Get inspired by a world’s worth of vintage clothing without leaving your home. 

How did Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of international fashion website, Nasty Gal, grow her vintage clothing store on ebay to become the fastest-growing retailer in the country right now? In addition to a hell of a lot of shopping, shooting and styling, she possesses an eye for detail that always makes things look their best. In her own words, it’s “really the difference between literally putting a plus-size ladies anorak on a hanger and taking a picture of it, and putting it on a cool girl and making it look like something beyond your wildest dreams that you can snag for way less than Comme Des Garçons.”

Whether you believe that a stylish eye is born or taught is not the point. Figuring out what shapes and silhouettes suit you is a process that takes everyone time to develop. Taking advantage of the imaginative styling behind some of the best vintage stores online is a great way to make vintage clothing work for you. Here is our round-up of the top 10 vintage stores online with enough cool girl vision to help inspire your own.

Nasty Gal – Selling highly curated vintage alongside designer pieces and their own Nasty Gal Collection. Amoruso says, “It’s a slightly repellant name, but one that is a good litmus test for weeding people out. If you’re really freaked out by the business name, then you are going to suck working with us, and you’re probably not our customer.”

1stdibs.com – Not exactly in most of our price ranges, but if you’ve been bitten hard by the vintage bug you’ll want to check out the amazing museum-quality vintage and jewelry dealers on this site. The curated collections are set in the social and political context of their time, making for an educating (and decadent) afternoon’s reading.

Vintage-a-Peel – Here you find yourself within the world of the most quirky, most elegant vintage around. Mainly concentrating on the British Boutique stars of the Sixties and Seventies, you can expect to find a timeless Biba, Jean Muir & Radley that will flatter you for years to come. Don’t miss the sites blog and its collection of inspiring vintage editorials.

Enokiworld – Half catalog/half e-zine, enokiworld is all about beautifully designed mid-century vintage designer clothing and accessories that are highly wearable. When Vogue describes the stock as,”of course, amazing,” you know there’s going to be some great stuff, to gawp at. Check out the vintage Ossie Clark, Lavin and Halston.

Wasteland – With stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Wasteland specializes in fresh new labels, hand-picked vintage and designer resale. Check regularly for the latest vintage finds. Currently offering handpicked selections from the “The Daydreamer” vintage wardrobe of stylist-designer, Erin Fetherston.

Sisters Of The Black Moon – Located in Gottenburg, Texas, Sisters Of The Black Moon describe their collection as, “Eccentricities for the shadows of your soul.” The site’s darkly brooding aesthetic is off-the-charts-cool and perfect for all of your rocker chick/Stevie Knicks wardrobe requirements.

Market Publique – An online vintage marketplace with an enormous selection of antique dresses, jewelry and vintage tees. If you’re looking to stock your everyday wardrobe with vintage finds this is the site to check out. Take a look at their great blog coverage of trends, plus “Babe of the Day,” and “Get the Look” features.

Bustown Modern – Gorgeous selection of top quality vintage with amazing customer service. The husband and wife team of Anessa Woods and Paul Fogt are truly fashion obsessed, as will you be after a quick session on their well-curated site. Check out their blog for special features on fashion, art, music, history and the latest store arrivals.

Squash Blossom Vintage – If you like nothing better than spending the day perusing yard sales and vintage shops for goodies, Etsy’s vintage fashion marketplace is the place for you. Squash Blossom Vintage’s Etsy store is a treasure trove of Native American turquoise jewelry and Southwestern Americana.

Spanish Moss – Get your gypsy on and explore Spanish Moss’ directional and statement-making vintage pieces. Shop top shelf vintage collections, artisan designers, and an in-house ready-to-wear, American Gold – designed and manufactured in Los Angeles.

The post EcoSalon’s Top 10 Favorite Online Vintage Stores appeared first on EcoSalon.

EcoSalon’s top 20 favorite sustainable fashion sites from around the globe.

They help us find out about new designers, industry news, trends, learn what sustainable fashion means, and discover all the swanky events we can attend on a global level – these are our eco fashion writers and designers, our go-to girls reporting all the news fit to print, from the exciting and beautiful to the all-too-often tragic and wasteful designer landscape. These are the pioneers of a new type of fashion that explores, connects and draws us in to what the industry could be if we simply supported it more.

