Tom’s wedges have helped espadrilles make a strong comeback.

They were big in the 80′s and forever a wardrobe staple in places like Cape Cod and The Hamptons but thanks to Tom’s, we’ve been able to experience an espadrille renaissance two years running. Some styles like these above are made from hemp, others include cork and linen and all are styled to slim the ankle and push us through our summer days like sun kissed sweethearts.

$69

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

Dear Earth apparel launches their own online boutique.

The recipe: Take a bit of organic rocker and a splash of vintage and mix well with contemporary graphic prints. The result is the newly launched Dear Earth label and online boutique.

Deriving inspiration from music, the moon, and popular culture, designer and owner Daniele Moore has created an organic luxury lounge wear collection composed of leggings with fun details such as ruching, snaps and zippers, sexy skirts made with re-purposed sequined material, and sheer graphic tees featuring messages like “Drums Please,” and “Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha, Love.”

Moore was born in Philadelphia and started sewing in her twenties as a creative outlet, and because she needed some comfortable clothes to teach yoga in. As she started to receive compliments on things she had designed and her mind flooded with new ideas, her appreciation for fashion expanded. Although Dear Earth styles are mostly casual wear, Moore says she loves details like pleats and ruffles that you see more in couture lines and has fused these elements in the more casual styles.

Moore says the earth inspires her every day as she watches sunrises coming up over the ocean in Miami Beach.  “Gratitude and appreciation for our earth and the energy it gives me makes choosing sustainable fabrics and practices very easy. The inspiration, the choices and the final product have all become one-if that makes sense,” says Moore.

Working with materials such as organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, peace silk and soy, Dear Earth also uses a dye method called Fiber Reactive, in which the fibers and the dye make a permanent bond which not only produces long-lasting color in the apparel but also minimizes dye run-off which is harmful to the environment.

“So many people have no idea about fabric and fiber meanings and they do not make the connection between a t-shirt and a plant. I really enjoy watching people make the connection which I believe increases appreciation and awareness of the Earth. I created Dear Earth to share this,” says Moore.

So many great shopping sites, so little time. BTC Elements is our stomping ground today.

I love this dress by Ecoganik don’t you? It’s such a vibrant purple one can’t help but think about fall, and even though it’s still far away, (gulp) holiday. A floaty frock that will work for you now, as well as demure with heels a la company holiday party come December. $56

(Styling note: Wrap the sash one more time so nothing hangs below the hemline)

This Kris Nations Double Peacock Pendant (we can only hope it was inspired by Raymond Carver’s “Feathers”), would sit pretty on your chest framed by the purple dress. $84

With a pair of vegan booties by Novacas, you are on trend. ($149.95)

I know you don’t want to see this picture, but soon enough you’ll be slipping on a pair – so why not a pair of Maggie’s? Textured and organic cotton? Forget about it. $26

Ahem. We’ve been longing for this bag in a big way. Lusting for it. Pining and yearning and possibly drooling, too. We’ve more than once reminded our mothers we have a birthday coming up*. Equal parts stunning and sustainable, the Ruffled Hemp Bag by VivaTerra is the best everyday bag of the season, and today…we…give it away.

You lucky duck.

To win, just leave me a nice comment below. The contest runs through next Wednesday midnight (last week’s Apple Dutch Oven winner will be announced tomorrow), and your odds are pretty good, sweet cheeks. But in case you can’t wait, you can still get the bag for a fantastic deal – do it before it runs out of stock! – by using the discount code HEMP at purchase. $25 bucks off the purchase price of $198? Done!

It’s eco. It’s chic. It’s the kind of ruffled sweetness J. Crew just wishes it had thought of. And, I have to say, this bag reminds me of a certain not-at-all-green leather Valentino bag from a season or so ago that I really loved but wasn’t about to buy owing to its toxic credentials (well, that and the fact that it cost nearly three thousand dollars). This one is better, not just because it’s 100% sustainable, but because it’s an almost unbelievably great price for a luxury tote bag. I love that it has a (removable) shoulder strap as well as traditional bowling handles. The black leather is recycled (of course it is!) and we all know how strong hemp is. Hemp = the spidey fiber of the apparel world, so you can take this baby from the office to the beach to the art show without a second thought, all season long. The slate hue is a perfect contrast for all the red and camel you’ve got flying around this fall, too.

