How to Choose to a Diary for 2014

You can't beat the tactile nature of a diary. There is something immensely reassuring about writing things down. Diaries are of those corporate gifts that almost create a dependency on your firm. Recently I was at the offices of one of our support companies and they were complaining that their regular courier had not yet sent them their calendars and diaries. Once this dependency is created it also builds brand loyalty, something that can never be undervalued. Choosing your size of your 2014 Diary Before we get to the design and price, you need to think about how the diary will be used. A popular general use 2014 diary is the A5 diary. It is compact enough to fit into most bags and has all the relevant public holidays and information that you expect from a diary. However if you need a lot of writing space then the A4 diary is a better choice. This is an item that I would recommend for sales people. A slim line diary is a great small woman’s gift, for women on the go. It is also a terrific 2014 diary option for moms, who need to write down the dates and times of extra mural activities. Choosing the Format of your 2014 Diary Once you have the right size in mind, you need think about how you are going to use your diary. A page a day will give you enough space for writing down appointments. The slim-line 2014 diary will give you a handy week to view option and is small and compact. The moleksine 2014 diaries give you a daily, weekly and monthly option. Choosing the Style of your 2014 Diary Are your clients corporate, academic or are they looking for a personal diary. Whatever style of 2014 dairy you are looking for; we are able to assist with a wide variety of 2014 diaries. Special needs for your 2014 Diaries Do you need to market your products? For example pharmaceutical companies may want to add product information into their diaries. Then you would choose tip in pages for your diaries. Do you want to show case designs? A full customised diary with laminated cover may be well suited to advertising or communications companies where they want to showcase their design abilities on the front cover. Do you want a prestige look? Then genuine leather Filofax may be the option for you, as it also has longevity in that only the inserts need to be replaced, but the cover lasts for years and years. Is the environment important to you? Then choose our Eco diaries printed on Sappi Triple Green paper. Triple Green Paper is made from sugar cane fibre and is chlorine free. Lead time for your Diary If you have planned ahead, then you can go with a custom diary which will take a good few weeks to manufacture. However if you have left your order until the last minute then you will have to choose a stock option which you can have debossed with your logo. By November of any month almost all the corporate diaries are sold out, so it is always best to plan ahead for your 2014 diaries. Costs Now that you've managed to narrow down your choices of diaries, you have a number of choices of diaries to choose from. Things that will influence costs would be quantity, type of branding, tip in pages and if the diary is fully customised. Happy shopping!

