EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly about Cotton……………Solution? Organic Cotton.
1. The Bad – According to Hae Now Organic Tees, conventionally grown cotton occupies only 3% of the world’s farmland, but uses 25% of the world’s chemical pesticides.
2. The Bad – Most pesticides were developed as toxic nerve agents during WWII
3. The Ugly – A 2000 USDA study revealed 84 million pounds of pesticides were sprayed on cotton in the USA, ranking it second behind corn.
4. The Ugly – When a Tee Shirt goes through the mill it is soaked in chlorine bleach and dyed with heavy metal dyes. Many friends of mine complain about itching or breaking out in rashes when they purchase new clothes like tee shirts. It is because of the skin is the bodies largest organ which absorbs all of the chemicals that Tee was processed with. Your best solution is to wash it before wear or choose organic cotton as a great option for those with allergies and chemical sensitivities.
5. The Truth – The Environmental Protection Agency categorizes 7 of the top 15 pesticides used in conventional cotton as “likely” or “known” human carcinogens.
6. The Water, oh the Water – A Tee shirt needs about 250 gallons of water to grow the cotton to create it. The water does not stop here! The Cotton must be harvested, spun into fiber, knitted or woven into fabric and dyed your fav color. Organic Cotton is still a water hog compared to hemp and bamboo. There is no perfect solution, but we all need to start getting closer to supporting and buying sustainably.
7. The Good – Let your favorite brand know you are looking for them to stock an organic or eco-friendly tee option. Because this is the future of fashion, it is not difficult for companies to begin to switch over, it just costs a little more to help the environment. Target, Wal-Mart, and Gap are already on board.
8. The Good – Organic cotton is grown pesticide and chemical free. To be certified organic, a farmer must leave the fields pesticide free for three years and then adhere to International Organic Standards.
9. The Solution – Look for eco-friendly options when you buy Tee shirts which include scouring your local thrift store for some cool tees, taking an old tee and altering it into something new, buy vintage on Etsy.com or start to buy organic cotton clothing, here (www.organiccottondirectory.net)
10. The Organic Shopping Experience – Buy Organic and Buy Local. I chatted with local Owner, John Caruso, of Concentric Clothing dedicated to sending a positive message through a positive design.
John, what was the inspiration behind creating Concentric Clothing?
When coming up with the idea of starting a T-Shirt line, I wanted to use what I have learned and found interesting throughout my life and put it to good use. I want and always wanted to bring a positive change. I wanted to design t-shirts that focus on sending out a positive message through a positive design infused with geometric elements. I would like to have people THINK about positive concepts and express their messages and thoughts.
How did you come to choose the Concentric Clothing name?
The word concentric is defined as having a common center, like in circles or spheres. We all share a common center or ground and through the clothing we wear, it is a concept of expression that people will enjoy radiating. The idea that we work together, the artist, the person who wears the message and I, supports the idea of being concentric, having a common concept.
What positive messages are you focusing on and why?
Recently I started the new organic line with the focus on I AM sayings. I decided to do this style of messages because it communicates with people directly on a conscious level. When people affirm “I AM” statements, it helps develop a powerful and positive mental attitude, which is an essential element in life success and good health. The positive messages I mostly focus on are based on Peace, Love, Happiness and Unity.
Is Concentric Clothing just a tee shirt line or an educational brand?
I can say Concentric Clothing is both a T-shirt line and an educational brand. I would like to consider the clothing line more of a lifestyle as we shift our awareness from the negative reality we have come to believe in, to a more positive outlook. The wearer of Concentric Clothing is a good representation of who a person is and what message they would like to share with the world.
When you first started out, when I saw you a year ago, you were not using organic cotton tees, what created the switch for you?
