Composition: 100 % cotton
Weight: 205 g/m² according to the manufacturer, 188 g/m² counted by us
Fidella is another German babywearing brand and although it was founded not a long time ago, in 2013, it has become a sort of a classic brand among the carrier manufacturers (unlike other German gigants, for example Didymos or Kokadi, who are mostly known as wrap producers). The name ˈFidellaˈ is a fusion of Latin (or French) word ˈfideleˈ, meaning faithful or unfailing, and ˈEllaˈ which is the name of the daughter of one of the founders of the company.
As I already mentioned, Fidella’s carriers, for example their mei tai called ˈFly Taiˈ or the all-buckle model ˈFusionˈ, are basically legendary in the babywearing world. The Fidella patterns are also mostly known for their carriers – who of the orthodox wearers have never seen a carrier made of the ˈRock’n’Rollaˈ wrap, romantic flowery ˈIced Butterflyˈor with the ˈOuter Spaceˈ stars, throw the first stone!
As a true carrier manufacturer, Fidella does not tend to experiment with wrap blends – absolute majority of their wraps are 100% cotton and the blended ones could almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. Moreover, most of the all-cotton wraps are thin (mostly very thin), with the weight around 205 to 220 g/m²; there are very few Fidella wraps with the weight over 250, or 280 g/m² at max (and these are only 2 or 3 exceptions).
Fidella wraps are high-quality (as we are used to when it comes to German wraps) and they have one interesting property – they are very wide, maybe the widest in the wrap world with their usual 80 cm. This ring sling was no different. A wide wrap is a great thing when you can fully use its wideness with a big toddler – you can pull the pocket way up high to his/her ears if you need. But in combination with ˈnon-toddlerˈ weight of the Fidella wraps… to be honest I feel a little sheepish about it. I was really surprised to find out how low-weight most Fidellas are when I searched Slingofest.com for information about the brand.
This ring sling is not an exception – it is a really thin ˈnewbornˈ cloth – pleasant to touch, very soft – almost slippery. It is a pleasure to work with – the wrap melts under your hands, slides through the rings without any problems and tightening is a piece of cake. I was even a bit suspicious whether the L size rings were not too big for this skinny – but the Germans certainly know how to do their twilling; the wrap did not move an inch while carrying. Although it makes a really small packet you can easily carry in your purse (while the matching bag made out of the same wrap is very cute detail which I like very much), it is pleasantly long – the short side measures 180 cm and the long side 210 cm (measured by me), which is not too long, not even for me – I did not drag the end of the wrap on the ground although I measure only 155 cm, on the other hand it is long enough for us to be used for a back carry if needed. As far as the extra width goes – I was not really able to appreciate it as Emilka is still quite small. However, what I certainly felt, is that the wrap is extra thin. Despite all its great properties and a kind of ˈVatanai vibeˈ (i.e. ˈthin wrap – good wrapˈ) I felt while wearing it, it was not too comfortable to wear it for longer walks even with Emilka’s 9 kg – here, I cannot blame only the one-sided carry but also the mini-baby-weight of the wrap.
As far as the care of the wrap goes, it looks very undemanding and durable – although it has been traveling for testing for quite a while and all the pulling through the rings must be a heavy load for it, the wrap still looks OK.
Well, concerning its looks… The star pattern is fine, but it is not something I would be super-excited about, however, I love the detail of the two rings in different colours matching the wrap. But the colours themselves… Have I ever confessed that I hate orange and purple…? 😀 Ideal colour combination for me, indeed! 😀 😀 😀 But if you like it and do not mind its low weight, go and get it – it is a great ring sling, wonderful to work with and moreover, it exists in 10 other (far more beautiful) colour variants. 😉
