Organic Girly

From trendy to simply tasty, I’ve rounded a few of my favorite, well, fashionable foods.  They pack nutritional punch and good-for-your-figure flavor so you can put the word “diet” to bed and simply call this a re-freshening lifestyle.

1: The Koolest Kind of Kombucha

If you’re a localvore, micro-brewer, artisanal, herbalist kombucha lover, you’ll fall head over heels at first sip (and if you’re anything like me—you’ll just just have to take one look at the charming bottle to fall in love) with Townshend’s Brew Dr. Kombucha.  Many call me kombucha obsessed (there’s nothing like some fermented effervescence to start your day), and I’ve never tried one that chocks up to the nuanced taste and invigorating essences of this one. 

Townshend’s Tea Shop in Portland, OR, which I gleefully visited on my last trip to the alt-Brooklyn brew scene.  

From bottle to brew, it’s simply the best.  The only catch—as of now, it’s only available in the Pacific Northwest, so if you’re not in the neighborhood, take a trip out west and load up your bags with this brown bottle magic.  Trust me, you’ll be kombucha buzzed with happiness.

2: Cheesy-with-a-kick Kale Chips

Pack in the iron, vitamins and simply delicious antioxidant goodness with these raw, crunchy bits of green wonder.  The ones I whip up and dehydrate at home are inspired by Blessings Alive kale chips.  I’ve blended their cheesy recipe with their spicy ranch concoction for a cheesy bite of habenaro spiced kale in every green crumble.  You won’t believe just how nutritious these are. 

3: Cupcakes with Compassion (and deliciousness)

In my sweet tooth world, desserts get a bad rap.  Go vegan and gluten-free with heart healthy ingredients like coconut oil and almond flour, and you’ll start to wonder if they can really taste like a true indulgence.  Naturally, the resounding answer is “Yes!”.  (Does the chocolate covering my face say anything?)  The ones I whipped up this weekend are a take on Babycakes NYCs’ Healthy Hostess Cupcakes. 

Word to the wise baker, the New York City-based bakery’s eponymous book features the same sweet delights as you’ll find in the bakery but with different ingredients and modifications, keeping their trade secrets under wrap.  All that explains why I’ve never gotten their frosting just right, so this time I whipped up another vegan buttercream frosting inspired by this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, The Daily Green.  These make it easy to enjoy every little guilt-free crumb.

{Photos compliments of—from Top to Bottom—LaJolieLune and Organic Girly  (bottom 3 pics) }

Titania Inglis, winner of this year’s Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award in Sustainable Design, gets street cred with her first New York Fashion Week show.

The show started early for Titania Inglis. Bedecked in black – lots of stylized black – guests waited upbeat, mingling behind black curtains. It was Inglis’ inaugural New York Fashion Week show, made possible by her recently announced 2012 win of the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award in Sustainable Design. It was clear that something award winning was about to take place. And, it felt as if we were part of Inglis’ cheerfully somber production. So, like good cast members we waited in the entryway of the Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, a non-profit enterprise and one of the country’s leading media art centers. 

The stage was set for Inglis’ own shade of black, uplifted and far from bleak – a seamless blend of preppy plaid and gothic darkness. It was as if two, vastly separate, high school cliques instantly merged into one, very cool and non-cliquey band of fashion mavens. So, it came as no surprise when I overhead Inglis characterize her collection as “My So Called Life all grown up.”

Street-tough models bedecked in vegetable tanned leather from a farm in France, (where they guarantee the entire cow has been used, from food to fashion), in herringbone, recycled cotton plaids, asymmetrical skirts and soft fabrics like raw Japanese silk and Cupro glided by effortlessly.

For the complete article and snapshots from the show, please visit my post on Ecosalon…

(Photos by Jennifer Barckley of Organic Girly.)

Sustainable Fashion has come so far.  Case in point, today’ presentation of The Green Shows at New York’s Mercedes Benz fashion week.  A line reminiscent of last year’s Alexander McQueen exhibit at the MET snaked around the corridor—camera crews and curious fashion mavens awaiting the show, all aglow with the green buzz. 

And buzz-worthy it was, not just for it’s “greenness” but equally for its fashion.  Julia Ragolia, Ready to Wear stylist for the show, told me, “To me it was about showing that eco fashion is fashionable.  It’s like mainstream fashion.”  Just what our fashion hungry and eco-needing world has been craving.    

