Nattily Dressed
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See you at Badminton Horse Trials - 6th-10th May 2026
I'm packing for Badminton Horse Trials - find us in the Eden Crafts Pavilion by the Main Entrance from Wednesday 6th - Sunday 10th May. If you're coming, please do pop by and say hello. We've got some new samples and other styles to see so would love your feedback on these!!
How do you recycle a bottle to become a Nattily gilet?
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know Nattily Dressed has several aims at its heart. We want to create bright and beautiful clothing which brings the wearer joy every time they pull them on, and we want to make our business as sustainable as possible. You can read more in our December blog, if you’d like to know more about what it means to be a sustainable business. Why we chose Polartec fleece Right from the outset, It was vital to source top quality materials which would help preserve the world around us rather than have a negative impact on the planet. We decided on Polartec’s performance fleece, a very clever material which is warm, incredibly soft, washes well, dries quickly and has an amazing secret. It’s made from recycled plastic bottles! Recycled polyethylene terephthalate - or PET - to be specific. So how does a plastic bottle go from being thrown in a recycling bin to becoming a cosy new Nattily Dressed fleece gilet or quarter zip top? From bottles to bales to pellets to fibres! Well, it varies from place to place, but normally youth recycling is sorted with similar items and then compacted into bales. Those bales are sold to manufacturers who have facilities to process the materials into something which can be used again. For our fleece, the bales of PET are shredded up and processed into pellets. The pellets in turn are then heated up and undergo a process which ‘spins’ the material into tiny fibres. Those fibres are used to make the fleece which Polartec makes for us and we, in turn make into Nattily Dressed products. Did you know, our YKK zips are also made from recycled products too and MacKenzie & George use the brightly colour trim off cuts to make our beautiful dog collars and leads (watch this space for more products coming soon!) British designed and made We’re so proud of the fact we not only design all our products in the UK, but in 2021 we moved all our clothing manufacturing here too. This means we get to lower our carbon footprint and support British manufacturing too. A double win for us! Our founder Natalie regularly visits our factory in Leicester to chat to the team who craft our products and see how we can keep making them even better! It’s great to have personal relationships with the team and saves on courier costs too! Better still, our leather goods are all made down the road from Natalie on the Welsh / Shropshire border by neighbours MacKenzie & George – another fantastic small British business which works with local suppliers and shares the same values we do. So, if you’re making an effort to make sure the clothing - and anything else you use - is kind to the environment, why not take a closer look? The Polartec performance fleece is perfect for wearing under coats for winter activities, and then is the ideal layering choice for those changeable spring days we know will be around the corner soon. Hands up who’s counting down the days until you can leave the house in a long-sleeved top and a gilet? We certainly are here at Nattily HQ! We believe in the phrase, ‘Buy Once, Buy Well’ and our products are top quality and very much made to last – we have even repaired gilets for existing customers who’s pets have chewed the zips! We’re currently working on some new products to add to the range, so make sure you keep a close eye on our social media for more news, coming soon…
The True Meaning of Being a Sustainable Business.
In the lead up to Christmas, when people are rushed off their feet making sure they have the right gifts to go under the tree and there’s so much pressure for perfection, life can feel overwhelming. The magic of the festive season can easily disappear in a fog of parties, TV adverts, must-have food and drink or endless school festivities. This is why we’re often asked to stop and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Just a few weeks ago it was Black Friday - a day when you could easily think you’re missing out if you’re not buying from every shop on your email list! It made us reflect on what it means to be Nattily Dressed, and a truly sustainable small business. We’re a brand SO proud of where we’ve come from! An idea has turned into a company with so many customers who adore our colourful, fun products and who can’t wait to see what we do next. How lucky are we? Our journey has been incredible, but of course being a small business has its challenges. There’s been navigating Covid-19, Brexit, a continuing cost of living crisis and ever-rising supplier and logistics costs. We have been navigating all these things without investors or financial support, just amazing customers, supporters, friends and family. And, in addition, we were determined to be as sustainable as we can be. For us, the environment matters enormously. If we don’t care for the planet, we risk losing so much - natural diversity in the countryside around us, the ability to reliably grow crops and feed ourselves, the changeable climate of the British Isles which allows us to live comfortably without air conditioners and 24/7 heating - bar the occasional heatwave or winter storm. Water is always there, clean, safe and fresh in a tap in our home… We’ve taken so much for granted, but it isn't guaranteed any more. This is why we put sustainability at the heart of everything we do, and it’s a huge part of how we intend to grow in the future, too. So, whilst we’re known for injecting fun, colour and joy into our clothing and bringing huge smiles when we pitch up with our trade stand, perhaps most importantly we’re known for our sustainability credentials. We wanted Nattily Dressed to be as far away from fast, disposable fashion as possible… and so naturally, we’ve ended up using a material made from things other people have disposed of! Our clothing is crafted from a clever Polartec fleece made from recycled plastic bottles. It’s soft, warm, weather resistant, durable and washes really well, and it’s got epic sustainability credentials. The use of plastic bottles means fewer lorry loads of plastic ending up in landfill where it lingers on this planet for hundreds of years. What’s more, our garments are made here, in the heart of England, so we’re not using air or sea freight to clock up extra carbon foot print miles – Natalie’s brother works in Leicester and brings the new orders home with him! Did you know all your orders are sent tracked next day with Royal Mail meaning they’re more likely to reach your door without any hassle and the postman even collects from Natalie’s house on his errands to save extra trips to the Post Office! To us, being a sustainable business means making decisions which might make life harder but are so worth it in the long run. It means keeping an ear to the ground on the latest packing materials and listening to what the delivery and supplier companies are doing to reduce their carbon footprint. It means supporting the local British economy and other small businesses. It means listening to our customers so we know what’s important to them, too. It’s all about reducing our impact on the planet so our children, their children and everyone in the future can enjoy the beauty, safety and security we've been lucky to have.
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