Revisiting a series that launched a knitwear line, became required reading in some knitting groups, and even got a few off their meds.

When we launched Using Your Hands to Soothe the Brain last January, it was with the goal of educating people about the simple mental health value of keeping their hands moving. Whether knitting, sewing or weaving, chemical changes can in fact occur in the brain to alleviate mood maladies and in some cases, mental illness like depression. The more people we interviewed, the more we discovered. But before it even launched, this series was inspired by two women: A dear friend who overcame depression and anxiety (and consequently two powerful medications for it) with daily knitting, and a blog post by Alabama Chanin designer, Natalie Chanin.

Chanin, a sustainable designer and now gratefully a bi-weekly columnist for EcoSalon, had caught my attention when she cited neuroscientist Kelly Lambert, author of Lifting Depression on the Alabama Chanin blog:

“Lambert shows how when you knit a sweater or plant a garden, when you prepare a meal or simply repair a lamp, you are bathing your brain in feel-good chemicals and creating a kind of mental vitamin. Our grandparents and great grandparents, who had to work hard for basic resources, developed more resilience against depression; even those who suffered great hardships had much lower rates of this mood disorder. But with today’s overly-mechanized lifestyle we have forgotten that our brains crave the well-being that comes from meaningful effort.”

That meaningful effort was explored from two angles in Part 1 with textile artist and sustainable fashion writer Abigail Doan of Ecco Eco and Occupational Therapist and Founder of FiftyRX3 Jill Danyelle. Doan, who was “fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the soil, build fences, spin wool, and learn a variety of fiber-crafting skills,” growing up on a farm says working with one’s hands creates a “one-to-one relationship that makes everything else simply fade away. It’s a healthy sort of addiction that replaces other forms of disease.”

Part 2 affirmed Doan and Danyelle’s own finds but explored another aspect of hand work: how using our hands not only enhances our sense of well being, but how it also creates a sense of self-sufficiency. Owyn Ruck, one of the founders of Brooklyn’s widely respected Textile Arts Center says “Even in a sense of finances, we are taught to feel that money equals freedom, but what if you didn’t even to need to buy half the things you did, you could make them or simply make something last longer? That’s freedom.”

Designer Titania Inglis enjoys her own fashion freedom by creating a sustainably produced, eponymous clothing line. Having begun her career in the hopes of being a successful graphic designer, Inglis also agrees the positive effects of using our hands to do meaningful tasks can benefit our overall health and well being.

In Part 3, of Using Your Hands to Soothe the Brain, Inglis says “I love clothing design for its communicative and aesthetic possibilities, but also very much for the craft of it. Many designers prefer to simply hand off sketches to a pattern maker, but for me, the process is the design. It feels a bit pompous to talk about the integrity of the piece and purity of form, but those are qualities I strive for, and I really can only get there with my own two hands.”

What can we learn from this sustainable stretching out of the fashion movement that harks back to the glory of heritage and craft? One might say that perhaps we have lost much in the translation of living fast paced lives filled with convenience. That rethinking the use of our hands to create and mend and touch is a missing part of our successful life equation. That, simply put, strands of fiber and our ability to know how to do something with them might ultimately hold the key to our spiritual happiness. At the very least, it’s fun to create our own wardrobe.

Image: Bruce Turner

The post Vintage EcoSalon: Using Your Hands to Soothe the Brain appeared first on EcoSalon.

It takes courage to be a style icon. Do you have it in you?

It seems like everyone wants to be an icon, but few actually reach this status. Yet there are ways we can be legendary. Forget being Madonna – we have so much power over our own material world, based on purchasing power, to attain almost anything we can think of with just a few moments’ search.

While designers are skillfully trained in the art of building a fantasy around their collections, not everyone will understand. In fact, most people tend to buy what they see others wearing, because they want to fit in or emulate someone they admire. A rare few are bold enough to actually strut in something more individual and self-expressive – and have that confidence to pull it off.  Here a style icon is born.