Good luck, and grab this bag before it goes!

*Okay, maybe that was more me than we.

(Legalese: FTC and giveaway rules.)

On the subject of e-cars: We’ve had back to back to back news, so I thought it good to let the topic bake for a bit while we wait for the public reception of the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and others.

But”¦

This is way too cool to pass up. Just in from the Great Green North: an e-car made of pot! (Well, hemp, but you know the drill. Hemp, pot, same diff when it comes to headlines!)

Says CBC News (and, of course, 420 Magazine), the car, which will be made into a prototype this month by Calgary-based Motive Industries, is called the Kestrel and is doubling down on the green factor. Its body will be comprised of “impact-resistant composite material” made from mats of hemp – which, by the way, will be locally harvested in Vegreville, Alberta. (Gotta love the homegrown.) The car will be a compact designed for four dudes/dudettes, including the driver, and will top out at just over 55 mph. Its range will vary from 25 miles to 100 miles, depending on the type of battery.

The Kestrel is part of Project Eve, a Canadian non-profit collaboration aimed at increasing that country’s production of electric vehicles and components. And guess who’s gonna be helping out with the pot car? College kids! Students at polytechnic schools in Alberta, Quebec and Toronto will help roll these babies out the door and into the hands of parktakers sometime next year when the first twenty are due to be dealt.

Using hemp to build a car is “not an original idea,” says Motive Industries President Nathan Armstrong. Henry Ford, in fact, experimented with the not-so-evil weed in 1941 when he created a hemp-bodied car. The vehicle - pictured below – was fueled on the stuff, too. CarDomain has a video of the indestructo-prototype.

Today, however, with a renewed emphasis on reducing weight while not giving up on strength, hemp makes sense. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to make (sunshine, soil and a little love, bra) and isn’t as fancy pants as fibreglass and carbon-fiber-based racecar material, which requires all kinds of heat and chemical wizardry to produce.

“As a structural material, hemp is about the best,” says Armstrong. The CBC notes: “It [hemp] has about twice the strength of other plant fibres. It doesn’t require much water or pesticide use, and grows well in Canada, providing a high yield per hectare.”

“Plus,” says Armstrong, showing some true patriot love, “it’s illegal to grow it in the U.S., so it actually gives Canada a bit of a market advantage!”

Yeah, well, I live in Northern Cali, man. You wanna talk advantage?

Images: dwhartwig and Hugo90

Some say hemp is the fiber of the future. And some like to point out that hemp has been around for as long as women have been gathering and men hunting. The use of hemp dates back 10,000 years, when hemp textile industries began in Europe and Asia. Gautama Buddha ate hemp seeds in 500 BC and hemp paper was invented in China in 100 BC. The English word for “hempe” was first listed in 1000 AD. And in 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was drawn up on hemp paper.

History lesson aside, why does it then seem like hemp has just appeared on the market? Most likely, it is because Americans associate the plant with marijuana and 1960s hippies. Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of the Cannabis sativa plant – except hemp will not get you high, as it contains less than one percent THC. (Marijuana contains up to 20 percent.) It is highly sustainable and requires very little pesticides. Over 25,000 products can be made from hemp, including shampoo, carpets, paper, and more.

Luckily, the tide of public acceptance seems to be turning for hemp. The green world is awash in hemp-i-tude! Hemp seed oil is known to be extremely hydrating, as its composition most resembles skin’s natural lipids. It is an anti-inflammatory that helps with the healing of acne, and is high in amino acids and essential fatty acids. Not to mention, it is great on your hair.

And a really great hemp product? That would be the Hemp Exfoliating Face Cloth from North American Hemp Company. This cloth, retailing for around $6, is made from 100 percent organic hemp fibers. And if you want a good eco-scrub, then this is the product for you. The packaging is made from 100 percent recycled content, it is cruelty free, vegan, and is 100 percent certified organic. (Though by who, I cannot discern.)

