A collection of famous sayings that celebrate (and poke fun at) London.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. -Samuel Johnson

I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air – or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. -Arthur Conan Doyle

London, thou art the flower of cities all! Gemme of all joy, jasper of jocunditie. -William Dunbar

I don’t know what London’s coming to — the higher the buildings the lower the morals. -Noël Coward

One of the the things she most liked about the city -apart from all its obvious attractions, the theatre, the galleries, the exhilarating walks by the river- was that so few people ever asked you personal questions. -Julia Gregson

A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, / Dirty and dusty, but as wide as eye / Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping / In sight, then lost amidst the forestry / Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping / On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy; / A huge, dun cupola, like a foolscap crown / On a fool’s head – and there is London Town. -Lord Byron

The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world. -Oscar Wilde

It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside. -Arthur Conan Doyle

The truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be. -Jane Austen

In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea. -John Osborne

This melancholy London – I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air. -William Butler Yeats

The English language is like London: proudly barbaric yet deeply civilised, too, common yet royal, vulgar yet processional, sacred yet profane. -Stephen Fry

Do you realise that people die of boredom in London suburbs? It’s the second biggest cause of death amongst the English in general. Sheer boredom. -Alexander McCall Smith

If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting. -Peter Shaffer

Nothing is certain in London but expense. -William Shenstone

You will recognize, my boy, the first sign of old age: it is when you go out into the streets of London and realize for the first time how young the policemen look. -Sir Seymour Hicks

I like the spirit of this great London which I feel around me. Who but a coward would pass his whole life in hamlets; and for ever abandon his faculties to the eating rust of obscurity? -Charlotte Brontë

There’s a hole in the world / Like a great black pit / And the vermin of the world / Inhabit it / And it goes by the name of London. -Stephen Sondheim in Sweeney Todd

I’m leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it’s not raining. -Groucho Marx

London, London, London town / You can toughen up or get thrown around. -Kano

I believe we shall come to care about people less and less. The more people one knows the easier it becomes to replace them. It’s one of the curses of London. -Ambrose Bierce

It is not the walls that make the city, but the people who live within them. The walls of London may be battered, but the spirit of the Londoner stands resolute and undismayed. -George VI

A broken heart is a very pleasant complaint for a man in London if he has a comfortable income. -George Bernard Shaw

There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear — the city of London and the South Seas. -Herman Melville

The best bribe which London offers to-day to the imagination, is, that, in such a vast variety of people and conditions, one can believe there is room for persons of romantic character to exist, and that the poet, the mystic, and the hero may hope to confront their counterparts. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

You are now / In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow / At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore / Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more / Yet in its depth what treasures! -Percy Bysshe Shelley

London is a modern Babylon. -Benjamin Disraeli

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50 Best Quotes About Paris

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Want to see more quotes? Go here.

Images: Caitlin House, Adrian Clark, Gabriel Villena

Life on two wheels.

A bike and shoe combination spotted in Portland, Oregon reminded us of this quote:

“The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.” -Ann Strong, quoted in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1895.

On the Move documents our life on two wheels. Have your own On the Move worthy photo? Send it our way! Email pictures to contact@ecosalon.com.

Nine sizzling (sustainable) summer sandals to add to your warm weather wardrobe. Comfortable footwear that is anything but boring.

Sandals say summer more than any other shoe. A great pair of flat ones are a must-have in anyone’s warm weather wardrobe. This season, there’s a huge variety of sandals to choose from – metallic, nude, bright color, strappy, simple, feminine, masculine, patterned – you name it. They are all extremely comfortable and made in ways that make you tread lighter on the earth.

1. Rachel Comey Santos Slip-ins
These simple open toe slide sandals are perfect for a more simple, masculine outfit. Pair with skinny denim, simple ankle-length pants and a blazer for summer soirees with a more downtown vibe. Sustainably made in Peru from black perforated leather with caramel leather detail. Kiltie on upper strap with a wide stitched leather welt.
$391, Rachel Comey

2. ECCO Hill Move
ECCO has always been known to make durable shoes that are good for your feet. They used to not look so good, but that’s all changed now. These have an almost gold sheen to them and the sporty details are the perfect way to incorporate that trend into your summer wardrobe. Did I mention they are super comfy?
Approx. $120, ECCO

3. Neuaura Mansi Sandals
These casual yet elegant sandals by Neuaura are made with eco-friendly faux nubuck and washed canvas. The combination is a great contrast and the canvas almost looks like an animal print (trend alert!). Perfect to pair with those summer yellows. Made in an ethical factory in China.
$85, Neuaura

4. Coclico Rori Bunny Sandals
These are the perfect complement to those nude and white summer looks. Soft beige suede wraps around the ankle with a concealed velcro strap in this fresh, casual take on the gladiator sandal. Like all Coclico shoes, they are crafted with care with minimal environmental impact.
$259, Coclico

