Fashion

Green Sustainable Stocking Stuffer Ideas With A Whimsical Twist For The Christmas Season

2011-12-23T19:30:05Z

Photo courtesy of Green 3.

For festive holiday stocking stuffers that are sure of making an impression, you might try looking at some of the seriously cute collections of hats, scarves, mittens, and handwarmers at Green 3.

Besides making things are cute and unique, Green 3 has turned the philosophy of being green and sustainable into an all-around business practice.

The company creates a variety of clothes and accessories using a combination of organic cotton, recycled cotton, and reclaimed materials. It also takes the extra step of making sure that from concept to the end product, its items are made in the United States – mostly in upstate New York.

This year, Green 3 has come out with a lot of great collections especially for the holiday season. The ‘Candy Cane Scarf’ is one of my favorite items from the company because of its cute and has a longer seasonal wear-life than many of the other holiday items.

Levi Strauss Expanding Water
2011-12-09T19:54:09Z

Stock. photo.

Integrated into its growing eco-friendly initiatives to reduce water consumption, energy usage, chemical pollution, and greenhouse emissions, Levi Strauss has just expanded its Water
In total, the jeans are expected to encompass about 17 percent of the company’s winter collection this year. These jeans will include “over a dozen classic Levi’s jeans, including the Levi’s 501, and Levi’s 511 (slim fit) for men, as well as the Levi’s Curve ID finishes for women,” said the company.

The Water
The line also includes jeans made with the brand’s traditional rigid finish, which utilized virtually no water in its production. The company also says that it will continue to introduce these finishing techniques to even more supplier factories around the world with the goal of increasing the number.

During the conventional production of jeans, the company says that, “a typical pair of jeans is ‘finished’ in large washing machines and dryers to achieve the many different looks that are popular with consumers. Using traditional garment washing methods, the average pair of jeans undergoes three-to-10 washing cycles – adding up to approximately 45 liters of water per unit.”

Fashion Seeing An Explosion of Styles Emerging in Hats Made With Eco-Friendly Materials

2011-08-25T18:12:26Z

I love hats, especially eco-friendly hats because they boost my style, and they limit harm to the environment.

Eco-Friendly Wool Felt Hat from Millinerium.

Today, eco-friendly hats are made in every style. The only real differences between hats made the eco-friendly way and ones made the traditional way are the materials they use and the processes used to make them

Right now, there are eco-friendly hats for every personality – whether you’re fashion sense is really flamboyant, chic, retro, urban or classic conservative.

When looking to buy an eco-made hat, the challenge is no longer finding the right style to suit your tastes and needs, but finding one at all! It’s often considered a specialty item, and most conventional retail stores don’t carry them. Online is often your best option, and I found three places that have some of the hugest collections of eco-hats: Millinerium, hats.com, and JustSayHats.com.

Millinerium

Millinerium is great because it’s a women’s boutique site from Ginger Strand, a designer exclusively devoted to making eco-made hats.

Millinerium’s collection runs the full gamut from street hats to fascinators (the tiny hats that Kate Middleton wears) to wedding headpieces.

Vancouver Fall/Winter Eco-Fashion Week Growing In Designers and Styles

2011-02-22T03:38:39Z

Kim Cathers’ Kdon fashions at Vancouver Eco-Fashion Week Sept. 2010. Photo courtesy of myvancouverstyle.com.

Vancouver’s bi-annual eco-fashion weeks just keep getting bigger and better every year, expanding in designers that are continually coming up with new materials and designs for clothes and accessories. This week will be no exception.

Vancouver’s historic Salt Building will be the venue for the fashions shows, exhibits, seminars and other events that will kick off this Wednesday for the public.

With over a dozen clothing designers showing off their styles, and even more accessories designers, this will definitely be a can’t-miss event. Some of the more established design brands whose fashions will be strutting the runway will include: Kim Cathers’ Kdon, Echo Rain, and Nicole Bridger’s NBD.

Kim Cathers’ Kdon

Kdon’s new fall/winter collection is called ‘suture’ and will debut at the show. Cathers’ press says there are “a grand many reasons this word is the ultimate title and presentation for this coming collection.” It will blend and tie together many contrasting forms and colors.

Cathers specializes in handmade, draped dresses. The designs will include a lot of flowing cuts, with a palette that will include single color pieces, prints, and strips. Cather’s collections are inspired by a mixture of vintage, urban, and couture styles.

All of the fabrics used in Kdon come from Our Social Fabric’s recycled materials. Cathers is also on the board.

Eco-Friendly Fashion Designers Finding Unusual Materials For Making Sustainable Handbags

2011-02-07T20:11:21Z

Vegan leather laptop bag by Matt & Nat accessories design.

What we wear always says a lot about who we are, what we care about, and of our sense of style.

While eco-style means making sure our clothes look great and are made from sustainable materials, it is also important to remember that our accessories need to be made the same way. And, what’s our top accessory – handbags!

I love handbags because besides looking good, they’re where we put all our stuff in, which hopefully is eco-friendly, too.

The tough thing about shopping for eco-friendly handbags - like all other things that are considered specialty items - is that they’re still hard to find in most department stores and boutiques.

Luckily, now many designers are using the internet as a way to get the word out about their sustainable handbags – from classic, urban, vintage, couture, and everything in between.

