Vintage Shopping 101

by Samantha Gray

[This guest post is by Samantha]

We all know that green fashion can sometimes be a little pricey. For ladies still feeling the brunt of the recession or the college student who hasn’t made it into a full-time job yet, vintage clothingboutiques offer unique items at lower prices.

Purchasing vintage and resale fashion is another form of recycling, and it doesn’t take any manpower or chemicals to recycle a fabulous retro garment. All it takes is a little bit of time and creativity. Oh yeah, and a little bit of money.

If you’ve never shopped vintage before, you may be reluctant to try it. My first experience with vintage shopping was when I tagged along with my college roommate to the Salvation Army and Goodwill stores so she could find quirky vintage tees.

I’m not generally patient enough to treasure hunt through thrift stores, so I hop right on over to vintage boutiques or resale clothing shops. These stores generally have a specific set of buying guidelines and can sometimes offer alterations.

Vintage shopping presents a few challenges to those who are accustomed to shopping in a more organized store. Because there are no visual cues to help you build your outfits (mannequins, advertisements, and displays are sparse), the best plan is to do a little research before you dive in. Not only will this give you a direction, but it will help you appreciate the different styles.

Research fashion trends across decades so you will be familiar with styles beyond the millennium. You may already be interested in an iconic celebrity or two who will point you in the right direction. Edie Sedgwick, Audrey Hepburn and Twiggy are my go-to gals for inspiration in vintage looks.

Zooey Deschanel is a perfect example for the modern girl who can pull together looks from different decades. But even Zooey can look like she’s going to a costume party every now and then (sorry, love!), which brings me to the next challenge of vintage shopping. Sometimes vintage clothing can be so bold and overpowering that it looks overdone. You should always wear your clothing. Your clothing should never wear you.

Finding the balance between something borrowed and something you is a huge part of the fun of vintage shopping. Etsy, eBay and other online resale shops are a great way to search certain looks with vintage specifications. Remember, vintage shopping requires a whole lot of sifting through the good and bad; but you’re exercising your fashionista skills while helping the Earth! Yay, you!

Happy shopping!

Samantha Gray is an expert in online education and a freelance writer. Pursuing an online bachelor’s degree is often fraught with myths and misconceptions. Samantha shows her readers the way. She wants to hear your feedback and ideas, too,

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Academy Awards Red Carpet Inspires Eco-Fashion For Designers And Movie Stars

[This guest post is by Jemima Lopez. You can read more about her on the website: Zen College Life]

The carpet may have been red at the 84th Academy Awards, but if fashion designers have anything to do with it, future star-stilted award ceremonies will soon be filled with a lot more green in the coming months—Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Tom Ford, Karl Lagerfeld, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent are just some of the few designers who are rumored to have been inspired by the stunning eco-friendly dresses seen at last Sunday’s award ceremony.

Hundreds of professional and aspiring fashion designers submitted gowns made of sustainable products earlier this year to compete in the third annual Red Carpet Green Dress Contest. This contest, which was initiated in 2009 by environmental advocate and wife of Director James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron, was created in the hopes of significantly reducing the environmental footprint fashion can have on the planet. Contest winners had the opportunity of seeing their gowns worn by some of the hottest Hollywood stars at the Oscars, including Best Actress winner Meryl Steep, on Feb 26. That said, below are some of the winners as well as the Hollywood stars who rocked the dresses.

 

Designer: Valentino
Star: Livia Firth
Italian movie producer and environmental advocate Livia Firth wore this lavish, bright red custom-made couture Valentino gown, which according to the “fashion police” was beautiful enough to dub her as one of the best dressed. What many didn’t know however was that the fabric was a hybrid of polyester derived from recycled plastic bottles and Valentino’s house silk. She also wore diamond earrings from Celleija, a sustainable jeweler. Hubby Colin Firth did his part to sustain the planet too—he recycled the Tom Ford suit he wore to the Academy Awards the year before.

