Fighting Fashionista

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about slow fashion. If you’re familiar with the slow food movement then you probably know what I’m talking about. Fewer items, higher quality. Less H&M, more couture. There are lots of benefits to this sartorial approach: in the long run you spend less money, you’re consuming less so you’re kinder to the earth, and my favorite part is you choose your clothing more wisely, and therefore fine tune your look. You get more creative with combinations and accessories because you have to repurpose items more often.

But let’s be honest, the term “retail therapy” exists for a reason. We like the hunt and the satisfaction of bringing home pretty bags filled with lovely garments. On Saturday, I found a place where you can get a little of both worlds: Thread Lounge, a permanent sample sale. The owner, Colleen Schmidt, has two permanent stores in San Francisco and Palo Alto in California. She also has an amazing traveling sample sale that sets up shop all over the country. The store carries some of my favorite brands, like Mint by Jodi Arnold, Vivienne Westwood and Alice and Olivia. And they have a fantastic selection of $99 jeans. On Saturday they had gorgeous chashmere blanket-style sweaters very similar to the one I ordered from ShopBop with my $500 in prize winnings, but they were more than half off that price at $240. Hm, do I return the one I ordered, buy the less expensive sweater and get something else (like maybe these awesome boots) with my $500? Quel dilemma.

But I digress. My point is, you won’t find cheaply made bargains a la Forever 21 at Thread Lounge. But you will find high-end, sturdily-made indy brands, and maybe instead of just one item, you can afford two. You get your retail therapy without feeling dirty later.

You might think that during an economic downturn, women would be headed to Banana Republic for staples designed to last a lifetime. But of course you would be wrong because anytime someone writes a sentence like that, it’s wrong! What women actually seem to be attracted to are shiny, sparkly, seemingly impractical things, according to this story at JC Report. It makes sense when you think about it. Personally I want more bang from my buck when I buy something now, and that doesn’t mean something with boring longevity. It means something with impact. Like sequin leggings! Impractical? Perhaps. Satisfying? Definitely.

(Leggings by Les Chiffonniers)

I’m in love with Hayden Harnett’s Mercer bag and with the fact that it’s on sale for $146. That’s for the “tango red” color; the “yam” (orange) is just $126 (originally $273). HH bags are exceptionally well made. I’ve never regretted a purchase from them, and I’ve made far to many for my husband’s taste.

Another reason why I love Lucky magazine: they dig up things like this, an awesome bag from an unlikely source with an unbelievable price tag. Source: web site that sells guns (dixiegunworks.com). Price: $179.

If you’re in the San Francisco area, you must check out the Goldenbleu sale tonight. I went to the last one, and that’s why I’m grounded from going to this one. Goldenbleu’s shoes and bags aren’t eco, unfortunately, but they are damn gorgeous, and you’re guaranteed to have a new favorite item that has longevity. And buying things that you’ll love and want to keep for a long time, rather than thinking of clothing as disposable, is earth-loving behavior, n’est-ce pas? This has been your public service shopping rationalization for July 30, 2008, thank you!

I just found this adorable bamboo top by Pamplemosses on StyleHive. I would, of course, wear it with pants. But I love the swooping back and the pattern around the bottom. Plus, pamplemousse is my favorite foreign word, and the brand is a cute play on the Frenchy word for grapefruit. I also love the off-the-shoulder tee — I love an exposed shoulder — on their site (see below). The brand doesn’t have a ton of outlets (you can buy this shirt here on sale for $66), but when I emailed their info

address about where to buy their garments, they promptly returned a very nice email saying they could ship whatever I wanted directly to me, and even send me pics of their new Fall line, which isn’t on the site yet (I’ll post them when I get them!)

Forever 21 has two organic cotton T-shirts, and they’re cheap! $15. Compare that to Loomstate’s $55 T-shirts (which, I hate to say it, are not as soft as F21’s). F21 says their (really cute, check out the cheetah one too) T’s were “inspired by the Planet Earth television series,” (which rocked, did you see those wild dogs work that crazy formation? and that shark just mow on that poor seal? What a showboat, right? He couldn’t just eat the poor thing, he had to launch himself completely out of the water and down it in one mouthful!) so points for F21 even though their sales people are not helpful and shopping there makes me feel like I should report directly to Leisure World.

Steve & Barry’s, the insanely inexpensive ($9 dresses) retail chain that sells Jessica Parker’s line, demands ethical practices from its subcontractors, according to a New York Times story published yesterday. How is it possible that a $9 dresses were not made in a sweatshop by 11-year-olds in Bangladesh? The article quoted the owners of the billion-dollar company, Steve Shore and Barry Prevor as well as “chief partnership officer,” who it seems would be responsible if Barry and Steve found themselves in a Kathy Lee Gifford-style debacle. Prevor said the key is the razor-thin profit margins.

No eco lines yet, but it can only be a matter of time. And my excuse for not previously knowing anything about Steve & Barry’s was that they don’t have a story in San Francisco. But, alas, they do indeed.

