Take the animal-print sweater look from runway to real life, in a conscious way.

Shirts and sweaters emblazoned with the faces of various animals are seen everywhere in Fashionville these days – from the runways of design houses like Kenzo and Givenchy to the backs of street style stars and pop singers like Rihanna and Pink. It’s a great look, but we know how to achieve it in a better way.

Rapanui’s Wolfpack Sweat features not a rottweiler or tiger but a wolf, an animal that has went from being nearly eradicated in the U.S. in the 20th century to making a remarkable recovery in many parts of the country to once again facing serious danger.

Made in a windpowered, Fair Wear Foundation audited factory using 100% organic cotton, the Wolfpack Sweat is also printed with phthalate-free inks and hand-finished in the UK. To cut down carbon emissions, it’s transported by boat, not air freight.

So you can be trendy without compromising on your ethics. If you would also like to help wolves, support the Defenders of Wildlife’s Campaign to Save America’s Wolves.

Street style images: 1 & 2

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It’s a perverse pleasure watching the characters in Mad Men smoke and drink away without any fear of consequence. With the days of the three-martini lunch well and truly over – say nothing for the disappearance of mid-century bar accoutrements like chrome smoking stands and Murano glass table lighters – it’s reassuring to know that while the cocktail hour might not be as much fun as it was, the spirit of the dress which was named for it remains intact.

The nip-waisted, full-skirted New Look silhouette pioneered by Christian Dior dominated cocktail fashions thru the 50s. Thankfully, the gloves and hat were soon replaced with a great pair of heels.

Born in the years after World War I, the emerging cocktail culture corresponded with sweeping social changes that led to the independent “modern woman” venturing out into more diverse groups of people mixing in clubs, lounges and private cocktail soirées. Bridging the gap between an afternoon dress – suitable for afternoon tea – and a grand gown for attending evening balls, came the transitional cocktail dress, knee length and worn until the late 1950s with elbow length gloves and flirty little hats.

Sparkling in Paco Rabanne’s futuristic gold paillettes, Audrey Hepburn in Two for the Road.

Favoring fine fabrics such as satin, silk, velvet and silk jersey – and after the success of Chanel’s little black dress a.k.a the LBD in 1926  –  the color black, the short, often tight-fitting cocktail dress quickly became a desired item of attire for all women in the 1930s. For those in the progressive and fashionable Cafe Society, it became a uniform.

Julia Roberts memorably went searching for a dress for a night out in Pretty Woman. “I got a dress,” she proudly tells Richard Gere. “A cocktail one.”

From its early realization and onwards – Christian Dior’s (Dior in fact coining the term “cocktail dress” in the late 40s) full-skirted New Look, Givenchy’s elegant renderings worn immaculately by Audrey Hepburn in the 1950s classic’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Sabrina, to Paco Rabanne’s swinging shifts in gold paillettes and Halston’s essential draped disco dress for Studio 54 – the silhouettes, like the partying habits, have changed with the decades. Whatever your poison, the pleasures of a bold dress in a flattering fit with a face framing neckline can be both intoxicating and life-affirming.

Modern day Bon Viveur: Kate Moss in a lace-panelled cocktail dress by John Galliano for Dior Couture.

Now & Then: The Trench Coat

Now & Then: The Bold Brow

Now & Then: The History of the Cuff

Now & Then: The History of Turtlenecks

Now & Then: The History of Tights

Now & Then: The History of Skinny Jeans

Now & Then: The History of the Chevron Stripe

Now & Then: The History of Penny Loafers

Now & Then: The History of Go-Go Boots

Now & Then: The History of the Poet Blouse

Now & Then: The History of Ladylike Gloves

The post Now & Then: The History of the Cocktail Dress appeared first on EcoSalon.

Kick start that spring feeling with fashion’s best new films.

Fashion lovers are generally a visual lot. As the growing interest in Pinterest, Tumblr and other image-based social tools demonstrates, more and more of us like to absorb information visually. So if you’re thinking its time to turn your winter wardrobe into spring style, take a look at fashion’s best new films for color trends, silhouettes and fabrications to look out for as the warmer months slowly approach.

Above. In the captivating 16mm film entitled, “She Builds Domes in Air,”  by acclaimed artist Catherine Sullivan, Kristen McMenamy stalks the intricate inner and sensory worlds of the Alexander McQueen spring/summer collection – designer Sarah Burton’s third and most celebrated yet.

Burton tells AnOther Magazine: “The McQueen woman doesn’t want to feel casual. It’s not that kind of world. When you put on the clothes, they make you stand differently, feel differently. It was about how to do that but make it feel light. I’ve always been part of Lee’s romantic side, that’s what I love. Although there are elements of this collection that are quite dark, even sinister, there’s always a romance to it, a delicacy. Empowerment and protection: Working here, you always have to bring it back to Alexander.”

Geren Ford Spring 2012 Fashion Film from Geren Ford

For those dreaming of clothing suitable for a springtime spent outdoors, check out the first in a series of fashion videos featuring the spring 2012 collection of lifestyle brand, Geren Ford.

Ford describes the film to Racked : “Echoing the line’s wanderlust for life and as-chic-at-noon-as-at-midnight ethos, the film is a visual recap of ‘the night before,’ a peek into late-night mischief of a get together where decorum and good manners went home hours ago and with each step unfolds epic house party lore, mischief and chaos, and the blossoming of young love.”

Lane Crawford: High Style on Nowness.com

A meditation on the ephemeral qualities of fashion, luxury store Lane Crawford’s “The Pinnacle of Style,” takes us behind the scenes of its spring 2012 campaign. Shot by powerhouse photographic duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott and starring China’s biggest stars Li Bing Bing and Chen Ran, the animated short presents the store’s latest collections from the likes of Azzedine Alaïa, Céline, Givenchy, and Yves Saint Laurent.

Lane Crawford Fashion Director Sarah Rutson explains to Nowness: “The power of fashion to help an individual express themselves is central to the store’s ideology. As Mark Twain said, ‘Clothes make the man, naked people have little or no influence on society’. Clothing is an outward expression for someone to show their individuality, as the essence of who they are.”

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