Originally when I had started this adventure I was new to the whole cotton industry and thought 100% cotton is cotton no matter how you look at it. Soon after my first order of tees, I got more familiar with other options like hemp, bamboo, and organic cotton. I sent away for a few samples and when they arrived I was impressed by the softness and quality of the garment. After doing further research that showed me how the conventional cotton industry is hurting our people and environment using harsh chemicals like pesticides, I decided to make the switch.
What does this statistic mean for your brand “conventionally grown cotton occupies only 3% of the world’s farmland, but uses 25% of the world’s chemical pesticides?”
It means stay away! Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton in the U.S. are KNOWN as cancer-causing chemicals. The US EPA labels them Category I and Category II classifying all nine chemicals as dangerous agents. I’ve read stories about people falling ill to these chemicals and marine habitats ruined by its destructive force. I also learned that during the conversion of conventional cotton into clothing it’s then treated with more chemicals before finalization. This is wrong no matter how you look at it. I wouldn’t want to support that!
I noticed on your website that Sacred Geometry is a big focus within your brand, can you tell me more about this?
From what I’ve learned, Sacred Geometry can be found all around us in nature from the micro to the macro. These are infinite patterns that are always changing from one geometric form to another. From the strands of our DNA to the galaxy we spiral in, geometric codes and numbers come together in harmony creating and organizing the physical universe around us. The ancient Greeks viewed geometry as a complete science that could be proved many times over using only a compass and straight-edged ruler. For the Greeks, it was the most boundless form of study showing the true hidden order behind creation itself using numbers and patterns. The geometric forms in nature are always evolving and forever changing frequency, which is why I believe certain geometric forms talk to us from a place deep within ourselves.
You have beautiful, one-of-a-kind artwork on your tees, how does the art bring through the message? And who does your designs?
Thank You! Each design is assembled by various local graduates of the Ringling School of Art and Design, located in Sarasota FL. The artwork is one of a kind and very special to me as well. We infuse our designs with geometric elements to interact with the energetic field of the person wearing the T-shirt. Each image can be viewed in different ways but its connection to the message is unique in how the artists and the person wearing it interpret the concept.
I have had the pleasure of wearing your “I AM Love” women’s organic cotton tee. What I find about your tees is that they are much softer than conventional cotton, it washes well and holds its shape. Was quality a decision factor for you when turning to organics?
Quality was a factor in my decision but I also wanted to know more about the companies that manufacture the organic T-shirts. I looked into their manufacturing standards: seed preparation, soil and water, weed control, pest control, harvesting, dyeing, finishing, and the cutting and sewing process.
Can you speak to this design, “I am Love” a little bit?
I gave the special concept, “I AM Love” to the artist, Justin Peters to interpret. When first meeting Justin I sensed a strong desire from his energy to create something of beauty, something different that I didn’t see in his portfolio. I had asked him to ponder on the topic of love and create some designs that include geometric figures that can be found in nature. When he presented me the sketch of his idea, I was wowed by his interpretation. I could sense and feel the energy he put into the artwork just from looking at it. His understanding and expression of the concept was connected to his deep personal feelings of his beloved. I saw how Justin’s message manifested from the truth in his heart, making it special to Concentric Clothing because its intention came from a place where beauty and love is created.
What is your solution through your brand to acknowledge that we are all “One”?
The solution to my brand will be forever changing and constant because life is as such! In time we will all acknowledge that we are all ONE, but through my brand I hope to bring this awareness a bit sooner. As we grow and become more familiar to the concept and support its message of Love, Light, and Unity, I believe people will find the connection to the answer within themselves.
Where can we find your new line of organic tees?
My new line of tee’s can be purchased locally at Clothesline located on 533 South Pineapple Ave Sarasota, FL 34236 or on my website www.ConcentricClothing.com
EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
Who wants an eco-index? I do, I do! As I write this for the eco-conscious and eco-curious at this moment in time a meeting of the minds of 100 major apparel companies is brewing over a new eco-index apparel label for clothing and shoes to launch this past August at the Outdoor Retailer Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah. Developed by a consortium of major apparel brands such as Target, Nike and Levi Strauss (who have all been working on eco-apparel for some years now) have “created a software tool that measures the carbon footprint of their products, from harvesting raw materials to end-of-life disposal,” according to the online mag Ecouterre. This sustainability rating will provide a rating much like our Energy Star Rating system we see smothered across our appliances and electronics. Or, liken to our certified USDA organic labeling on fruits and vegetables at our local markets. It is about time!