The actual process of putting an iconic outfit together and wearing it outside of your bedroom takes courage. There will always be some point in the day you hear something along the lines of, “How creative you are!” or “I could never pull something like that off!” Are these kudos for your bravery or a back handed compliment? Best to consider the source.

Sustainable stylist Bahar Shahpar gives us a little hint on how to deal with this.

“Learn the word ‘Bollocks!’ and practice saying it to yourself every time you hear the voice in your head limit you with some random story about what you should or can look like,” says Shahpar. “There are ways to finesse every sort of look on every sort of person – you certainly do need to learn those skills to make it work, but you’ll never even start that lesson if you stop yourself from even being open to the idea.”

Of course, if this commentary is coming from anyone within the fashion media, it would most definitely be suspect of someone suggesting that you’ve gone too far with your outfit, as some are occasionally accused of doing.

Posh steps out in a less-than-ordinary hat and catches hell.

“If Victoria Beckham quits fashion, she could be a limo driver,” pokes whyfame.com regarding a mildly theatrical hat Beckham wore out on the town one day. The fashion media is infamous for hurling insults at unknowing victims or anyone in society who has the guts to stand out in the crowd, even when they’re as highly polished as Posh.

Understandably, no one wants to be caught or accused of trying too hard with an outfit that was not meant to be a costume. What’s the fix to this? Either decide to go all out in a full-on costume or work to cultivate a look that is so individual that no critique is valid.

Pop icon Lady Gaga gone wild.

Pop icon Lady Gaga is a woman who fully intends to baffle, tease, and entangle viewers in her personal style. How’s that for social artillery? Her intention of putting on a full persona each morning generally goes along with the get-up, and it always comes off confidently. These are not looks to be tried by someone who prefers to be invisible in company of others, nor are they looks that we would suggest anyone try to copy.

Her outlandish costumes are as clever a disguise as they are entertaining; few would recognize her if she ran into Starbucks in jeans and a tee-shirt, and her hair and makeup undone. By wearing opposite disguises, she can separate her public and personal personae, all the while dodging or attracting the paparazzi when she so chooses.

Not everyone is ready to take on the effort or attention that a costume attracts. But most people do have an inner desire to express themselves and clothes can be an excellent medium. Style icon Lisa Mayock, one half of the genius behind Vena Cava, says she’s felt uncomfortable about expressing her personal style in public in the past.

Lisa Mayock of Vena Cava is no shrinking violet. She can put on a loud dress and still stay above the noise.

“I was totally that person growing up. I was always afraid to wear things that I loved, and I would buy or make things that I never had the balls to pull off,” says Mayock. “What I took a long time to realize is that it doesn’t matter if people hate your outfit. If it makes you happy, then it’s worth it.”

After starting her own line with partner Sophie Buhai, she certainly got over the fear.

“Being too serious about fashion really bogs it down in my opinion. They’re clothes, they’re meant to be fun! Levity is a really important quality in dressing,” says Mayock.

This isn’t exactly the sense of style one can easily give tips on or package and sell in a magazine. This is the stuff individuality is made of.

Vogue Editor-In-Chief, Anna Wintour

Our billion-dollar fashion industry is built on the concept that women need to be told what to wear because industry experts know best. What do fashion magazine editors know? Apparently, how to sell some really expensive clothes. If an item makes it into the pages of Vogue, it will sell out immediately. Meanwhile, make note that even though she’s pimping how to get the newest look to those who wish to remain en vogue, Anna Wintour has had the same iconic haircut for the past 20 years.

I asked Eviana Hartman, a former Vogue stylist, and now sustainable designer behind the line Bodkin, what her take is on buying beautiful things.