My favourite Off the Shelf Corporate Uniform Items

I have a confession, before I came across this great new range , I was not a big fan of off the shelf uniforms, as I often find the kinds of wash and wear fabrics available to have a bit of a plastic feel to them. So while they look nice on the catalogues pages, the actual fabric does not make me feel feminine. But recently I have come across a wonderful corporate uniform range that is manufactured from a blend of polyester, viscose and spandex. Polyester is synonymous with corporate clothing as it is easily dyed and is crease resistant, but is the fabric that is responsible for that plastic look and feel. However the addition of the viscose and spandex is what makes this a wonderful fabric blend for corporate uniforms. The viscose adds a definite softness to the fabric that has often been missing from corporate uniforms and the spandex adds flexibility to the fabric. Budget Custom manufactured items are often expensive and if your firm has staff turnover it is good to know that there are affordable alternative to custom manufactured corporate uniforms. Off the shelf items are often more cost effective dues to the mass manufacturing of corporate uniforms. It does mean that the garment is not cut to specifically fit the employee. However you can consider sending the garment to a tailor to tweak it a bit. For many years I did that when I bought items from retain stores and just a small investment makes the item look like it was made for you at a fraction of custom manufacturing. Lead time My bank opened up a new branch last year and now in May of this year they are still waiting for their custom manufactured uniforms. While that is an extreme situation, custom manufacturing does take a long time whereas off the shelf corporate clothing, means that you can respond quickly to changing staff needs. My personal Favourites I believe that you should walk the talk, so I invested in a few items for myself and our staff so that I could a first-hand feels of the garments. Here are a few of my personal favourites from our off the shelf range. Ariel Shirt Dress This dress is my all-time favourite dress from our corporate clothing range. I love the sleeveless look, because in summer I can wear it just the way that it is and in winter I add a polar-neck to it for warmth and versatility. The self-fabric tie around give an extra feminine detail that separates it from standard shirt dresses and the back slit allows for extra mobility. It makes refreshing corporate uniform range. Before my staff even knew that I had chosen a dress from the off the shelf corporate uniform range I got compliments on this dress. Even my husband who used to train ramp models likes it, so this is a definite winner for me. Candice Pencil Skirt I love this pencil skirt because of the front slit. The reason that I love this design is so often I have to pick up something off the floor and pick up my baby daughter and the slit allows for extra mobility. While the standard pencil skirt in the range is very attractive and works extremely well for careers where you are seated through most of the day, the Candice pencil skirt is well suited when you have to be mobile. The skirt comes in a classical black and navy option, which will compliment any lady’s wardrobe and is a wonderful corporate clothing item. Cosmo Pants This flattering trouser comes with a belt loop and a fashionable mock front pocket detail on the waistband. I like the belt loops as it make the garment look more fashionable and less like a corporate clothing option. These feminine trousers come in a choice of black, mocha and marine, which are great classical basic colours to match any lady’s closet. Fiona Waistcoat This funky little waistcoat is a flattering yet cheeky addition to the range. I loved the tailored construction and the front mock pockets. It complements the skirt and trouser ranges in our corporate clothing range. Jeans For companies who have a casual day the jeans is a great addition to a corporate clothing range. I have a pair of the black and the blue jeans. While some people may think that maybe everyone should just wear their own jeans, I find that getting corporate jeans has many advantages. I sometimes visit companies on a Friday and see a very wide range of jeans, someone them so casual or worn that the staff look like they are on holiday and not at work at all. Research has shown that being overly casual does have an impact on productivity and also on levels of respect shown to bosses and fellow employees. I have added this corporate clothing item to our staff’s clothing items. Belt No look is truly complete without the right accessories. My favourite off the shelf corporate uniform accessory is ladies corporate belt. Made of PU in a nice flattering think design, it has a buckle that very fashionable. I just love the finish that it gives to a corporate uniform. So if you want a good balance of corporate, fashionability, budget and lead time have a look at our off the shelf corporate uniforms. Regards KIM VERMAAK

Top Winter Corporate Gifts

Corporate gifts are a great way to boost morale in winter. Usually everyone starts going into sluggish mode at home. As a woman I strongly believe that we should just be hibernating or eating chocolate during winters, but as business woman productivity is important. So how do you motivate people over winter? Great winter gift ideas for staff and customers are: Winter Jackets as a Corporate Gift Jackets make wonderful winter corporate gifts. They are very seasonal and meet a very real need, so you know that this is a corporate gift that will be well received. If you want to give winter jacket to staff, then brand the jackets with a nice big embroidered logo in you full corporate colours. If you have a prestige brand then you can so the same for client gifts. However if your brand does not have the coca cola or Mercedes Benz status of a brand, you may want to consider doing a colour on colour logo so that it will increase the wear ability of the garment. A lot of people do not like to wear heavily branded apparel unless is a very popular retain brand Blankets as Corporate Gift While in hibernating mode, there is nothing better than to snuggle up with a dvd on the couch and a nice warm blanket to wrap around you. This is what makes blanket a great winter corporate gift. Not only is a blanket a great personal gift, it is also great to have them around when you have guest around for a winter braai, because although the days may be sunny, after 16H00, the sun starts to dip dramatically and with it the temperature, so it is nice for a hostess to hand out a few blankets when the conversation is good and the chill is an invasion. Flasks as a Corporate Gift To be honest, my personal preference will always be isosteel flasks. Are they more expensive, of course! We are talking German engineering and superior heat retentions. When my baby was very young I kept a flask of hot water next to my bed to heat up milk for baby. When it was normal promotional flask, at 01H00 it is cold, but if it is an Isosteel flask then the water is still hot. So if you are serious about quality there can be no other choice in flask. Coffee Mugs as a Corporate Gift For a low cost corporate gift with great impact, you simply cannot go wrong with a coffee mug as a corporate gift. It is great to wrap those chilly fingers around in winter. Plus you can get to fill them with all kinds of great goodies, like nougat or Lindt chocolates. A very nice touch is to have them personalised with your client’s name. Fluffy Bath Robes as a Corporate Gift While you may have a great hot water bottle or an electric blanket in your bed, depending how electricity wise you are, a great warm bath robe is a wonderful gift to lounge around in until it is time to get into bed. Thick Fluffy Bath Sheets as a Corporate Gift After a warm soak in the bath, no one likes getting out the bath, but a great thick bath sheet to wrap around you is a must in winter, so these make superb winter gifts as well. When it comes to winter corporate gifts, there are so many great options, the ones that I mentioned are just a few, so let your imagination go wild or contact us on info@belleregalo.co.za