Fashion is one of the last basic needs to get a rating. When we break life down to a basic human needs model of absolute poverty (food, clothing, and shelter) we can see that fashion falls under the clothing umbrella. So what is fashion vs. clothing? At the core, fashion is how you determine to fashion your clothing. But that would take some thought on your part, so, for the most part brands do it for you. They create a look, an identity, a dream, a vision, for YOU to get lost in. When you put on that garment you transport to another self. You have now purchased an identity that was created by a company who you paid to allow them to continue creating new identities and fuel our capitalist model. Fashion is an identity. It speaks to our culture, our subconscious mind, our interests, our philosophies, our ethics, and our egos.
My point is that we are in a cycle of brand control over consumer identity. What “cycle” am I talking about? The Materials Economy. The cycle that traces back how my Vans sneakers got on my feet. That cycle since the Industrial Revolution has been a linear system meaning my Vans sneakers went from one phase to another in a linear fashion from Extraction, to Production, Distribution, Consumption and lastly Disposal. According to Annie Leonard’s the Story of Stuff “you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet.” The apparel brands have had you focusing in on the Consumption phase (identity) since the 1950’s. If you know how your Vans were extracted, produced, distributed and disposed then you are in the minority.
99% of the stuff we run though this system is trashed within 6 months!
Today, we see more and more brands breaking this cycle when Nike launched “build your ride” custom shoes putting you a little more in control of your fashion. You are still in the consumption phase but you have a little more control. Now, these top 100 companies are breaking the cycle of control further by looking at their products lifecycle (from birth to death) while maintaining brand appeal for your consumption. Kudos to these 100 early adopters as they are majority the outdoorsy brands like Patagonia (creators of the footprint chronicles) & Timberland. Sorry to hear that not one luxury company has yet to sign on. What does this say about our luxury brands and luxury buyer’s identity vs. our outdoorsy brands & buyers identity?
Although this eco index will not be ready for the public just yet, it kicks off a new beginning towards an eco-fashion future, and it is about time. Why? Because on average the American population sends 23.8 billion pounds of clothing and textile waste to landfills each year, and according to the Textile Recycling Organization 95% of that is recyclable. You tell me if our fashion body is out of balance?
EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
“There are many interpretations of what sustainable fashion is and knowing that responsible options exists, consumers will be able to make informed decisions.” – Eric Dorfman, Producer and Creator of The GreenShows
September is all about Fashion! With New York Fashion Week just ending and London, Vancouver, L.A. and Portland on their way, there are so many new Spring/Summer 2011 lines launching new collections, what’s a girl to do? Think Green!
Auralis S/S 2011 Collection
Take your pick of green shows that are ever more cropping up on the fashion scene. Will it be New York, London, Vancouver, or Portland? At any of these shows you will find the cream of the green crop, sensational sustainable speaker line-ups, educational workshops, eco-friendly built catwalks, and a whole lot of community support for the future of fashion. Aptly named the GreenShows at NYFW is NY’s Eco Fashion Week, just wrapping up September 12-14th at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC’s Chelsea District. Now in their third season, the GreenShows, stand strong as an offshoot of NYC’s Fashion Week Lincoln Center line up. This year, the GreenShows feature a diverse talent pool of 10 eco-fashion designer collections celebrating the dynamics of au courant fashion marries environmental and social responsibility.
