Unwrap and Unravel: Three new dresses for spring.

Nothing says easy, breezy springtime style more than throwing on a lightweight, laid-back dress. If the latest spring/summer store arrivals are any indication, dresses are so having a moment right now. Perhaps this year’s siren call, the more linear midi and maxi length stretch tube dresses don’t appeal. Admittedly, some top notch ankles and shoulders are required to carry off the look’s enticing allure. Consider instead opting for the season’s new short dress to match your elevated Vitamin D level spring cheer.

While a dependable dress is often the working girl’s wardrobe staple—faithfully turning up for every event, interview or hot date, this reincarnation can’t boast having a head for business nor a bod for sin. Office-suitable shifts and wraps or body-con bandage styles are most definitely out, the new shorter length silhouette is instead semi-structured, delicately voluminous and preferably geometrically seamed.

Sensitive to the changing mood, designers are employing bold colors, vivid prints and flattering sleeves to underscore the new dress style’s demure feminity, communicating the look’s sense of humor, personality and essential simplicity.

Now is the time to assess a winter rut of wearing the same clothes day in and day out. I’m kinda over my skinny-jean and oh so artful layering and accessorizing techniques and long for the freedom of a sunnier approach. It feels good to be in sync with nature. Ironically, as carefree as this look is, achieving its spontaneous élan vital requires careful, studied consideration. Gear down accessories to a minimum and opt for a simple strappy shoe, wedges work best.

Take a look at my sustainably made picks for this season’s best examples of the new dress:

Above: German designer, Hui Hui’s standout Silk Apron dress. Hand-crafted construction, small production and made from 100% silk, the
versatile and adjustable dress has a slant V neckline and drawstring hem that allows the dress to be worn in various ways (up or down, inside out, long or short), and has enclosed finished seams throughout. The light weight silk is printed with a Vogue Vibe print on grey base, with splashes of pink, green and yellow.

Rogan’s Electra Dress is made from white haze silk. It features a deep V neckline and draped envelope sleeves in contrast slub knit with seam detail. Comes with contrasting black slip.

The Baobab Dress by Bodkin buttons half way down, has clean lines, pockets and most of all illustrates the new crisp sense of comfort. Made of 100% Cupro. Cupro is regenerated from natural fibers. It wears like cotton (durable), but has the luxurious hand of silk.

The post Body-Con Begone: Three New Dresses For Spring appeared first on EcoSalon.

Sustainable style news from EcoSalon’s West Coast fashion correspondent.

You’re Beautiful – Don’t miss the Beauty Culture exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles which opens on May 21. Over 600 images by the world’s most renowned fashion photographers, including Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle and  Ellen Von Unwerth, document the evolution of the definition of beauty throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The thought-provoking exhibit illustrates the power of the still image in our lives and its ability to inform cultural ideals and expectations of feminine beauty. The exhibition will run through November 27.

True Summer –  Doing their best to forget the rain, the Bay Area’s most stylish fashion lovers are excited to swap their cool weather styles for the latest arrivals at EcoCitizen this week. Shop your summer essentials from new sustainable brands such as A Peace Treaty, Edith A. Miller, H. Fredriksson and Lina Rennell. A visit to the Polk Street store, the unofficial San Francisco headquarters of the local green fashion scene, is essential to those ready to gear up to the next sartorial season. Owner, Joslin Van Arsdale has a stylist’s eye for helping you create a number of looks from a few sound picks from her skillfully curated racks. On my list is a nautically striped boatneck t-shirt from Edith A. Miller, Bodkin’s ultra flattering and lightweight skort, and a pair of trendy, laced up boots from Penelope+Coco, handmade in L.A. in distressed grey leather.

Green Scene – After wrapping up dates in San Francisco and Chicago, the Green Festival will be returning to Seattle’s Qwest Event Center on May 21st and 22nd for its 10^th year anniversary. Festivities include presentations by more than 125 renowned authors, leaders and visionaries, informative how-to workshops, cutting-edge films, kid’s activities, organic beer and wine, organic vegan and vegetarian cuisine, diverse live music and over 350 green local and national businesses and organizations. Guaranteed to be a green weekend of family fun, make sure to catch AJ Snapper, Alchemy Goods and Seattle Goodwill for some sustainable fashion inspiration.

