Runway Rumble – Enjoying fashion as a creative process is an earth-friendly way to get your style fix. Throw in some fierce designer competition and lively audience participation and you’ve got Fashion Feud 2011. Fashion Feud is an entertaining and interactive “Project Runway” style show where fashion designers compete live on stage. Designers are given an hour to create a design to prepare for a runway show on stage which based on audience cheering deems the winner. Race down to watch the San Francisco final competition tonight at the Rickshaw Stop and on Thursday, catch Portland’s final face off at the Bossanova Ballroom. Be part of a live fashion experience and support the West Coast’s up and coming local designers.

Designer Inspirer – Vintage fashion is all about the thrill of the hunt. Hone your skills this weekend at one of the Bay Area’s best vintage rummages, the Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire. Held  this Saturday, April 16^th from 10 a.m. – 4pm. Browse more than 50 booths showcasing a wide array of women’s & men’s clothing, couture, jewelry, accessories and textiles. Skip the mass-market stores for this season’s 70’s revisit and dig out an original, or if you’re really lucky find the perfect deco 30’s piece that inspired the sultriest of Biba babes back then. My advice: Sharpen your elbows and get there early!

Style Me Nasty – Did last week’s Spring thaw prompt you to think about your Summer wardrobe? Though it sounds the opposite of fun, a carefully thought out game plan is the key to keeping your wardrobe lean and green. With access to some of the best vintage in the country, San Francisco-based retailer NASTY GAL vintage is one of the few spot-on online places to put all the pieces together. A mix of vintage and modern labels with just the right amount of sass to update your timeless vintage pieces, the easy- to-navigate site also features an extensive selection of heavy-soled shoes essential to anchoring a daring look. Check out their current sale while also getting some ahead-of-the curve inspiration on their blog.

The post Eco Style West Vol. 5 appeared first on EcoSalon.

No, no….things ain’t what they used to be….oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas…fish full of mercury…oh mercy, mercy me.

The loosely fitted, romantic looks coming down the Spring/Summer 2011 runways were reminiscent of the time that – almost forty years ago – ushered in a new era of soul music. It seems, like Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece, some old ideas are new again because they still resonate. As Motown’s main man asked, What’s Going On?

After a brief flirtation with the Mad Men and women of the 1950s, fashion’s role as a cultural mirror instead reflects the silhouettes and stylings of the 1970s. The parallels between then and now are obvious – concern for the environment, a challenging economy and an unpopular war. It seems the issues are all too sobering to lose us – for more than a Sunday evening – in the façade of full-skirted perfection.

Interestingly, eco-fashion first emerged during this time. As environmental journalist, Lucy Siegle writes, “If we were to do a ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ of ethical fashion, we’d trace most of its DNA back to the 1970s eco movement; it’s a direct descendant. Back then eco style consisted of a lot of sack and tent-like shifts, woolly leggings and rugged tie-dyed fabrics that were hessian-and hemp-based.” Shapeless and crunchy ethical fashion – What a quaint idea! And some progress – for a change – to feel good about – Right On, Right On.

The era has a wealth of subtler details – forget the stereotypical disco party costume – to incorporate into your look without buying a thing. Layering a sleeveless sweater over a flouncy blouse and defining the waist with a belt is a simple, easy-to-emulate look. Another key is embracing maxi proportions. Choosing a long dress or coat this holiday season, is a guaranteed standout in a sea of short styles.

This revisit isn’t overly ornamental or garish. With a nod to the concurrent trend for sophisticated minimalism, it’s about simplifying the free-flowing silhouettes of the vintage looks. Swap crochet for lace, folksy embroidery for paisley prints, burnt orange earth tones for color-blocked tropical-hues.

These items are great to find by rummaging in your closet or your mom’s, or at thrift and vintage stores. For online, eBay searches under vintage for “Halston,” “Thea Porter,” “Biba“ will turn up some fabulous stuff. Eco designers such as Emily Factor, Azuela, Gretchen Jones and Rosel are doing fluid, 70s reminiscent pieces brilliantly to fill in the bits you can’t get from low impact sources.

Are you ready to hop aboard the soul train to 70s inspired fashions? Or does it feel like nothing more than the relentlessness of the fashion treadmill? Perhaps. But I like to think by engaging in the themes Marvin Gaye soulfully sung to – our awareness, engagement and consciousness – we’ll have a better chance this time around if we’re wearing the romantic, vivacious clothes of the era of great soul.

The post Soul Train: All Aboard for 70s Fashion appeared first on EcoSalon.