How to knock off Blake Lively’s Vegas party look, in true eco-fashion.

Making an outfit work with so many shiny elements is truly a challenge, but for the opening of Las Vegas club Marquee, pop culture sensation’s Gossip Girl Blake Lively rocked a Vegas look to the last sequin. Here’s how we would have sustainably re-styled her.

Skinny Sequin Pants
While Lively’s blue sequin pants from Isabel Marant look absolutely stunning, we’ve found a more eco-savvy option for you: these (equally sparkly) leggings, handmade in San Francisco from deadstock fabric. The sequins don’t go all the way up the leg, which is practical but requires that you pair them with a longer top (which you’ll want to do anyway). They’re one-of-a-kind and made to order, so you can be sure no one else will be copying your style. (If you absolutely want blue ones, here’s another option from Etsy. No word on the eco-creds though.)
$79, Etsy/PeekoApparel

Chunky Glam Earrings
Any Vegas-inspired party look needs to be topped off with something sparkly dangling from your earlobes. These are handmade in Brooklyn, NY, from upcycled metals.
On sale for $65, DLC Brooklyn

Loose-Fitting Black Shirt
The way to pull off sequin pants without looking like you stepped out of an episode of Dynasty is to pair them with something casual, like a loose-fitting black shirt. We’re not sure where Blake found hers, but this one, by Loup Charmant, is made from soft 100% Organic cotton. Order one or two sizes up for that ultimate borrowed-from-my-boyfriend look that covers the top of the pants.
$220, Loup Charmant

Black Suede Booties
Instead of the Louboutins Miss Lively is rocking here (which are overpriced and notoriously uncomfortable), slip into these ethically made ones from Coclico. Your feet, wallet and conscience will thank you.
On sale for $276, Coclico

Chunky Ring
Big finger bling is as essential to a Vegas night on the town as champagne. This gorgeous one from Jamie Joseph features a large lapis lazuli stone, which nicely brings in that pop of blue color that we love in Lively’s look.
$685, Twist

Layered Gold Bracelets
In this case, more is more, so layer on those bracelets and let your wrist sparkle almost as much as your smile. These, from Lulu Frost, are made from vintage, upcycled jewelry. Combine with a few of your own, and you’ve got the look down.
Multi Chain Bracelet, $265 & Heirloom Bracelet, $360, both Lulu Frost

The post Celebrity Knockoff: Blake Lively’s Vegas Party Look appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’ve watched eco-fashion’s sizzling new designer Christopher Raeburn‘s film for his Spring/Summer Dazzle collection of jackets made from redeployed parachute silk, over and over again. It’s a nebulous fashion moment that I can’t quite put my finger on.

There are fashion moments we’ve all connected to. When I first saw Alexander McQueen’s amazing hologram of Kate Moss, fat tears heaved out of me. And Jackie Kennedy’s decision to keep on her blood-splattered pink Chanel suit for Lyndon Johnson’s swearing in, affects me even as a Brit. Then there are personal fashion moments. The first time I laid eyes on an Ossie Clark dress, for instance. The genius in its bias-cut intuitively understood how to flatter my shape before even I had it figured out.

I went down to San Joaquin Valley to look at California’s cotton farms last week. My neighbor on the bus and I were talking about our emotional connections to our clothes. At first, she’d insisted her clothes were just a uniform. Then, she remembered a special piece that had some significance. Would she ever throw it away, I asked? Her eyes delighted me, as they fixed onto a far away gaze.

Back to the point, and there is one – although I’ve warned you this is pretty nebulous stuff. Another memorable personal fashion moment occurred this year, when I opened up Vogue’s August issue to see Blake Lively wearing Christopher Raeburn’s battledress wool inuit parka (shown below). Not only was it my first introduction to the talented designer. I realized that the eco-fashion movement had produced something that stood on its own design merits, a lone eco note among conventional fashions in the industry’s bible. That parka was really cool. And, I really, really wanted one.

Three months later – I still really, really want one, by the way – and Vogue is seemingly foaming green at the mouth with articles on Marni’s recycled drinking bottle necklace, a locally-made skin care line and Stella McCartney’s enchanting country estate. I think it’s really great. I noted the somewhat flimsy eco-provenance of some of the looks in the “Naturally Refined” layout, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, but I’ve decided that undermining ‘baby steps’ is not the point either.

Ironically enough, the environment isn’t the only victim to fashion’s mass market appetite. The industry’s creative talent suffers too. The “mega-corporations are making creativity more difficult every season. The struggle between the demands of marketing and the freedom and needs of the creative process, the pressure to constantly sell more and to keep upping the ante on the shows with more celebrities and always more press coverage, these are the things that are literally killing fashion” – someone else’s point, by the way.

There are lots of great ideas about what sustainable fashion needs to be defining and some inspired critical thinking – like this – about how to maneuver the luxury goods market.  If we want to produce  “heirlooms-in-waiting” as “an antidote to throwaway fashion,” we’ve go to embrace our emotional connection to clothes, and celebrate the industry’s creativity and aspirational fashion editorial – and the enduring desire it induces. It all matters. It’s all the point.

Back to Christopher Raeburn‘s cute little fashion moment – what do you think? I still haven’t really figured out why, but it makes me happy every time I watch it. And maybe, that’s the point too?

The post Happiness Is Fashion: What’s the Point? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Summer has been so chilly this year that it seems everyone forgot about wearing a Little White Dress and instead opted for its raven sister. Luckily, the tides have turned and some of our A-list celebs are leading the way in fashionably white attire. From movie premiers to private parties in the Hamptons, the LWD is making its comeback.

Of course you can always find a superbly tailored dress from Linda Loudermilk and this season she offers us a cool ivory hue. From Somewhere also churned out an elegant little number that has a playful side. An easy piece that is classically understated, sophisticated and accessorizes well – the LWD is here to stay!

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