We’d like to throw our own hat into this ring, as well- but then, you’re already here reading us, aren’t you?

Past Fashion Future

Past Fashion Future founder Emma Grady says: “I founded Past Fashion Future one year ago as a platform to explore my personal style aesthetic and to show the beauty of timeless and classic fashion and style. I love hearing people’s personal style stories, specifically about their sentimental connection to the clothing that they wear.”

We love the site layout, sharp, stylish images and especially, Something Old, Something New, a series that reveals how modern day style mavens wear heirlooms, vintage, and ethical fashion.

Vogue’s Green Style blog

Come on, It’s Vogue, it’s Livia Firth, it’s eco fashion and it’s high style – do we need to say any more about it?

Ecco eco

BurdaStyle

BurdaStyle, is an online social community that uses the web to bring the craft of sewing to a new generation of designers, hobbyists, DIYers and anyone looking to sew. What could be more sustainable than making clothes yourself? Sewers flock here to mingle, share and support over projects, patterns and full galleries of completed designs.

Join their community to keep current with what other budding (and seasoned) designers are doing. We most certainly do.

Six Magazine

SIX says it was founded with one aim, “to celebrate the designers, individuals, independent brands and companies who are creating a more ethical and sustainable future for the fashion industry.”
We love how the site incorporates beauty products as well as high fashion and packages it so beautifully we want to read every article.
We also love that SIX represents the sixth sense we all have when it comes to style and value.

Clever.

4 Equal Sides

Tara St James, founder of Study NY and 4 Equal Sides believes that “open source material plays a strong role in the development of the sustainable design community,” making her the rare designer that has vision enough to see how the sustainable designer’s new model needs to play out. Under her guidance, Study’s interns have developed, produced and continue to sell their own sustainable mini collections. St James is very open about her production and design process and documents her own story as a designer in a visually as well as editorially personal way that makes you come back for more.

Fashion Me Green

FashionMeGreen is a sustainable fashion awareness project and style site. Founder Greta Eagan says it’s “Conscious coolhunting from around the globe,” and we are in total agreement.

All the curated product pulls, designer features, amazing photo editorials and fashion trend pieces give us extreme hope for the future of ethical fashion that it can in fact be stylish enough to become mainstream without anyone even noticing.

Closette

Yuka Yoneda, founder of Closette and Ecouterre’s Senior Editor calls herself a shopaholic.

“Well, I was a shopaholic. I was always a jeans and sweatshirt kinda girl, but when I graduated from college and got a job in the city, I went a leeeetle crazy with the shopping – okay, a lot crazy. Then I learned about where the clothes I was buying came from and how they were affecting and hurting other people, particularly women and children, around the globe. The idea that these crimes against women, pollution and chemicals going into our water and bodies, and just shear waste were all happening because I wanted a new top or jeans really made me feel ashamed. I knew I had to make a difference in my own life, so I started thrift shopping, supporting sustainable designers and making my own clothes and I feel wonderful knowing that the garments I wear don’t contribute to anyone else being hurt (except maybe for the people who have to look at my crazy outfits).”

Check out Closette for some fun DIY ideas, shop vintage and secondhand clothing or try winning one of her fun giveaways.

Goodlifer

Founded by Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Johanna Björk, Goodlifer is all about style and the good life. “With your help, we’re writing a guidebook for a new generation of Goodlifers. We want you to share in and help craft a positive, enthusiastic vision of a future that is both sustainable and achievable. Through first-hand, personal journalism and thoughtful exploration and discussion we’re here to consider daily choices, reconsider assumptions, pose questions, uncover opportunities, make you think and collaborate with us on what it means to be a Goodlifer.”

Sign us on Johanna.

We’ve been following Timo Rissanen since we came across him in this New York Times article and were more than elated to finally meet him recently at the Yield exhibit in Brooklyn. Timo says on his site: “I’m investigating fashion creation without fabric waste creation through design practice.”

We are fascinated by his finds.

EFW

EcoFashionWorld says they aim to inspire with new ideas, ideals and information. “Our goal is to keep you green, gorgeous and growing with a comprehensive guide to finding sustainable designer brands and online eco fashion stores.” For those new to the game and fumbling over the words like Peace Silk or tencel, check out their glossary for the latest terminology definitions.

