Tilda Swinton on Clothes with History

"... It's only relatively recently that we have a fetish for newness," Swinton said.

pic courtesy of InStyle's website. 

Always a leader in thought and boundary pushing, luminous actress, Tilda Swinton recently performed the third in a series of one-woman plays about our relationship with clothing. Here she talks about the series and a bit about what clothing means to us, particularly clothes with history.

And here, blogger Alice Taranto, does a spread on Ms. Swinton's lovely Haider Ackerman choices.  LOVE! 

What IS Slow Fashion Anyway?

Slow Fashion Forward is an innovative consortium of women dedicated to advancing the Slow Fashion movement with a variety of consultancy services.  I found their cute illustrations and simple explanation of the movement's values be worth sharing.  So link up here to see exactly what Slow Fashion means.

I think most importantly, as they write, Slow Fashion is about:

#10 Practicing Consciousness

This means making decisions based

on personal passions, a connection

to others and the environment, and

the willingness to act responsibly.

Within the Slow Fashion movement,

many people love what they do,

and aspire to make a difference in the

world in a creative and innovative way.""

Side note:  On their FB page Slow Fashion Forward shared the Senior Design Project from Germany, a group that brings skilled senior citizens together with young, aspiring designers to share their talents.  Don'tcha love it?

photo from Senior Design Project FB page

Tire Chic

In celebration of all things le Tour de France (love those biking madmen) - I want to share the very special upcycled inner tube bags of Dante Robles Design with you.

But first - boys!

Mark Cavendish won his first, and hopefully one of many, stage today.  LOVE to watch Cav!

 As always we are rooting for Andy Schleck for over all win.  Go ANDY!

Apologies for the detour (a ha ha ha. not-so-punny),  back to fashion, where we should be.  
Dante Robles Design just won the “Timberland Best Green Handbag” at the Seventh Annual Independent Handbag Design Awards.  Well deserved.  I've been looking around at inner tube creations for some time and these are by far the most refined.  Beautiful!

 

Woven Bucket w/ Removable Fringe

 There's a cool bracelet that converts into a necklace too.

Credit Where It's Due - I Heart Fink

You know how I like to promote a product or creative spirit that excites or entertains me.  Here's a new one.  I Heart Fink is a fantastic Etsy designer boutique of beautiful handmade clothing you just have to see!  Link to Fink (sorry:-/)  and you will be amazed.  I'm particularly enamored of the mod shapes shown here.

anemone print tunic

These girls hand print fabric with original designs, eschew formal patterns and, of course, in true Etsy style, everything is completely one-of-a-kind.  We like that.

mod cowl neck tunic dress

denim jacket

Why so chere, ma chéri?

People often ask why Eco Fashion is more expensive.  In our case we would answer that it's because we make everything one-at-a-time.  Mass production techniques aren't possible when you do this.  We can't cut, for example, 10 panels for a T shirt Scarf in bulk because they are from individual t shirts, not bolts of fabric.  A lot of Eco Fashion is "Slow Fashion" in this manner.
Aside from that, there are multitude reasons that explain the expense, and this article sheds light if you're curious:

MagnifECO article

The Slow Fashion Pledge

If you don't know about it yet - the Slow Fashion Movement is what's up, girls!  Slow Fashion is the antithesis of mass produced, cheapo clothes so readily found at low-end retailers.  Yes, THOSE retailers we all know and love:-)   Slow Fashion is about quality, sustainability and conscientious production methods.   It's true that high quality, hand made clothing is usually stratospheric in price, but really, that's what you can readily find on Etsy but at affordable price points.  Just be sure to read the designers' feedback when you purchase there!
I took the Handmade Pledge at Etsy long ago, and now I've taken the Slow Fashion Pledge - you should too:
Pledge right here