EcoChic

News article: 'Can fashion really be green?'

2009-10-29T11:07:00.004+11:00

I wouldn't normally read the business section of The Age, so it is lucky I stumbled across this article about eco fashion in my online wanderings. It tells of Melbourne based designer, Tiffany Treloar, taking a 'fashion miles' approach to eco fashion.
Find our more about Tiffany on her website which also includes some links to more information about eco textiles worth checking out.

Fancy knickers

2009-10-28T11:20:00.015+11:00

As you know I have my basic eco knickers sorted, but what about if I want something a little fancier, like a sexy knickers and bra set that is still eco chic. I remembered reading an article earlier this year about Annalise Braakensiek launching an eco lingerie line. It stuck in my mind as not only was it eco friendly, but the range also included sizes for the fuller bust. This pleased me as sometimes it can be hard to get a cute bra in my size. What is actually eco friendly about the pieces in her range isn't all that clear. The label just says as 'eco friendly as we can possibly make it'. A quote from Annalise in the The SMH article elaborates a bit further saying 'It's green. No toxic ink, organic cotton, organic bamboo, sustainable produce, the swing tags are recycled cardboard and even attached with organic twine'.

Available from Bras N Things I did see a white organic cotton set in the store, but I'm unsure as to how the particular set I got was any more eco friendly than the other (non- Annalise) items, except of course for the tags, twine and recycled plastic coat hangers. I wonder what happens to those little bra and undie hangers in lingerie shops?

A quick online search for some eco lingerie turned up a few more possibilities
Eco-Boudoir based in the UK has a shop in Melbourne listed as a stockist. Unfortunately (for me) none of the bras shown on their website look like they would hold up my boobs.

Treehugger featured Peau-Ethique lingerie, and lists a few other lines. These may not be available in Australia?

This slide show from US based The Daily Green lists quite a few eco lingerie lines. Again, not sure how many are available in stores Australia. Some are available on line. I've put a link to some of them under lingerie on the right for your browsing pleasure.

GreenKnickers have some fun stuff available on line.

Admittedly, this was a fairly speedy bit of googling research, which turned up quite a few eco lingerie possibilities around the world, but not too many available easily in Australia. Annalise may be on to something and it's a good start and her range is nice, affordable and a good fit. However, in her next range I'd like to see more info on how eco friendly the items that aren't organic cotton are beyond the tags and hangers.

Lastly, just to let you know, a lot of the eco lingerie labels found and listed include silk, which I'm personally not into as silk worms are boiled alive in the silk making process.

How 'green' are my new knickers?

2009-10-19T21:43:00.003+11:00

As I wore my new knickers for the first time last week a few questions on how 'green' they are occured to me.

Firstly, the organic cotton undies from Target proudly displayed a sticker saying 'Australian Made Fabric'. Inside the undies the label says 'Made in China from Australian Fabric'. Potentially there are a lot of fuel miles in my undies. I'd like to contact Target to find out where the organic cotton came from to be made in into fabric in Australia before going to China to be cut and sewn up, but it isn't easy to contact Target via their website. I might have to write an old fashioned letter.

Secondly, should organic cotton have a certification? Like organic food does? The tag telling me they were organic was attached to the hanger which I didn't get to keep, so I'm not sure if it included any info on that. I'll have to go back to the shop to find out.

Thirdly, I was so focussed on the fabric, I didn't think about the dyes used and their potential environmental and health effects. This issue would apply to any clothing item, however, in order of importance you can't get much closer to your skin than your underwear. More research required for this one.

Anyway, all the knickers have held up well for their first wear. I can't get over how how soft the bamboo is. I think they are my favourites.