Eviana Hartman of Bodkin

“I really try not to accumulate too much stuff, for sustainability reasons and also because I am already overwhelmed by trying to get dressed. I worked in fashion magazines long enough to see so many bright, clever, beautiful, must-have wearable objects come in and out, racks and racks of it each day, to know better than to get attached to anything,” says Hartman. “I would look at Grace Coddington, who works with these things all day, and wears basic black turtlenecks and pants. I like a little more personal expression than that, but I’d rather spend substantial money on, say, furniture, or a vacation. I really only buy things if I know I’ll wear them a ton. And I’m more likely to go with what might be considered ‘overpriced’ for a subtle, amazing vintage military men’s mesh T-shirt in the perfect oversized fit (as I did yesterday) than, say, an it bag. I hate it bags!”

I’d wager the reason Hartman hates “it bags” so much is because of the tired marketing strategies behind selling them. These bags are meaningless even to the icons associated with them, and yet millions of women buy into the dream the bag has to offer.

Take for instance, the Birkin Bag.

Jane Birkin was photographed carrying a basket more often than carrying the “it bag” that was named after her.

The concept of “icon” gets thrown around a lot in fashion as something to aspire to. But icons aren’t made up of clothes or accessories that can be bought or sold. They’re made up of the lives lived by the individuals who end up being labeled “iconic.” In fashion, you see images of icons offered with tips on how to copy the look which seems impossibly contradictory. You can’t imitate an icon. They stand out in a crowd because of who they are, not because of what they’re wearing.

Hartman gives some insight into how it feels to recognize being different.

“I definitely feel different from the vast majority of people, maybe it’s alienation, and I guess I like to choose items or combinations of items that don’t look like things I’m accustomed to seeing,” she says. “But I’m quiet and don’t like being the subject of a lot of attention, so I do this in a subtle way, not a ‘look at me, I’m quirky’ way.”

We all have it in us to become true icons if we choose. Cultivating and experimenting with our individual spirits through personal style is always just waiting to be tapped. Do you have it in you?

Image: elle.com, Huffington Post, NY Magazine, les anti-modernes

The post Are You A Style Icon? appeared first on EcoSalon.

The reaction to this series by women of all ages via social media has been really amazing. When EcoSalon introduced it two weeks ago, launching with Americana Couture designer and author Natalie Chanin, fashion writer and textile artist Abigail Doan, Owyn Ruck of Brooklyn’s Textile Arts Center as well as occupational therapist and FiftyRX3 writer Jill Danyelle, many people either wrote to us at the site or commented via Twitter and Facebook. Among some of the reactions, the series is being used as reading material for knitting groups; while others have expressed that without the ability to sit quietly and use their hands, they’d need to jump back on anxiety medications.

Maybe there’s something to all this handiwork?

How it all began: When I came across this blog entry from sustainable designer and writer Natalie Chanin, it not only piqued my perception of the positive effects of “women’s work,” but it brought to light a real aspect of how using our hands to do meaningful tasks can benefit our overall health and well being.

Chanin cites neuroscientist Kelly Lambert, author of Lifting Depression:

“Lambert shows how when you knit a sweater or plant a garden, when you prepare a meal or simply repair a lamp, you are bathing your brain in feel-good chemicals and creating a kind of mental vitamin. Our grandparents and great grandparents, who had to work hard for basic resources, developed more resilience against depression; even those who suffered great hardships had much lower rates of this mood disorder. But with today’s overly-mechanized lifestyle, we have forgotten that our brains crave the well-being that comes from meaningful effort.”

With the sustainable stretching out of the fashion movement, there’s been a serious harking back to the glory of heritage and craft and designers with good ears are listening. And well they should with generations strong of everything from indigenous artisans to Depression Era stitchers coming out of the woodwork to teach, inspire and pass on before the knowledge is lost. Designers are listening and incorporating these aged techniques and making them fresh, new and revolutionary.

A designer with those aforementioned “good ears,” is the last member of our series. Titania Inglis designs a line of minimalist-inspired clothing made of experimental constructions and functional details. Her third collection “References vintage glamor via geometric forms created through bias cuts, origami pleating, and ingenious seaming. A sleeveless dress reverses from a prim suit dress to a low-backed mod frock, while diagonal-seamed dresses approach the ideal of zero waste.”

