Urban Crafters

en masse at the Urban Craft Uprising this weekend (8/1 and 8/2)
It will be cool inside the Exhibition Hall at the Seattle Center and the last time i attended i smiled a lot. Checking out the vendors this time around i see that many are picking up on the green. More smiles.

vegan shoes

I am curious about the faux leather or Vegan products ......not from animal sources. Is that a necessarily good thing when looking at full product lifecycles as most (if not all) faux leather is a petroleum based product which causes a lot of toxicity in recycle and production processes whereas organic (animal) products are microbe friendly and add nutrients to soils as they breakdown. Petrol breakdown is part of our plastic waste nightmare etc.

I am caught on this issue and can argue well for either side using the sustainable agenda as a platform. That is why it is one of those tricky gray issues.

My feet sweat puddles in plastic and leather breathes, so for feet's sake i am opting for leather. When it comes down to it, the healthiest rules.

Sara of Devout Dolls

Sara in a 1920s vintage red flapper dress at her opening reception last Thursday at Some Space in Pioneer Square where the artist premiered "The Big Sleep" collection. Check out the show to really see the beautiful attention to detail and "staging" that makes these dolls works of art.
In the meantime wander her website .....it is worth it!

Plaid tidings

Mad about plaid especially these great tartans.
Beauty, sustainability and fair trade ....soon to be in the Seahawks colors among other NFL schemes.

Eco Design Fair

hands on art in my neighborhood and for the wrist....
.

a Beatles charm bracelet

I noticed i have followers; thank you
and i apologize for being slow on the posts.

i am trying to arrange sewing/recycouture classes, do the first volunteer workshop to make altered cards from the unsolicited cards that nonprofits mail to people hoping to guilt them into giving -i have a problem with resource misuse no matter the cause, sell more of my worldly goods and get to London for the Eco Design Fair.

I am glad i "invested" in cool old junk, rock n roll and vintage clothing because it has resale value and is enabling me to carry on with this sustainable fashion crusade.

The British have embraced eco design with more support than here in USA so going there to be in its glow keeps me positive. The organizers are delightful and i hope to meet up them as well as with some designers i have connected with via email.

i am learning so much with their help!

organic hair shirts

vintage fabric, ethical without the zzzzzzz's

After the Seattle GreenFest i knew the USA needed a more inspired approach to ethical fashion and other things of style. So i booked a flight to the Eco Design Fair in London.

Going green isn't all earthy, raise your own chickens and wear boring beige hemp garb; please dear people, what is this hair shirt nonsense!

The dye issues are relevant but i was told there have been some major breakthroughs on that front. (Something i will try to track down) Otherwise cut, line and a little frivolity are not taboo! Ethical is not tedious, boring nor bland....despite its prior framing in the morally righteous a hole club; ethical is from a wide angle lens, a fresh heart and a lot of courage. Ethical is about being your best possibility and in the new model, where it is encouraged, a kind of magic ensues.

Or i am mad as a hatter and so be it....better mad than hollowed out by the sellers of fear and crush. Human sacrifice is not an option.

getting out of Dodge

Musing on nonprofits; it occurred to me that my credit union ( i left WaMu about a year before the failure as i didn't like what i was hearing) was a good use of a nonprofit and should be enhanced to support local start ups for ethical economics. Insurance could also be in the form of a nonprofit "pool " as both are part of the basic infrastructure for economics based on human values and not the old corporation focus where money is all that rules the bottom line.

In this existing (soon to be archaic) pattern, taking advantage of resources soon becomes exploiting for that equals power and power equals growth and growth means to gobble up other corporations. The bigger they get, the better they can exploit and so it goes, a virtual malignant tumor on the planet, degrading resources (humans included -think HR dept!) better and faster and ......

pouf!

Or we can decide to value clean water, air that is breathable, the natural beauty and myriad forms of life that enable this world to be our "home." Perhaps the wisdom to try and understand the whole of nature is the drug that will enable the cure that will help us realize what it is to be healthy. Healthy critters make better choices, are more creative, loving , forgiving, learn more and faster and.....

At least it would make for a great experiment!

trouble in Dodge

Love the look but hate the waste maker under drama
in this old Photoshop class assignment.

Does anyone else wonder why there are so many non-profits out there? All trying to bandage, clean up, cater to the symptoms and otherwise make for a patch up of the very thing that created most of the problems.
They are in fact dependent on the problem makers for that is where the money is, money they need to operate and so they beg. Another case of trickle down toxicity.
This is twisted.
To not address the fundamental disease of a bad system is to never cure the disease. The disease in this case mimics cancer and the host is the planet.
Stupid humans!

charming degrade

the more she wears it the better it gets
- notice the threads and tears that give this skirt personality

dressing for yourself, jewelry artist style
PS i lost your name, please email me if you see this
as credits are important!

last weekend i was selling my vintage clothing and textile collection out of a couple of dedicated rooms in my parent's house. This sales approach started with collectibles, went on to the textiles and the next one is records, cds, books and crafts.

the surprise has been that it feels more like a house party than a store and we are meeting the greatest people.

i highly recommend this way of promoting the re-use of goods. Also it is a boost to the local economy and in this case, the fashionRIP Project.

PS i am losing capital letters purposefully, just for the fun and balancing of it. ( gaining sustainable capital on one side which is offset by losing unnecessary capital on the other...hmmmm)

Memorial Day

at the Seattle Folklife Festival i ran into my friend Michael. We met at the Sanctuary Art Center.
Ever the stylist he shows how first hand imagination can rework second hand duds. Michael you are fabulous!

Ethical Fashions Twist

i have a friend getting his masters in Occupational Therapy and we got to talking about designing for physical issues. I was wondering how many designers thought about it and today came across Chris Ambraisse founder and designer of A&K Classics in the Eco Fashion World e-letter.

About 15 years ago my mother made a dress for a young girl with an enlarged heart that caused a hump in her little back and expanded her chest. The mother just wanted her daughter to have a pretty dress. I never thought i would revisit this memory under these circumstances but in the new definition of fashion, it certainly has a place.

i am taking on a new challenge. This one is to do a presentation/lecture for SCCC that will be delivered Fall Quarter. The theme for the class that quarter is body and spirit and i was asked to develop my talk on sustainable fashion with that in mind. The topic is larger than the umbrella issues i was planning to talk about, but accepting the path as it unfolds enlightens in surprising ways.

recycle that Styrofoam

In a Bergdorf window last March. The styrofoam chandelier is similar to the tea cup and saucer one hanging at MOMA...coincidence or repurposeful repurposing of a recycle idea. It gets so confusing....but looks good!