In search of new knickers

2009-10-13T09:10:00.013+11:00

After a long weekend away and days of rain I ran out of clean knickers. With more rain forecast I decided to buy some new knickers. I'd been thinking I needed new ones for a while, so it wasn't just because of the rain I went shopping.
Normally I'd just pop into the local shopping centre and grab a 3 pack of Bonds undies from K-mart. These days they cost between $21 to $26. I know my size, I know I like them, it has always worked for me. This time I wanted to see what kind of eco underwear I could find at the local shopping centre.

Nothing I could see easily in K-mart. Target had a selection of Target brand organic cotton undies and some bamboo ones. The bamboo felt very nice and soft, but was flesh coloured. I just can't buy flesh coloured undies. I know it is good when you don't want the colour of your undies to show through light coloured clothes, but they're just too much like big grandma undies for me. After much searching for my size - whenever I want to try something in Target there never seems to be my size - I finally found some white knickers and a black g-string in my size. At $7.99 each they were a fairly similar per unit price to the Bonds 3 pack, so I purchased them. Turned out they had 20% off. The range in Target was fairly boring, black, white and 'milk choc' which was dangerously close to flesh coloured. No fun coloured stuff, but certainly good basics which we all need.

My next stop was the only lingerie shop in the shopping centre. Eventually I found some Jockey bamboo undies for $16.95 also with 20% off. A bit more exy but irresistably soft, and they had some cute stripey patterned ones. I got one pair.

At the end of my trip I ended up with 3 pairs of new organic cotton or bamboo knickers for $26.34, pretty close to what a 3 pack of bonds could have cost me. Although it did take a bit more time. I'm sure there are more brand of the basic eco knicker, they just weren't available at my local mall. Next time I'm in the city I might try to hunt down some of the ambra range.

Eco knickers

2008-07-13T12:11:00.003+10:00

Ambra has a new ecosytle range of underwear made from organic cotton and bamboo. Basic knickers, tanks and singlets in white mocha and black. Check their range out here. They look simple and comfy.
Mitch Dowd also has a 'green' range. Mens, womens and kids underwear made from organic cotton and bamboo. See their website here.

Event in Sydney: Eco-fashion and sustainable style

2008-01-16T13:29:00.000+11:00

Curator Margot Riley will be discussing Is green the new black? on Thursday 21 February at the State Library. See here for details. There will be a fashion parade by the Vintage Clothing Shop. I might pop along, anyone else interested?

Summer fun

2008-01-08T20:20:00.000+11:00

Browsing in a surf shop while on holidays at the seaside I came across this organic cotton tee made by Billabong. I like the print, and the button detail on the sleeves and I love that it is organic. The tees are part of Billabong's Design for Humanity where they also make board shorts out of recycled plastic bottles. They have organic tees and recycled boardies for guys and girls. Billabong make heaps of stuff, it is a good start, but would be great to see more organic cotton stuff.

A passion for eco-fashion

2007-09-28T09:40:00.000+10:00

I've just found and article called A passion for eco-fashion which sums up some of the issues of eco-fashion. It doesn't go into the gory details of the fashion industry's appalling environmental profile, but it does mention some designers doing some great eco conscious designs. I can't wait to check them out.

Hemp

2007-09-12T19:47:00.000+10:00

Hemp clothing can be pretty potato sack-ish. However, I've just started a hemp section as it is pretty hard to talk about eco fashion and not talk about hemp. Some of the hemp brands do have a few items that would make great 'basics' to really set of some funky pieces. Probably best to steer clear of a full hemp outfit if you really are trying to avoid the potato sack look. Hemp is a great fibre with amazing qualites that I wont go into here as most of the websites rave on about it heaps.

Vogue has gone eco chic with bamboo bras

2007-09-12T08:06:00.000+10:00

The Times Online reports that Vogue, the globe’s style bible, has provided its list of 30 tips on how to save the world while still managing to turn heads.
Their 30 tips range from bags, surfboards, lipsticks, jeans, books to kitchens and linen. A full gamut of things to save the world. Actually, there are some fun sites to look at wish we had in Australia.