Titania Inglis in her studio

Inglis lives and designs and rides her vintage bicycle everywhere in Brooklyn, and chronicles her adventures and misadventures in the fashion world on her blog, Fade to Green.

Regarding the importance of using her own hands to design, to communicate and ultimately, to achieve sharp mental clarity, she has much to say.

“A lot of people outside the fashion industry don’t seem to realize that all clothes are made by hand, to varying degrees. Yet from the initial sketches, to selecting fabrics, to draping and cutting and sewing and fitting a garment, every step requires the human touch. Sewing machines don’t run themselves, as anyone who’s ever tried to use one can attest!

It was the hands-on nature of clothing design that drew me to it, for reasons I couldn’t fully articulate as a young woman. I set out to become a graphic designer, but within weeks of starting design school, I realized that I found infinitely more satisfaction in creating a physical object with my hands. Fabric, with its drape and heft and texture, and clothing, so intimately interacting with the human body, were perfectly tactile, and perfect for hands-on work.”

Swatches from dye tests for the Titania Inglis collection

The designer continues: “For me, design begins with the materials. I drape most of my pieces by hand as a way to explore what the fabric wants to do, what directions it wants to go and what shapes it can make. In my designs, every seam needs to justify its existence, every cut in the fabric serves a specific purpose, and I find my way there by hand, by draping and pinning and snipping and marking each pattern piece, one at a time until I have a complete garment.”

Inglis says there is rich satisfaction in every step of the process: “When I’ve successfully draped a piece so it sits just so, when a pattern is beautiful in and of itself, and finally in seeing the finished piece and how it moves on the body. I often go through three or four muslins per piece, pinning and re-fitting and sometimes re-draping an entire garment until I’m satisfied that everything is right with it: the fit, the proportion, the details.”

Titania Inglis’ Studio

One showroom rep commented recently told Inglis her line was “so simple and yet so complex.” Reflecting upon this, Inglis observes, “I think that’s a reflection of the work I put into refining each piece. My work process is almost meditative; I come into my studio, prepare myself a steaming mug of green tea, cut off a length of fresh muslin, and I’m ready to go, completely cut off from the world outside. When I really get going, I can work for hours on a piece, late into the night, snipping through the fabric and feeding lengths of fabric into the eager sewing machine to create a muslin, then fitting and pinning and re-working it until it’s perfect.

I love clothing design for its communicative and aesthetic possibilities, but also very much for the craft of it. Many designers prefer to simply hand off sketches to a pattern maker, but for me, the process is the design. It feels a bit pompous to talk about the integrity of the piece and purity of form, but those are qualities I strive for, and I really can only get there with my own two hands.”

Image: supersonicphotos

The post Using Your Hands to Soothe the Brain: Part 3 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Oh yes she did send us this picture for her giveaway!

We love Gretchen in all her Project Runway glory and were more than happy to have her reach out to us for this week’s giveaway.

Many of you may not know but Gretchen is currently the only sustainable designer on Project Runway and not only supports local manufacturing and sustainable fabrics for her line Mothlove, but is also using end run fabrics on the show whenever possible. Having limited time when contestants are set to buy fabric at Mood during the show, you may understand the challenges she faces staying as consistent as she wants to be.

Her Pearl Crescent blouse is made from low impact, hand dyed, locally sourced silk and is versatile enough to wear with pencil skirts and heels or torn jeans and sneakers.

Says Gretchen of the blouse: “It’s worthy of a love affair – dress up or down, layer in any season…you’ll be lucky if it ever makes it on a hanger in your closet! Meant to be loved, it’s surely my favorite piece.”

Think it could be one of yours? Well, leave a comment below to try and if you just want to cut to the chase and buy one out right, you can go here, too.

(Legalese: contest rules and FTC compliance.)

The post Gretchen Jones’ Pearl Crescent Blouse Giveaway appeared first on EcoSalon.

