Finding a seasonally versatile cover-up is easy with H Fredriksson’s Envelope Cardigan.

You’re probably asking yourself why in the middle of August I’d suggest a hemp cardigan for a Lustable? Well, nights are getting cooler and who doesn’t need something comfortable, chic and versatile for their wardrobe?

This hemp Envelope Cardigan is so perfect and with the also very versatile Monk Tank Dress underneath, also designed by H Fredriksson, you’ll have two pieces that can take you year-round.

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

Image: Juno & Jove

The post Lustables: H Fredriksson’s Envelope Cardigan appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best eco-friendly boutiques online.

Eco-boutiques are popping up all over the web thanks to visionary retailers willing to take risks. While the debate over green consumption asks tough questions (is marketing lots of green stuff the answer to our consumerism woes?), it is clear that when it comes to eco fashion, the mantra is quality over quantity.

While some sites carry tried and true lines we’ve been following for years, others are peddling cutting edge sustainable fashion – making conscious consumption more provocative than ever.

Here’s an updated list of what we consider the top online eco boutiques going.

Start your shopping engines…

Annie Novotny, the designer behind Frei, opened Workshop in 2009 in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. Her boutique’s 100 year old building houses her own line as well as lines like Brooklyn’s Loup Charmant, Shades of Gray vintage jewelry, D.S. & Durga perfume and a great selection of vintage leather handbags and belts for accessorizing.

Novotny’s shop also serves as a gallery and an actual workshop space for sewing classes.

In Roman mythology, Juno and Jove ruled as the divine queen and king of all gods, online they rule as a fantastic source for shopping over 70 designers. This online boutique (and store based in Sarasota, Florida), is massive but never overwhelming. Owner and buyer Olivia Bono has done well balancing high fashion with wardrobe staples including clothing, shoes, body care, home and even a nice section for men.

Whenever I want something totally different and inspiring, I click on over to Beklina. Not only is owner/buyer Lina Rennell one of the best online site curators, she designs an eponymous (eye candy) line featured on her site. Here is where you find architecturally and artistically pleasing clothes infused with all the glamor and femininity a site can offer. An additional bonus is Rennell selling fabric yardage from her own line and sustainable sweetheart, Caitlin Mociun’s of you guessed it, Mociun.

Joslin Van Arsdale’s Eco Citizen is a San Francisco staple for lines including The Podolls, Stewart+Brown, Feral Childe and more. Van Arsdale caters to women more than men but still has some fun organic pieces for your significant other you can quickly purchase before checking out with a cart full of your own new duds. We love the Jade Tribe and Collina Strada bags.

Everything at Olivine is special, (their tag line of “Atelier” says it all). With plenty of beautiful clothing, trendy beauty products and the healthiest dose of Swedish Hasbeens and Prairie Underground around, Olivine is a source of sustainable inspiration. Did I mention there’s cute baby gear too?

Three core passions inspired founder, Shana Yansen to start Jute and Jackfruit and now tie into the company’s core mission: to be smart, sustainable and chic. She accomplishes all three in her Boston based online shop filled with flattering Kelly Lane dresses, Turk+Taylor tops and Indigenous’ Fair Trade clothing.

Super girl Kate McGregor of Kaight is always on trend with her role as buyer and owner of New York City’s premier brick and mortar shops as well as having a major online presence via her blog and Facebook. McGregor can often be found working with leading sustainable designers, housing shops within her shop (Melissa shoes and a vintage section), as well as hosting fun store events. Kaight is the complete package.

In 2008, a conference speaker told Future:Standard owner/buyer Jessica Althoff  “You do not have to choose between your passions. If you want to combine them, you should.” Two years later Future:Standard was born from Althoff’s desire to support the environment, promote fair labor practices, and spend her days looking at (and wearing), beautiful clothes. We love all her indie lines that aren’t so frequently seen in other online boutiques.

Cow Jones Industrials’ owner Donna Oakes runs her vegan boutique from upstate New York as well as online with an eye for the pretty and playful: Think Popomomo tunics and dresses, Feral Childe frocks and a wide array of vegan shoes and hand bags by top designers. Vegan paradise fulfilled.