Some of this year’s unique trends in sustainable materials by eco-fashion designers include: vegan materials, repurposed candy wrappers, recycled plastic bottles, dead stock car upholstery (out-of circulation unused fabrics originally intended for use in American automobiles), and reclaimed tractor inner tubes.

Four of these unique designers letting their imaginations run wild are: Ecoist, Matt & Nat, Kim White, and Passchal.

Eco-Sunglasses: Keeping Your Eyes Healthy and Improving the World at the Same Time

2010-09-30T21:41:39Z

Beautiful eyes are subjective - whether it has to do with color, shape, or something else - everyone has an opinion. Though beyond looks, our eyesight is one of our most important assets, which doesn’t make the sun our friend.

Image courtesy of davidicke.com.

Experts are finding that ultraviolet light can cause a number of short-term and long-term ocular problems.

Dr. Troy L. Bedinghaus - a board certified optometric physician, who owns and operates Lakewood Family Eye Care - says, “Studies show that ultraviolet radiation can accelerate the development of cataracts.

“The bright sun can also cause pinguecula and pterygium, which are benign growths on the surface of the eye. Ultraviolet radiation can also cause cancer of the eyelids and the skin surrounding the eyes.”

Dr. Bedinghaus adds that, “Ultraviolet radiation can also cause photokeratitis, which is a temporary but painful burning of the cornea. Photokeratitis often occurs while water or snow skiing without sun protection. Studies are also showing that long-term exposure to the sun’s harmful rays may contribute to the development of macular degeneration.”

As a preventative measure, he suggests, “At the very least, you should look for sunglasses that block at least 99 percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation, and screen out 75 to 90 percent of viable light.”

Fashion Show to Launch Designers’ New Sustainability Awareness Campaign

2010-04-10T01:26:51Z

loyale summer outfit. Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com.

Wanting to show younger Americans that they can look fashionable and live more sustainable lifestyles too, designer Jenny Hwa held a campus-level fashion show this week at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she also operates loyale, her eco-friendly clothing company.

Ms. Hwa said that she’s trying “to inspire the regional community to live stylishly green.” The goal of the show was “for all guests and participants to walk away with a sense that incorporating eco-friendly attributes into one’s daily life is fun and doable,” she added.

The designer’s 2010 collection has an open airy simple feel to it, which is themed after the American road trip experience of the 1950s and the idea of just getting away from it all. loyale’s design style embraces vintage and feminine tones, with silhouettes and some prints. The pieces are made primarily from organic cotton and factory reclaimed overstock fabrics, which would otherwise become landfill waste.

Spring Collections Focusing On Comfy Basics With Some Inspired Prints, Says Fashion Expert

2010-02-26T22:55:50Z

‘Frankie’ bamboo Jersey.Photo by Chopper Couture.

Warmer days are less than a month away, and designers have already started launching their new collections. Among them, eco-fashion designer Chopper Couture has just released two spring/summer collections - the California motorcycled culture inspired ‘Feel Good’ line and the yoga activewear ‘Rock Om’ line.

Both of the new season’s collections are keeping much of their traditional feel, though focusing more on giving wearers increased versatility options by featuring more pieces whose graphic designs are solely on the backs and sleeves, leaving the fronts bare for more conservative looks.

“The collections bring together inspirations from California lifestyle, tattoo culture, Eastern philosophy, and French symbolism,” said Viggo Zingenberg, partner with Irene Zingenberg, designer/company owner.

Eco-Fashion Getting Noticed during Berlin Fashion Week

2010-01-21T03:51:19Z

Photo courtesy of People Tree.

If you’re in Berlin within the next few days and into eco-fashion, then you have the opportunity for some fun and education. Berlin Fashion Week is underway, and this year there’s a strong presence of eco-designers and brands focusing on high-end styles. THEKEY.TO - an international event for green fashion, sustainable lifestyles, and culture - will be at the Heeresbäckerei on Köpenickerstr in Berlin, with active events from tomorrow until Jan. 23.

“The sustainable philosophy of the event is reflected in the selection of brands, event furniture, fresh organic catering, and the tradeshow architecture,” said a statement by Gereon Pilz van der Grinten, one of the founders of THEKEY.TO.

Among the sustainable brands that will be featured at the event will be: Van Markoviec, Knowledge Cotton Apparel, Studio Jux, Milch, Itsus, Banuq, Komodo, and People Tree. The event will also feature new up-and-coming Berlin-based brands, including: Slowmo, Pamoyo, and Isabell de Hillerin.

Fall Shoe Shopping: Finding Cool Shoes That Are Eco-Conscious Too

2009-10-01T22:30:24Z

Vegan Slouch Boot made from a soft pleather that covers the entire boot down to the two inch heel. Photo courtesy of Vegan Chic.

It’s the Fall shopping season, and time for new shoes. If your trying to find fashionable shoes that are also eco-conscious, then it can be a real struggle going out to most retail stores. They have very small to no selections.

Another option to consider is shopping online. Some exploration turned up three noteworthy sustainable websites with decent-sized shoe selections made of combinations of vegan, organic, and recycled materials. They’re:

Vegan Chic- a provider of shoes, boots, bags, and accessories.

Alternative Outfitters vegan boutique- a provider of shoes, boots, bags, accessories, apparel, and beauty products.

Pristine Planet- an aggregate shopping site that brings together retailers providing shoes, boots, bags, accessories, apparel, beauty, and a plethora of other lifestyle products.