Recently in Stuff to Wear Category

m o r e (thrifting taken to the next level)

So getting a new dress everyday doesn't sound so eco, right? But what if the dress is from a thrift store every time? And what if your entire wardrobe budget for the year is only $365, a dollar a day for those dresses?

Such is the experiment of Marisa at New Dress a Day (which I heard about from a colleage at Your Daily Thread).

This trendsetter has mad sewing chops and can turn the dowdiest dress into something completely different--and fabulous.

And while you may not go quite to the extent she has, I think  anybody with a sewing machine and some crafting spirit would be inspired by what she's doing--to buy secondhand to save money while eschewing new duds (and everything associated with them from terrible sweatshop conditions to harmful pesticides and dyes to transport emissions).

I've been sporting secondhand clothes since the end of high school, but in a more deliberate way over the last few years. Only recently have I started incorporating sustainable wears from sample sales nearby and the occasional exception for mainstream clothes when, for instance, I need a pair of pants and can't find them eco or vintage. But if I could thread a needle like some friends of mine can (and my husband), I'd be able to go nuts with this. (That majorly failed seventh grade sweatshirt project unfortunately really scarred me.)

I hope you can find inspiration and turn a mumu into a masterpiece.

I'm thinking this could come in handy for men and kids as well. (I love the concept of the kids' vintage store near me to bring Craiglisting and thrift store finds under one roof: Grow Kid Grow.)

And there are other tricky things to do with thrift store fabric for a craftster too. 

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m o r e (fair trade footwear)

Autonomie Project is committed to Fair Trade fashion that's "sweatshop-free and eco-friendly." Partnering with facilities around the world, it supplies high quality goods that honor the earth and the worker while allocating funds for projects benefitting the communities in which they practice.

Autonomie offers tees and kids' stuff and bags and... shoes made by Ethletic.

They're classic (conjuring Converse's Chuck Taylors) with a nontraditional mix of Fair Trade organic cotton canvas, safe dyes, vegan materials, and sustainable rubber latex. Made fairly by "rubber producers in Sri Lanka" and "shoe stitchers in Pakistan" they are a new take on old school. (For about the same retail price.)

Here's another roundup I did of eco-friendly footwear and how to make it last.

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m o r e (staple, sustainable fashion)

I heard about The Uniform Project from this treehugger article, but perhaps you already had. Either way, I for one am inspired.

The concept? One woman wears one dress (well, actually one of a handful of identical dresses--mindful of hygiene I suppose) for 365 days. A simple black dress becomes a canvas on which to play with layers and accoutrements, most of which are handmade or vintage.

It's an experiment in simplicity, just embellished a bit. Or a lot--but that's why the outfits are so beautiful.

I grew up with uniforms in grade school, as did Akanksha the mastermind. But I never did much with them except refuse to tuck in my shirt. In fact, I never would have thought of them as inspiring, but boy did I miss the mark.

Also, I'm very drawn to getting rid of two-thirds of what's in my closet in favor of only maybe a number of ultra-fantastic, quality (heirloom if you will) items as a foundation from which to build. I'm in the camp of only wanting a piece of clothing if it's "wow" and usually only getting it if it's sustainable or secondhand or locally or handmade, or some combination. That's meant mostly secondhand shopping for a few years now, a method that doesn't always mean I only garner what's "wow" but more like grab what can work. But with only one basic sustainble dress (or maybe a few), now we're talking! And while that may not be realistic, the handful of basic building items sure would make getting dressed easier. And perhaps more fun too.

Get a load of the "uniforms"' she's come up with just this month.

The project is also a fundraiser to bring education to children living in India's slums.

You can donate your long-forgotten but still fabulous accessories or some cash (360 buys one student a year of school) along with looking and dreaming up ways to both trim and tailor your own wardrobe.

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m o r e (earth-wise clothing)

I was lucky to go to a sample sale in Downtown L.A. last weekend in Perfectly Imperfect's studio. I try to buy only secondhand or sustainable clothing, so to get incredible deals on eco-fashion is hard to pass up. 

Even harder to pass up is a company that's demonstrating wisdom and care that goes beyond great design (which pi has) to great practices and principles. Jadie Kadletz creates women's clothes that are functional and wearable, are made in Los Angeles, and are constructed with sustainable fibers, namely organic cotton with some bamboo thrown in. They are beautiful but useful and won't be going out of style any time soon. They are "versatile and timeless, the antithesis of 'disposable fashion.'"

She follows wabi sabi philosophy, something I've noticed coming up in online conversation and with eco-designers lately. I like the explanation of wabi sabi on New Urban Habitat  as:

"a tool for contemplation, or a philosophy of life, that finds beauty in things that are impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete. In other words, it's the notion that patina; wear and tear; chips, cracks, and fissures;  assymetry; flaws; and defects actually make things more interesting."