Auralis S/S 2011 Collection
That hempy look that once doned the 90’s eco–fashion movement when I was just a little youth scouring the Boston eco-shows is making way for contemporary beautiful fashion. One of my favorite chosen designers at this year’s GreenShows has to be Auralis’ Spring 2011 collection influenced by the tropicality of 1970’s Puerto Rico with a modern twist. Think beach culture meets elegant silhouette’s constructed from breezy fabrics made of soy jersey, recycled hemp, and peace silk. What inspires me more as a writer is learning Auralis’ backstory. Designer, Auralis Herrero Lugo, merges her past in Puerto Rico with her present life in New York; her two favorite islands. I found her when searching for projects to fund on Kickstarter, an independent micro-lending website, that brings regular people to fund project ideas. She was proposing a funding project to get herself to NYFW and she hit her goal! Auralis captured my attention as an eco conscious designer not only for her use of eco-friendly fabrics but for her zest to “rescue old artisanal and eco-conscious Puerto Rican crafts from extinction.” Alongside her pieces of block printed vegetable dyed fabrics and custom fabrics from NYC textile designers, Auralis collaborates with design initiatives like Colcama in Puerto Rico. As with many of the small emerging green designers, it seems the spirit of collaboration is their business model mantra. Here are the 10 eco-designers at this years GreenShows.
Samantha Pleet S/S Collection
Samantha Pleet (New York), Susan Cianciolo (New York), Bright Young Things by Eliza Starbuck (New York), Ashton Michael Black Label (Los Angeles), Lavuk by Natasha Gindin (Los Angeles), JoAnn Berman (New York), Auralis (New York/Puerto Rico), Luis Valenzuela (Miami), Dress Reform (New York), Milliners Guild (New York).
NOW Showcase, a collective of emerging eco-talent in NY, brought to the fashion scene the many more up and coming cutting edge green designers. A few of my favorites to check out are NaturevsFuture for their modern futuristic styles and AngelRox for her amazing wrap dress you can wear a million ways.
Check out the latest coverage at my favorite online eco-mag, Ecouterre! oh and become a fan……..
Up and Coming Eco-Fashion Shows Include
Hot off the press! Just coming in to my hands as I write this, the British Fashion Council’s press office just announced London Fashion Week’s first ever sustainable fashion catwalk. Held in Friary Court, in St. James’s Palace on Friday September 17th, the first day of London Fashion Week. We have to give props to Prince Charles, host of Londons Eco-Fashion Week London Fashion Week held September 17-21st in the gardens of Larence House, Marlborough House and Lancaster House. Designers include Dame Vivienne Westwood’s World’s End Collection, Stella McCartney, From Somewhere, People Tree, Junky Styling, Henrietta Ludgate and Christopher Raeburn.
As haute-couture is to Paris, green fashion is to Vancouver Eco-Fashion Week September 27, 28, 29 & 30th held at the new Creekside Community Center located in the Olympic Village. Striving to be the premier destination for environmentally friendly fashion, Vancouver launches it’s first show with a three fold mission: environmentally conscious trends in fashion, consumer education in “waste couture” (my fav) and third to generate benefits for the local environmentally friendly fashion industry. With a line-up of speakers from Model/Activist Summer Rayne Oakes and Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Andrew Weaver, it seems they will accomplish just that. Designers include Nicole Bridger, Allison Parris, Lara Miller, Eden Organic, Nixxi, Kim Cathers, Lav & Kush, Emesha, Elena Garcia, Lara Presbar, Red Jade, Peridot Kiss, Prophetik.
Portland Fashion Week October 6-10th marking it’s 7th year as the “best-kept secret” as the second longest running show on the West Coast. And the ONLY complete green fashion show in the United States. Portland has been honored with “The Country’s #1 Sustainable City status. Having traveled there myself, I must say back in 2000 I saw this city as in tune with it’s green sensibilities as they were host to a huge water front farmers market.
