Sustainable style news from EcoSalon’s West Coast Fashion Editor.

Beauty Seeker – Check out LA’s newly opened “Eyescape” exhibit, by legendary London-based fashion photographer and founder of Dazed and Confused magazine, Rankin. The striking photographic series of a dozen or more large and close-up portraits of irises prompt intriguing insights into the nature of the proverb “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Rankin said himself, “Eyes are my favorite part of the body – eyes and getting the best out of them are my stock-in-trade as a portrait photographer, I’m constantly telling my subjects to feel something with their eyes.” A must see for all those interested in our culture’s unending fascination with what is beautiful.

Vintage Budget – “It’s hard to find the good stuff for cheap anymore,” is a common refrain among vintage clothing lovers. If this sounds familiar to you head down to the Helms Design District Vintage Boutique summer bargain event featuring no item over $50 on August 13, at the LightSpace Studio located 15 minutes from Santa Monica. Hosted by Clever Vintage Clothing, who are known for their incredible selection of classic, designer and repurposed women’s vintage clothing and jewelry. This is your opportunity to nab hard-to-find vintage at incredibly low prices.

Hats Off – Suffering from a case of Summer style doldrums? Take a leaf out of fashion icon, Isabella Blow’s book. Made famous by her habit of wearing dramatically eccentric hats, Blow declared “If I feel really low, I cover my face with a hat and feel fantastic… Wearing a hat is like cosmetic surgery.” Spend Saturday afternoon, August 13^th perusing the exquisite creations from some of the Bay areas best hat designers at Warehouse 416 in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood. It’s time to tip your topper to fashion’s most underrated accessory and discover the work of Jasmin Zorlu, Paul’s Hat Works, House of Nines Design, Kitty Andrews Millinery, Hey Sailor!, T.S. I Love You and Dollymop.

The post Eco Style West Vol. 21 appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

Spring Bliss – Warmer weather has finally arrived and the time to spring for this year’s go-to-special occasion dress is here. Some of the most striking sustainable options this season are from Palo Alto-based designer, Camilla Olson. A former venture capitalist who made the switch to design after visiting the Academy of Art to enroll her daughter in 2007, Olson has lots to say on the importance of following your dreams in life. Come down to Ecocitizen tomorrow night for champagne and a first look at Olson’s spring/summer ’11 couture and ready to wear collections. Picks from her line include signature sheaths with laser cut silk cages, hand printed silks and classic silhouettes that will ensure you being the center of attention wherever you go. 10% of the proceeds from the event will go to the Japanese Red Cross. EcoSalon will be on the scene.

SF Made – San Francisco’s hard-to-define fashion scene is known for its rejection of mass consumption and its embrace of DIY.  There’s always an amazing style discovery to be had from an unlikely garage, basement workshop or back store room. For all those with a fashion idea and plenty of entrepreneurial spirit, don’t miss The Maker Revolution: From Workbench to Business, an event hosted at the impressive TechShop facility at 926 Howard Street in SoMa tomorrow night. TechShop is a local manufacturing, open access facility that provides tools, equipment and instruction for entrepreneurs, inventors, artists, and makers of all kinds.  The event will include a panel discussion about how greater access to resources locally is fostering a vibrant community of creators and businesspeople in the Bay Area and beyond. Panelist’s include: Dale Dougherty, publisher of MAKE Magazine, Andy Filo, the executive director of SFMade, a non-profit promoting the manufacturing sector in San Francisco, and Mark Hatch, the CEO of TechShop.

Hats Off – Perhaps its Royal Wedding fever or the pervasive deco theme in fashion, but if ever there was a time to invest in a custom-made hat, this is it. If you’re in San Francisco, you have to check out Paul’s Hat Works in the Richmond District. An experience in style nostalgia itself, the 90 year old store was recently revived by four Ladies with a mission to “Bring the hat back.” Choose from bowlers, fedoras, straw hats and custom designs and tip a rakish tilt to your spring looks with an American-made, heritage design that you’ll treasure for ever.

Image: BLMurch

The post Eco Style West Vol. 7 appeared first on EcoSalon.