I have so many happy things to blog about I didn’t know where to start. So here’s an arbitrary item: eco-conscious designer Rogan Gregory is creating a line for Target! He heads up Edun, Loomstate and Rogan. An inexpensive eco-line answers my complaint that eco-friendly clothing is too damn expensive. The clothes will cost between $15 and $45. Nice. Here’s hoping the clothes are too. These shorts will come no where near my body. But I heart the sweatshirt and all tops with off-shoulder potential.

If you’re lucky enough to be in NYC May 9-11 or in L.A. May 16-19, you can check out the line at Barneys. A press release says: “This event marks the first time a mega American retail powerhouse will clear merchandise on their floor to feature a collection from an affordable mass retailer.” Well, hot damn! The line will be available at Target starting May 18 in honor of my birthday, natch. I’ll be in Paris celebrating and doing Pilates, but when I return it’s straight from Charles de Gaulle to Tar-zhay, which is somehow appropriate.

I feel kind of like an alcoholic who constantly finds herself in a bar. You might notice I used passive voice there. That’s to avoid taking responsibility for myself.

I’m in beautiful Pennsylvania as usual for the holidays, where we all have a friend. I flew into JFK, then drove to the little PA town where I grew up. On the way, I passed by a seductive collection of outlets called The Crossings in the Poconos. The prices amazing, and on top of that there is NO TAX ON CLOTHING in Pennsylvania. I just wanted Christmas presents for my mom and grandmother. An innocent endeavor! But soon I am faced with JCrew, Cole Haan, Burburry, Adidas and all manner of stores that make me wanty. I went to JCrew for a gift for my husband, but ended up getting one or five other things for myself. They had this here silk dress i coveted in the summer catalog, and yellow pants that will be fantastic on my next vacation! But everything is made in China and they don’t use organic cotton. I’m not even beating myself up as much as I should, because I really like the stuff I got. I’m just sayin, it’s not easy trying to be green when you are: 1. female, 2. in close proximity to very cheap eco-enemy clothing, 3. in a state that does not tax clothing.

Organic Bouquet, which sells sustainable and organically grown flowers, bought the brand Organic Style, and now have launched OrganicStyle.com (is it me or are they using the same logo as the old magazine?) selling, in addition to flowers, gourmet food, gifts for gardeners and nature lovers, bed and bath products and — drumroll — apparel.

If my former favorite magazine had to be reincarnated in this way, I won’t complain too much. It might even be a handy site for holiday shopping.

Hopefully others will think so too. The design and navigation of the site is not bad, but clothing is not presented in the most compelling manner. Two sections, “designerwear” and “sportswear” are divided into “collections 1, 2, 3″ and so on. They could have gotten a little more creative. And the designerwear is a pretty yawn-inducing. I prefer the sportswear section.

They have what they say is the “the first-ever, natural and sustainable bamboo cotton Lycra velour,” which the pants here are made of. I’d rather spend my money on these rather than help Juicy sell yet another velour sweatsuit. Plus, these have a birdie. I believe strongly that JUICY should not appear on anyone’s ass, and that goes double if rhinestones are involved.

The wine in the gift baskets is even organic: McFadden, which although I’ve never tasted it gets a pretty good review on this blog.

Anyhoozle, the site stamps items with a standard: organic, fair trade, eco-friendly, and Veriflora for the flowers. The eco-friendly category is a bit weak, but overall I give the site an A for effort.

I was in Manhattan staying at the uber-modern Hotel QT, heading out to breakfast when a fantastically stylish woman entered my elevator wearing a pair of gorgeous shoes: platform sandals in a buttery, orangey leather, with a hint of glinting gold.

Let me pause my story for a moment to say that I always try to increase my cool quotient when I go to New York, like, leave a little of my San Francisco “I HEART EVERYONE” attitude at home. I am never successful.

“OhmygodILoveYourShoes!” I exclaimed. Luckily she was completely friendly. (I actually have encountered very few Devil Wears Prada-esque women in Manhattan, and I have spent time in the Conde Nast building.) But her reply was beyond my wildest dreams: “They’re on sale on the second floor!”

Now how often does a fabulous sale come to you? I think we all know what happened next. The Loeffler Randall’s were mine, and for only $140… even better than the sale at Pink Mascara. Original price: $395. And they were made in Italy where I refuse to believe there are sweatshops. Oh and if you order them from Pink Mascara, I’d go a size up. I consistently wear 6.5, and the 7.5s fit me perfectly.

One or two of you might be thrilled to hear this news. Or mildly interested. Anyway, after only six hours of wrangling with Word Press, here we are! I won’t talk about how my husband deleted the database to my previous blog and how psyched I was about that.

Do you like my star? I really, really love it. However, I wish the title bar were not so tall. I’ll work on that. Anyhoo, are we all excited to talk fashion? I know I am! I spent a lot of money on clothes this month and my husband’s not happy about it, but he deleted my blog so we’re even. (Hmm may have to rethink, he alto helped me build this one. Darnit!) Here’s one thing I bought for our vacation in Miami, just to kick off post number one on Fighting Fashionista part deux. Max Studio is having a fantastic sale on summery dresses. How cute and beachy is this? Was $198, now $88. The sleeves can get hot in 90-degree weather, but it’s O.K. at night and in the A.C. Max Studio dresses tend to be quite forgiving, too. I actually took a small in most of them, which totally made my day even if it was a lie. It’s really cute in black too.