Designer: Valentina Delfino
Star: Missi Pyle
Latina fashion design student Valentina Delfino

Native Shoes All Weather And Eco-Friendly

Made from foam-injection molded EVA, Native Shoes have been a huge hit since their debut in the spring of 2010 thanks to their extremely lightweight, airy, and washable material.The easy-to-slip-on Miller, Jefferson, Howard, Jericho, and Corrado silhouettes, as well as the sturdy Fitzsimmons hiking boot, keep feet happy in sun, rain, sleet, and snow.  And to top it all off, Natives are eco-friendly, as they are manufactured through a low energy emission process which produces zero waste and does not use any animal bi-products.

http://ecoluxurystyle.wordpress.com 

Introducing…The Spermacycle!

For all Eco-Moms and Eco-Mom Wannabes Everywhere…

Nordisk Cryobank (European Sperm Bank)is one of Europe’s leading sperm banks and the company was looking at environmentally-friendly alternatives to how they could transport their sperm samples to the fertility clinics around Greater Copenhagen.

The company’s CEO, Peter Bower, says, “The first idea was how we could deliver to the fertility clinics in a C02-friendly way. Shortly afterwards followed the idea of a custom-designed bike with a cooling system. Now, six months later, we can cycle around the city on our sperm cell bike.”

[Courtesy http://www.copenhagenize.com/2011/04/sperm-bike-in-copenhagen.html]

[Courtesy http://www.copenhagenize.com/2011/04/sperm-bike-in-copenhagen.html]

 

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Eco Basket by Lost Property of London

Elwin is their upcycled luxury eco basket bag made from fair trade coffee sack and natural hide handles. Think Sunday strolls through the market or chilling out on the beach.

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Vinothérapie by Caudalie

By Paige Donner

Caudalie is a wine term, in French, that refers to the length of time the taste of a wine lingers in the mouth. The longer the better. It is a measurement of a wine’s quality.

A spa and beauty care line based on patents derived from bio-research on the beauty benefits of the grape, Caudalie is a fitting name for this French line that originated in the heart of Bordeaux, in fact in the prestigious Graves appellation.

Mathilde Thomas is the Founder and Creator of Caudalie, a top-selling beauty line in French Pharmacies where so many of the best beauty brands in France are sold. Since a year or two, Ms. Thomas, now NYC-based, has launched her brand in the U.S.

But though this young beauty visionary may spend her day-to-day in NYC, it is in Bordeaux where her heart, and the base of Caudalie Vinothérapie products, remain firmly rooted.

Working with Dr. Vercauteren of Bordeaux’s University of Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Thomas was intrigued by a claim he made to her during the 1993 grape harvest on her parents esteemed Bordeaux vineyard, “Do you know that you are throwing away treasures?” he asked her when he saw the grape skins and grape seeds being discarded.

She quickly learned, by listening to Dr. Vercauteren’s explanations, that grapeseeds and grape skins hold extraordinary deposits of anti-oxidants, in the form of polyphenols. And this is where Ms. Thomas showed true entrepreneurial genius, because from that bio-detritus, she created the luxury “Cosm-ethics” beauty care line and brand, Caudalie.

Caudalie owns three patents that help slow the signs of skin-aging:

1) Polyphenols from Grape-Seeds

“The most powerful anti-oxidants occurring in the vegetable world. They stop free radicals, which are the main cause of cutaneous ageing. They are the best anti-ageing shield for the skin.

2) Resveratrol from Grapevine Stalks

It gives the skin back its youthfulness and firmness. Harvard’s Department of Medicine identified Resveratrol as the most effective active ingredient for prolonging cellular life.

3) Viniferine from Grapevine Sap

The sap from grapevine stalks was used in the past to diminish dark spots and clarify the complexion of young women. Viniferine protects against dark spots and leaves your complexion incredibly radiant.

The Caudalie researchers have come up with a few more grape treasures which are formulated into the beauty line such as “organic grape water,” grape-seed oil, and Vinolevure®.

