Fair Trade

chi chi triangle tote from Ukush
A local company Ukush, has a good definition of "fair trade" on their website.

I met the owner at a local meeting of the Good Business Network in Wallingford a few weeks ago.
The discussion on whether products need to be made or grown local as opposed to the business being locally owned, is an interesting new topic. The hundred mile diet makes some nutrient and energy relevancy and yet it is not a good measure for other goods.

Raising a new local economy needs vision, support, communication and a lot of inclusivity.

The vast amount of unknowns is stimulating, as there is something for everyone to get excited about. The questions we do not know to ask have immense and global impacts. We need to consider great masses of information and yet we need to start with the information we have now. Time is relevant.

Daunting ? Yes and no...it takes effort and willingness to alter beliefs rapidly, but it is very do-able and fun..if you like roller coasters.

troll watch 1

"Cotton and similar fabrics are less expensive and take less energy to manufacture than synthetic fibers like polyester. But over its lifetime, a cotton T-shirt requires more than twice as much energy than is necessary to manufacture and maintain a polyester tee. The main difference is that polyester garments can be washed at a lower temperature, can hang dry and do not require ironing." (Boardroom Eco Apparel )

hmm.... i never iron tee shirts, i wash in cold water and when line drying, a good shake to eliminate wrinkles, works for me. The process of cutting the plastic bottles into little flakes and then melting them down to make the recycled poly textiles sounds problematical. Melting plastic is a toxic release and this all smacks of a justification trip to "greener" pastures; plastic use needs minimalizing. Period. (most plastic is from petroleum and petroleum is a problem)

Nix to Venus and Mars

Get your "accessories" on Route 66

Accessories! as in women want to be noticed and praised for how they LOOK. In the PBS show for Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice, Dr John Gray advised men to compliment their wives on their accessories. That gave women the brain glow (endorphin rush) that they need to feel appreciated. What!!!

Ok, a compliment is good but what about being noticed for what they really do. I rather be noticed for my skill, talent and brain power than a pretty little bracelet I happen to be wearing. Now if I had made that bracelet, then cool, however the idea that only men want to be appreciated for what they do is not working for me;
& besides, men like a "you look good,"once in awhile too.

The sexual divide may often be more about the roles we bought into, than the truth of full range possibility. Culture creates itself in its own image and that image is narrow and full of mistaken beliefs. Let us not continue the mythology of the past, it sucked, which is why change is constant.
On with the show we will go!!!!

Wasted

"Fashion is the second largest industry producer of waste next to agriculture in the USA"
Jerah Lena Coviello

Justification: the waste industry creates jobs as reused, repurposed and recycled garments are now woven into the economic spins of many countries.

Truth: It is resource and energy arrogance to believe that the secondary market offsets true resource costs. Implementing the slow economy is counter to many "known" principles of capitalism, yet is infinitely more rational under todays understanding of the connected whole.

Jerah posted the film Pepe (Secodhand) on Facebook and it is a great peek into Haiti and the traveling pants.

photo edit

Sometimes I like something in 3d and yet when I take the photo I do not. This scrap patch border is fun and am-a-liking, however am now questioning that straying rebel patch. Should it stay or should it go?

I guess this is relevant to designs posted at Etsy and on websites. The photo reality is the sell, so is that now more important than the garment on the hanger or the runway?

A Good Outfit

Cara Lundgren aka Detroit Dolly posted to the Face a few pics of her newest favorite Good Look.

Deborah: the power of fashion, look good, feel good, do good...even eco fashion is FASHION!

Cara: True Deborah... I believe eco fashion is even MORE fashion because one uses their own creativity even more to combine eras, styles etc... with there own individuality!

d: thank-you...got something for todays blog...aww -ok to quote you right?

C: OMG, of course!!

Plaid-itude

Great plaid mix and the red bandana, I loved her look. She has a fresh senior citizen style that really works.

School Dazed

In the plethora of choices for the back to school crowd, EWG has a little advisory list with good why & why not comments that fire up the understanding. Doing right takes a whole lot of information and gathering it in bits and pieces on a daily basis really does add up well. From grassroots beginnings to eco wisdom starship is very do-able. If just starting out or even well on your way, this is still a lifetime learning adventure. After all, changing major paradigms shuffles the whole of the deck!!!!

Bumbershoot

djb 8/15/10 (c)

held a Green Bag design contest, then the entry form was pulled 12 hours early. Its Sunday and the machines are in charge answering phones, replying to emails and generally ignoring the error messages from frustrated humans.

After notifying One Reel, I sent my design to the info url. The Machine blockade is so unreasonable; well right, machines don't reason or adapt....putting them in charge can be annoying and at times dangerous. Machine efficiency without human override is ultimately inefficient.