5. Madison Turquoise Faux Suede Sandals
This cute flat sandals from Beyond Skin – the British purveyor of vegan footwear – is new for summer and comes in an array of wearable shades. This one in mint green is our favorite. Featuring a slingback, peep toe, and padded insoles for extra comfort, they are handmade in Spain.
Approx. $137, Beyond Skin

6. Olsen Haus St.Croix
These elegant tie-around sandals are 100% vegan – made from microfiber suede and faux leather. This pretty combination of white and nude is totally right for summer, but these also come in black, if that’s more your thing. Pair with flowy summer dresses, florals or all-white.
$165, Olsen Haus

7. Rachel Comey Kiefer Sandals
Tie dye is a big trend for summer. These open toe sandals by Rachel Comey feature a bleached denim upper as well as mud leather straps and cotton laces. Pair with head-to-toe tie dye or let these be the accent of an otherwise simple outfit. Sustainably made in Peru.
$356, Rachel Comey

8. El Naturalista Sassi Sandals
Footwear by Spanish label El Naturalista is always made as natural as possible, and the company aims to bring attention to preservation and support to the environment on a global level. These stylish sandals feature a great crisscross pattern on the premium leather upper. The natural rubber outsoles are comfortable, durable and biodegrade much faster than synthetic materials.
$145, Zappos

9. Form & Fauna Garzon Flat
These beautiful bohemian criss-cross sandals by ethical shoe label Form & Fauna hit on two of summer’s trends – bright pink and animal print. Pair them with other brights for a color blocking look or use them to spice up a natural, nude look. Italian synthetic upper in pink faux reptile, patent burgundy, and crème.
Contact for price, Form & Fauna

These shelves are made for storage, not the garbage.

Our resident DIY expert certainly has some crafty ideas when it comes to using repurposed materials for rudimentary shelves, those from vintage dish racks. Here are a few more ways to upcycle, repurpose and reuse materials bound for the trash heap. Your Victorian book collection will thank you.

Found via Piccsy, fully fictionalized pipes.

Above, a DIY project from Barely Measured repurposing antique ladders.

Another ladder repurposed care of Poetic Home. This one takes a long view on literature.

Spotted in Apartment Therapy, Dutch designer Isabel Quiroga’s pop Storyteller series.

From The Paper Place, old library volumes given new life as a repurposed shelf.

Simply stated and stacked, old wooden crates used as shelving via AtticMag

Another great reuse for pallets, this idea from Unconsumption.

A repurposed skateboard, now a display shelf care of Home to Life.

Old drawers, fitted with a retro map or other inspired print or wallpaper especially, is a very doable DIY. The more nooks, the better. Via Olive Bites.

More industrial pipe shelving, this idea from Cool Material via Eclectic Interiors.

Salvaged suitcases-cum-picture and candle display from Quirks by Annie.

Finally, for storing your reading – or your liquor – vintage milk crates rescued from Farm Maid Dairy in Detroit by Reclaimed Industry.

Image: We Heart It

Every day is better with a new track.

Bossasonic – Club Tropicana (Umberto Lumber ‘ Icy Mojito ‘ Edit) by Umberto Lumber

Every day we bring you one track for a little musical inspiration. Have a track you want to submit? Email us at contact@ecosalon.com.

Image: Umberto Lumber

VideoDon’t have a garden? Not to worry.

We have covered getting started with your apartment garden and choosing the right vegetables to help you get started.

Some of you still say that you don’t have the space to grow some of your own food. That’s why I am going to help break down that excuse. You all have windows in your apartment, which is why in this video I share with you 7 common culinary herbs that you can grow indoors and which window to grow them in.

It doesn’t get any more local than growing in your own home.

In the comments below, let me know which of these herbs you are going to start growing indoors.

Mike Lieberman shows people with little to no land how to start growing their own food so they can avoid toxic pesticides, eat healthier and not feel limited by their lack of experience and space. Connect with him here to learn more urban gardening tips.

Image: theogeo

Has Stella McCartney earned her place in the sustainable-fashion spotlight?

The mainstream media often labels designer Stella McCartney the “queen” of eco-fashion for her incorporation of sustainable practices and her refusal to use fur and animal skins in her designs. As a spokesperson for PETA, McCartney frequently speaks out against animal cruelty in the fashion industry, and as a participating designer in Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge, she has outfitted a number of red carpet celebrities in environmentally-friendly garb.

But when you take a closer look at McCartney’s practices, you begin to realize that her sustainable and ethical commitments are not nearly as fervent as the media hypes them up to be. In this week’s Behind the Label, we examine whether Stella has really earned her spot in the eco-fashion spotlight.

