Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Gretchen Jones at NYFW: Geologically Inspired

Gretchen Jones never fails to impress – her design aesthetic moves beyond her clothes and into her always thought-provoking presentations.

Obsidian Gown.

This season’s theme was deserts, geodes and crystals. With pieces named after minerals, and the floor designed with a hand-lain sand mandala, the impression was one of old earth, crystal lattice structures out of a geology textbook, and the infinite color and myriad glimmer imparted by the earth’s bedrock.

And like real stones, some textures with complicated and rough, and others were smooth; all had a visual weight to them that remained in the mind’s eye long after the lights went up.

Vintage Southwestern jewelry by Ruby+George in oversized shapes complemented the dresses, blouses and trousers, and soft, face-shadowing hats from Little Doe nodded at a vintage movie influence.
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Heroines for the Planet: Anna Getty

One could peg Anna Getty any number of titles — holistic lifestyle expert, author, entrepreneur, yoga teacher, heiress, and environmental activist among them. But each come in a distant second to her most cherished roles, that of mother and wife.

What I found infinitely charming about Anna is that she doesn’t care how she’s labeled. Her main objective is to be of service to others and the planet, and so long as she’s doing just that, she’s at peace.

I asked Anna about her latest endeavors, how she helps others live more consciously, and whether being an heiress to an oil fortune has affected her environmental activism.

Lindsay: What compelled you to leave the glamour of Hollywood to pursue an interest in cooking?

Anna: To be honest with you the life I was living as a struggling actress was not very glamorous at all. I was working as a yoga teacher, a messenger and in a catering kitchen while pursuing my career. I did get the odd job but it was not consistent. I felt very insecure about myself and my future and ultimately when I thought about what I was doing studying for auditions, working my way through hours of traffic across Los Angeles to get to auditions only to be analyzed by a bunch of strangers in a room, I personally had not felt that I found my service or my calling in the world. Although I pursued an acting career for almost ten years, the shift came very easily once I made the decision. My goal was not to pursue my interest in cooking. I wanted to help people make more conscious choices about their lives, what they ate, how they took care of themselves, their families and children and the planet. I continued teaching yoga, took part of what I knew and loved ( cooking) and started forming my career. I feel like I cut and pasted or collaged together the work that I have come to do. The acting training did however bring me the confidence to do public speaking or work in front of a camera so it was not for nothing.

LB: What was the inspiration behind your cookbook “Anna Getty’s Easy Green Organic?” What about the process of creating the cookbook did you enjoy most?

AG: It’s already a few years ago but looking back, I was approached to write the book by my publisher. I had not intended writing a book, let alone a cook book. I had been a freelance writer writing for a couple different magazines and had been working with various non-profits in the green and organic movement so it pretty much fell together. Writing the book was very challenging because at the same time, I was offered a second book deal to write an eco-Christmas book that needed to be finished within a month of the cook book. So I had double the work. The best part was recipe testing and developing, experimenting with flavors, picking through the fresh locally grown, organic produce at the farmer’s markets and building a recipe around what I came across. I loved having my friends over for taste tests. We would open a bottle of organic wine and eat what I had made and I would get notes from them. It was a very fun and creative time in my kitchen.

LB: Are you a vegetarian now? What was your relationship with food like growing up?
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Eco Chick Escapes to Kaua’i: Hiking and Staying in Sustainable Style

The walk from the St. Regis Princeville to the beach.

My favorite kind of wedding to attend is, by far, the destination wedding. While an open bar is never not fun, it’s even better if the drinks are located in a country that takes a passport to get into. And a wedding is a genuine excuse to blow your budget to travel (I barely need an excuse to get out of town, but it’s always nice to have one).

So when my boyfriend received an invitation to nuptials in Kaua’i, I started planning the trip immediately, even though I had never met the bride or groom. Having sojourned on the Big Island and visited Oahu numerous times growing up, I was excited to check out “The Garden Isle” of Kaua’i, which I’d heard so much about.

The Makana Terrace at the St. Regis is just one of the hotel’s restaurants that serves local, organic food. Image courtesy St. Regis Princeville.