That certainly goes along with Jadie's clothing line of perfectly pleasing items whose tags tell the wearer to "relax" or "love yourself." 

See Perfectly Imperfect's collection. Or shop it.

And here's why organic cotton matters (according to ecochoices):

*600,408 tons of herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, fungicides, and other chemicals were used to produce  cotton in 1992 in the 6 largest cotton producing states.

*Conventional cotton uses 25% of the world's herbicides.

*Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton are known carcinogens.

*Every pound of cotton has 1/3 pound of synthetic fertilizer behind it.

On and on it goes. I really like this easy to read chart: "Organic Cotton is Different" for the differences between conventional and organic cotton. Essentially, by choosing organic when we buy new clothes, we choose clean land, air, and water and safer conditions for the workers who harvest and manufacture them. (And here's the scoop on organic denim.)

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m o r e (fair = beautiful)

I had the pleasure of attending Unique LA last weekend and spending time in the green room and Your Daily Thread's eco-lounge. There, I was introduced to some people making planet-friendly products by hand that they believe in. 

I was also introduced to Knitting Peace. The wares there are hand knit from alpaca wool, but not by the woman behind the company. At Knitting Peace, she teaches incarcerated women in Bolivia to do the knitting themselves so that she can take their beautiful creations back to the states and help them earn an income and support their families, there. (They are typically jailed for unpaid fines or for crimes of drugs and theft, often motivated by poverty.)

It's about empowerment. The women are given the gift of therapeutic work so that they can change their lives and support their children.

Here's the store. I'm partial to the beanies and shrugs.

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m o r e (nest-building for women around the world)

Nest is doing something noteworthy. It's a nonprofit that combines microfinance, fair trade, women's empowerment, and artisanship.

Here's the scoop: Instead of lending money to international women artisans, it engages in "microbarter," providing the supplies and training the women need to make their wares. In return, the women don't have to pay anything back in cash. They pay back in product.

I love it because it helps women on the road to self-sufficiency doing something they love and that has meaning and value. I also love it because it allows people all over the world to see the work they do, to buy handcrafted objects of art and beauty, and to give credit where credit is due.

Learn more about the project or get involved.

Or, shop for items that help build two nests with one purchase, yours and theirs. (Some of them are deemed "loan recipient products," others "domestic designer products," made by women in N. America who are simply supporting the cause by lending a hand.)

My picks:

Vibrant Guatemalan scarves.

Mexican salsa bowls.

Moroccan necklaces.

Turkish sequined clutch purses.

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m o r e (steps to reduce and reuse)

My husband still has a pair of Campers he bought probably eight years ago. Two years ago he got them resoled at a little shoe repair joint within walking distance of our apartment. Welcome to a few more years of a great pair.

While I think that's still probably the best route, finding a local business who can slap some new soles on your worn out ones to make them last, it won't have the exact sole from that exact brand of shoe--which sometimes matters a great deal (like for, say, a hiking boot or certain men's/women's dress shoes).

That's why there's Resole America. 

Pretty amazing--you mail off your shoes and they come back to you with a brand new sole that matches perfectly in a little over a week. It works with certain brands as well as categories of styles.

Here's how the math breaks down. I was told by a customer service rep that it usually costs around 40 or 50 dollars, plus shipping. So, if your pair of kicks is still in great condition except for what lies beneath and they cost you a fair amount (a good pair of boots or men's dress shoes would cost up or around 100), then you're still saving money if you resole and reuse. If they aren't looking so great and/or were cheap to begin with, it's probably not going to be a cost effective answer while albeit an eco one.

For your next footwear purchase, here are some eco-friendly options to try on for size:

Even Payless has gotten in on the action with its Zoe and Zac line made of organic  cotton and recycled rubber (and gives a dollar to the Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees for Z&Z purchases) though I prefer a company that's less mainstream and more broadly planet-focused.

Simple has a history of going the distance to construct shoes with eco-soul for men, women, and kids (think hemp, think biodegradable).

J-41 has plenty to offer in the way of conscious kicks crafted for adventure.

El Naturalista makes pliable leather walking shoes with natural dyes and pays fair wages to its employees.

Patagonia is always up to something amazing; I like that you can replace the insole of some of its shoes and the recycled rubber and natural materials that abound. I mean, check out this warm winter boot, for example.

You can find a number of brands making significant environmental strides at Planet Shoes.

And good old TOMS has a line of vegan slip-ons made from recycled and vegan stuff and with the same incentive as all the rest--you buy one, someone in need gets a pair, too.

Know of any other sources for shoes that look and do good? Do share!

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