The Good

As the daughter of former Beatle Paul McCartney, Stella has always been considered a type of British royalty. She developed an interest in fashion at an early age and honed her skills interning for Christian Lacroix and Sevile Row tailor Edward Sexton before going on to earn a degree in fashion design from Central St Martins in 1995. Just two years later, McCartney was appointed Creative Director of Parisian fashion house Chloe, a move that forced critics, including Karl Lagerfield, to attribute her success to her father’s fame. But McCartney proved herself with critically acclaimed and commercially viable designs, and in 2001 she launched her own eponymous fashion house under what is now the PPR Luxury Group.

From the start of her fashion career, McCartney’s long-standing vegetarianism led her to publicly boycott fur and animal skins in her designs. She regularly states that sustainability and environmental awareness are cornerstones of her brand, like in this interview conducted by Charlotte Casiraghi for Above magazine:

For me, it’s about the basic principles: Sustainability is important, as is recycling. Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count. That said, my job is to make desirable, luxurious, beautiful clothing and accessories that women want to buy.

On the materials side, Stella says that she tries to use organic cotton — but “can’t always afford to or get enough of it” – and low-impact dyes. On the production end, the brand works primarily with manufacturers in Italy, particularly on shoes and bags that require factories specializing in non-leather production.

The Bad

But although Stella McCartney does most of her production in Italy, the designer was recently linked with sweatshops due to her high-profile partnership with Adidas to provide U.K. team uniforms for the 2012 London Olympics.

According to a March article in the Observer, workers at Bangladeshi factories for Adidas, Nike, and Puma are “beaten, verbally abused, underpaid, and overworked” under sweatshop-like conditions. And earlier this month, anti-sweatshop group Play Fair released a report called Fair Games?, which calls out Adidas for using sweatshop labor in supplier factories in China, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

Adidas tells a different story in its 2011 progress report, also released earlier this month. In it, the company states that all London 2012 Adidas products and services are being sourced and manufactured according to the guidelines set forth by the Olympics organizing committee. Adidas also released a 10-page response to the Play Fair report, disputing most of the claims and reasserting its commitment to supply chain transparency.

Regardless of who is “right” in this debate, Adidas has long been scrutinized by human rights groups for its ethical and environmental practices, and Stella McCartney’s long-standing partnership with the brand, both for the Olympics project and with her Adidas by Stella McCartney collection, calls into question her own commitments to ethics and sustainability.

The Questionable

McCartney is to be applauded for her personal commitment to animal rights issues, but has her sustainability work really earned her the title of eco-fashion industry “queen?” In the media, she often rejects the label, like in this quote from Styleist:

“It’s not very sexy sounding, is it,” she retorted recently at a Neiman Marcus shopping event in San Francisco when it was suggested that she is the face of sustainable luxury. “We’ve never shouted about it, and until recently no one has really mentioned it except for journalists. If anything, people would ridicule us when it came up!” 

Other times, she seems to embrace it, like in this quote from Thread NY:

Eco-friendly fashion is something I’ve always felt strongly about. You have to create demand so the customer base will grow. We’ve been doing organic for years in my own collection, in my lingerie and with the Adidas collaboration. We touch on it across the board. I think it’s a bit more sincere to do that. It’s part and parcel for us as a brand.

But on the Stella McCartney website, the language around sustainable practices is limited and vague. Under a short section titled “Stella McCartney & the Environment,” the company says that it uses a clean energy provider in its stores, offsets its carbon footprint using carbonneutral.com, and books its taxi journeys through an environmentally friendly car service. Compared to the corporate social responsibility sections of other major fashion brands, these seem like token efforts. And while making a bag out of faux leather instead of real leather is certainly kinder to animals, is it necessarily a more sustainable approach? We’re not sure.

Whether or not Stella fully embraces her place in the eco-fashion limelight, her name and celebrity give her the unique position of being able to affect industry-wide change, particularly in her partnerships with Adidas and the 2012 Olympics. Stella frequently says that her business is not perfect: “When we can make things better, we do… (but) if we were too extreme it would get in the way of my job,” she told Above.

To many in the eco-fashion world, statements like that sound like somewhat of a cop-out, especially coming from someone with as many resources as McCartney. What this world needs is an eco-fashion spokesperson who will step up to the plate and commit to sustainable and ethical principles in a more legitimate and all-encompassing way.

SEE ALSO:

Behind the Label: H&M’s Conscious Collection

Behind the Label: Levi Strauss’ E-Valuate Program

Behind the Label: TOMS’ One for One Campaign

Behind the Label: Puma’s Vision and Clever Little Bag

Behind the Label: Anthropologie’s Made In Kind

Read more Behind the Label here.

10 diets that should make you want to run (for your life).