Label Gazer gives you a snapshot of socially responsible, ethical and eco-friendly fashion, then links you to where you can immediately buy it. Thieves, Elroy, The Uniform Project, Studio Jux and more, all presented so stylishly and clean with additional links to sales, sites and a designer database.

In early 2008, Mission Savvy founder Jennifer Miller picked up her journal and began writing, documenting careless acts of
animal neglect. From this introspection, Miller realized a way she could fuse both her love of clothing and animals was to open a vegan boutique (online and brick and mortar in Charleston, West Virginia). Not so strange a jump seeing as each collection of clothing is based on themed animal rights or “Missions.” Her clothing, footwear and accessories highlight not only a raised consciousness in fashion but of our furry friends.

Kate Morison and Andrea Barrett, founders of Arboretum hail from Sonoma’s wine country where the living is easy and the clothing, organic perfume and shoes coming out of this brick and mortar (as well as online eco-boutique), is refreshing. We love that they offer staple capsule collections for both men and women and only wish we lived in the same town to shop and see more!

Enjoy the pretty sounds of chirping birds as you shop. Not kidding.

Did you know that Tobi had a whole Eco Tobi section? A great selection of Matt and Nat handbags, wallets and clutches, tons of Melissa shoes, Prairie Underground and Alternative Apparel, make Tobi a perfect destination spot for those stylish staple pieces that never grow old.

Another great online boutique, Embodies also has a shop based in Larkspur, California. Owner Kenlynn Wilson bases her criteria on a few things: What fabrics are used in the clothing, where the items are manufactured (and under what conditions), what types of dyes are used in the clothing as well as the packaging the clothes are being shipped in. Curating with a careful eye, Wilson’s due diligence yields a great stable of fashion-forward eco-designers. Look for Alabama Chanin, Calleen Cordero cuff bracelets and select Linda Loudermilk.

In 2007, inspired by the fashionable direction green and ethical designers were taking, A Green Wardrobe decided to launch promoting all the organic, sustainable, or recycled and repurposed material clothing they could find from top designers. Look for Juleselin, Kris Nations jewelry, Numanu and Les Fees de Bengale.

UPDATEd 4.27.11: This post has been updated with more amazing boutiques since the original publish date.

BTC Elements combines smart style with sustainability, hand-selecting each item in their boutique’s collection of clothing, gifts, and accessories with an eye to the environment and social justice. The result: fresh, inspiring designs that are both earth friendly and ethically sourced.

Look for lines including Raw Earth & Wild Sky, Kelly B and Feral Childe.

Kathleen Rowan and Deana Bracken, run Green With Glamour from both Los Angeles and Chicago, building and curating the Green with Glamour® collection. Founded in 2007, the duo has always operated sustainably whether it’s buying for the shop or running the site on a certified carbon neutral webhost. GwG reaches eco-chic shoppers worldwide and continues to promote the concept of living with style while passionately caring for our beautiful planet.

We love that they carry Dallas based Koch, as well as a lot of L.A. based Popomomo and EcoSkin.

Equita, (Italian for fairness), is a design-conscious shop showcasing the finest in green, sweatshop-free and Fair Trade essentials for the body and home. Each item is hand-selected and thoughtfully edited to ensure a mix that is design-conscious, functional, eco-friendly, and socially conscious. In addition to ethical fashion and footwear, Equita carries green home decor, sustainable furniture, fair trade handbags and jewelry, organic and fair trade body care, ethical baby clothing, fair trade sport and wellness gear, and specialty gourmet treats.

Is that it?

Top image: Annie Novotny of Workshop, from Chicago Magazine

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Art and fashion picks to green your Saint Patrick’s Day 2011

March 17^th might be the only day out of the year when head-to-toe ‘greenwashing’ is universally accepted. As an Irish American lass born on Saint Patrick’s Day, I have been bathed in green since my stint in the womb. I also had a mother who resorted to drops of emerald food coloring to tint the raw milk on our dairy farm in honor of my birthdays. It is perhaps no coincidence that I now write about sustainable fashion and design, as my rural upbringing also found me crawling around on hands and knees in our alfalfa fields searching for the elusive and perfectly formed four-leafed clover. As a means of honoring all shades of green this Saint Patrick’s Day, here are a few of my favorite art and fashion finds to help you create some good green sheen, now and into the future.