The hemp cloth claims to “bring superior exfoliating ability to reveal newer more radiant skin cells without the hyper-abrasion or overly-irritating the delicate skin on your face.” Does it? Yes – if you are looking for a good yet not too overbearing scrub cloth, I’d highly recommend it.

Just don’t try to smoke it afterwards.

FTC Compliance

Image: simon-and-india

Over the past few years we have witnessed the exponential growth of sustainable fabrics. And we are all aware that this is a movement and not a trend. Organic cotton, hemp, tencel, recycled polyester and organic wool are gaining popularity, evidenced on the international runways and in fashion media. By now most of us are familiar with the advantages of sustainable fabrics that includes fewer toxic chemicals, reducing the amount of textiles dumped into our landfills, and producing in a closed loop environment.

But consumers are still largely dependent on non-sustainable fabrics like Polyester, Lycra, Spandex and Gortex to name a few. These fabrics hold properties that we have grown to view as necessities, like stretch, durability and price. So how do we discover a sustainable alternative?

CRAiLAR® Organic Fibers is touted to be the foundation of the first truly sustainable yarn in the apparel industry, and poised to become the revolutionary next step in sustainable fibers.

CRAiLAR is developed by Naturally Advanced Technologies (NAT), in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada. It is an ingredient, much like Lycra or Gortex, except that it is completely sustainable. NAT’s hope is that apparel companies who currently use common blends like cotton/lycra, will shift to using a cotton/CRAiLAR blend. If blended with other sustainable fabrics, this new technology could have a significant impact on the apparel and textiles market as a whole.

The fibers are made from hemp stalk, which is not commonly used in apparel because of its rough texture and stiffness. The all-natural CRAiLAR process transforms the rough hemp stalk into a velvety-soft, yet strong and durable, textile fiber. The enzymes used in the process are all natural and GMO free, and the result is a fabric that is soft and supple like cotton, and has the same performance traits, so it is cool and comfortable to wear year-round. NAT claims that it is even better than cotton because it reduces shrinkage and has more tensile strength than cotton. It looks like cotton, dyes like cotton, fits the same and washes the same.

Hemp is known to be one of the most sustainable, renewable, and environmentally friendly crops that requires no irrigation, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It can grow to 14-feet in just a few months, producing multiple yields within one year. While many plants deplete the surrounding soil of vital nutrients, hemp is beneficial to soil, and actually improves its condition. Industrial hemp absorbs carbon dioxide – the most prominent greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere – at five times the rate of the same acreage of forest.

The problem that hemp faces is that it cannot be grown in certain countries, including the United States where it is illegal. While more hemp is exported to the U.S than to any other country, the United States Government does not consistently distinguish between marijuana and the non-psychoactive Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes.  Some states have defied Federal law and made the cultivation of industrial hemp legal. These states – North Dakota, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia, and Vermont – have not yet begun to grow hemp because of resistance from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

CRAiLAR Organic Fibers are sourced mainly from Canada as well as a few other countries in Europe where its growth is not illegal.

CRAiLAR is currently undergoing approval for third party GOTS certification, however NAT does claim that the entire life cycle can be certified organic, making it eco-friendly from beginning to end.

It is too early to know what the cost implications of CRAiLAR are at this stage, but recent trials sponsored by Hanesbrands Inc. reveal that blending it with cotton significantly reduces manufacturing costs by reducing shrinkage and improving dye uptake. The resulting savings could bring the final cost closer to that of regular cotton, as opposed to the premium paid for organic cotton (which in some cases is as much as 60 percent higher).

NAT’s intent is to make CRAiLAR Organic Fibers a household brand name. They’ve already teamed up with Patrick Yarns, a world leader in the manufacturing of high-performance industrial yarns, who has successfully blended CRAiLAR with a number of natural and synthetic fibers.

I am impressed with this new technology, and I love the fact that it is derived from hemp. However, it really comes down to what CRAiLAR is blended with because that will determine the overall sustainability of the garment. If it is blended with conventional fabrics, then it really is only a slight improvement. And then there is that argument that any change is good change. However, if blended with organic cotton, tencel and other sustainable or certified organic fabrics, then the final product definitely meets my standards and gets a full thumbs up.

