NEW: Clothes at Plum Ethical!
Posted on | March 10, 2010 | No Comments
Well, today’s a big day for Plum Ethical. We’re now selling clothes!
To begin with, we’ll just be selling some of the ethical maternity clothes found by our sister company, Cecily Plum. They’re designed as maternity and breastfeeding clothes, but — interestingly — many of them are very useful as clothes for anyone. For example, this tube can be used as a micro-mini, a belly band, or a boob tube. Or this cami, which has had rave reviews and is worn by many non-mummies because it looks wonderful.
However, we are also in negotiations to bring two ordinary lines of clothing to Plum Ethical. We can’t say more at the moment, but if all goes well, they’ll be here by the end of the the month (end of March). Still, if you know of any ethical clothing manufacturers who make elegant, timeless clothes then let us know. We’ll look into that too.
Posted on | December 18, 2009 | Comments Off
Widget! This is nothing to do with Plum Ethical, or bags or anything like that, it’s just a cool widget from teh Met Office that you might like – if you really really want to know the weather in Aberystywyth.
When Is a Vegan Bag a Vegan Bag?
Posted on | December 7, 2009 | Comments Off
As some of you will know, we’ve recently had some trouble because one of our suppliers told us that their bags actually had some animal products in them. They didn’t have to tell, us but they did because they are good people who really care about these things. This was because they’d found that the glues and dyes used in bag-making were not vegan-sourced, and couldn’t be so (because the bag manufacturers can’t afford to change for just one client). We were pretty fed up because we loved all our suppliers’ bags and didn’t want to lose one of them.
Still, we researched into alternative bag suppliers. What we found was shocking. Almost all bags that are made for sale in the UK are bound to contain exactly the same animal products EVEN WHEN THE BAG ITSELF PURPORTS TO BE VEGAN. I’m not going to spell out what I’m saying, but it was quite a shock to us. We had thought that it would be easy to find a 100% pure vegan bag maker who made traditional handbags, but it was not. You know, handbags that look like the might be leather (but are actually really gorgeous non-leather that’s lighter and funkier 
If you know of a supplier of really nice handbags (something like a Prada bag) that are fully 100% vegan, please tell us!
Although it was easy to find bags made of nylon, or PVC or something else non-animal, we found that they all were made in a similar way, in similar factories, using the same techniques, and therefore using animal-based glues and dyes. So, we had a choice:
EITHER: only sell re-cycled, hand-made bags (our current dA-LaTA, Neumatica, PlanetSilverchilli and E&KO bags), and not sell normal handbags.
OR: sell normal handbags that contained non-vegan glues and dyes.
Initially, we tended to the first option, but then we realise that this would mean many people would just go and buy a leather bag if they wanted something like an special handbag, since they had no choice. So, we’ve gone back to our troubled supplier because we KNOW they care about promoting a vegan lifestyle – as someone related to their company said today:
“I follow a vegan diet myself at home and clearly understand and support this
further evolved aspect of preserving & caring for animals’ lives. However,
when the majority of the public consume meat, sometimes trying to explain
veganism to them is like introducing yourself as an alien! Animals are
slaughtered because people consume meat & wear leather not because we need
glues & dyes. So I think the first port of call is to highlight the
benefits of reducing our consumption of the primary product of animal
farming and worry about glues & dyes further down the line, as public
opinion also shifts a little towards it.”
In other words, “let’s get rid of the major problem first, then we can focus on the other issues later.” Imagine if everyone in the UK only bought leather-free bags. Suddenly, there would then be an irresistible force to remove all animal products from all bags. And before we ever reached even 10% of that goal, things would become much much easier to argue. So, we’re working towards totally animal-free gorgeous handbags in this way. Some of you may not agree with us, and we respect that, but that’s what we’re choosing to do, and we think – overall – it will help achieve really useful long-term goals.
New dA-LaTA bags are here!
Posted on | November 13, 2009 | Comments Off
We’ve just started (today) to sell a new line of very special bags by new company dA-LaTA. Currently we’ve only got three of their range of bags, but if they go well will certainly be expanding to pretty much the full range of bags that they sell!
The bags that we’ve got are basically evening bags: a shoulder bag, a medium-small tote, and a clutch bag that could also be used as a make-up bag inside another bag. They’re all elegant, and wouldn’t look out of place on any evening out, even if you frequent gala openings and film premiers.
Each bag is made from ring-pulls, but these are not just a bunch of ring-pulls hastily strung together and sold. These are really beautiful bags, in fact they’re pretty much works of art. You have to see them up close to really appreciate each bag.
They’re made in Brazil by a collective of women who have grouped together to make a living for themselves, and to to make a new start. Their commitment to making each bag is amazing, and they are very good at what they do. When we first got the samples through, everyone was really impressed, and we think you will be too.
If you’d like to have a look at a bag then order it online now – and if it’s not your thing simply return it within two weeks. Postage in both directions is free, and obviously you get your money back immediately (as long as the bag is still saleable, of course). We hope this give you all the advantages of shopping on-line, with the human need to see and feel the products, just like in a physical shop.
We hope you like them; let us know what you think. (NB: we get a lot of spam, and I mean a lot, so please understand if it takes us a while to get to your post – thanks.) Otherwise, enjoy the new, gorgeous dA-LaTA ring-pull evening bags!