As Fashion Editor of EcoSalon and owner of an eco-boutique I talk to a lot of designers. This was my first time going to Market Week in NYC as both and it was as thrilling as it was tiring.

Market Week, if you haven’t been, is where clothing designers worldwide show their seasonal collections in New York City. Buyers from stores large and small come here to buy what best represents their brand. It is a tough, tedious job and forges a deeper appreciation for the fashion industry beyond hitting the shops with a girlfriend to check out the newest duds.

D&A, Coterie, Train, NOW Showcase and two individual appointments in studios kept my boutique partner, Amanda, and I busy as devil’s advocates representing an eco-boutique. (I admit, it surprised me how many people raised their eyebrows when we said that.)

Since we knew we’d really have to grill the designers about their knowledge of their lines for our eco-minded purposes, we anticipated this process was going to be a hard pill to swallow for some.

We were right.

If the price is too low, somebody’s getting paid to make it with rice.

On at least three occasions when we asked eco-designers why their price was so low, they didn’t have a real answer except, “We just like to keep the prices low.”

One designer in particular, looming over me at 6’2″ in her super chunky platform heels, couldn’t offer me much in terms of information and fumbled with sheets of paper as I inquired. Her heavily made-up eyes and fierce Frankenstein eyebrows finally communicated the message loud and clear: get the hell out of her booth. (I’m not kidding about the eyebrows.)

But cheers to my two new favorite eco-designers, Ethos and Toggery, who seem to keep it all in balance, designing truly beautiful pieces as well as producing at amazing prices. I’ll be telling you their fantastic stories soon – can’t wait.

Some eco-designers think just tossing up a sign that says you’re a sustainable designer makes you part of the eco pack.

Note to designers: one organic piece out of many does not an eco brand make. Thank goodness my partner and I scrutinized each and every label to make sure we stood by our boutique mission, which is to sell 100% sustainable materials. 10% soy and 90% conventional cotton? Thanks, but no thanks.

A caveat, though. I actually believe a compromise like that is fine if you’re just starting out with eco manufacture, because it takes time to learn and test. But for experienced designers, claiming eco status when you’re really not is just greenwash. (I wish I had the cojones to name names.)

To that point: Evolving into a sustainable designer is not a bad thing!

In one vendor’s booth (many of you would recognize the label) they’d pushed all their eco-apparel into a corner that was being dripped on from a malfunction in the ceiling. When asked about the eco-friendly part of their line, they were timid to show us what they had. Sensing their embarrassment, we walked away.

Highlights?

– Meeting Howard Brown of Stewart & Brown and getting to hear about his and his partner’s (Karen Stewart) passion for their line. And the fact that they were actually there instead of letting reps do all the hard work!

– Meeting Doucette Duvall in their studio and their offer to search remnant fabrics for us to create the pieces in their line that are not yet eco because they “love going on a hunt.” (Hunt more, ladies, and make it all eco!)

– Meeting Kate D’Arcy of Toggery, who designs from the perspective that every woman deserves to wear sustainably designed clothes made in the U.S. (that means beautiful and fairly priced).

– Learning from the ever-exuberant Celeste Lilore of Restore Clothing just how the plastics used in her line are recycled and made into fibers with touch bowls and great literature.

– Meeting the one and only Starre Vartan, founder of Eco Chick, editor of Greenopia and author of The Eco-Chick Guide To Life. Thanks to all her great social media head shots, she was easily identified.

– Eating as much delicious ethnic food as possible.

– Sitting and spending time with eco-designers I love and support.

I write all this and wonder if it’s interesting to you, this behind-the-scenes detail. I hope it is. I want you to understand how much work goes into those shops you love. All those online eco-boutique shop owners were there in the throes of Market, picking out some really great things for you.

You see, it’s not just a shopping free-for-all. They’re personal shopping for you.

Image: The Train New York

The post To Market, to Market, to Market We Go appeared first on EcoSalon.