X-MAS X-MAS KWANZA X-MAS!

ECOGIFT FESTIVAL

Remember when I said I would post a comprehensive Christmas list full of wonderful eco-fashion gift ideas? And then I kinda just posted a half-hearted list of things and referred you to www.greenopia.com? Well, I realize that was lame, and not as helpful as I like to be, so here is another way to get your green on this holiday season. This weekend at the Santa Monica Civic Center they are having a big ol' X-mas eco-gift bonanza, so head on over and get your holiday shopping done right, and celebrate Christmas the way you're supposed to-- with minimal guilt and foreboding!

www.ecogift.com

Beyond Beyond Skin

BEYOND SKIN at ENDLESS

Beyond Skin asked me to mention that their delightful vegan shoes are available at Endless online shoe store. I will say some of their designs might be just right for that holiday party your friend from work is dragging you to because she wants to see the guy she's been flirting with all year, even though Susie from accounting says that guy's totally gay.




www.endless.com

www.beyondskin.co.uk

Yes, I Wanna Go To The Moon

MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON

I've been meaning to write up this eco-friendly clothing brand forevs, but kept putting it off because I got distracted reading gossip sites online. Well, my laziness paid off, since they kindly gave me (my new favorite) dress as a gentle reminder that they deserve some attention too, as their stuff is very stylish, comfortable, eco-friendly and sweatshop-free. Their clothing is simple and versatile- wardrobe staples that you can keep forever. They are really what green fashion is all about.

And they have this Eco-Warrior tote bag, which I think is pretty bad ass.

www.mountainsofthemoon.com

ECO-FASHION GIFT GUIDE

GIFTS FOR GIRLS

Pretty much everything I've written about has been for girls, so if you want to get her a bag or some eco-shoes, or a warm organic sweater, please check out my older blogs, or go to one of the great eco-friendly boutiques I have listed.

GIFTS FOR FUSSY DUDES

I say "fussy" because if they aren't picky, find them whatever you got them last year, and re-wrap it-- the ultimate in gift recycling. Or, if they're really not picky, a six-pack of Miller lite might do the trick. For those of us with more difficult men to shop for this season, I hav compiled a list of eco-friendly possibilities.

REFINDING

Refinding makes watches out of recycled materials and found objects. The watches are frinkin' awesome. Way better that the $3.99 blinged-out "watch" application I bought for my Sidekick so I would look cool to the other kids. My digital watch face pales in comparison to these real-life old school watches, (and it drains my battery.) My point? Watches have a place in this world, and recycled watches are about as eco-as it gets.

Would make a nifty present to a punctuality-challenged BF or dad.

www.refinding.com

CUFFLINKS

Because even fancy people care about the environment.

www.eco-artware.com
www.etsy.com
www.elsewares.com

And here's a fun gift idea: Patagonia recycled-content bowling shoes coupled with a vintage bowling ball-- something you can do together or something to get him to leave you alone for a few hours so you can go shopping or watch Gossip Girl.

www.alpineer.com
www.ebay.com

STOCKING STUFFERS

REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS

Give the gift of not having piles of plastic bags under the sink (if you reuse them) or blowing around and strangling penguins (if you throw them away).

The best bags I've found:

flip and tumble
pretty green bag
the best bag
envirosax

HAIR ACCESSORIES

www.lucynotions.com
www.etsy.com
www.naturallytrendy.com

FUN SOCKS

Who doesn't want to find a pair of warm, adorable, eco-friendly socks in their stockings? Who? No, I'm seriously asking. I want to meet this person.

www.sockdreams.com
www.maggiesorganics.com




JEWELRY

Jewelry is such a common gift at Christmas. By some bizarre marketing conspiracy, the pressure is always on this time of year, to get people gifts that probably caused somebody a great deal of pain and suffering elsewhere in the world (blood diamonds, cyanide pits for gold mining, slave labor, environmental destruction.) Who wants that hanging over them. or around their neck? If you are going to fall prey to the man's attmept to dictate what true love look slike, or if you really do just want to buy someone nice jewelry, please be conscious tat the gift your giving isn't really the gift of injustic and environmental waste.

These places use ethically-mined gemstones, recycled materials, and/or fair labor practices, in varying degrees of fanciness.

www.cheekymonkey.com
www.fifbijoux.com
www.brilliantearth.com
www.greenkarat.com
www.verderocks.com
www.alkemiejewelry.com
www.moonrisejewelry.com

If you have suggestions, please feel free to post. Let's all try to make this the greenest Christmas EVER (TGCE)!

BUSIEST SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR? GARBAGEFEST 2008

BUY NOTHING DAY

I love Christmas, I do. I think Jesus was a cool dude and I'm happy to celebrate his birthday every year by having people give ME presents.

