with the firefly stocking and those other sought after stockings, people tend to keep quiet because as someone previously stated, the threads sometimes got a bit ugly with who got what (although I can only remember one) or everyone is hoping no one else noticed it was on.
I was going to suggest that maybe NA is a bit of a brand snob but didn't want to get shot lol.

For me it's more that that I went crazy when DD was small and tried every brand I could get my hands on, but now that she's gearing up to potty train and wetting through almost everything, I've come to the conclusion that it's not worth my time or money to invest in anymore to see if anything else will work.

I've heard of most of the brands listed above, and I've seen some of their stuff, and some of it is incredibly impressive with the creativity, but a lot of it is a little OTT for me in terms of frills and decorations. That being said, it's the way the market has been driven so clearly a lot of people want them.

[Naibabi]

Personally I have never been into stockings or anything like that, I have a boy and have never found anything that makes me really want to fight for it. Also we are only on one income and buying brand new nappies are usually too expensive for me. I would rather buy a few second hand ones for the price that a new one costs and really thats what it mainly comes down to for me, is the cost. Plus postage is a killer these days

[Chiron]

It's funny because I have only heard of one of the nappy brands on that list and it wasn't that long ago that I had tried pretty much every brand available. There are very few 'nappy' threads these days so I guess that's why I have never heard of them.
It's amazing how much MCN's have changed in recent years. I started using cloth in March 2007 and all of the nappies were pretty much either PUL or fleece. Minky was a new thing that had only just come out...and embroidered nappies were rare. Now look at the stunning nappies available now.

[helenn82]

Chiron, on 31 July 2011 - 08:40 PM, said:

It's funny because I have only heard of one of the nappy brands on that list and it wasn't that long ago that I had tried pretty much every brand available. There are very few 'nappy' threads these days so I guess that's why I have never heard of them.
It's amazing how much MCN's have changed in recent years. I started using cloth in March 2007 and all of the nappies were pretty much either PUL or fleece. Minky was a new thing that had only just come out...and embroidered nappies were rare. Now look at the stunning nappies available now.

You took the words out my mouth Chiron!