Analogue Chic

Posts Tagged ‘eco chic’

Hello all,
Just wanted to give you a head’s up that my online store is being stocked with new, original designs from my Fall/Winter 09-10 collection, as well as new vintage finds for this season.

My inspirations for this collection were the jewel-tone colors and rich fabrics used in Victorian and Edwardian home decor, and the luxe fashions of old Hollywood movie costumes.  As always, my love for the fashions of the mid-20th century worked its way in.  Above all, I always let the fabric dictate the design and style lines.

Some great holiday gift ideas: My Upcycled Flower Brooches, $7-9 (or free with your order over $25) in many styles and colors, with more to come!

Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Congratulations to Grace on her recent trunk show at Sequel in Bethel!

Image copyright Grace Napoleon.

To learn more about Grace and her creative process, you can read my interview of her here.

You can meet Grace Napoleon and her wares at the Brooklyn Flea most weekends – get her upcoming appearances and start shopping at her Etsy shop!

Hey, just a note to let you all know, I recently set up shop at Cosa Verde, kind of an online showroom of environmentally- and socially-conscious designers and crafters.
And they picked 2 of my items to be featured today!
Check it out!

My girls at DC Goodwill Fashion Blog had this helpful post on upcycled fashion – repurposed leather handbags and fabulous jewelry are featured.

And The Body Shop is launching a campaign against sex trafficking of young people.

Shop with heart and mind.

Announcing my Red, White and CUTE Independence Sale!

Celebrate the United States’ and your fashion independence with 25% off all items in my shops that contain red, white or blue NOW through July 15, 2009.

And free shipping on all orders!

Head on up to the Shop tab at the top of the page,

or click on the Etsy button and the WinkElf shop at the right,

or click through to AllieAnalogue.Etsy.com and AnalogueChic.WinkElf.com

and invest in independent, eco-friendly fashion!

Have a happy, safe 4th of July!!!

xoxo

AC

{UPDATE: This post is now an entry in the Blog Off at What Designers. Vote for me!}

The standing joke among we handmade artists is that any  money we make from selling our crafts goes into feeding our addiction for pretty supplies and cute things made by friends.  In that spirit, a few months ago I treated myself to a Grace Napoleon original, a pink, ruffly wrap sweater.  But seriously, these purchases and the bonds we make in our raucous real-life meetings and in online forums are an important conduit for exchanging ideas and business advice.  In an effort to record this movement of self-employed women artists, and to preserve the lessons and inspiration I glean from them, I am beginning a project of interviewing women who have inspired me as an independent fashion designer. 

I met Grace at a meeting of our local new-wave craft club, and watched with admiration and curiosity as she handstitched her woolly holiday projects.  I finally sat with her on a recent evening for tea and dessert to talk about her evolution as a textile artist.

Grace is a Danbury, CT-area artist who designs and creates women’s clothing made from clothing– that is, she deconstructs secondhand clothes and re-assembles them in unexpected and charming ways.  Every new seam is stitched by hand.  She offers her clothes and other fabric crafts, along with vintage housewares, in her online store at Etsy.com and at regional craft shows and flea markets.

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In the northeast US, it’s full-bore allergy season, and if you’re like me you’ve been going through eye drops and tissues like it’s the apocalypse.  Every week, I empty my bedside trashcan, containing 99% used tissues. 

I do make an effort to order 100% recycled tissues from Seventh Generation, but as far as I know, we still don’t have a way to safely recycle booger-filled paper tissues.  And we haven’t yet implemented the people’s revolution at my condo, so I have no way to compost them, which would be ideal.

So this year, I’m bringing back the handkerchief as an essential ladies’ accessory.

Hankies, clockwise, from: thevintagelaundry, VintageSewandSew, no longer available from pattispolkadots, hankylady, (thevintagelaundry again), hankylady, heirloomlinens, SerendipityTreasures

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Here’s the clip from All Things Connecticut, originally broadcast April 30, on the Eco Chic Wedding and Home Show - and it features Yours Truly chatting with Sue at Health in a Hurry.

The Eco Chic Wedding Show was awesome!  We met so many cool vendors, and it was really helpful to have them all in one place.  More on this later this week…

We’re having a great discussion over at CT Green Scene about reusable shopping bags.  They featured a number of links where you can buy ready made bags, which make great gifts, and should really become a part of your daily life.  While they do present some ecological and social concerns, I think the widespread use of these bags is definitely a big step in the right direction.

Since this is, ostensibly, an environmentally-conscientious blog, I wanted to follow up on the issue of reusable bags with links  for crafty green-folks, or green craftspeople, whatever you call yourselves, to make your  own market bags, in a variety of craft media.

For Knitters

A string bag.  The original pattern link seems not to be working.

A felted bag.

For Crocheters

Another string bag.

Another one, by Vickie Howell

The CTGreenScene article referenced MyRecycledBags.com, which offers many crochet patterns for different styles of bags.  And she sells her products here, if you’re not a crafter.  Buy handmade!

For Sewers

I think this is my favorite.

A bag based on the traditional plastic bag.

This awesome bag folds into its own zipper case.

As convenient as it is to buy a 99-cent polyethylene bag at the supermarket, it’s much more responsible to make your own, if you can, and make it from recycled materials.

The Internet has many, many, other patterns and inspirational ideas for bags in any style, made of any material you can think of.  Craftster, again, is a great resource for ideas on making bags and other stuff-for-carrying-stuff from recycled materials.  And if you’re more into buying handmade than making things by hand, there are lots of offerings on Etsy.

When I was "fabric shopping" at my parents’ house, I found this unfinished project from pre-2003, a tote bag knit from recycled plastic bags, cut into strips.  It’s been stowed away for so long, I have no idea where the pattern is.  Luckily, it’s knit in garter stitch, and I know I have to knit 3 pieces and that it’s shaped basically like a cereal box, and I’ll have to devise some handles for the top.  I’m slowly working on it….