Izzy Lane Cable Roll Neck Sweater £259.00

Awarding winning ethical fashion label Izzy Lane is an alluring example of how to responsibly pull the wool over your eyes for Saint Patrick’s Day with this luxe ‘Emerald Green’ hand-knitted cable rollneck sweater. Lane is an outspoken voice in the campaign for animal welfare and also an advocate for rare breed preservation and the use of British Wool in the British Textile Industry. This specific knitwear piece is made from Wensleydale yarn from rescued sheep.

The Andean Collection’s Açaí Cluster Chain Earrings $29.00

Amanda Judge and her amazing team of artisans in the Andean regions of South America have been unstoppable as as a force in the fair trade fashion and accessories movement. The Andean Collection’s jewelry and textile designs just keep getting more stunning with each season. This is not a function of simply getting lucky but of dedicated team work and genuine talent of several local artisans: Nancy, Olga, Viviana, Carlos, Cesar, and Christian. These naturally dyed açaí seeds and loops of metal chains are strung together to create a pair of one-of-a-kind cascading earrings.

JADEtribe Nina Clutch with Charm $85 from Juno and Jove

Kimberly Hartman of JADEtribe always knows how to sprinkle the textile goodness around with her ethically crafted handbags and clutches fairly made by women in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Unique details such as the hand-braided beads and jewelry that jingles on this Nina Clutch or the incorporation of organically dyed and hand loomed traditional textiles makes each design a timeless expression of colorful, cultural storytelling.

LeAF Shimla Dress from Kaight $108

One cannot celebrate any holiday on the calendar without checking in to see what Kate McGregor at Kaight is offering as the truly green alternative to innovative and chic downtown dressing. This LeAF (Love The Earth Fashion) Shimla Dress is cool and versatile, and as Kate describes, “Can be worn either loose and breezy for hot days or cinched with a belt for a pulled together look.” Ethically made out of 100% organic cotton voile in India, it is a smart summer staple with year round layering possibilities.

A Perfume Organic GREEN perfume $65

On the beauty front, Saint Patrick’s Day would not be complete without the certified organic perfumery of Amanda Walker. A Perfume Organic‘s new signature perfume, GREEN, is an intoxicating herbal mixture of rose (New York’s state flower), black truffle, blue, Roman Chamomile, and an overdose of ylang ylang with a smooth woody finish. Ingredients are certified USDA organic. Now that’s something to get intoxicated on.

Scotch Naturals ‘Leprechaun Lynch’ polish $14.99

Just released in time for March 17th is this latest installment in the Scotch Naturals palette, ‘Leprechaun Lynch’. These non-toxic, water-based formulas contains none of the tongue-twisting chemicals found in typical nail polish: toluene, dibutyl phthelate, formaldehyde, acetone, and heavy metals. This cool mint creme color might be just the right way to don a hint of green without having to wear the entire head-to-toe shamrock get up.

Sculpture by Audrey Lavallée & Chloé B. Fortin, of BJIOS collective

But in all honesty, in addition to some dark ale and a possible pedicure for my winter weary feet, I will most likely spend Saint Patrick’s Day and my birthday dreaming about art, wild landscapes, and ways to green my life for the entire year, not just on one solitary day. With that in mind, I wanted to share these magical fiber, scrap textile, and rock sculpture forms handmade by my friends the French Canadian artists, Audrey Lavallée & Chloé B. Fortin, of BJIOS collective. I find these simple expressions to be wondrous in the identifying of green in the small things that we often trample underfoot or cast off like stones in well that has no bottom.  This represents the best of respectfully fashioning the future with resources at arm’s length and with a delicacy that demonstrates strength.

Image: Jennipenni

The post 7 Shades of Green for Saint Patrick’s Day appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’m a boutique owner with e-commerce skills – so why am I so fearful of ordering online? If I can’t get what I want locally then I will shop online, but I’m also very smart with my cash and don’t want to spend it on something I’ll just have to send back.

