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

Simplicity at Its Best with Wintertime Nudes

The depths of winter always make me want to pare down and cozy up. We need to wear more layers, but as the bright colors and patterns of the holiday season are washed away, and a New Year is born, we look to cleanse, restructure, and repurpose. Dressing in neutral tones is an easy way to visually achieve the clarity and purpose of beginnings.

More than ever before, I want everything in my closet (and my life) to matter, to be truly useful, to function at its highest purpose. These nude pieces will layer beautifully now, and will pair wonderfully with whatever colors and patterns are coming in 2012. With classic shapes and beautiful, sustainable fabrics, each of these pieces will find years of wear.

Clockwise from bottom left: Camilla Norrback Renate Bag Norwegian Wood wheat earrings, Priti Nail polish in water soldier, Camilla Norrback Jonas cardigan, and Vivienne Westwood Anglomania pumps for Melissa Plastic Dreams, all available from Kaight Boutique.

Many thanks to Michelle Legro for showing me some serious Photoshop skills (and just generally being awesome).

H&M’s Spring 2011 Conscious Collection: Eco Fashion Breezes into April

H&M is making good on its promise to continue expanding their commitment to using sustainable fabrics. Their upcoming Spring, 2011 collection, Conscious Collection is the follow-up for Spring 2010′s Garden Collection. Utilizing organic cotton, Tencel, and recycled polyester, the all-white collection means that it will work with everything from denim to silks.

“It’s no longer just about organic cotton. The possibilities for creating a complete fashion statement with eco smarter materials are huge now. By designing recurring Conscious Collections we have the opportunity to show in a variety of ways what’s possible using more sustainable fabrics,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M head of design. “Shades of white are the season’s biggest fashion trend. White creates a romantic feeling with lace and broderie anglaise, but it is also the basic color in a sporty, relaxed style and in a preppy tailored look for men.”

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Fall Eco Fashion Beats the Chill In Style with Keds, Loomstate and Eileen Fisher Organics!

It’s official. Fall is off to a cool start! The best part about fall is the chance to start anew: new initiatives (turn off that a.c. and switch to eco-bulbs), new motivations (make lunch), and new clothes! You want to look street smart even when it is cold and this new apparel is both warm and eco-chic.

The limited-edition eco-conscious Loomstate poncho!

Since there’s been a chill in the air, there’s never been a better time to sport a cute overlayer. But with the season not quite winter the hustle and bustle of a thick wool coat overwhelms. Eco-Chick has a solution! In mid- October Loomstate, a men’s and women’s eco-conscious brand, presents their limited edition poncho in celebration of Barney’s CO-OP’s 25^th Anniversary.

Pair the chic poncho with organic denim and prepare to be enviable!

The poncho is made from organic cotton canvas and recycled blankets. It’s cute brown and blue colors make it an essential wardrobe piece to pair with the cutest of cotton organic skinny jeans, for they go the best with the sneaks, like these from Eileen Fisher. Not only are these jeans made from cotton grown without pesticides, they are dyed (jean dyes are notoriously polluting) under the Global Organic Textile Standard. And if you’re not into this style, Eileen Fisher offers a whole line of organic denim on their site and in stores.

Made from non-polluting organic cotton canvas, these sneaks are eco-chic.

Sneakers are a must – whether you’re running around, walking home from work, or taking a stroll in a local pumpkin patch. Whatever you’re up to, cute comfortable sneakers are essential! Keds are superclassic and come in various colors – but this month they’re eco-chic too! Introducing Keds Organic Champions, chic footwear made from one-hundred percent organic cotton, stitched eyelets, and tea-stained laces. The sneakers are 55$ and can be purchased at www.keds.com. 

Don’t back down for the fall chill. Beat it. Sport this super cute outfit and be an eco-chick.
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Mi-Bra Organic Cotton Sports Bra: Running with A Great Idea

As a runner who definitely finds inspiration to go a little further (or a little faster; I love to sprint) through music, I thought the Mi-Bra was total genius as soon as I saw it. A sports bra with a pocket up front to hold your iPod or MP3 player in (and a wee space for your headphones cord to thread through), it’s ideal for those of us who run with iPod in hand (which is really annoying).

Like me, Mi-bra creator Carolina Baker found that the arm band music holders didn’t work for her, and instead of just complaining about it, she solved the problem herself:

I created the mi-bra while training for several marathons. I was having chafing issues with my other sports bras and running with my music was becoming a nuisance because my armband kept sliding down my arm. I started putting my iPod in between my sports bra and tank top and it stayed put quite well. I started searching the internet for sports bras with pockets and couldn’t find any! That’s when I knew I had an idea I could run with (no pun intended) and so I did.

We have a close family friend whose in manufacturing and he put us in touch with someone that could create the mi-bra. We went back and forth a couple of times with samples and received our first order January of this year. It was exciting and nerve wrecking to see so many boxes of sports bras arrive.

And the bra’s ecofriendly to boot, made from 90% organic cotton! The pocket is on the OUTside of the bra, for easy access so you can change up your songs mid-run if you like, and could obviously be used for cash, Metrocard, or credit card (I like to combine runs with trips to the post office for stamps or a one-way run, one-way walk store stop-over instead of taking the car).

Available for a very reasonable $20 plus shipping, a portion of the proceeds of the bra benefit Back on My Feet, a charity organization that uses running as a means to get homeless men and women back into jobs and school.

Video Tour of Stewart+Brown’s Fall, 2010 Collection

Stewart + Brown has been making eco fashion since 2002, and from the very first collection I spied in late 2004 until today, the brand has been defined by an incredible sense of classy sophistication, without ever being considered old ladyesque (though I’ve always felt that most of the companies’ pieces, and especially it’s knits- could be worn by women 16-90). The company’s style has a definite California vibe (they are LA-based) but the warm knits are perfect for Northeastern winters as well. And did I mention comfy enough to wear while on a cross-country flight, but lovely enough for dinner with the parents?

As you’ll see in the video tour below, the company’s designers are constantly innovating with new, natural materials, like yak, hemp blends, organic cotton and Mongolian cashmere (and as described in the video, they work directly with collectives in Tibet and Mongolia to create their signature knits).

The company was also a sponsor of the Project Green Search Model competition, providing ensembles for the finalists to model as part of their photo shoots. Their Fall/Winter 2010 collection is filled with gorgeous pieces; I’ve picked just a few of my favorites below.

Eliza Thermal Cardi, 100% Mongolian Cashmere, $428.00, Featured w/ the Aston Scarf (in Clove Loom Print), 96% hemp, 4% Spandex, $64.00
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