Here are a few of my favorite looks, from some of my favorite eco fashion designers:

(In future posts, we’ll share the stories behind the pieces and the designers themselves—exploring their approach to sustainable design and the craft they call their own).  

Study New York: Cream combo sweater tee made of Fair Trade, artisanal Peruvian alpaca and 100% dead stock wool pants

H. Fredriksson: 100% organic alpaca cable knit sweater and digitally printed cupro lava print dress

Ajna: organic wool hand knit turtleneck and organic wool draped skirt

Luis Valenzuela: Hand woven, hand dyed organic silk dress

(All photos by Organic Girly.)

Festive, fabulous and fashion meet in three simple holiday looks.  Whatever your style, your budget or your day (and night), we’ve hand picked pieces for spreading good conscious and good cheer, in style.

From top left (clockwise): Grappe Pendant made of naturally red tento seeds ($19), the perfect little black dress—Jonano Bloom Jackie O Dress fashioned from organic bamboo ($227), Hess natur Boiled Virgin Wool Jacket ($248), Chie Mihara Ortiga vintage red booties ($385), Maggie’s Black Organic Cotton Tights ($22)

Tis the season to unfurl all fabulousness. As toasting occasions line the slots in our calendars, a single question often abounds: Oh dear, what do I wear? From office celebration to an evening of cheer, this Organic Girly has got you covered. 

More than any other time of the year, we toggle between giving and receiving, looking good and doing good—a balancing act made easier when we shop with good consciousness. From organic cotton to local production to recycled materials, you no longer have to choose. The equation is simple: Looking good + feeling good + supporting good = the best kind of good. Take a look (above and below), and see just how easy it is:

From top left (clockwise): Jonano Bloom Jackie O Dress fashioned from organic bamboo ($227), Alkemie Fern Earrings from reclaimed metal ($154), Free People Pebble Lock Waist Belt from vegetable-tanned leather ($38), The Sway Augustine Shag pouch from remnant leather ($180), Cri de Coeur Glamour Platform Pump from vegan materials ($60), Alkemie Maltese Cross Cuff made of reclaimed metal ($209)

DLC Brooklyn Muan Earrings ($85) from vintage and deadstock materials, Jonano Bloom Jackie O Dress fashioned from organic bamboo ($227), DLC Stacks Necklace made from vintage pearls and metals ($190-$230), American Apparel Opaque Pantyhose made in LA ($14), Coclico Capote black bootie consciously made in Spain ($405)


With our favorite organic black dress as your canvas, layer on pieces, mix and match these three looks and let your inner ingenuity shine. Free your spirit for a season of cheer and toast to the beauty all around. In good, festive fashion. 

Cheers + Love

For the complete post, visit my column on EcoPlum.

(Styling compliments of Organic Girly.)

New fashion book inspires and elicits fashion industry conversation.

Logo-emblazoned tote bags and clothing and Vogue magazines more than half-filled with designer ads beg to question: Does indie design still exist? With New On The Catwalk, a coffee table compilation of fresh faced designers, readers get to explore what fashion’s future looks like. Daab Books says: “The fashion newcomers are introduced with an informative portrait and a selection of images that feature the hallmarks of their creations, bringing out the stars of tomorrow and their collections onto the open runway of fame now.”

Tô Long-Nam’s first collections walk the runway

Forty designers spanning the globe fill the book’s 400-glossy pages.  Each have produced more than two collections—one gauge for “making it.” While this number by no means accounts for the volume of independent designers sending their creations down the runway and into shops each year, it’s a shimmer of hope that indie design still has a prominent place on and off the runway.

Can creativity, however, accompany success? According to Patrice Farameh, editor of New On The Catwalk and notably a publisher, not a fashion insider, “Yes,” with a few caveats. …

For the complete article please visit my post for ecosalon here, via ecosalon.com… Thank You!

Until last night, I never would have imagined dozens of happy children high on Halloween sharing a home with luxury fashion.  Therein lies the power and the principle of Healthy Child Healthy World, a leading non-profit dedicated to empowering parents to protect their children from harmful chemicals.  They believe in the simple and the impactful, reinforcing that “No one can do everything but everyone can do something”.