Sustain Fashionably,
EcoJ
EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
It all begins with Annie Leonard’s (The Story of Stuff) And, if you are not familiar with it, it is time to get uncomfortable for a minute. But, don’t let that keep you paralyzed from fashion. Fashion is taking shape to create closed-loop systems that bring us from sending 23.8 billion pounds of clothing and textile waste to landfills each year, according to the Textile Recycling Organization, to methods that take advantage of pre and post consumer waste to create fashion. Humans are the only animal in nature that leave behind a garbage trail when they walk. It began with the high volume production of goods during the Industrial Revolution which then spurred on the Petrochemical Revolution to make goods faster and cheaper using oil, and now we are on our way to an Energy Revolution which begs the question, how can we turn waste into use?
Pre- v.s. Post-consumer
First, you have to become familiar with the two types of waste. Pre-consumer waste is the waste put out during the manufacturing process, like water, chemical residue and all the fabric off-cuts I get to use when sewing up a new garment. Post-consumer waste is the left-overs of after consumption including the item you purchased, the packaging, the how-to-manuals, the stuff that ends up in the landfill.
According to The Story of Stuff for every 1 garbage can we put out curbside, it takes 70 garbage cans worth of pre-consumer waste to produce it.
Guerra De La Paz is the name that captures two Cuban artists, Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz, based out of Miami who focus on “mass produced refuse on our society” through art as medium. Their work is a colorful menagerie of landfill bound clothing molded into art installations that draw upon issues of mass consumption, international conflict and environmental degradation. What I find interesting is their back story. They managed to create a relationship with Pepe businesses in little Haiti (an area in Miami) that gave them access to an overabundance of discarded clothing for their powerful installations. So, I thought to myself, are these the Pepe Jeans I sported back in the 80′s? Nope, Pepe is a word to describe “used items imported from abroad” a thriving inter-generational market that began during President Kennedy’s era. In 2002 the New York Times reported that of the approximately 2.5 billion pounds of clothes donated to charity in America each year, as much as 80% is shipped globally. Is that where all my Goodwill and Salvation Army donations go? My psychology proudly thinks that when I drop these bags off, I see I am helping employ men and women staying at the Salvation Army to get back on their feet. Which I am, but in aiding one economies of scale, I am doing a disservice to another, and those are the women, men and children in this country, in my own neighborhood, who can not afford new “digs” each season.
I encourage you to become intimate with your waste this month so next month we can look at some upcoming designers offering you eco-fashion alternatives that don’t stink. Keep the donations going as this is the best way to participate in recycling your fashion waste, because we all are connected, but diversify. Donate some to the Goodwill, others to a local woman’s shelter, sprinkle some to families in need for the holidays or prepare a new fall wardrobe with an old concept made new again, a Clothing Swap, within your community of women! I am creating one this month.
Sustain Fashionably,
EcoJ
EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
This month’s ecovogue365 fashion journey is with Greta Eagan, eco-fashion expert, style blogger, fashion journalist, creative director and producer, video editor, thought collector, lifelong student, model, macro, and gluten-free dessert chef!
Greta began FashionmeGreen an amazing international eco-fashion project where style goes green! Her focus is on building a sustainable fashion awareness project, style site for you and a resource on eco-fashion. I had the pleasure of interviewing Greta about FMG.
1. What is the main goal of FashionmeGreen (FMG)?
The main goal of FMG is to bring awareness to eco-fashion and help build an accessible and useful platform. I created FMG because I felt like there needed to be a clearer bridge between mainstream and eco-fashion. I wanted to create a place where the creativity, expression and presentation from the fashion industry could be celebrated and utilized to showcase new fashions that are being produced with an eco-consciousness. In the end, I hope FMG will become a staple in every fashionista’s day in which they check the site for the latest trends, shopping resources and style inspiration from our Projects, all the while knowing that there is an eco-edge present
2. Everyone comes to their creativity through an amazing journey. In your life’s journey when were you inspired to create FashionmeGreen?
