The Beauty of Bling

DECORATING DIVERSIFICATION

Add spark and profits by adding rhinestone, stud and nailhead embellishments to your shop's offerings. August 30, 2011
By Deborah Jones, Contributing Writer

The attraction of bling is undeniable and universal — it seems everyone is drawn to these small, shiny objects. It’s easier and more profitable than you might think to add this irresistible element to your apparel decorating services.

The audience, and therefore the market, for bling defies categorization. Though the origins of the term “bling” usually is credited to hip-hop culture, there’s hardly a market today that doesn’t embrace this decorating method. It caught fire a few years ago and, according to industry suppliers, shows no signs of slowing down.

While visiting my “country cousin” recently, I noticed she was covered in rhinestones, sporting a stone-encrusted cap, T-shirt and belt. Age doesn’t seem to be a factor either. Kathy Smith, owner of K.B. Creations, Omaha, Neb., with partner Betty Dixon, reports that creating bling shirts is a popular activity for kids’ birthday parties in her studio. She also gets regular orders through her husband’s aunt for residents of the local nursing home. There’s no generation gap for bling.

You see rhinestones, studs and half pearls on all kinds of products, from childrenswear to cheer apparel, Greek goods and even corporate items. The attractive profits that are possible with stone-embellished garments are largely due to the perception that stones are expensive. Perhaps it’s partly a subliminal association with jewelry, buried treasure and even royalty. And let’s be honest, stones are sexy. People usually are delighted to see their images or messages featured in or translated into such an unusual medium.

It’s interesting to note that even a few accent stones give a garment a much more upscale appeal. Solid designs with heavy stone coverage are outstanding, but you don’t need a lot of stones to make a big impact. Because stones add spark and sizzle, they make effective accents to printed designs, embroidery and appliqué.

And rhinestones aren’t the only option. The more-subtle studs and nailheads are attractive alternatives with particular appeal to the masculine market. (See “Stone and Stud-speak below)

A Brief Background
The first rhinestones were crystals that were collected on the banks of Europe’s Rhine River. Once the supply of natural crystals became depleted in the late-1700s, French jeweler George Frederic Strass began coating the back of clear crystals with metal to create reflection through the stone. The stones became even more sophisticated in 1891 when Daniel Swarovski patented a machine to cut facets into the crystals. To produce crystal, lead oxide is added to glass, and the lead reflects colors.

Today, the Austrian-based Swarovski company still makes the highest quality rhinestones in the world, with very uniform height, width and slope. It’s important to note that the thing that makes them the most beautiful rhinestones — a lead content of more than 30 % — makes it difficult to sell Swarovski-enhanced items to consumers younger than 13 years old.

Preciosa stones, produced in the Czech Republic, come closest to rivaling the brilliance of Swarovski crystals. Preciosa stones have much lower lead content than Swarovski, making them lighter in weight.

The next best-quality stones are made of glass and are from Korea. Glass stones are the most popular stones used today, partly because they are lower in cost than crystal. Also, because glass stones do not have a high lead content, they are lighter in weight, which keeps full-coverage designs more comfortable to wear. The low-lead content also means these embellishments can be sold to consumers of any age.

In China, rhinestones are made by pouring glass into a mold. This can lead to inferior stone quality because they can take on improper shapes from the mold. What should be sharp facets can become more rounded, and the result is that the light is poorly reflected.

“Hot-fix” stones have special glue applied to back. When heat is applied to the stone, the glue liquefies; when it cools, the glue hardens and permanently attaches the stone to a substrate.

Higher-quality stones have a texture on the bottom that helps the hot-fix glue maintain the best adhesion. Chinese stones don’t usually have this texture, which can allow the adhesive to dislodge from the stone during wear.

Application Methods
The methods for applying stones and other heat-applied embellishments vary widely — from simple, manual methods, to template methods, to fully automated bling transfer machines. Here’s an overview:

While a few crafty aficionados still use permanent fabric glue, most blingers in this category favor heat wands. Using this method, stones are held on a wand tip that is specific to a particular stone size and pressed to the garment long enough to melt the glue. Wands range in price from about $30 to $100, with
the higher-end wands equipped with a vacuum system that helps speed up the process.

This is a time-consuming method, but users report that it can be satisfying and versatile. On the positive side, it allows stones to be applied to items that are difficult, or impossible, to put under a heat press, such as tennis shoes and flip-flops. Many decorators who use more automated equipment keep a wand on hand for small applications and repairs.

K.B. Creations’ Smith, who has more than 1,500 different designs in stock and custom transfers, also creates originals one stone at a time. She makes a pattern, lays the transfer material over the pattern and places each stone on the sticky surface with a pair of tweezers. It can take up to 1.5 hours to make a single transfer.

