Suit Yourself - Ethical Swimwear by Mollusk, Prana, Patagonia, and Seea

Northern California is notorious for its frigid waters and strong currents; so while our beaches are great for surfing, they're not so inviting to the casual swimmer. In fact Jon, an East Coaster-turned NorCal-er, doesn't believe me when I tell him that you can actually get in the water in San Diego without a wetsuit. Guess I'll just have to prove him wrong with a little jaunt down south this summer. 

Whether your swimming plans this season include ocean, river, pool, or hot tub, here are a few ethical swimwear options to keep on your radar (from top left):  PATAGONIA KUPALA TOP & SUNAMEE BIKINI BOTTOMS - Made ethically and sustainably in Columbia; you can read more about the suit's impact by checking out Patagonia's Footprint Chronicles / PRANA ALEKA TOP & SAYHA BOTTOM -  Made using sustainable materials; you can read more about Prana's commitment to conscientious manufacturing here / MOLLUSK SURF SHOP SALIDITA ONE-PIECE - Made in California / SEEA CAPITOLA BIKINI TOP & BOTTOMS- Made in California / MOLLUSK ATOLL BIKINI - Made in California / MOLLUSK SURF SHOP HOLLY BIKINI - Made in California

Made in Maui: Love from the Islands

After the horror of hurricane Sandy and the dreary drizzle here in the Bay Area (I know, tiny violin), I thought it would be fitting to revive this long-hibernating blog with a little tropical escapism.

My now-official-partner-in-crime and I spent our honeymoon on the island of Maui enjoying spectacular sunsets, remote winding highways, tranquil beaches, and boutique-perusing (ok, the last one might have been more of a solo activity). Here's a quick look at some of the gems the island had to offer: 

Shopping in Paia, Maui

In this laid-back little beach town I found Biasa Rose, a boutique with a great selection of  eco- and socially-conscious brands and handmade goods (there's also a second-hand section hiding in the back). After finally breaking down and deciding to buy a pair of TOMS, I picked up this lovely hand-printed clutch by Palapala Designs:

And in spite being completely unnecessary in Maui's balmy climate, this soft and cozy cream-colored scarf knit by Fiorella of Krochet Kids International caught my eye.

I love the modelbehind the company, which provides women in northern Uganda and Peru with employment, training, and education to offer a pathway out of poverty. The website includes a "meet the ladies" section with a profile of each artist, and encourages you to write a thank-you note to the woman who created your hat or scarf. It may seem simple, but enabling that personal connection to a product is pretty powerful, making each accessory so much more meaningful than something generated en masse. I know I'll be thinking about Fiorella (and the presumably adorable alpaca who provided the wool) when donning my scarf on those chilly San Francisco mornings.

Around Town: Snapshots

Ethical Shopping Lowdown (so far)

Or: Why is he UK so much cooler than us?

Ok, I’ll be honest, it’s been several years since I’ve taken the time to really look into the fair trade clothing options out there (i.e., spend hours online, hopped up on caffeine, traipsing from link to link). Since my college days –which were the last in which I had that much free time—I’ve been shopping at Crossroads, Buffalo, and, I’ll admit, a lot of H&M, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie. I obviously didn’t feel great about the last four, but I needed low-cost, professional clothing (I’m talking Anthropologie sale rack here), and honestly thought that my fair trade options were still limited to American Apparel and Global Exchange. So I ended up teaching high school in the same Forever 21 sweaters that my 9^th graders owned, swathed in chintzy gold necklaces and short-lived nylons that helped me maintain a veneer of being “put together.”

Well, summer is here, and while I usually teach part-time, this season I’m a free agent. Which leaves time for lots of side projects, like putting together outfit collages (teenage closet style) using only ethical options. Every day I’m finding more and more aggregate sites, recommendations of fellow bloggers, and indie labels. The thing is, the majority of the brands that offer a large selection at affordable prices (the kind of thing you look for at larger companies like Target and F21), are all out of Europe and more specifically the UK. This is awesome! However, it makes me wonder why the same thing isn’t happening in the US. American Apparel and its brethren are doing some good things, but, as I’ve said before, most of it is not wearable for work or non-FlashDance-themed parties. Other independent, fair trade labels exist, but are crazy expensive (we’re talking $70 for a jersey tank top, minimum). So for those of us who are not independently wealthy and/or actually majored in something marketable, our options are still very limited (and don’t even get me started on how limited healthy food and clothing options are for people who are legitimately below the poverty line – that’s another rant).

But back to Europe. One of the companies I was very surprised to see on a list of fair trade companies (via the UK’s Fair Trade Foundation), was Tesco. Obviously I’m not a Brit, and my schema is very Cali-centric, but I always thought of Tesco as the Walmart of the UK. And indeed, their site features some cringe-inducingly tacky stuff (“Drama Queen” nighty, anyone?). But there are definitely some wearable items, and their prices are great, even after the weakened US dollar is factored in. Additionally, they include information about their sourcing practices, something you would never find on Target’s website.