FASHIONmeGREEN is actually a by-product of my dissertation which was done on the topic of Sustainable Fashion. I was ingesting so much academic and popular literature surrounding the subject as well as interviewing key eco-leaders like Graham Hill and Summer Rayne Oakes, and I needed a more creative outlet for everything I was taking in- something that didn’t have to meet academic criteria or be structured using qualitative or quantitative data!
3. I call this the deep fashion Q? Where we dig a bit deeper into why eco-fashion? When I started blogging with Girl Power Hour, I noticed that women want to talk about the “personal” where style, mind & body, food, dating, hot spots, and design meet their business selves in a chic environment, that, at the heart of it all, embraces the spirit of charity and empowerment. This really resonated with me personally because I had a professor once tell me “The personal is political.” That has been a powerful phrase that stuck. As I entered my adult world I realized the truth to this and I see women taking on this philosophy whether consciously or not. Women seem to be the glue that binds society, the keepers of culture and the social change agents. That brings me to you. Where did you experience your AHA moment when the personal became the political with fashion and the environment?
Much like anything, I feel it was a process. The more you are exposed to and the more information you let in to broaden your awareness, the more it shapes who you are and what you stand for. Knowledge is power and for me it has been a major influencer. Once you know that unethical labor means the person producing the clothing you may be buying translates to them not being able to afford even two meals a day (for instance), you can’t go back to living without that influence- pretending it doesn’t exist.
So, the more I learned the more each choice became important to align with what I actually support and the world I want to help create.
4. So, Greta, I would like to know more of the knitty gritty details of why greening fashion even matters?
Simply put, the implications for greening fashion are two-fold. First, with its far reach and undeniable influence, fashion has a rightful place in playing the role of a game changer. Second, the amount of resources that are used and ultimately wasted (as we continue to propagate a cradle to grave system) are immense. Let me geek out on you for a minute and share some statistics that back my statement
I think what it comes down to, is that we are using a system that is out of date. We’ve come a long way since the Industrial Revolution and it is time to upgrade to cleaner more efficient methods of production and use that ultimately generate a longer and complete lifecycles.
5. I had a close friend say to me “I want to be a thinking woman” when I shop. Her challenge was finding where to shop to support her philosophy. Do you find that most eco-fashion is existing in reachable places like online or is it only in our local neighborhoods?
Truthfully, eco-fashion is everywhere! That is one of the main aims of FMG- to show women that they can get really stylish eco-fashion clothing right from within their own cities. If you are an online shopper, there are so many great sites! I like the Eco-Friendly section on ShopBop.com, ShiftBoutique.com, Fashion-Conscience.com, and MarketPublique.com for vintage.
6. I am super curious, so far your projects have covered L.A. and New York. What has been the reception towards eco-fashion in these major fashion capitals?
Eco-fashion is still very new, so there is usually a bit of explaining what it is and why we should support it. In general, it is received very well with enthusiasm and excitement. Dave Coban from Nike said, “In the future there will be no sustainable fashion because ALL fashion will be sustainable or it won’t exist.” I really believe that to be true and know that there is an undercurrent of truth that everyone can feel in that statement.
7. How are these fashion capitals promoting eco-fashion and how do they differ?
Many of them are providing a nourishing community for the development of eco-fashion. We are also seeing eco-fashion weeks popping up all over with their own fashion shows and parties, which I feel is crucial to help raise awareness and hype.
8. Where to next and can we follow your FashionmeGreen journey?
Next, I am headed to San Francisco. I am really excited about the SF Project as San Francisco is such a green city to begin with and has one of the longer histories with eco-fashion. I will be working with Eco Citizen, an eco-boutique, Juice Beauty and of course my style influencer Jennine Jacob, the founder of the Independent Fashion Blogger forum. You can catch all the ‘eco-fashioning’ action at FASHIONmeGREEN.com and follow my personal twitter @gretaeagan for the inside scoop. In addition, I encourage any eco-designers, photographers, stylists and sponsors who want to be involved in a FMG Project to get in touch with us at contact@fashionmegreen.com. We are always collaborating and open to new things put on our radar.