Is this method time-consuming? Yes, certainly. “[But} there are moments that make it worthwhile,” she says. “For instance, you touch someone with a personal design, like the cancer ribbons or a design that takes them back to their childhood.”

Another application is the software-based template method, which uses an engraving machine or vinyl cutter to cut round holes in a substrate that serves as a template. Stones are then “brushed” into the holes. A piece of sticky transfer plastic is applied over the template to pick up the stones. The transfer can then be applied to the garment or another item using a heat press. If the transfer will not be used immediately, another piece of plastic covers the stones, protecting them until the transfer is applied. The template method may be a good option for those who already own a vinyl cutter or engraving machine because the equipment can be repurposed for another profitable product line.

Finally, there are fully automatic machines that make stone transfers, operating in much the same way as an embroidery machine. The transfer paper is placed on a platen that moves as stones are placed using a vacuum wand in accordance with a programmed pattern. The vacuum is provided by an external air compressor. Equipment prices range from about $12,000 for a two-hopper system to $37,000 for a six-hopper system. Suppliers report that their customers keep the machines so busy that a high percentage of owners return for additional units.

“We give full trade-in for one year toward a larger rhinestone machine,” says David Ritchie, sales manager at ColDesi, Tampa, Fla. “Close to 65% of our customers either trade up or purchase another machine within the first year.”

Ideal users of automated bling machines range from small, one-person operations to large suppliers that sell stock and custom transfers to apparel decorators. Mike Carter, vice president of marketing, Dalco Athletic Lettering, Dallas, says the company added rhinestone transfers to its product lineup about three years ago. One of its most popular products is a bold dye-sublimated fabric appliqué that can be applied with an embroidery machine or heat press. Crystals then are used to accent the team name.

Mike Mullins, co-owner of Dover, Fla.-based MyRhinestoneTransfers.com, uses automated rhinestone equipment to make custom and stock transfers. The company offers hundreds of stock designs, yet about 70% of their transfer production is for custom designs. “When we started four years ago, we were setting about 3,600 stones per hour,” Mullins says. “Now, we set about 90,000 stones an hour, which shows [that] the market is still growing.”

“The crystals have been very well received, especially in the spirit and cheer markets,” Carter says. “The products that combine dye sublimation and crystals sell very well to our retail dealers that cater to local schools and booster clubs. The dye sublimation process [adds versatility and] allows us to match any plaid. When we sold traditional plaid appliqué fabric, we only had certain colors. This opens the color spectrum.”

The bling medium is more versatile than embroidery and seemingly is as versatile as printing methods. It can be applied to all kinds of items and creates many moods, from sophisticated and elegant to fun and whimsical. Nearly any market you currently are serving also can use bling. It’s well suited to singular, one-of-a-kind creations, as well as large-quantity orders.

While you see bling on everything from shoes to bags to hats, shirts and jackets, some markets are underserved. For example, the current trends in embellished menswear embrace bling at the retail level, and there is plenty of room in this category for more customized men’s looks in the wholesale decorating channel. While some work has been seen with logos, this area remains largely untouched. Think about your corporate and small-business clients: Which ones would go wild for bling? I’m a believer that there is a woman involved in most buying decisions, even if you don’t see her. For this reason, bling samples will go a long way toward making sales.

Here’s a quick testimonial: Debbie Buehler of B’s Stitching, Rowlett, Texas, says that since adding bling to her embroidery business, she has developed quite a reputation for it. “My friends know I will bling anything. When they see me, they tease me and ask, ‘What have you blinged lately?’”

So give bling a try, and you may find yourself making it a permanent part of your repertoire.

Deborah Jones is a commercial and home embroiderer with more than 30 years experience in the computerized embroidery field. She runs MyEmbroideryMentor.com and regularly speaks at Imprinted Sportswear Shows (ISS). For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Deborah at djones@myembroiderymentor.com.

Stone and Stud-speak
Use the guide below to differentiate the different types of bling-related items:

Rhinestones: The size of these items is identified by “SS,” (stone size), followed by a number. For example:
SS06 = 2mm stone
SS10 = 3mm stone
SS12 = 3.5mm stone
SS16 = 4mm stone
SS20 = 5mm stone

Rhine Studs: These items are primarily made of aluminum and come in matte and shiny finishes. Their size is denoted by their metric diameter.

Dome Studs: These bling items also are called Half Pearls or Half Spheres because they look like pearls that are cut in half. They also are sized by their metric diameter.

Nailheads: These come in many styles, matte, shiny and specialty finishes, such as tiger eye, speckled and even fluorescent.

*Specialty stones are sized by their metric diameter. “Wheel” is a flat disk type of stud with embossed spokes. “Epoxy Facet” is a stone encircled with a ring of aluminum and “Pasco” has shimmering iridescence.

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