Sara Victoria

2007-08-13T08:11:00.000+10:00

Sara Victoria Organic Softwears seems to be trying to move away from the old baggy sack look of organic clothes of days gone by. Their website states that they are "excited to present a range of organic softwears that represent a revolutionary shift in the way organics will be perceived by the fashion industry and the average fashion conscious Australian".

Sara Victoria has a number of soft wear collections for men and women made from certified organic fabrics which are also organic colour grown fabrics. The cotton is produced naturally with it’s own hue, as opposed to dying the yarn. The website also says that all production is currently in Australia.

The clothes are very elegant and soft flowing. Plus there are some pieces that would make great summer basics to set off your other items of eco-fashion.
Unfortunately the collections shown on the website are from the 2006, so I am not sure what the latest is from Sara Victoria. However the website details a lot of press received for Sara Victoria in 2007, so it would appear that things are still going strong for Sara Victoria and will continue to do so with such a lovely range.

Eco fashion in Melbourne

2007-08-11T17:19:00.000+10:00

Camarilla an "online publication for fashionistas" has a two part interview with designer Lorrraine Brusch about Eco Fashion in Melbourne.
Click here for part one and here for part two of the interview.

Part one talks about how there is hardly any eco fashion currently in Melbourne except for the potato sack kind of stuff. Part two mentions some of the barriers to eco fashion for designers in Australia and says that it will take "brave designers to who can demonstrate that fashion can be both stylish and sustainable".
Lorraine also says that "We need a ‘movement’, one ‘lone’ designer can’t start a trend or change consumer mentality, it’s a huge struggle if the product doesn’t compete in the market on every level, so, a huge cultural shift would be helpful!"

Bring it on!

Gorman organics

2007-08-11T14:01:00.000+10:00

The Vogue Australia website says Lisa Gorman has been making Australian women look effortlessly stylish since the launch of her whimsical label, Gorman, in 1999.

In June this year Gorman launched an organic basics range and according to Vogue Australia Gorman is planning on being carbon neutral by the of 2008.

Based in Melbourne, where there are 4 Gorman stores and very much a Melbourne designer Gorman opened a shop in Sydney on Oxford St earlier this year.

Gorman has quite a cute (whimsical) website for the regular range and apparently the Gorman Organic website is on it's way.

Bird Textile

2007-05-05T21:07:00.000+10:00

As I gobbled up Bird Textile’s website I discovered they are Byron Bay based and claim to be Australia’s first climate neutral business they design 3 new fabrics each season and make stylish clothes from their beautiful fabrics.
They have a strong focus on sustainability using solar power for fabric production and sewing. Other emissions such as freight of raw materials and delivery of finished goods are offset through climate friendly.
Dyes are water based and materials are 100% natural and purchased from locally owned small businesses where ever possible.
They sell both fabrics and garments and encourage purchasing through local stockists however they will make to order through their sister company slingfing.

Their commitment to sustainability is clear, but they haven’t compromised style. I was so excited by Bird Textiles that I rushed off to my nearest stockist as soon as possible to pick up some fabric. I chose the vine leaf design in blood/ruby. I can’t wait to start sewing!

slingfings

2007-04-24T21:10:00.000+10:00

Sister brand to bird textile, slingfings describe themselves as eco meets retro. And oh my god! How cool! They make groovy clothes out of vintage fabric using solar power to sew. They are also climate neutral. Shopping on their site is so much fun. First you choose the style then you select the fabric from a huge range of vintage fabrics.

Modification

2007-04-23T09:04:00.000+10:00

The most environmentally friendly fashion for anyone is the stuff you already have. But sometimes you get a bit tired of those items or they just aren't right, no matter how environmentally preferrable they are, you just aren't going get your groove going in them anymore.

Lately I have taken to modifying some such items that are still lurking around my wardrobe.
Such as this denim skirt I actually purchased back in 2000 in Spain. It used to be longer. I never wore it as it just wasn't quite right. I think it was too long and straight and didn't suit the denim, but I couldn't throw it out as I had got it in Spain. Who can throw out a skirt they got in Spain?