With this type of shopping (and possibly returning), you also have to think of carbon footprints, extra shipping and the fact that when you make the decision to buy something online it was special, on sale or just that perfect item you’d been looking for. It plain stinks to have to start the hunt all over again.

For those of you that have it nailed, I think we’d all love you to share your secrets in the comments, but for now, here are some tips that can get your online retail shopping ball rolling.

Know your measurements

You might think you can do it yourself, but just to play it safe, go to your favorite local tailor and have him or her measure you up. Get your bust, your hips and your waist measured so there’s no doubt.

Sites like Beklina have spots to click for sizing based on each size. Founder and designer Angelina Rennell says it’s important to know your measurements because designers all have slightly different sizing.

“A lot of our customers will email before making big purchases to double check on how the item is running – small, true to size, etc. We often get out the garment and measure for them. They can then compare that to their measurements. Customers should always feel comfortable emailing about sizing questions, sharing their size and inquire how the fit it running. They may say things like they’re really short or tall or big-busted and we can gauge if the style will work for them,” says Rennell.

If a brand fits, stick with it

You might be a fan of a line because you know they generally run a size large and whatever you get just always fits well. You might love the width of a certain type of shoe and the fact that they are always true to size. You know these things because you’ve always had success when buying them so stick with your winners.

Jennifer Miller owner of Charleston, West Virginia’s Mission Savvy says bamboo and hemp styles by labels such as EcoSkin are always reliably comfortable and true to size.

“The designer brings something new to the table every season and my online customers look forward to that. As far as dresses go, customers know what to expect from another tried and true label like Kelly Lane for colorful pieces. They also really appreciate that she goes up to a size XL and will follow her anywhere to get something new.”

Sizing or color question? Call the boutique!

The beauty of buying from small boutiques is that you don’t have to talk to someone halfway around the world who is not even in the boutique to get an answer.

Never feel silly calling. Small boutiques need to thrive and they can’t without you buying something that you’ll love and keep.

Julie Merriman, owner of Seattle’s Olivine says she always wants to make sure that her customers get the best possible customer service and make sure they love whatever arrives in the mail for them.

“One of the things I love about an online store versus a retail store is that people just don’t need as much help. Regardless, I am always happy to help customers with their questions,” she says.

You’ve got your order and it’s not that it fits bad, it’s just not like the picture

Before you give up and throw it back in the box or envelope to ship it back to the boutique, give them a call and tell them your feelings about the fit. Ask how they would style it and quite possibly with a few suggestions, your dream top or pants are again just that.

Olivia Bono owner of Sarasota, Florida’s Juno and Jove says a good design is made to fit lots of different body types.

“I consider the picture of the online model a starting point. You should get an idea of the fit and the unique details of the garment from the product photography, but style is about self expression. I myself am a medium, but I will often buy a size (or two) up or down depending on how I want to make that garment work on my body. We also like to keep our local tailors in business! If a pocket on the hip sags a bit too much or a wrap front top makes you feel a little too flashy, take it in to get tacked and tucked,” she says.

Beware the “Sale” designers

I have a t-shirt that says “I Heart Designers” and I really do but for those items that are always on sale, I say beware. There’s often some really good reasons why they are – including the fit, tightness, sheerness or armpit holes being too big. Or it might have been the buyer’s fault – caught up in the hype of the market, thinking they could really sell the piece or they misjudged their customer’s taste. Many things come into play and it’s worth it to call the shop you’re ordering from. If it’s cheap enough and can be altered by your favorite tailor, then it might still be worth the purchase.

For me, the big red flag is that both an urban and suburban boutique could not sell it. This means the piece was really just a design failure.

Final tip?

Make sure you don’t just buy sale items all the time. Splurge on the pieces you love versus filling your closet with clothes that are just okay.

Shouldn’t dressing be more than just being conscious? Maybe even (gasp) a lot of fun?

Image: Pecico

The post How to Order Clothes Online (And Get What You Want) 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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