“There’s no miracle cure for skin ageing, there is a patent!” – Mathilde Thomas, Founder-Creator, Caudalie, Skincare Line

You can rest assured you are making an ethically beautiful choice with these products, too. None of the formulas are tested on animals and they ask that their suppliers do the same. They use the maximum amount of natural ingredients, that are both biodegradable and respect the environment, in their product lines. Her coined term of “Cosm-ethics,” refers to the fact that no animal ingredients, parabens, phenoxyethanol, phthalates, mineral oil, synthetic colorings or sodium laureth sulfate are used in any of the formulations or products.

There are also Caudalie Spas: In Bordeaux, France; NYC, New York; Versailles, France; and in Spain. Read the related article on Spa Caudalie in Greening Beauty.

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Fashion Elite Attend Christie’s Green Auction

[Nicki Minaj performed during a eco-conscious fashion benefit at Christie’s. The well heeled elite were later served La Mer on silver platters at the after-party at Money Bar.  Find out what else happened last night.] Follow Us On Twitter@GreeningHollywd The Green Blog Network* Tumblr/GreenBlogNetwork Green Blog Network * Greening Hollywood Greening Vancouver * Greening Paris Greening Beauty  Facebook/GreenBlogNetwork

Midnight In Paris Opens Cannes Film Festival

 

Woody Allen’s latest movie, Midnight in Paris, stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Lea Seydoux, Adrien Brody, Gad Elmaleh and France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

 

 

The film is a “love letter to Paris” and will screen opening night, May 11th, on the Croisette the same night that it opens on screens across France.  Robert De Niro is presiding as judge over the Film Festival this year, its 64th, as part of a Franco-American celebration and the celebrating of De Niro’s  Tribeca Film Festival’s 10th year.

 

 

Greening Hollywood was recently privileged to a conversation with co-producer of Midnight in Paris, Raphael Benoliel, who, theoretically, supports the notion of green film sets and eco-friendly film production. France is ramping up in a big way towards Eco Productions and green seems to be the talk of the town. Let’s see if we can add some green to the Cote d’Azur!

Image courtesy Eco Prod.com

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Commuun Paris Runway Show F/W ’11

By Paige Donner

Commuun is one of the few Designer labels showing in Paris regularly who sport an ethical fashion approach. And like their famous colleague (Stella) their front foot is on design with their inspiration derived from nature, a respect they carry forward into their fashion designs from collection to collection.

When asked backstage what is the one constant in their collections, Iku Furudate and Kaito Hori responded that sourcing organic textiles is one of their trademarks for their collections. This year’s runway shows in Paris saw a lot of sheers, material that Commuun often uses in their collections.

Many of the fashion label’s fans at this year’s runway show in Paris held on March 7th agreed that this year’s collection bears witness to the design duo’s maturation and growth into their world-class label. Some of the textiles they used – all organically sourced – included an inversed velvet. The pops of color in the collection, too, are nature inspired and their name has nothing to do with “common” but rather references the concepts of community, communion and communication.

All photos by Paige Donner, Copyright Paige Donner

All photos by Paige Donner, Copyright Paige Donner

The NY trained, Tokyo originating design duo of Iku Furudate and Kaito Hori launched their label in 2005 which is also when they first began showing in Paris. In 2007 they won the LVMH and Longchamp ANDAM prizes.

Paige Donner is Founder and Ed. In Chief of Greening Beauty and Greening Hollywood as well as The Green Blog Network.

 

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Sustainable Entrepreneur Prize – For Women

The European Professional Women’s Network launched a competition earlier this year to recognize some of Europe’s top women entrepreneurs who are creating their business models based on sustainability.

“A prize for a woman, by women, the Prix Entrepreneure Responsable will be awarded to a female entrepreneur whose business has a positive social or environmental impact. The winner will be chosen from three finalists presided by Margaret Milan, founder of eveil et jeux. The winner will be announced on March 31st. The prize: A year of personalized consulting by a team of experts, all European PWN volunteers.

The Three Finalists:

Ingrid Leyret, Ileo Interactive, www.comptoir-de-vie.com

Florence Hallouin, Generation Plume, www.hamac-paris.com

For More Info:  www.prixentrepreneureresponsable.epwn.net

*Note March 8th was International Woman’s Day

 

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