I’m so excited to present this guest post today by Brad from Commerce with a Conscience. I don’t do much shopping for men’s fashion items – my fiance isn’t interested in fashion, or shopping outside of Macy’s – so I asked Brad if he would do a simple post on Men’s ethical fashion to get some ideas on what’s out there. I love the look he put together – so perfect for Fall….
Aimed towards a new generation of socially conscious, yet aesthetically minded, men, Commerce with a Conscience (CwaC) is focused on stylish, affordable, sustainably and ethically produced men’s clothing and accessories. Striving to dispel the widely held dreadslocks / Birkenstocks / trust fund and smug sense of self satisfaction image of the modern environmentalist, CwaC highlights brands and products that make it possible to stay on-trend without any moral sacrifice, or overdrawn bank accounts. Guys can get their news from Treehugger, but take their style cues from The Sartorialist. CwaC explains how.
Clockwise from left:
-
Steven Alan Reverse Seam Organic Shirt
100% organic cotton
Made in USA
Best Price: $129.00 (PRE-SHIPPING) at Steven Alan
- ICU Eyewear Classic Recycled Reader
100% recycled lenses, frames, hinges and details
Responsibly made in Taiwan
Best Price: $22.95 (PRE-SHIPPING) at ICU Eyewear
- Kuyichi Caddy Cardi
100% organic cotton
Fair Trade made in Hong Kong
MADE BY trackable
Best Price: ~ $132.00* (SHIPPED) at Adili
*Price is listed in Pounds, so the exact cost will be dependent on the day’s exchange rates.
- Tanner Goods Waxed Canvas Tote
Eco-friendly waxed cotton
Vegetable tanned leather
Handcrafted in USA
Best price: $195.00 (SHIPPED) at Tanner Goods
- Terra Plana Wittgenstein Boot
Vegetable tanned leather uppers
Vegetable Tanned leather sole
Made in Portugal
Best price: $250.00 (SHIPPED) at Terra Plana
- Nudie Jeans Grim Tim Dry Dirt Organic
100% organic cotton
Low-impact dyes
Made in Italy
Best Price: ~ $127.00* (SHIPPED) at Dogfish
*Price is listed in Pounds, so the exact cost will be dependent on the day’s exchange rates.
Welcome to eco-beauty week at Green Grechen! All week we’ll be featuring guest posts by beauty bloggers with a special spotlight on greening your beauty routine. Today’s post is a great one to kick-off the week, featuring tips on how to choose & use eco-friendly beauty products and her own personal favorites for Fall, by Spirit Demerson, owner of Spirit Beauty Lounge (one of my favorite places to shop for eco-friendly beauty online – AND where you can save 15% with code “grechen15″)
More about Spirit:
Artist, activist and beauty school dropout, Spirit Demerson has spent many years testing, mixing, analyzing & searching for effective organic beauty products and ingredients. As a child she made her own perfumes using vanilla extract from the pantry and skin toner using fresh watermelon rind (her dads invention.) Cosmetology school was a natural choice but the lure of a modeling career beckoned and she left her native San Francisco Bay Area for NYC at the age of 18. Frustrated by the less-than-luxurious organic beauty selection available at natural foods markets and misleading labels at drugstores, she became an expert, spending hours obsessively researching ingredients, often mixing up batches of lotions and potions in her kitchen.
There are many different reasons why you may want to green your beauty routine – whether it’s out of concern for the environment, trying to avoid carcinogens and toxins for health reasons, or just trying to live a more natural lifestyle in general. One thing you must know is that up to 65% of what we put on our skin is absorbed into the bloodstream and knowing that, it’s definitely worth thinking about what we put on our skin the same way we think about what we eat. In my 10+ years in the beauty biz, I’ve come to realize that by and large, most women do care about the safety and sustainability of their cosmetics and personal care products but don’t want to have to sacrifice efficacy or even perceived luxury, to go green. At the end of the day, a product still has to perform and should still be a pleasure to use. That’s why I feel as an “eco-beauty activist”, the best way I can promote the cause is to provide a source for the best-of-the-best ethical and sustainable products out there and be an example of how the “green & glam” lifestyle has worked for me, without sacrificing a thing!
I’ve spent a lifetime using natural-based beauty products and I can tell you that today, not only are the offerings equal in quality and beauty to any conventional products, but many of them are even better; more effective, more pure, and more beautiful. So many friends, family members and now, customers, have told me that their skin and hair conditions have improved or been cured since switching to natural and organic beauty products. In my own battle with acne, I spent thousands on pharmaceuticals, prescription creams and drugstore treatments that always seemed to make my skin worse until finally starting an all-natural routine that changed my skin for life.