But arbitrarily buying a present for someone-- i.e. giving something the person you're giving it to doesn't want-- is really just giving the gift of global resource depletion and future garbage disposal debacles. And I'm pretty sure that's not on their list. Giving a gift certificate, like, say, for iTunes or even Home Depot, at least guarantees that they will be getting something they actually want, and hopefully something they could really use. Gift certificates for restaurants and movies are always a nice idea too. God knows in these harsh financial times, finding a free movie and some snacks in your wallet should be pretty welcome.

Wine and chocolate are also pretty popular gifts in these uncertain economic times, along with other mood-enhancing drugs... but let's try to keep this on the up and up. Gay porn is apparently on the rise too, since the financial melt down, but that's neither here nor there, environment-wise, unless the porn is done using recycled video tapes. What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Garbage. Garbage is bad. So think twice before you buy your 15 year old niece that plastic Spice Girls doll that nobody else wants (for good reason), because it will probably end up going straight to the dump, where someone will find it years from now and wonder what the hell we were all thinking.

And re-gifting is no longer considered rude-- it's just showing how much you care about the environment and how little you care for whatever it is that you're re-gifting.

For other green gift ideas, check out Greenopia's awesome X-mas list of eco-friendly things that people might actually want!

www.greenopia.com

I will be posting my own list of fashion-related green gift ideas over the weekend, when all the haters are at the mall buying you plastic SpongeBob slippers and a calendar from 2006. :)

WINTER COATS, PART TROIS

YET MORE WINTER COATS

LARA MILLER

Lara Miller is a clever designer. Her sustainable clothing is often designed to be two outfits in one. This coat is not only a coat-- it is also a jacket, depending on what you feel like calling it, and whether or not you decide to add a sweater underneath, and/or a scarf and gloves. I even have a giant sweaterdress/sweater from her that I could probably wear as a coat, it is so thick and warm! But I love coats, so I'm not going to do that, and miss an opportunity to wear a cool winter coat whilst still living in LA.

This Ryan coat is bad ass. Seriously. And the Hogan jacket, which is pretty much just a shorter version, is only slightly less bad ass.

www.laramiller.net

flip for it:

www.pivotboutique.com
www.beklina.com
www.greenbodyandhome.com
www.studio-808.com
www.nimli.com

STEWART + BROWN

Stewart + Brown has so very many coats, it was hard to track the coat-iest of them down, so the sites I have listed all carry different varieties of organic and eco-friendly coats and jackets, and... capes, from Stewart + Brown.

www.stewartbrown.com

capers:
www.stradaverde.com
www.noblivity.com
www.notjustpretty.com
www.thegreenloop.com
www.pangaya.com
www.doe-sf.com




RENE GENEVA

I just discovered this designer, and I'm glad I did, because her stuff is rad. RAD, I say. The coats with the golden pockets are very retro and cute. And in these harsh financial times, surely a golden pocket is with it's weight in... eco-friendly gold fabric?

www.renegenevadesign.com

go for gold:
www.mycorset.com





REBE
Rebe makes a whole line of coats from recycled fleece. Her stuff is very "Anthropologie," with an eco-edge. And her coats are truly comfortable and have that flattering fit-and-flare design.

www.myrebe.com

www.shopgreenrohini.com
www.nimli.com
www.unsungdesigners.com
www.btcelements.com

MORE WINTER COATS, Because I'm Still F-ing Cold

WINTER COATS

JUMA

I don't think I've come across this designer before, probably because Canada has been keeping them a secret from me out of spite for not knowing the words to the national anthem, even though I'm technically Canadian by birth. But now I've discovered them and I was delighted to see that they have a whole line of eco-friendly organic clothes, including this awesome wool/cotton blend coat.

www.juma.ca


www.jumaonlinestore.com
www.nimli.com




ECO-GA'NIK

Why waste money and precious clothing resources on buying both a coat AND a scarf? Soooo not necessary thanks to Eco-ga'nik's organic cotton scarf coat (scaort? scoarf?).



www.ecoganik.com


www.embodies.com
www.pivotboutique.com
www.nimli.com
www.btcelements.com
www.couturecandy.com











JOHN PATRICK ORGANIC

I spent forever and a day on ebay searching for the perfect super-tiny leather motorcycle jacket, only to be outbid by some crafty scenester from Wisconsin. Finally I gave up and went for new, but vegetable-tanned, eco-friendly leather, and bought a sweet jacket from John Patrick Organic. These jackets never go out of style, and if they do, just wait a few years and they'll be back in vogue. Definitely worth the investment (lil' pricey, this one).

