Green Fashion?

As my thesis project is coming to a close, I find that my first purchase [clothing-wise] is fitting. While shoe shopping for Easter, I  saw the following statement printed on a shoebox lid: we haul our groceries in reusable bags. we hold onto that can until it finds a recycling bin. we are passionate, engaged, and connected-to people and to our planet. we appreciate smart design. we believe that fashion is a reflection of who we are and an expression of how we live. we know that going green is a journey and every step counts-so together we can take those steps in shoes designed to leave a smaller footprint. we are all zoe&zac.™

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The pair of shoes looked exactly like the other shoes I was trying on, but was created using organic and/or recycled materials. Needless to say, I bought that pair of shoes.

After looking into the brand a bit more, I found that the designer, Summer Rayne Oakes, also participated in a pilot project for the month of March at The Uniform Project. What a coincidence! I check the site every so often to read up on the pilots and see what causes they are supporting, but I’ve never followed up on the person conducting the pilot.

Summer Rayne Oakes is a model at NEXT, but also works as an activist for sustainable fashion. She co-founded Source4Style, a marketplace for designers to search for sustainable materials around the globe and, as mentioned, co-launched eco-friendly shoe lines at Payless ShoeSource.

It’s awesome to see companies trying to make eco-friendly products available to more people. Most people I’ve talked to about sustainable clothing believe that such fashion is for the rich as a lot of the clothes are sold in boutiques or small shops. The “green” clothes also cost more since the production of materials tends to run higher. However, if more companies start marketing these products, then the sustainable fashion industry  will be supported and can make their prices reasonable. Granted, the price tag at face value will still be higher than what we normally pay for our items, but it shows the real price of the product with little to no hidden environmental or social costs.

Infinity Dress

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The infinity dress has been around for a long time and I’ve seen several different tutorials that explain how to make it. The only reasons stopping me from making this dress was the large amount of fabric required…and a few confusing details. Luckily, I stumbled upon yet another tutorial that gave extra tips and tricks to making this dress. Although I wanted to have all my projects be reconstructions or made from items I own, I decided to go and buy fabric to make this dress.

In essence, the dress is a banded circle skirt with two extremely long straps that can be wrapped however you wish. As the straps are long and thin, the same long piece of fabric can make straps for at least 2 of these dresses. This week, I made my mom’s dress.

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To me, this dress is like the epitome of simplicity and sustainability. It can be made rather easily [once deciphered] and will be worn for years to come. For those who worry about wearing the same dress twice, this one can be manipulated to be different each time.

Floral Tote

I’ve been meaning to make myself a bag [tote or legit backpack] for quite some time-since I made tote bags for my friends a couple christmases ago, to be honest, but I never got around to it. However, I figured it was high time to make something as my fabric pile was not going to get any smaller. I decided to go ahead and make a tote bag as it is much simpler and I already bought the fabric needed last year.

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I made it from what I remembered of this tutorial from Skip to my Lou, but I took some liberties. I added pockets to both the inside and outside of the bag. I also made the straps have two different sides and purposely made them mismatch.

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The front pocket has two compartments while the inside pocket is divided.

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The bag is HUGE!