The NY Project- Teen Vogue’s Eleanor Banco from FASHIONmeGREEN on Vimeo.
The LA Project- Fashion Is Poison from FASHIONmeGREEN on Vimeo.
EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
Another month of sustainable fashion! There is not a day that goes by that I am not thinking about how we, as a collective group of stylin’ women, can’t get together to change the shape of the fashion industry from a toxic to non-toxic industry. I love the styles, the innovation and the new season looks just as much as any other woman, but there has to be more to it then what is on the surface. So, I decided to take a fashion detox in June while blogging about it 21 Reasons in the 21st Century for a June Fashion Detox.
Here are your 20 ingredients for your fashion detox recipe, you come up with the 21st. You can choose to use what you want to create your own sustainable fashion recipe in June.
Handcrafted DIY, slow sew, mill scraps, generational fabrics, convertible clothes, organic, farm to fashion, fair trade, made in America, think local, sustainably sourced, redesign, democratizing fashion, limited editions, one of a kind, embellishments, environmentally friendly ink, upcycled, recycled, and women owned.
ECV365 Principle, Trick & Tip #1
HANDCRAFTED DIY (DO IT YOURSELF!) There could not have been a better mantra that birthed out of the 1970′s counterculture movement. It was back to the land, back to the craft. It inspired many to homestead, moving their families out to Vermont to set up farms. It also inspired a handmade fashion movement where individuals produced their own fashion sense bringing in garments inspired from the middle and far east. Although Generation X and Y see this daily, the concept of fashioning your own was revolutionary. Today we see a resurgence of this movement through the DIY (Do It Yourself) TV network in response to the fashion industry doing it all for you i.e. setting up your seasons looks.
TRICK Because you can do handcrafted any time of the day, it’s super fun, and you can make it a girlfriend gathering like the stitch ‘n bitch circles.
TIP Depending on what part of the country you live in, you will be more or less familiar with www.etsy.com your place to buy and sell things handmade and vintage. I have noticed that etsy is more popular in New England, where I used to live, then in Florida, where I now live. When you decide to purchase ANY new piece for your wardrobe this month, think of Etsy as your #1 fashion shopping resource. This is one small step you can take to re-shape your fashion psychology towards supporting the handcrafted movement! p.s. The movement has come a long way. No more potato sac like clothes, you can get Haute Couture from this website.
EcoVogue365 is a monthly feature, covering eco-fashion tips and sustainable clothing for the Earth loving woman.
Maybe it all started when I grew up in Washington State, trekking through the mountains, squashed into a packed car with my brother to camp out at Mount Rainier, exploring the Oregon coastline, or visiting the urban jungles of Seattle. Wherever it was, the one common thread was learning a love for the journey and the ‘awe’ factor in every environment. Now, looking back from my early 30′s, I can say to my girlfriends that what continues to inspire me down to my core is a “love for the journey and the ‘awe’ factor in every environment.” I hope to inspire the idea that what we choose to do on our journey’s now will have an affect on our future environments and peoples tomorrow.
Maybe it all started when my mom sewed the first outfit I can remember wearing to school, oddly, an army outfit (hat, shirt and pants). And how cool did I look sporting a fashionably stylish military inspired handmade garment at the age of eight. Well luckily it was accepted amongst my peers, and my mom gained celeb status as the clothing designer amongst my friends. I grew up around a sewing machine, a needle, a piece of thread, and fabric, fabric, fabric. At a young age my mom took me shopping not for clothes, but to the fabric stores. If I wanted a prom dress, a cabbage patch kid, a purse, or an off the shoulder shirt, it was going to be sewn. The DIY (Do It Yourself) mantra struck a cord at a young age. It may have been a slower process to acquire my stylish digs but I learned that I would appreciate slow sew over consumption any day. I can liken it to the mantra your parents always tell you, “chew your food slowly” not only to digest it but to enjoy it.