It’s okay to be a little freaked out by the prospect of stuffing your pale, corduroy-shielded backside into a bathing suit in just a few short weeks. It’s also okay to cut back on the pasta and do a few extra squats or lunges at the gym in preparation for the yearly “unveiling.” It’s even okay to learn a few new toning moves from women’s magazine articles with titles like, “6 Weeks to Your Best Bikini Body Ever!”

What’s not okay, however, is undertaking a faddish, questionable, and gimmicky diet in order to drop pounds as quickly as possible. If you want to lose weight, eat veggies and lean protein, avoiding processed foods, carbs, and alcohol. Skip these shams, along with any “doctor” who tells you that you can lose weight by eating cookies all day. (Hint: Not true.)

Any [Single-Ingredient] Diet

These have been around for decades, employed by high-school girls desperate to look skinny for prom. The cabbage soup diet. The grapefruit diet. The anchovy diet. Most of these schemes promise unlimited amounts of the magic ingredient (“You can have all the cabbage soup you want!”), as if consuming 900 percent of your daily allowance of beta-carotene makes up for not consuming any other vitamins or nutrients.

The Feeding-Tube Diet

For the busy woman who simply has no time to think about eating, a feeding-tube diet (technically called the K-E Diet, short for ketogenic enteral nutrition) may be the perfect solution. Pioneered in Europe, this ten-day regimen involves inserting a nasogastric tube to deliver liquefied nutrition, and promises that patients can lose up to ten percent of their body weight in only ten days. This diet is popular with self-obsessed brides-to-be and women who contemplate ingesting tapeworms.

Die Fat or Get Tough

Are you fat? If so, it’s your fault. As the book’s website says, “Get ready for a 2,000-volt cattle prod to your consciousness.” You think like a fat person, therefore, you’re probably going to die. Sorry. You’re not fat because of portion sizes, cortisol, or your thyroid – you’re fat because you’re weak and pathetic. Doesn’t that make you feel better? Get tough like Steve Siebold, the writer, so you can be an awesome winner like he is. (Note: The website doesn’t specify exactly what a fat person “thinks like,” but it’s safe to say that his diet plan probably involves yelling at your thighs until they disintegrate in submission.)

The Paleo Diet

Also called the “Caveman Diet,” because it’s modeled on how cavemen ate. (Supposedly.) No wheat, no carbs, no sugar, no alcohol, no beans, no corn, no dairy. Sounds reasonable, right? Except that you replace bread and milk with meat. Lots and lots of meat. Bacon, sausage, beef, ham, meat three times a day. Meat as snacks. Meat for dessert. Meat. Meat. Meat. Avoid this diet for the sake of your cholesterol and the environment.

The Cookie Diet

What’s not to love about a diet that allows you to eat cookies? The fact that these aren’t so much “cookies” as they are “low-cal bran clumps,” for one. Also the fact that this diet only allows you to consume about 1000 calories a day, which is far too few for any healthy adult.

The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

Can drinking pure apple cider vinegar with every meal help increase your metabolism, curb your appetite, and decrease bloating? Well, the jury’s still out on those claims, but apple cider vinegar definitely reduces your appetite. Drink a shot of it before meals and you will find that you’re not as hungry as you thought you were. In fact, you’re downright nauseated. Weight loss achieved! But the vinegar rotted your teeth away, so there’s that.

The Texas Firefighter Diet

Texas currently has the twelfth-highest obesity rate in the country, so the author of this book will pardon us if mentioning Texas firefighters doesn’t instantly conjure up images of svelte, manly fitness. The secret to this diet, created to curb obesity among firefighters, is eating fewer barbecued ribs and more vegetables. Shocking.

The Sleep Diet

Sleep – your doing it wrong. Lucky for you, author Michael Breus has the answer. If you sleep better, you’ll lose weight. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Sleep more.
Step 2: ??
Step 3: Your metabolism is raised, burning fat and decreasing cravings. Congrats! You’re skinny!

The Hot Diet

After carefully studying 104,000 people, the author of this book noticed that fat people tended to drink beverages with ice while they ate. Thus, ice is the enemy. Science has spoken – only consume warm things.

The Jesus Diet

What Would Jesus Eat? Well, He would probably have eaten a lot of fish, whole grains, fruit, vegetables, red wine, and olive oil. Nothing processed and not too much red meat (saved for special occasions) or pork (unkosher). Actually, this one makes a lot of sense, so go for it. Just remember that once you reach your goal weight, you’ll have to cover up at the beach, because He demands modesty.

Image: isox4, edkohler, uberculture, deansouglass, Kyle May , Rich 701, mccun934

Get some wanderlust.

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”

– Robert Louis Stevenson

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Image: Jared

Every day is better with a new track.

Haim – Forever by buzzbands

Every day we bring you one track for a little musical inspiration. Have a track you want to submit? Email us at contact@ecosalon.com.

Image: Haim