Our Spring Shopping Guide: Chic & Green

It finally feels like spring and it's time to put away our winter coats and get ready for the warm, sunny days. But if you have yet gotten the chance to update your spring and summer wardrobe, here are some of our picks that are as eco-friendly as is tres chic! Looking fabulous and helping our earth has never been easier.

Camilla Norrback Valerie Striped Dress, $200

100% organic cotton

 Loomstate Newport Trench, $260

100% Organic Cotton

H&M Garden Collection No. 15 , $39.95

           Lutz & Patmos Desmond Tutu Guest Designer Sweater, $425

100% Organic Cotton

Bodkin Equinox Dress , $379

Edun Ziggy One Piece, $345

100% silk

       American Apparel Organic Summer Dress , $39

     100% organic baby rib cotton

Organic Boxy Tee in Blush, $75

100% organic cotton

Blake Hamster Pop Life Shirt, 150 €

78% cotton, 22% seacell

                                                  

Loyale's Emily Necklace, $398

100% reclaimed gold chain & vintage chandelier crystals

Naya's Blaze Yellow Leather Wedge, $125

chrome-free leather and recycled cork

 

Forestbound's Basic Recycled Canvas Tote Bag, $58

100% recycled canvas salvaged from a WWII era military duffel bag

 

Barney's Large Organic Travel Hobo, $675
organic canvas

"This Just in From Vivienne Tam..."

via: Zimbio

As mentioned in our last blog post, the integration of fashion and technology is inevitable and happening now. One of our readers brought Vivienne Tam's latest collaboration with Monster Cable to our attention and we wanted to share it with the rest of you. With her previous collaboration with HP, Ms. Tam is not new to the idea of fashion technology.

With more information coming up this February during NY Fashion Week, the designer and Monster Cable will be introducing a limited edition headphone product made especially for the stylish women who want to truly express themselves and their personal taste. Recognizing that music and fashion go hand in hand, Ms. Tam quotes, "Fashion and music give you a different journey, different world and experiences of life. Music gives my design movement and rhythm. I dance with my designs. Double Happiness."

We're thrilled to hear about this collaboration and will keep you updated once we find out more information. And of course, we always love receiving suggestions from our readers. If you have anything you want to share, please don't hesitate to email us!

For the people, by... Adidas? The €1 shoe.

Having already pioneered the simplified 7-piece sneaker for their edgy eco-spin-off, SLVR, Adidas would seem like an excellent candidate to make the $100 computer of footwear: the €1 shoe. Toms Shoes are currently at the forefront of ethical footwear; but fresh off last year's scandal over underpaid workers at its Chinese factories, Adidas is looking to rehabilitate its image, and a charity shoe project could be just the thing.

Based in Bangladesh, the project would benefit that nation's poor by creating new jobs, as well as a product people just might be able to afford. Adidas would keep prices down by selling the shoe at cost, but no promises on the price just yet: €1 is "more of a concept," according to the company, and could change as the project develops. Following hot on the heels of the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car, this shoe seems to be the latest in a string of products targeted at third-world consumers. Slightly more expensive than the free shoes being given away by Toms, it does give the world's poor one more option for protecting their feet.

At least, as long as they have the equivalent of $1.48 to spend: as of 2005, 880 million people were still living on less than $1 a day, and 80% of the world's population was living on less than $10 a day. On those budgets, free is still sounding pretty darn good.

Cream via PSFK

Designers to watch: Toms Shoes

The phenomenon started with an ingeniously simple concept: For each pair of shoes purchased, another pair would be given to a child in need. The design was equally simple: a unisex canvas slip-on crafted with a folded toe, so the fabric didn't even need to be molded into shape. Based in easygoing Venice, CA, Toms Shoes spread like wildfire through the bleeding-heart San Francisco Bay Area, across the country, and abroad to places like Japan, Finland, and New Zealand.

At $44 for a basic style, the shoes won't break the bank, and unlike similarly priced Vans or Converse, it's a feel-good purchase, a no-brainer in an era of guilt-ridden shopping. This year, the company debuted its first shoe with — imagine — laces. And now, Toms is going high-end: their glittery holiday collection, priced at $78 to $125, will be sold at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. No word yet on whether the needy child also gets a pair of sparkly silver Toms for each pair of sparkly silver Toms sold!

Wool and the Gang (Paris)

For designers and retailers, the inherent problem with the do-it-yourself trend is, what do you sell? Well, Paris-based Wool and the Gang has come up with an ingenious solution: these ultramodern knit-it-yourself kits, which come with needles, instructions, and luscious Peruvian wool yarns to be made into scarves, hats, or legwarmers in the season's hottest colors: for this fall, that's gray, teal, and purple, if you were wondering. For summer, there are vests, tanks, and boho shoulder bags in Pima cotton. Each kit also comes with a pair of pun-tastic patches so customers can customize their hand-knit pieces — and advertise for Wool and the Gang, of course — in '80s high style.