So posting my design here, just in case.

recyCouture at Green Film Festival

at the San Francisco Green Film Festival. Does this mean the city is rising from the ashes of Haight. Is San Francisco the Phoenix?

Sent in the "Species on the Verge" because they want footage about animals, bio-diversity, human relativity, sustainability, eco system queries, all that lot which validates the fashionRIP Project.

This feels like something the universe ordered..or nature or god or maia or critical mass ............and i know nothing and yet everything i need to know is available. It must be Evolution calling.

Ageless Fashion

vintage artic wear at British Historical Museum

Teeth, bone bits, shells and the like were strung or 'sewn' onto clothing over 30,000 years ago and are indicative to the spark that made us human.

It is now part of the archeological record that early modern humans applied these ornaments and/or symbolic bits to their clothing and these 'beads' are never found at the sites of our cousins, the Neandrathals. It appears that though the Neandrathals survived they didn't progress nor adapt to changes.

Modern humans are what we are today because of our appreciation of symbolic statements in art and fashion and our ability to embrace and grow with the changes!!!

Makes a pretty good case for the new paradigm; me thinks.

Certified Ethical

Restored Carousel Horse

Seattle Center

-a boon or a bust?

Certification implies a guarentee, a way for consumers to spend wisely. It implies standards on the ways and means of a product. However the very big downside is that this will add to the cost of the label. Once again the small start up, pioneer designer who is the most ethical of the ethical can be doomed by their inability to pay for this licensing process.

This has happened in the organic food industry, where many small, local organic farms cannot afford certification. Farmer's markets are a blessing here as the relationship between farmer and purchaser can develop and the truth beyond labeling may bloom and all may thrive. However the unfair advantage of the large agri biz now going organic because of the market swing, now wins in this game that was started, driven and nurtured by the very people who are now held at a disadvantage.

Tain't right! So around and around we go!

Reverse Graffiti

reverse applique as stain remover

The beauty of Reverse Graffiti is that it is about what is taken away. Called reverse applique in textiles; the reverse technique is the art of subtraction. To cut out, erace or otherwise take off the top layer to reveal that which is underneath takes exposure to the next level.

Do you remember writing "wash me" in the dust of a car's fender ? I do! I want to think it was when a neighbor kid and i decided to wash cars for extra $ over summer vacation. I mean what a clever promo......however i was about 11 or 12 at the time and cannot recall hitching them together.

Now this technique is working as an environmental piece d' resistance; as natural reveals by talented folks have captured attention.

Who knew cleaning was such an art?

FIT, NYC ECO

Viva la evolucion: ethical, eco fashion & recyCouture

The current exhibit at the Museum of FIT is Eco-Fashion, Going Green. They tout it as the most compelling topic in fashion today. In their own words:


" Although the roots of eco-consciousness are often linked to the environmentalist movement and hippie styles of the 1960s, fashion’s environmental and ethical accountability prior to the mid-twentieth century is rarely considered. Eco-Fashion: Going Green explores fashion’s complex and multi-faceted relationship with the environment, discussing both bad and good ecological practices of the past 250 years. "

Bravo FIT.

Toxic Beauty

hummingbird spirit guide 8/1/10

A few weeks ago I wrote about the unregulated, sometimes dangerous chemicals used in the beauty and cosmetic industry.

We live in a chemical world. Both natural and synthetic chemicals can be benign or dangerous. "It's natural, its better" simplifies the subject; arsenic and lead are natural chemical elements and yet both pose human and environmental health risks.

"We" are just beginning to validate concerns and finance the research into long term risks, exposure levels and time periods, the what and how toxic combos affect life. As it is our species disrupting most of the balance of natural systems, it is up to us to be more responsible, careful and compassionate in our lifestyles. When the bottom line is profit, we all lose. Our systems, as ourselves, need to adapt to the bigger reality.

What we ingest, use and shower off or flush and dump matters on the individual and on the collecive levels. Eventually what comes from the organic world, returns to it and how , where and what is released can be beneficial and nurturing or toxic and deadly. We all choose daily, please choose wisely as often as possible.

"Please take a few minutes and watch The Story of Cosmetics and then take action to support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010.
Thanks again for helping spread the word and proving once again just how awesome this community is!
Sincerely,
Annie, Michael, Renee, Christina, and Allison
The Story of Stuff Project Team"

Beyond Fashion

"Clothes make the man" is an old Latin Proverb; later Twain gave it a shot with "If clothes make the man, does that mean naked people have little or no influence on society? " and most recent the song "The Clothes Don't Make the Man" by Keith Anderson all make for a word picture about changes in the realm of social justice.

Problem:

Then does this mean that the well tailored cons and hustlers who climbed to the top of many biz and social ladders are examples of our inability to adapt to our own beliefs....like are we retaining archaic info that usurps new knowledge?

Weird.

As is the gender....When did women become the major consumers of "dress?"