Cosmetic companies like Nvey Eco, RMS Beauty and Priti are proving that the killer chemicals in conventional products aren’t even necessary. You can get long-lasting, flawless results in every shade imaginable without the toxins so why wouldn’t you?! Greening your beauty routine can be fun and easy and I guarantee you’ll make the most of it with these 6 eco-beauty tips: [click to continue…]
Happy Shopping!
envi
For one week only, sale items at envi will be 50-80% off. No code is needed, but all sales are final in the “final sale” section…This organic cotton Stewart + Brown dress is still great for warmer weather, but would be so cute “winterized” with a turtleneck underneath and knee-high boots! On sale for $79:
Beklina
The sale section at Beklina features a lot of great items – some marked at least 50% off. This Lara Miller dress/top is my FAVORITE! Unfortunately, it’s only available in a small, but it’s marked down to $150 and you’re essentially getting two pieces in one.
Modify
The sale section at Modify is full of lots of great under $100 items, and here’s another great dress for Fall/Winter – the Amalia dress by Loyale, marked down to $68:
Eco-Citizen
Looks like everything is 50% off in Eco-Citizen’s sale section – I love this scoop neck cashmere-blend sweater by Same Underneath, marked down to $50:
Be sure to check the coupon codes for other deals & new coupon codes!!
I need to preface this by saying that I am a vegan (who wears leather – so take that for what it’s worth) partially because I don’t believe that humans should consume or use other animals’ milk. Cow’s milk is for calves, not for babies – or adult humans for that matter. I also don’t think that milk production – as it is engaged in now, is sustainable OR ethical. The dairy cow industry is far from angelic, and the UN states that the cattle industry is THE major contributor to the increase in greenhouse gases.
Milk Fabric dress by FIN
So keep that in mind when reading this article at the WSJ: “Style’s New Sustainable Frontier” that among other things, deals with new materials like MILK fabric and nonviolent silk.
I’m not going to get into the whole “argument” again (read my first anti-milk-silk post here), but I just have to say that I’m disappointed (again) that the “journalist” writing the story didn’t mention anything about the cattle industry’s negative environmental footprint or the ethics of forcing a dairy cow to continually produce milk (here’s how they do that).
The author does mention that fabric made from milk
frees up land that would otherwise have been used to grow cotton, a crop vilified for its intense water consumption and high pesticide use
but doesn’t also mention that (source)
Cattle-rearing is also a major source of land and water degradation
and
Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems
which in my mind kind of negates any possible benefit from “freeing up land from cotton production.”
What are your thoughts? Is milk fabric ethical & sustainable? Am I missing something?
I just returned from probably the only “vacation” or out-of-town trip I’ll get this Summer and as I wandered around shopping outside in Winter Park, FL with my dad, I tried to imagine vacationing in some exotic locale, eating wonderful food, and taking in beautiful sights. And then I started thinking about “resort” wear – you know, the usually incredibly overpriced collection designers do for the jet-setting among us – and what would be my ideal eco-friendly Summer sightseeing outfit.
But…with my budget the way it is right now, I can’t exactly afford my “fantasy” outfit, so I decided to challenge myself to put together an outfit for less than $100 (shoes, dress & bag). The “reality” outfit isn’t meant to be a cheaper version of the “fantasy” outfit (I really hate “look for less” editorials); it stands on it’s own. And I think it “stands” quite well actually!
Fantasy
I LOVE this handloomed bamboo dress by Lara Miller – it’s slinky, but not revealing, and totally practical for a day of sightseeing and lunch on some exotic tropical isle (this IS the fantasy…)
Lara Miller Dress: $305
I’m still a huge fan of metallic shoes/sandals because they act as a neutral and go with everything. I’m partial to silver (I have two pairs of silver sandals I wear all the time) and in this case, I think silver goes better with the gray tone of the dress. The sandals are vegan and by Neuaura:
Neuaura Vegan Sandals: $94
And finally, no outfit can be complete without a great bag. I really feel like this outfit begs for a handheld bag and I think this one made from recycled leather/suede by Dean is PERFECT:
Dean Handbag: $195
Reality
I am constantly praising etsy as a great place to find eco-friendly plus size fashions, but have generally neglected it as an overall eco-friendly fashion resource. No more. There are pages and pages of fabulous organic cotton sundresses by great etsy sellers, like this one by SeaOfTales. They’re not all necessarily cheaper than buying from a retail store, but some are, and nothing beats being able to work directly with the designer to get a dress made JUST for you!
SeaofTales Dress: $42
And how cute are these vegan sandals…for $19.99???
Novacas Claire Vegan Sandal: $19.99
And again, as with the outfit above, I really prefer sundresses with smaller, handheld bags, so I chose this hand-crocheted, fair trade clutch by the Autonomie Project in a bright by complimentary color to the dress:
Autonomie Project Clutch: $35
Now that I’m finished, I think I like the “reality” outfit just as much as the “fantasy” outfit…so why spend nearly $500 more??
What do you think? Got any fantasy eco-friendly pieces to share?