Ethical Fashion Forum

The Ethical Fashion Forum is a non-profit organization, that makes life just a little more easy “for fashion professionals to integrate sustainability at the heart of what they do.”
Membership to the EFF delivers support for sustainable fashion businesses through three programs with each program including several essential tools which members can take advantage of to succeed in ethical fashion business.

Members can also stay current with events, sourcing and EFF socials.

Ecouterre

The fashion daughter of Inhabitat, Ecouterre is a heavily photo-curated website devoted to the future of sustainable fashion design. “We’re dedicated to showcasing and supporting designers who not only contemplate cut, form, and drape, but also a garment’s social and environmental impact, from the cultivation of its fibers to its use and disposal. Our ethos: To follow the evolution of the apparel industry toward a more environmentally sound future, as well as facilitate a conversation about why sustainable fashion matters.”

Treehugger

What came first, eco blogging or Treehugger? I think many of us were reading Treehugger when eco fashion was just beginning to evolve past the point of crunchy. Still on track to provide us with timely fashion news, we’ve bookmarked the site and will continue to go back.

Eco Chick

Eco-Chick editor Starre Vartan, consultant and author of The Eco-Chick’s Guide to Life, says the main intention of her site is to “inspire readers toward a healthier, more sustainable life (which we think means a happier life too). That includes slowing down, unplugging, getting out, going in, making mistakes and moving on, being choosy, doing research, and growing every day. Rest and relaxation are real and important, and so is time with friends and family. We love local food, farmer’s markets, independent designers, handmade everything, and connecting with where our stuff comes from and who makes it. We especially love inspiring women who keep us on our toes and asking questions.”

Her site covers all aspects of the fashion industry and Starre is a known girl about town on the streets of New York City when it comes to getting the scoop on eco-fashion. If you’re where she is, you’re in the right place.

Magnifeco

Magnifeco is an eco-fashion blog currently based in Tokyo by founder Kate Black and features fair-trade, sustainable, organic, recycled, vintage and vegan brands in a place where ethics meet aesthetics. From earth friendly fabrics, to sustainable manufacturing processes and fairtrade practices, the site features conscious designers and products for the conscious consumer.

Market Publique

Market Publique is an eclectic marketplace dedicated to vintage fashion “committed to bringing the community together so we can all have a place to buy, sell and discuss vintage in a positive and focused environment.”
The Brooklyn based company started when the founders realized there was a lack of options for quality vintage sellers online.

We are obsessed with how great the styling is and are always inspired to grab a piece to add to our own wardrobes or to simply wear clothes differently after we leave the site.

Holly McQuillan

Holy McQuillan, Yield Curator, designer and lecturer in the fashion design program at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts in Wellington, New Zealand says since completing her Masters of Design, which explored the presentation of cultural memory through garment design, her work has focused on exploring the possibilities that arise when garment design is restrained by one goal – zero-waste.

Peruse her site or get in touch with her with some of your own zero waste design questions. She will get you rethinking fashion for sure.

Organic Girly

Organic Girly founder Jennifer Barckley is not only one of the nicest people we’ve ever met, she’s also a fantastic resource. Utilize her “Ask me anything,” button and she will get back to you quickly. Check her site for periodic updates on vegan and sustainable fashion forays that sometimes even lead her to chicken sitting.

Social Alterations

Mary Hanlon’s Social Alterations was “developed with fashion and textile design educators in mind, it also acts to create a platform for design educators to benchmark themselves against other educators not only within their own field, but across various design disciplines. In order to create real lasting change, designers of all disciplines must work together to foster transformation.”

A wonderful venue for timely fashion news regarding everything from Fast Fashion to CSR.

Image: Shandi-lee

The post From Eco to Vintage to DIY, 20 Fashion Sites We Can’t Live Without appeared first on EcoSalon.

Vintage fashion is the future of fashion from the past! EcoSalon got the goods on how to shop for it, size it and care for it from Market Publique.com’s Founder, Pamela Castillo.

I recently had the chance to sit down with Pamela, who dishes on all her vintage secrets for incorporating classic vintage into your wardrobe including sizing tricks and washing tips in this exclusive EcoSalon video! Check out the video after the jump.

EcoSalon Exclusives: Inside the Vintage Vault with Pamela Castillo from EcoSalon on Vimeo.

The post EcoSalon Exclusives: Inside the Vintage Vault with Pamela Castillo appeared first on EcoSalon.