Excess

Success/Excess Quilt 2005-06

is not the answer!
I had another insightful discussion yesterday with a young man who had done some community service work in Illinois for charity (I think it was Salvation Army) where he would watch truck after truck pull up to a long conveyor belt, dump its load of clothing and turn around and go out for more.

At the end of the belt was a compactor that mashed the fabric into bundle lots that were then put back on trucks to be shipped to China. Add up the friggin' carbons! and wonder at the math that creates the illusion that more is better. Gag!

Ok that was only around 85% as some went to resell which is what we think is happening with our tossed wearables because the truth smashes too many sacred golden calves and that raises questions.
(hi, if this is your story i so thank you for sharing and please ask your girlfriend to email me. I have questions about the clothing illusions held by the kids she works with. We can and will do better than this!- if we just try)

London Fashion Week starts

video shot of Kayo Trousers (available to buy) with Manami Vest

and i am excited for my friend Nicola who is launching the debut collection of Beautiful Soul this year. What can i say but "cheers" and as she goes forth with ethical fashion so shall others follow. We can and we are doing better!

what is this?

refashion is to modify
as
recyCouture is to art.

Recycled clothing has become a generic term for all second (or more) round use of garments and other textiles that are re-purposed into clothing.

Recycled actually means to take back to a premanufactured state and then to remake into something else; usually a totally different product.

Perhaps in order to be taken seriously we need to define our work in a more precise manner.

Please vote for fashionRIP Project at Greenwala. This is a no registration required, quick action that you could bookmark and then vote every day til November . Their rules!

Simple Support

Hello,
if you are here- please go to here! to Greenwala to vote for the fashionRIP Project to help the second phase which is to start a small business for street up economics and sustainable development.

The fashionRIP Project has been the creative motivation behind some major breakthroughs in my path and i am experimenting with applying these concepts on a larger scale.

Fashion may look trivial but the fashion reach is mighty and infiltrates multiple industries and issues. Sustainable fashion is seeking to optimize its best, awake from the toxic nightmare it enabled and then free itself.

Seeking to heal the past by staying observant, listening and being respectful of all of our true power and natures is an individual and a cultural pattern that we can develop. To be able to bloom together must be better than this!

Flash Fashion at Fest

local craftng op

NM Opens

got my saddle shoes on and its time to move

in Bellevue, a local turf.

I worked for this company a long time ago at Frontenac Square in St Louis. I got the job because of connections. My late ex-father-in-law was a CEO big shot in the town, so i walked in and had it. So easy, classic to human nature and yet so unfair; for all parties.

Motivated workers were left out and the store had a bored, slightly rebellious salesperson. I even told a few people that they had the same sunglasses at Famous Barr a few yards down the mall for a lot less! The class system restricts access which restricts ideas and though it worked in my favor i knew it wasn't right!

The truth in systems is that they grow to outlive their use and then hang on like demons, cutting at the jugular of advanced solutions.

However, the sustainable fashion ethos is going to march into the Neiman Marcus lair at Bravern and attempt a friendly breakthrough. By writing this, i am forced to proceed with an as yet amorphic plan to enlighten. i have chosen to accept this mission.

It is easier by far to make the necessary noise and feel good about myself- even if it is embarrassing, difficult and awkward, then it is to write a lousy excuse as to why i couldn't. I shall wear something fabulous (perhaps a fine vintage refashion) and the arrogance of rock and self righteousness.

Who is this person?

Tartan Weave

(9/03/09)

"the first tartan ever to be woven in Africa came off the loom yesterday (Ive added a pic on my profile).: carded, spun, and dyed locally from the weavers local flock, without the use of pesticides and no reduction in the water supply the cloth will continue its ethical, eco-friendly trail to be made into garments and accessories by local producers for domestic use and the US schools market. The South Africa tartan will be launched on the 16th. December - South Africa's 'Day of Reconciliation - at a televised reception attended by government ministers and a host of celebrities. The South Africa is the first of 22 'national' tartans being produced for the garment and fashion industry throughout Africa and beyond.
'At last, a rainbow cloth for the Rainbow Nation' (Desmond Tutu)."
David McGill
from excerpt posted on EFF
PS I asked David for some larger pictures and will post asap.

Truman Alley

Junky Style shop in Truman Alley, London

Junky Style, i think this store is selling reFashion apparel. There is also a book called Junky Styling featuring wardrobe surgery and not related (but i could be wrong)
No matter i'm lovin the language of it all ...

Sew Up Seattle

inspiration everywhere , don't buy- reFashion!
Window display at Nordy's in downtown Seattle

is behind the Flash Fashion 24 hour Challenge at the Sustainable Ballard Festival next month the 26th and 27th. A local refashion/eco designer show will happen on Saturday and ought to be fun and inspiring as well as being an intro to those new to concepts of clothing off the fast fashion grid.

The Sew Fun option on Sunday is to make bags for the local food bank.

Sew Up Seattle is a scrap happy delight and they offer free sewing classes at Goods for the Planet on the last Saturday of most months. They ask you to call ahead because space is limited. This is a good way to sample the sewing experience and they are in a nice location.
Good stuff!

letter to University Art Gallery,

Dear Director,
i understand that local is important and that recycled fashion shows are a good way to start into sustainable fashion concepts without stepping on old toes.

I am glad i didn't pursue my invite to help with this show any further as real designers attempting to work towards a sustainable economic model, could have been hurt.

Sew Fun at this years Sustainable Ballard Festival is another "let's play green" affair happening next month. I suppose i am just sad that the USA is so far behind Europe in its outlook and concepts.


Have a good show. The Haute Trash affairs are fun and no threat to the fast fashion industry either so you should have a nice event,
deborah barnes

(edited for a general read)

re-Sew Fun

Adili eco fiber guest bags at Sustainable Fashion Center show

Oh, the Sew Fun part is about making bags. Perhaps the local sustainable designers are going to show bags as well as clothing, or the 2 days are only linked by their textiles.

I am confused.

Clare C and Beth H are the heads of this event and i am meeting up with them today at Goods for the Planet an eco home and garden store here in Seattle. More to follow!

Sew Fun

recycouture skirt made from a 70s poly stretch top, a couple remnants and some beheaded silk floral stems

will be at the Sustainable Ballard Festival this year, Sept 26 and 27. I am getting into the design of this gig and will update when i know more. Right now all i can say is it will be a good experience for designers and audience because ripping into a toss away garment is easier than cutting into a piece of $78.00 a yard fabric.