My mom’s favorite thing to do at the fabric stores was digging through the piles and piles of scraps, leftovers, off-cuts, found at the fabric stores, to happen upon that one good quality textiled gem with that one vibrant color or wild print. She would also incorporate generational fabrics, like lace my grandmother hand stitched, onto her new creations. If she wanted flower power symbols on her jeans, she would embellish them by hand. Many times I would hear my mom say to herself “I need a new outfit” and then that sewing machine motor would start running in her studio, on the kitchen table, in a bedroom, all depending on where we lived at the time. An hour later she was ready to go out in a beautiful one-of-a-kind shift dress covered in wild prints (her fav!). Which would later inspire her nickname BOBO a.k.a. Bodacious Bohemian.
As I grew into my prepubescent age, if I wanted to go to the mall, I was taught to support the local fashion. Either I was getting a new handmade outfit or I was driven to a resale shop or a local Goodwill. Still, not yet knowing the malls own status factor that would be thwarted on me by my friends, I loved to hunt for finds elsewhere. If something did not fit, she fitted it to me. If I did not like the way a sleeve looked on a garment, she redesigned it. If I wanted a cool new jean purse, she taught me how to buy an old pair of jeans and make that jean purse. Little did I know the 21st Century fashion world would call this upcycling (turning one item in to a totally different item). And, if I was sick of my clothes I learned to give them back to these places; fashion recycling at it’s best. I also learned to sew, but not as good as my mom. I do love it, and I do need to learn more. Overall, I put together wild outfits, never fitting the magazine molds, and always encouraged to go avant garde. Luckily I felt like the West Coast was more accepting of my leopard print legging, pink sweater wearing, high top shoe sporting, spikey hair cut fashion that the East Coast was in shock over. Even though we moved to New England when I was 12, I still chose my crazy ways over the clique Champion brand wearing clones.
Or maybe it all started when I left my creative family unit (surrounded by both a fashionably inclined mother and musically inclined father) to study the social sciences in college to understand the why’s and the how’s humans choose to interact with their environments, what inspires their journey’s. To then work in the nonprofit sector for a decade, to realize that I am just a passionate person who wants to get back to her top three loves; my mom, fashion and the environment. As I was working on a nonprofit concept up north to empower women’s socio-economic status, I thought, what better way to begin then with yourself and your own mom; supporting one woman at a time. I came to understand through my decade of mission visions that the biggest change you can make is with oneself. It trickles, it ripples, it seeps, and it spreads to those around you.
Today, me and my mom eat, breathe and live fabric. We are an emerging mother-daughter design team that seeks to be a part of the movement that democratizes fashion from the big box store to the small independent onliner. We have made a pledge to be ecovogue for 365 days in 2010. With that idea, we built a business that brings to the scene an experimental project towards sustainable fashion. Now in my fashion life I incorporate organic materials, sustainably sourced materials, fair trade garments, convertible clothing to get more outfits out of one, environmentally friendly inks, and made in America. Every time I purchase a garment I am asking myself the underlying ethical question, “ how was this garment processed from farm to fashion?”
After much much much research, I get that in order to sustain fashion we need a broader definition of sustainable fashion. And that definition includes all of the 20 above highlighted words that have patterned my life and I hope they can pattern yours. Join me in taking our Ecovogue365 Fashion Detox in 30 Days for the month of June at www.ecovogue365.com I will provide you with the above 20 definitions, along with tips and tricks to be ecovogue365 in your life. It’s only for 30 days, and if anyone can do it, it is women in Seattle. Why do I know that? Because I grew up all over the United States, and I know that the West Coast sustainable fashion movement is not just hype. Talk to you next month to see how your detox went.
Sustain Fashionably,
EcoJ