I realised that cut off to above the knee, it was going to work for me. I went for the chop and whipped around the hem with my sewing machine powered by greenpower (of course) and I am now feeling a bit rock'n'roll in it.

If you can't sew yourself or don't have a sewing machine find a tailor near your house and get them to alter clothes for you. While you are there ask them if they use greenpower.

Stella McCartney

2007-04-06T09:01:00.001+10:00

I was a bit excited to pop down to the newly opened Target near my house and check out the Stella McCartney range. However, my excitement wore off pretty quickly.

In anticipation of the opening, I had checked out Stella's website to see what would be instore for me. The site is very glamourous triggering my excitement as I daydreamed about how easily accessible such glamour would be. Right around the corner from my little home.

Stella is vegetarian and has a strict no leather and no fur policy. I figure a comment on her is appropriate for my blog as there is some ethical mindedness to her collection. Treehugger have also mentioned her a few times and she has some organic cotton pieces in her collection. Target VM's (visual merchandisers) clearly don't know about her no-leather policy as they chose her section of the store to display some leather boots. I actually thought she was vegan, but I quickly realised I was wrong about that as the first three things I looked at were silk and the next one was wool. Anyway.... I am sure there are vegan blogs I can moan about that on.....

I had imagined I would be transported into some super glamorous world whilst still remaining within the Target store. I was very clearly still in the Target store. The racks were chockers, so full I could barely wrangle a hanger out (it was opening day). Stella's range at Target does have their own special hangers though, a shiny charcoal grey, with Stella McCartney fainted printed on them.
I felt even less glamourous as I nearly tripped over the sashes of some of those silky gowns trailing on the floor because they were on a rack too low.

treehuggers green wardrobe guide

2007-04-05T21:05:00.000+10:00

The guys at treehugger are all over the idea of greening your wardrobe and have written a guide on how to do it. It includes a few links to suppliers of green clothes. They seem to be mainly US based clothes companies, but don't worry I am on the look out for some closer to home in Australia.

Wreaking havoc on its way to our wardrobe

2007-04-05T08:57:00.000+10:00

I haven’t got the figures (yet), but I’ve been pondering the life of my clothes before they got to me…it is turning into a trail of destruction.

Firstly there are all those raw materials, where did they come from? Land cleared for cotton then all those chemicals used to grow the cotton. What about synthetics what are they made of? How did those chemicals come about?
Once produced those raw materials chew up some fossil fuels making their way to the factory when they are turned into fabric. That takes a bit of energy, water and chemicals before they chew through some more fuel to the cutting room (in some cases sweat shop). I don’t buy many “one-off”s so I am guessing the actual production and manufacture happens in a factory munching up even more into fossil fuel…..

Once produced a huge amount of packaging happens, plastic hangers, plastic wraps, some polystyrene padding and packaging, big plastic wraps over all that. Then it is back on the road or a ship guzzling up more fuel on it’s way to a warehouse for storage before back on the road (guzzle guzzle) to the shop. Once in the shop, off comes all that plastic and off to landfill with it.

Once in the shop I love it, so I buy it. Yay! New clothes! In the old days I would have carried it home in a plastic bag, but now I take my own or they have all those new reusable recycled ones these days. Wearing my new clothes, I’m happy all is good, but one day I’m not into those clothes anymore, or I have fallen in love with a new item, put on weight, lost weight or spilt red wine down the front of it, so I need to re-home my old clothes. Where will they go? A lot of my old clothes go to charity 2nd hand shops, but eventually most unwanted clothes (including the ones that go to 2nd hand shops) will end up in landfill.
When you think about all the crazy weird and bizarre fashions that come and go (thank god some of them go) that is a lot of landfill with a long and polluting journey behind it.