Winter Jackets can Help Boost Motivation During Winter

Winter jackets are one of those items that you simply cannot procrastinate on. Despite the obvious that if you take your time, winter pass and then it will be too late to purchase your jackets. There is another reason to purchase your winter jackets early and that is motivation. I have noticed that during winter motivation tends to drop with the temperature. Let’s face it, it is hard enough getting out of bed on a Monday morning, but when it is pitch dark outside and feels like it is the middle of the night, who wants to get out of bed. Then there is a dreaded refrigerator that your car turns into that you need to endure until the air conditioner starts to kick n and that is enough to put a damper on the most motivated person. The corporate clothing gift of a winter jacket, does not just keep employees warm, it is a motivating tool that turns up the temperature of positive attitude a few notches. And during a time when most people feel like hibernating, some extra motivation is just what the doctor orders, so get your winter jackets sooner than later.

Corporate Clothing Pays for Itself.

Corporate clothing remains an excellent way to build your brand. With some many corporate clothing options available it is becoming easier and easier to put together a corporate clothing look for even the smallest of teams. We have found that a number of the employees from our corporate clothing customers re also willing to pay for their own corporate clothing. While this sounds strange to some corporates who pay the full cost of corporate clothing for their employees, for other team where budget is limited employees are happy to pay for corporate clothing as they over all ten to spend less on their personal clothing budget as they have uniform that they wear every day. It also eliminates the daily stress that many people have of “what to wear today”. For teams where there is a lots of comparisons having a uniform eliminates some of the “look what she is wearing today”. In addition where professionalism is an important factor then having corporate clothing ensures that everyone is dressed according to professional standards that are accepted by the company. This is useful where you have a large variety of ages, work experience and tastes that have different interpretations of what is professional wear. Corporate clothing definitely eliminates many of these stresses.

Best Buy Jacket for Winter

With winter literally yanking at our door, I thought that I would share what is my best buy from our corporate jacket range for this season. My all-time favourite winter jacket is definitely the Executive Ladies Jacket. It is fully lined, so it gives great warmth, yet light weight enough to be very comfortable. It is manufactured from stylish mock suede. I love the belted look, as it can be pulled in to make a more flattering view of your waist. I also love the length of the jacket, as it covers your bottom and the dimpled sins of all those carb cravings that come with winter. But more importantly it covers that lower back section between your lower spine and mid back, which I find tends to get cold when those shorter jackets sneak up when you sit down. As there are so many hipster styled pants these days, this little portion of a lady’s body tends to take a hit during the winter chills, so it is comforting to know that you can still wear hipsters and keep your back warm. It is not a formal jacket; however it is far more fashionable and stylish than a conventional promotional jacket. I personally have two colours, one black, which I wear with a black pencil skirt and corporate shirt on cool days and the stone which I wear with jeans and knee length high heel brown boots. This winter jacket actually comes in three colours, black, stone and navy. I think that I should rush to get a navy one to wear with blue jeans and crisp white shirt or polar neck. This look is ideal for casual day. The jacket also comes in a matching gent’s style, but without the belted waist. But don’t run out and tell them about it, they just may want one too. For other jacket options have a look at www.belleregalo.co.za Or call us on 082 948 7461 or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za Be kind to your self this winter. Kim Vermaak  

Time for Winter Promotional Jackets

At this time of the year I struggle to get up as my body is telling me that it is still night time when the arm goes off. Although the days are warmer, chilly morning and evening mean that I have to haul out the winter promotional jackets. Promotional jackets are a terrific item to purchase at the beginning of autumn. They will definitely be a very well received promotional clothing item. The preferred branding for promotional jackets is embroidery. Embroidery of winter jackets or promotional jackets is usually on the left chest of the promotional jacket or winter jacket, however a lot of companies also consider making their logo colour on colour. This is a very subtle form of branding. But if you want to have strong corporate identity of your promotional jackets, then choose your corporate colours for branding. For sporting events you may want to embroidery your promotional jacket with a large logo on the back for the best visibility on your winter jacket. Whatever type of branding you choose for your winter promotional jackets, please do consider your client. Staff are often happy to have a large logo on their promotional jacket, but client may choose a more subtle form of branding.