And something, they do!  Like somehow convince Stella McCartney to graciously open her Manhattan Meatpacking District store doors to a swarm of moms, babies, toddlers, kids and friends.  Cupcakes (vegan and gluten-free to boot), provided by the lovely Erin McKenna of Babycakes (see below), were lavished with frosting and sprinkles; candy was a plenty; bags were colored and stickered with sheer joy; faces were painted, and through it all, not a child shed tears.  A true feat of magic, one might say.  For this lighthearted yet seriously game changing organization, it’s just a way of life. 

It Just Takes One

The cause for celebration?: One woman, one mom, who is on a mission.  As Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Executive Director of Healthy Child Healthy World, preluded “It takes one woman to transform an entire village.” Tamara Rubin is it.  Far beyond her hometown of Portland, Oregon, she’s drafting policies, educating parents and improving health through her organization, Lead Safe America Foundation.  According to Rubin, “One in three children have unsafe amounts of lead in their blood.”  That’s thirty percent!  The good news?  Her organization is here to help.  And, the first step to solving the problem is simple.  “I hope that every parent will consider getting a lead test,” says Rubin, as she handed out home lead-testing kits. 

Tamara Rubin (left) receives her “Mom on a Mission” award from Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff (right).

The journey for Rubin began when a painting contractor used unsafe painting removal methods in her historic Portland home.  Her children fell violently ill, yet it took two months for them to be diagnosed with lead poisoning instead of the common flu.  Left with two young children inflicted with brain damage, behavioral problems and learning disabilities, among other effects, Rubin became a “Mom on a Mission.”   Her dream?  Having seen first hand, the dangerous and saddening repercussions of lead poisoning in her children, she hopes that not a single child will continue to suffer from something so preventable.

As the party wound down, I watched the children take their parents’ hands.  Happy, yes.  Healthy?  We can only be sure through proactive measures.  First Lady and Mom, Michelle Obama, an advocate of Healthy Child Healthy World, notes, “Less than four cents of every health-care dollar is spent on prevention and public health.  Our health-care system has become a disease-care system, and the time for change is well overdue.”  If Healthy Child Healthy World, Tamara Rubin, Michelle Obama, this Organic Girly and countless others have it their way—a way that is transformative for the entire world—we’ll start celebrating health and not just recovery.  Now that calls for a party.

Begin here: Watch A Wake Up Story and learn about Healthy Child Healthy World’s 5 Easy Steps.  For information on home lead testing and how you can save your own families’ lives, visit Rubin’s site Lead Safe America Foundation.

(Photos compliments of Organic Girly.)

Pratt fashion alumni celebrate timeless fashion for a new exhibit.

Pratt, one of the world’s leading design institutes and the oldest in the U.S. (this year marks its 125th anniversary), kicked off its retrospective “Principles of Design: Pratt Fashion Alumni,” on Fashion’s Night Out (September 8th), exploring future-facing lessons from past and present design talent.

Pratt is home to cutting-edge, cosmopolitan design from the likes of Mabel Julianelli (BFA 1927), Samantha Pleet (BFA 2005), Ariana Bohling (BFA 2005), Laurel Mae DeWitt (BFA 2005) and Siobhan Barrett (BFA 2009), all talents among the 19 on exhibit at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery from now to October 8th.

Samantha Pleet’s Shadow Cloak (on sale this Fall at Anthropologie.com)

At the opening night gala, I caught up with Sarah Scaturro, Textile Conservator for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and guest curator for the Pratt exhibit. “There is such incredible design all around us tonight,” says Scaturro. “My main work [for the Cooper-Hewitt] is to preserve clothing and fashion that lasts, so I’m clearly interested in timeless fashion – something strongly reflected here, tonight.”

Please enjoy my complete coverage at ecosalon.com!  Thank you!

John Patrick showed his 19-piece, spring 2012 collection on a rainy New York morning just steps from the Hudson River. With a diverse troop of models looking relaxed and even happy, Patrick’s presentation was in stark contrast to what one usually identifies with New York Fashion Week shows.

Patrick says, “I don’t do trends,” allowing him to take the idea of sustainability to his own metropolis where other designers want to emulate him and where in fact, he becomes the trend setter. Patrick says this collection comes from his personal quests: “It’s about going on a journey, but you don’t know where you’re going. It’s where I am in life.” If not by intent, his designs nonetheless feel very relevant – light, ethereal and make for an effortless and natural life.

For the complete article, please visit ecosalon.com.  Many thanks to Amy & Sara @ ecosalon!