www.johnpatrickorganic.com

www.nordstrom.com
www.kaightshop.com
www.beklina.com
www.ecocitzenonline.com





LAURA DAWSON

I tried on this adorable waxed cotton jacket at KaightShop when I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, but I'm a weird between-size, and I couldn't find a size that fit. :( But that doesn't mean I don't still love the coat, and now I see they have it in wool, too, so maybe I'll try it in a different material and see how that fits.

www.lauradawson.com

www.kaightshop.com
www.supermarkethq.com
www.starsandinfinitedarkness.com





NAU

Nau has tons of sustainable warm jackets for girls and boys. And their specialty is outdoor clothing, so their focus is on warmth and durability. Perfect for the outdoorsy type, or anyone who lives in the Midwest or Canada. This coat looks so warm and fluffy I just want to curl up in it like it's a sleeping bag.

www.nau.com





KELLY B.

Kelly B. not only makes the cutest eco-friendly swimsuits around, but she also makes this classic trench coat in organic cotton. I think it's very film noir. Noirganic.

I just made that up.

www.kellybcouture.com

www.btcelements.com
www.greenwithglamour.com
www.thegreenloop.com
www.nimli.com




PRAIRIE UNDERGROUND

This moth coat is so stylish-- it's almost too cool for school. I have PU's iconic lengthened hoodie (two, in fact) and I have to say that I was both astonished and pissed when a girl wearing the EXACT SAME JACKET as me, same color and everything, had the nerve to come and sit down next to me an art show. I was speechless. But, the jacket is pretty cool, so I shouldn't be so greedy. Everyone deserves at least one organic sweatshirt jacket from Prairie Underground, because they are super comfortable and flattering to almost everyone. But still...

Grumble grumble.

www.prairieunderground.com

www.nimli.com
www.tobi.com
www.sodafine.com
www.shopenvi.com


So many coats, so little time. But I'm not done....

WINTER COATS, Because I'm Cold

WINTER COATS

Let's just start getting this list out there so if you have a winter coat on your Christmas list, you have plenty of eco-options to start off with.

BURTON GMP

I don't even snowboard and I want this jacket. Makes me want to go up to the mountains and sit safely tucked away in the ski lodge and drink hot cocoa and look cute in my jacket while thinking about that one painful winter when I took ski lessons and they put me in special-ed ski school and all the other kids, and a few of my teachers, made fun of me and I cried a lot and nearly died twice. Ah, the memories.

But this jacket.... Burton's line of GMP-- Green Mountain Project- winter sportswear is made from recycled plastic. Even the fleece lining and the leather on their accessories are recycled and eco-friendly, and built to last. Pretty great line of products, if you ask me.

www.burton.com

burton up, it's cold out:
www.turntablelab.com
www.rei.com
www.intermountaintraders.com




PELIGROSA

I have this coat, and even if people get mad at me for wearing it in LA ("it's not that cold out, what's your problem, it's 80 degrees out"), I at least get to bring it to New York and wear it every day while I'm there. It goes with everything, and you can even make a blah outfit feel inspired by wrapping yourself up in this warm, hand dyed organic wool coat.

www.peligrosaknits.com

put it on:
www.fashionethic.com
www.thegreenloop.com





LOYALE

This is my favorite winter coat, ever. It looks and feels like some kind of exotic fur, but it's organic cotton. I did see a hooker on the street wearing a similar coat, but it wasn't as nice, and I'm guessing it wasn't organic.

Seriously, this coat is amazingly warm and oddly glamorous, for a cotton jacket.

www.loyaleclothing.com

be a loyale customer:

www.shopequita.com
www.vickerey.com


GRACE AND CELLO

Grace and Cello actually have a few winter coats in their collection this year, and they are all pretty classic designs, but with that adorable eco-friendly edge to them that makes everything just that much cooler.

This coat makes me feel warm just looking at it.

www.graceandcello.com

be graceful:
www.nimli.com
www.thegreenloop.com
www.notjustpretty.com
www.amazon.com



LOOMSTATE

Loomstate is one of the first mainstream organic companies, and their stuff is pretty cute and always very comfortable. I had a nice sweater from them last winter that I accidentally shrank and now my cat wears it. I think it looked batter on me, but she disagrees. Then licks herself.

Anyway, this anorak of theirs is pretty sweet. They also have a ton of warm coats and jackets for dudes.

www.loomstate.org

anorakaliscious:

www.tobi.com

www.ecocitizenonline.com

THE BATTALION

The Battalion is one of my favorite eco-designers, and they have some awesome winter coats. The designs are very original and fashion-y, just like you.

www.thebattalionclothing.com

fight the cold:
www.nimli.com
www.pivotboutique.com










MORE TO COME.......