Images: CRAiLAR Organic Fibers

If you love beautiful clothing with a conscience and haven’t heard of Lara Miller, it’s time to brush-up on your eco fashion facts.

Chicago’s eco-darling and one of the sustainable design world’s pioneers, Lara is tireless in her pursuit to design, encourage, promote and re-create herself. And as executive director of Chicago Fashion Incubator, she mentors and supports up and coming designers.

Her own fresh designs are poster children for modular clothing, having the ability to be wrapped, reversed, and most distinguishably flipped to reveal an entirely different look – watch this video to see what I mean.

Manufactured in Chicago, Lara’s work is strongly influenced by the city’s architectural and cultural landscape while being fashioned from eco-friendly fibers such as organic cotton, hand-loomed bamboo, hemp and vegan silk. Lara says her designs are created with a playful geometry that connects to the personalities of the women who wear them.

“I see my company as a way to support my community – not only by using organic materials while adhering to a “˜green’ lifestyle and workspace – but also by manufacturing locally and working to sustain the sewn products industry in Chicago.”

St. Lara, I have no problem connecting with your line at EcoSalon Shops! on June 4th and will, I swear, finally slip into one of your dresses.

Image: Courtesy of Ecouterre

In your closet is the black section, the gray section, the formal section and then the “whatever section,” filled with neutrals and maybe a jewel tone here and there.

Hmm, do you think it might be time to ask yourself why there isn’t a fun section in your closet? An area that delights you when contemplating wearing what’s in there?

I have one and have noticed over the past two years that it’s being filled with Feral Childe. I’m not kidding, it actually makes me feel happy to wear their clothing. And this dress above? Well, that baby is mine as soon as it hits the stores at the end of summer. A dress made with a Lite Brite print? Are you kidding me?!

Feral Childe is the bi-coastal collaboration of Moriah Carlson (Brooklyn, NY) and Alice Wu (Oakland, CA) who both come from a fine arts background. Seasonally, the two lock themselves away and focus on the job at hand: To create a thoughtful (fun, colorful) women’s line that’s completely wearable in many settings.

Each season, the design process begins with the duo’s collaborative drawing sessions where the drawings then become become textile prints, and elements are incorporated into construction details such as shaped facings and hems, as well as the buttons and accessories. Feral Childe then ties in fabrics like organic cotton and wool, tencel, soy, hemp blends, and silk, as well as mill-ends, deadstock and overstock treasures.

The collection is proudly produced in New York’s Garment District which will be in full force representation at EcoSalon Shops! on June 4th (as well as both designers).

And for the record, just meeting the designers and seeing how they put their clothes together, will make you smile.

Designers tend to have a variety of visions when it comes to their lines, but the most important part should be to simply design well thought-out lines. Nixxi does just that and juggles fit, high quality sustainable fabrics and production methods like a seasoned pro.

According to the Fashion Takes Action’s website – where Nixxi was recently a nominee for a Canadian Design Forward award – “Nixxi recently presented their designs as an “˜Eco & Ethical Ready-To-Wear Label’ at the EcoChic Fashion Show and Exhibition in Geneva in January. By presenting at EcoChic Geneva, Nixxi has partnered with Green2Greener, and aligned their designs with the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity.”

We love how they employ not just organic cotton and bamboo as so many designers do, but also knits and wovens made from hemp, bamboo, soy, lyocell, organic wool, silk, and linen.

On their production facilities Nixxi says: “We choose to work with a local production house that employs fair wages and a comfortable working environment for their employees, thus sustaining a positive working relationship which also results in a more quality finished, longer-lasting garment.”

We were more than thrilled when Nixxi offered the Empire Dress to us for this week’s giveaway. Though the image above shows the dress in white, you’ll also have the choice of a beautiful Italian linen in either a faded blue or a misty gray if you win.

Drooling yet? I sure am. Leave a comment below to try your hand at snatching up this pretty frock.

(For complete giveaway guidelines click here. All offers are FTC compliant.)

Good Luck!