After scouring the web for ethical accommodations, I ended up at the St. Regis in Princeville, a stunning hotel in the old-school style, with impeccable customer service and a lobby that I’ll never forget (picture several story-high glass windows fronting a view of one of the most famed spots in Kaua’i and miles of ocean and sky).

While not a small lodging, the St. Regis is well integrated into its environment, and unlike many of the newer hotels I’ve lately seen, it doesn’t try to be more than its location. I have a major antipathy for cheesy, overdone, glitzy hotels that seem designed in Des Moines and plopped down wherever tourists are flying this year. The St. Regis is not one of these, but in its elegance, seems almost to serve to remind us why a boutique hotel isn’t always the way to go.

I had a bit of a stretch out on the rocks in the bay off the beach at the St. Regis.

I had the chance to have a lovely breakfast with Stephanie Reid, the Director of Public Relations for the hotel; she is both a native Hawaiian from Kaua’i (going back 10 generations) and a wealth of knowledge of the natural and human history about the area where the St. Regis is located.

To read the rest of this post, and see all the amazing images, please click over to our sister site, Eco Chick Escapes.

Eco Chick Debates: Celebrities and Green – An Endorsement Made in Heaven?

Chloe Sevigny, above, endorses a limited edition cream by Keihls benefitting Oceana.

Celebs; love ‘em or hate ‘em, they impact how we feel about products and politics, and as much as we’d like to deny it, in recent tussles over Planned Parenthood and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, plenty got involved, speaking out about their convictions. And some say it made all the difference.

I asked Kate Dillon, a top model who supports eco fashion designers (she has walked for the UN’s EcoChic runway showin Geneva, and The Greenshows, as well as done campaigns for Gucci, Chanel and Missoni), Michael d’Estries, the editor of the go-to site for green celeb gossip, ecorazzi.com, and Sydney Sadick writer and blogger at stylesolutions to share opinions on this question, which is the first in our new series, Eco Chick Debates.

“Does celeb endorsement make an eco product more viable? Does that product become “cool” in such case?”

Kate Dillon, Model

“Celeb endorsements help to bring attention to products, issues, people, etc making them “cool” in the short run, but they aren’t sustainable or even sufficient.  In order for an eco product to be viable or cool in a lasting way, it has to actually be a high quality, and yes cool, product regardless of its eco or celebrity cred.”  -Kate Dillon

Michael d’Estries editor of ecorazzi.com

“Celebrities have been hawking products for companies since the dawn of advertising, but their opinions are often just another layer of marketing – a recognizable face that draws you in. That’s not to say that some aren’t genuinely behind a particular green product, but in order that item to have a long shelf life, whatever its selling must shine beyond the sparkle of a Hollywood smile.” – Michael d’Estries

Sydney Sadick, blogger at Style Solutions

“Celebrity endorsement makes any product, eco or not, more viable.  Once a celebrity name is associated with a product, a customer is more eager to buy it because he or she feels like they have a relatable factor with the celeb.  Kim Kardashian is a perfect example of someone who is extremely successful in being popular from endorsements and making the product popular itself.” -Sydney Sadick

How High Can You Bid at Christie’s? Making A Bid To Save The Earth 2011

The countdown has already started towards New York’s glitzy environmental fundraiser Bid To Save The Earth. March 29 will mark the second annual Christie’s green auction and a new collaboration with Vogue. While Christie’s New York will be putting up on the auction block big-ticket fine arts, collectibles, and extravagant experience packages, Vogue will be unveiling a Runway to Green fashion show of Fall 2011 eco styles by 20 notable designers.

Beyond the March 29 gala event, there are several ways to participate online in the Bid to Save the Earth initiative. The MYBID video encourages all of us to enter the conversation. It asks us to answer the question “How are you making a bid to save the earth?” and share it with others. Vogue’s Runway to Green collection will also be available online for purchase on NET-A-PORTER following the runway debut. One can imagine that supporting global fashion labels like Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Burberry, and Prada in this unique Runway to Green collection will encourage them to continue to green their future collections.
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