Which begs the question: why don’t we see this kind of transparency from most US companies? Of course there’s the simplistic anti-establishment answer: “Duh. US Corporations are evil, profit-seeking power mongers who don’t care about humans because they aren’t humans.” This is probably true, to a degree. But these corporations still want our money. And I wonder how long it will be until demand for ethically made goods will be strong enough to catalyze changes at the corporate level. Small changes have already happened – you see far more organic foods at places like Walmart and Target (although these labels are highly unregulated -- but again, that’s another rant). As the documentary Food, Inc. points out, Walmart's switch to organic dairy products was purely a result of consumer demand. Now I know there is all kinds of potential for the term “ethical” to be exploited and misrepresented at the corporate level, but it would be nice to at least see more of a demand for it. And it can’t all come from New York, the Bay Area, Austin, Portland, and all those other liberal, blissful bubbles.

Anyway, stay tuned as I continue to educate myself on the history, vocabulary, and availability of ethical goods. The more I learn, the harder it is to tune out. Hopefully, this will be the case for our country as a whole soon enough.

I Wanna Wanna Be/ Sweatshop Free

It’s rough out there for the ethical fashionista. I can’t count how many variations on “sweatshop free + non-sucky + non-American Apparel + clothing” I’ve Googled over the last 10 years, and I’m still waiting for that lottery ticket/inheritance/best-seller that will allow me to start my own line.

Keep in mind, is a fair ammount of sweatshop free clothing online, and National Green Pages has a listing of over 100 clothing companies that are organic, sustainable, and/or use fair labor practices. Problem is, most of them look like this:

or this:

or this:

There may have been a brief moment in college when I would have considered the latter, but I don't particularly want to scream to the world “NO ANIMALS OR HUMANS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS GARMENT.” I would rather look classic, professional, and stylish while coincidentally wearing responsible clothing. I’m not a huge American Apparel fan, for reasons I’ll detail below, but I do realize that they’re on to a good thing. I also realize that Europe is way ahead of the curve when it comes to such things (unfortunately, it can be hard to find these brands in/ have them shipped to the US).

But I continue to look.

So, keeping style, quality, and frugality in mind, here’s a breakdown of the options I’ve found so far:

American Apparel – In spite of their creepy, slightly porn-ish ads and the sexist escapades of Dov Charney, American Apparel still manages to offer decently-priced basics and an ever-expanding repertoire of short shorts. Quality is rather…meh. Most of their stuff is very thin cotton/ jersey without much attention to cut, but they're good for basics like sweatshirts, socks, and the like.

Alternative Apparel: Also offers the basics (sweaters, tees, loungewear, etc), but with fewer options than AA. They seem to be on the right track, but still only cater to the very casual (there are very few items you could wear to work or out on the town). I do own a few Alternative Apparel sweaters, and I must say that the quality far surpasses that of American Apparel. So if you’re looking for long-lasting basics, give your money to a company with better ethics (not to mention better web design).

Stop Staring! Vintage Inspired Fashion: Made in Los Angeles and female-owned and operated, Stop Staring offers a ton of vintage styles including dresses, skirts, blouses, and capri pants. Many of the styles are too theatrical (or too form-fitting) for everyday wear, and you certainly need to embrace the rockabilly/ burlesque look at least a little bit to feel comfortable in them. That said, they have some very cute options. I own two of their dresses, and both have enjoyed plenty of use at parties and other formal occasions.

Heartbreaker Fashion: To the same tune as Stop Staring, this LA-based boutique offers adorable vintage inspired dresses, skirts, knit tops, sweaters, bathing suits, and accessories. I only stumbled upon Heartbreaker recently, but it is way cleaner and easier to navigate than Stop Staring’s SEO nightmare. Heartbreaker’s styling is all very rockabilly (not really my thing anymore), but they have some very cute basics (halter dresses, pencil skirts, blazers) that would be fantastic for work or a classy evening out. I’m a fan of this houndstooth pencil skirt:

Cute!

Crossroads/ Buffalo Exchange/ other consignment stores: Of course these are always great options – they offer gently-used, reasonably priced items and often feature some great labels. But they also circumvent the ideals of the sweatshop-free movement. Almost all of these items at one point came from stores that use sweatshop labor. In fact, I’m seeing more and more H&M and Forever 21 items appearing at Crossroads and Buffalo (these are almost always the cheapest, too, at about $5 to $7 a pop). On the one hand, it’s great that these flimsy items are getting a second life instead of ending up in the back of one’s closet or, worse, a landfill. On the other, we’re still encouraging unfair labor practices by demanding them in resale form. Not that I have any room to talk here – plenty of items in my closet sport a F21 label – but also I don’t think it’s a good idea to get to start patting ourselves on the back for scoring cheaper versions of already cheap shit. It’s a good alternative, but certainly not a solution.

Conclusion: I’ve scoured many a “green” directory and fashion blog, and have yet to find a solid directory of reasonably-priced, responsible clothing. So, among other things, that is one of my goals with this here bloggy. Let the fashion adventure begin!