Vegan Issues
Posted on | October 12, 2009 | Comments Off
Recently I have mostly been learning not to be smug. It’s taken a while, which is why there have been no posts for a few days.
In my last post I was very pleased with myself that Plum Ethical is a totally vegan store. Then one of our suppliers wrote to us to tell us that their bags have “animal products” in the glues and dyes, and we shouldn’t say their bags were vegan. This was quite a blow for us because the whole point of Plum E. is that it’s safe for everyone to buy a beautiful bag here.
We’ve done a lot of research into the issue and it seems that it’s very hard to find any really vegan bags. The glue/dye issue is very common. It turns out that the fact that we have three designers who manage to be 100% vegan is actually pretty good.
We’ve spent a lot of time changing the site, to reflect our weaken stance, but if you’re concerned about any bag you’d like to buy from us, please, please send us an email and we’ll help you in any way we can. Hopefully we will be able to genuinely proclaim our vegan-ness again sometime soon. We’ll let you know as soon as it happens.
Incredulous ‘Vegan Bag’ Misuse
Posted on | September 16, 2009 | Comments Off
Just saw this quote:
“The plush, vegan-friendly leather is a unique smoky red color that will look great”
Er… WHAT??? Is it just me, or is that not the biggest misunderstanding of ‘vegan’ in the history of mankind? Now, this wasn’t someone talking about ‘vegan leather‘, which is understood not to be leather at all (we use the phrase ‘vegan leather‘ to mean ‘non-leather‘ or ‘leather-free‘) but looks even better than leather, they really meant leather that had been re-claimed and actually was leather.
Anyway – shameless plug – we’re totally vegan on our site…
*is smug*
…so you’re safe here at least. We’re still adding info and photos to out new Rubber Cow collection, but you can see what we’ve got pretty well now.
New Rubber Cow Bags are Here!
Posted on | September 9, 2009 | Comments Off
The wonderful new Autumn/Winter 2009 bags by The Rubber Cow Co. are in the shop at last. We’re still shooting the bags to show you what they really look like, so some of the bags have outdoor shots and some only have the bags on a white background. They’ll all have lots of pictures soon, keep checking back if you’re waiting to get more information.
The bags are really varied: there are a number of shiny, gorgeous bags that seem (to me at least) reminiscent of MATT & NAT bags, but there are also bags that feel like suede and yet are totally animal-free and animal-friendly, and then there are some that look like no one else can do – it’s sometimes hard to believe that this is a totally non-leather bag collection. Only The Rubber Cow Co. can do bags like this!
Men’s Bags
Posted on | August 29, 2009 | Comments Off
We’ve been amazed how popular our men’s bags have been. We’ve only got four Plum Ethical man bags, but I guess the quality has been shining through. It’s gratifying after the hell careful selection process we go through that people like what we have to offer.
Example: We’ve just done a show (here in Aber, as part of a launch for a friend’s ethical toddler-wear shop) and we got amazing feedback about our bags. Bags that we thought were only man-bags had women cooing and showing their friends, and a surprising number of tough farmer types were really enthusiastic about what we’re doing with our men’s bag range too.
I mean it was very surprising, though now I think about it, perhaps a bag made of old tractor inner tubes resonates with someone who works hard and needs a tough bag. In any case, we’re happy the appeal is greater than we thought.
If you want to see what you think and feel about them, here’s the link to our ethical man bag range. Oh, and sorry there haven’t been many posts recently, we’ve been very busy these last few weeks.
50% OFF offer on all Plum Ethical Bags
Posted on | August 10, 2009 | 3 Comments
We’re going to try an offer. We might regret it, so it might not last long! The idea is that you buy a bag from us (we like this idea so far) then you get your friend to buy a bag too (we really like the idea now), then you send us your friend’s email address (it must match the email address they used when they bought their item), then we refund you 50% of what you paid for your bag (that’s the bit we’re not sure about!) Obviously, the idea is that we get the word out to more people, and get people talking, and we think it’s fair that you get something for that.
The only caveat is that your friend must spend the same or more than you, because otherwise everyone will get their E&KO tote bag for half price while their friend buys a PlanetSilverChilli bag!
The offer’s live, right now!
Plum Ethical is Now a FREE Postage and Returns Site
Posted on | August 8, 2009 | Comments Off
…For the UK, at least.
We’ve been thinking long and hard about this. Until today, we charged UK customers £5 for the delivery of each package, which is cost price for a one kilo package. Moreover, we had actually rejected free postage because we thought it would encourage increased carbon overheads.
However, we’ve noticed that other ethical internet stores have free postage, making it hard for us to compete, and giving free postage would also level the playing field between a bricks-and-mortar shops and Plum Ethical. The carbon overhead of a customer travelling to a physical shop to buy, or having an internet shop deliver an item, will always be there. We can’t get rid of it by charging for it, so we’ve decided not to do so any more. From today, UK postage and returns are free.
Deciding to offer UK free postage and returns means customers can more clearly see the value of what we are offering. Although we lose some profit, we gain more customers, which means more people will share the message we’re trying to spread that ethical shops can sell high quality goods at reasonable prices so craftspeople are properly rewarded.
We’d really like to know what you think about this. Thanks.