The post Eco Style West Vol.10 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Every eco-fashion website you go to is probably comprised of some red hot talent when it comes to work outside the site. EcoSalon fashion writer Greta Eagan is a great example of one of our writers taking an entrepreneurial walk outside our own pearly green gates. Recently launching FASHIONmeGREEN, a sustainable fashion awareness project two months ago in L.A. (The L.A. Project), she’s now in New York City wrapping up her New York Project (shot at the SoHo House) with Eleanor Banco, PR Director of Style.com and Teen Vogue.

Next stop? London – to find her next victim or “style influencer” to help morph a darker shade of green.

All clothing and accessories will come from local eco-designers based in each city and will be stylishly showcased in an editorial spread on the site as well as behind the scenes video webisodes. The site will also run the FMG Daily featuring current trends and style tips with eco-alternatives (indicated by a green leaf).

Eagen says “The idea is to impart a style source that is relatable, inspirational, current and eco.”

I recently caught up with Eagen to talk about her new project.

(Side note, if you’ve got an entrepreneurial fashion mission you’re on, pitch it to us!)

Inspiration behind FMG?

I really wanted to build a global platform for eco-fashion with resources, and create a way to bridge the gap between mainstream and eco-fashion. My motto is to provide a (digital) space with style standards as high as the eco ones.

With all the information out there about forward sustainable fashion, do women really still think it’s not stylishly comparable? Could this possibly be true?!

I really think it comes down to awareness. People want to be responsible in their purchasing. We have seen that with the organic food movement and insurgence in hybrid vehicles. When it comes to clothing and fashion, it is just going to take time to educate the consumer and show them what options they have. I would also add, that a lot of the designers who are designing “˜green’ are independent and therefore not as well known as the bigger brands, so again it’s a matter of exposing them to the consumer.

You’ve FMG’d fashion blogger Lucrecia Chan and Style.com’s Eleanor Banco, were they surprised there was so much sophisticated greenery out there?

Absolutely! They both had some idea of what was out there and knew a couple of designers who are green, but the makeover really exposed them to very fashion-forward eco-options they didn’t know existed. I know that they were coveting some of the pieces from the makeover!

Did they pick their own looks from a bunch of clothes you acquired from designers or did you style them all the way?

The core concept of FMG is to select style influencers whose style stands on its own and has garnered them respect and admiration in the fashion industry. Through the makeover, we adamantly hold onto that original style sense to recreate their style aesthetic using mostly eco-inspired pieces. So the process is always very interactive and collaborative. When I do a first pass through the designers I want to pull for the shoot, I will always revert back to my style influencer’s image and ask, “Would she wear this?” Then, we work with the influencer to select exact pieces from eco-lines. Finally, the day of the shoot we will have a handful of outfits outlined, but always allow for the flexibility to change things as we go so that it communicates their true style sense.

Always five looks and how are the five looks picked?

It really is a brainstorming process. We will chat about their style signatures and the story they want to tell through their outfits. Also, because the spread is published online with a Shop The Shoot section, the looks are very seasonal and represent what the influencer is wearing at the moment. We always want the looks to be relatable, corresponding to the time of the year and also sourcing real women who work in industries that command a strong sense of style.

What’s your best advice for newbies?

It’s important to remember that no single brand out there is 100 percent sustainable at this point in time, so to hold yourself to those standards is unrealistic. Instead, start with what makes sense to you and explore. Thrift or vintage shopping is a great entry point. By reusing a piece that was previously produced, you extend its life cycle and just that is very sustainable.

Going green with your wardrobe is a lifestyle decision and I liken it to formulating an individual’s diet. Are you animal- friendly? Is ethical fashion of utmost importance to you? Or are you more concerned with carbon-footprints and dying processes? You decide what is important and make your purchasing decisions from there. It really is a personal journey for everyone which, I think, is the way fashion should be.

The NY Project- Teen Vogue’s Eleanor Banco from FASHIONmeGREEN on Vimeo.

Photographer – Jamie Beck (FromMeToYou)

Photographer’s Assistant – Colleen Duggan

Natural Make-up Artist – Jessa Blades

Video Assistant – Andy Mirabito

Designers used for the N.Y.Project:

Suno
Stella McCartney
Doucette Duvall
Cri de Coeur
Osborn Designs
Study
H Fredriksson
Lizzie Fortunato Jewels
Lauren Pierce
Bodkin

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