High Quality Bed Linen at a good price?

[Holdfast]

I'm going into London tomorrow to browse the shops and will take time to look at some of the different bed linen brands at the same time and educate myself a little about the feel and the prices.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by iammatt

We had some linen sheets made by a woman in Utah named Kara DiOrio. I think that they are as nice as any that I have seen. THey are not cheap, but I can't remember what they ran.

100% linen or a cotton blend? I can't say I've ever seen linen sheets before. An irish linen duvet cover could be really nice come to think of it.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

100% linen or a cotton blend? I can't say I've ever seen linen sheets before. An irish linen duvet cover could be really nice come to think of it.


Ours are 100% belgian linen. They were stiff at first but have softened up beautifully over the past few years. I heartily recommend linen.

 

[Holdfast]

Thanks to all!

As I mentioned in the AAAC version of this thread, I ended up buying some 400TC Peter Reed cotton sheets at Harrods today. About £300 for 2 flat double sheets and 2 pillowcases, so I'm pleased and the feel of the cotton was very nice and a very signficant improvement on my current sheets.

I also checked out Pratesi and Frette while I was there and wasn't blown away by them. Also, bizarrely they didn't have any double sheets in stock and would have had to order them in... I was quoted an astonishing 10 week delivery time by the Pratesi associate, believe it or not!

Although I economised on the linen, I ended up spending a little extra on some lovely Delorme towels and some deliciously decadent Hungarian goose down pillows... so much for saving some money...

 

[pejsek]

Good for you, holdfast! Fine bed linens are one of life's greatest pleasures. And the Hungarian goose down, I seem to recall, is about as good as you can get.

 

[LabelKing]

Perhaps a nice down comforter should round out the purchase.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Perhaps a nice down comforter should round out the purchase.

Fortunately I already possess a rather nice quilt so was able to economise on this aspect. The temptation was certainly there however. Soft bedding is very seductive.

 

[Lucky Strike]

I'll recommend this: http://www.manufactum.co.uk/group/17...g174121.0.html Manufactum is generally fantastic quality for the money. Check out the clothing, too - socks, underwear etc. are also very good.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Holdfast

Fortunately I already possess a rather nice quilt so was able to economise on this aspect. The temptation was certainly there however. Soft bedding is very seductive.

Yes, and the best part of having a really luxurious bed is that girls never want to get out of it! Btw, don't forget the featherbed! It's an essential in my book.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Yes, and the best part of having a really luxurious bed is that girls never want to get out of it!

/chuckles - I can assure you that aspect of the exercise never ever crossed my mind...

Btw, don't forget the featherbed! It's an essential in my book.

Really? I've never been sold on them to be honest. I like a medium mattress and figure that adding a featherbed on top of that would be too soft - true?

Besides, my bed's a Vi-Spring so it's already comfortable... just needed the luxury icing on the cake!

 

[Duveen]

I was just looking at Yves Delorme/Pierre Frey bedding in Charlottesville and liked some of it. This was an outlet as much as a full retail store.

I was wondering whether there were any DC natives with ideas about places to get high-end bedding.

I would also be curious to hear about brands besides Ygle (beautiful, expensive and seldom discounted), Pratesi and Frette.

Is Delorme not even in the same ballpark as the top-end Italians. Would it be the Alfred Sargent to Frette's Edward Green, or the C&J to Frette's Ferragamo (e.g. actually likely better made/value)?

Has anyone heard of Sferra Bros? Are they extremely variable.

 

[kronik]

Originally Posted by Duveen

I was just looking at Yves Delorme/Pierre Frey bedding in Charlottesville and liked some of it. This was an outlet as much as a full retail store.

I was wondering whether there were any DC natives with ideas about places to get high-end bedding.

I would also be curious to hear about brands besides Ygle (beautiful, expensive and seldom discounted), Pratesi and Frette.

Is Delorme not even in the same ballpark as the top-end Italians. Would it be the Alfred Sargent to Frette's Edward Green, or the C&J to Frette's Ferragamo (e.g. actually likely better made/value)?

Has anyone heard of Sferra Bros? Are they extremely variable.

I'm completely sold on Sferra Bros. I have two sets and plan to get 2-3 more... over time, as going into a store and paying full retail for 1020TC king-size sheet sets would probably run me upward of $6,000. They're extremely comfortable, see the highest use, have no pilling whatsoever, and have grown slightly softer over time as they used to be a little "silkier." I'd highly recommend them; they're definitely up there on the bed linen food chain; I prefer their goods to Frette's without question, and when I compared them to some Pratesi recently.. I was not impressed with the Pratesi.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Duveen

I was just looking at Yves Delorme/Pierre Frey bedding in Charlottesville and liked some of it. This was an outlet as much as a full retail store.

I was wondering whether there were any DC natives with ideas about places to get high-end bedding.

I would also be curious to hear about brands besides Ygle (beautiful, expensive and seldom discounted), Pratesi and Frette.

Is Delorme not even in the same ballpark as the top-end Italians. Would it be the Alfred Sargent to Frette's Edward Green, or the C&J to Frette's Ferragamo (e.g. actually likely better made/value)?

Has anyone heard of Sferra Bros? Are they extremely variable.

It depends what you're looking for. If you need fancy designs, possibly with some hand-stitching, you're stuck with those brands (and I'd include sferra bros in the mix).

If you just want the luxurious feel of high-end sheets, I'm sure you can find a local place that will make you sheets from fabrics of your choice. The place I'm going to use for my new bed does this stuff to order using some very high-quality fabrics and it costs less than purchasing a brand-name sheet set. I'm sure you can find something similar in DC.

I'm also considering www.venusrising.com as I've heard some really good things about them. Selection isn't great though.

 

[Duveen]

GQ - Did you learn about Venus Rising on this forum? In the other thread I saw what looked like a series of spam posts from a random forumite about those sheets. Do you (or does someone you know) have direct experience with those sheets?

 

[Duveen]

Also, does anyone know anything about Ebay seller gimmecoffee122? The prices seem way too good to be true, and they are 'new not in package', which is a little wierd. But there are only 4 negs in a long list of feedbacks. Anyone with direct experience here?

Thanks!

Finally, would something like this sheet set achieve the softness that I want, or is it likely to be the low-end/scratchy side of things?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sferra-Antonia-Q...QQcmdZViewItem

How about this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sferra-Bros-Hone...QQcmdZViewItem

Or this 500TC version?
http://cgi.ebay.com/SFERRA-500TC-Que...QQcmdZViewItem