Bedding Tips

Large Feathers and Alexandra Jordan Comforters

The best down comforter is larger than life, large enough to be luxurious and lofty. But not everything about your comforter needs to be larger than life. While small stunted feathers from young geese are too fragile rather than pliable, large feathers tend to be too bulky, especially in the baffled box construction of an Alexandra Jordan comforter. Large feathers skew the down distribution so that there may be cold spots in the comforter.

An Alexandra Jordan down comforter, like other comforters competing for the title of best down comforter, doesn't have large feathers. The fill weight is more evenly distributed so that Alexandra Jordan comforters are grand and thick on the outside, lightweight on the inside. The insulation of the best down comforter keeps that exquisite bed covering unfiromly soft, and yes, larger than life. Don't be fooled by "best down comforter" labels that boast of the biggest feathers. Wild birds, after all, tend to preen and puff up their plumage. But the proof of the plumage is in the quality of down bedding such as Alexandra Jordan down comforters.

Alexandra Jordan Down Comforters The best?

Alexandra Jordan--who's that? The newest Hollywood starlet? A chick lit author? A pro on the LPGA tour? No--Alexandra Jordan is an up-and-comer vying for the title of best down comforter.

Fact sheets say that Alexandra Jordan comforters take the lead in down comforter luxury with 90 to 95 percent down. Search engine results aside, how do you know that the Alexandra Jordan comforter is the best down comforter? Answer: You don't, but a 90 to 95 percent goose down comforter is the top, at least according to industry metrics. While Eiderdown is said to be the very best down comforter, there's a limited world supply of eiderdown, and Alexandra Jordan down comforters are a more accessible luxury than eiderdown. One eiderdown comforter we saw was nearly $7,000.

Even Hungarian goose down comforters such as Hypodown contain just 80 percent pure goose down, with a cost that's higher than the Alexandra Jordan down comforter. You may think of Alexandra Jordan as a Jordan-come-lately, but there's no denying the Alexandra Jordan comforter is shaking up the down comforter industry. Can we say "upset"?

Don't Be Coarse

Egypitan cotton with goose down bedding is all the rage. Egyptian damask down comforter and bedding. Chinese silk-covered luxury down bedding. But your life demands more hardy fabrics. Will coarser materials make your white discount down bedding blush? You might want to slip on plastic fabric covers on your goose down bedding and mine your bedroom to keep pets and kids out. Coarser wool or cotton has a lower thread count.

While thread count isn't always a guarantee of quality, a higher thread count means the down comforter and bedding will be lighter and easier to care for. The down may climb to coarser fabric such as burlap or cotton with a thread count of 230 or below. So protect your luxury down bedding and discount down bedding. Keep it refined, and you won't have to blush at the mess coarser fabrics make.

Down Bedding Looks Flat

Down bedding dull and flat? Yes, even the fluffiest down comforter and bedding can make visions of flannel dance in your head. It may be the luxury down bedding cover or the fabric color. Some tips to prevent your discount down bedding from being as unexciting as shaving lather:

• If you have monochrome black or cream or bland white, invest in a rich cranberry throw and re-cover your pillows with cranberry. How about cranberry sheets?
• Goose down bedding looking as lumpy and unappealing as your mashed potatoes? Southern Living suggests a quilted coverlet on top of the bed and piling the down bedding comforter in thirds at the foot.
• You can never have too many pillows! Pile uniformly firm or fluffy pillows in coordinated colors across your down comforter and bedding.
• Try a chenille fuschia throw and fuschia silk duvet cover with cream sheets to brighten up your goose down bedding.
• Don't forget to keep fluffing every day! When all else fails, fall back on flannel.

Matching Down Bedding Types

You're known for mismatch--crystal champagne flutes with earthenware bowls. So you think that buying discount down bedding, throw pillows and down pillows, to match your high quality luxury down bedding comforter, will work equally well. Actually, either strategy screams for a Queer Eye For the Straight Girl/Guy makeover. Hungarian or Siberian goose down bedding shouldn't be paired with synthetic down bedding or down bedding that doesn't have identical construction or fill weight.

A small-panel down comforter and bedding should be uniform, as should large-panel luxury down bedding. Call us purists, call us fussbudgets, but if you have down bedding pieces that don't match, you may not get that all-around fluffy sense. Don't buy luxury or discount down bedding with young goose feathers and then add better quality mature goose down bedding.

Half your down bedding ensemble will wear out and look incongruous. Sell that other down bedding ensemble and buy a complete luxury discount down bedding set. While we agree champagne goes with everything, presentation is most important, so buy the most complete down comforter and bedding set you can.