Goodwill Fashion Blog

How cool is this: Washington DC Goodwill Fashion Blog! For everyone who has ever found a Chloe top for for 4 bucks, Ralph Lauren Purple Label blazer for $8, and Earnest Sewn Jeans for $5 at their local Goodwill (yep, those are our personal bests) you will understand why a Goodwill Fashion Blog goes beyond necessary. That's right, it's time to spread the gospel of Goodwill.

Nau is Back, Biotches!!

When sweet outdoor sustainable apparel company Nau shut it's doors 6 weeks ago, and folks were bummed. Why? Because Nau was a company with killer designers (plucked from powerhouses like Nike and Patagonia), an awesome mission (fashion forward clothes), and hella mindful manufacturing processes.

Well let's all believe in goodness of the universe folks, cause Nau is back! Horny Toad, another mainstay in outdoor apparel, has purchased Nau and will help them learn the ropes. Just like Gspotting sister Alice looked out for us as as freshmen at Asheville High (she was a cool senior!), Horny Toad will make sure Nau stays in with the right crowd.

Thread: BBC Eco fashion blog?!!

Thread Photo Shoot

Leave it to the BBC to always be the coolest most advanced news server around. Their eco fashion blog, Thread, is what you would expect from them: completely on point.

With interactive videos, photo slide shows, and great articles, BBC's Thread is about to be a GSpotting FAVE!

Eco Transportation: Amtrak Numbers Go Up And So Does Travel Fashion

NY Times article about the drastic increase in Amtrak ridership in May due to increased gas prices and subsequently higher plane tickets.

This clearly made us GSpotters begin musing about fabulous, green train riding attire. Because one cannot be riding in a regal train car in sweatpants, as is the norm for air travel these days. It's just so uncouth.

First we'd start with this top from Super Lucky Cat made from Vintage Scarves available at GreenWithGlamour.com. Then we'd pair it with organic cotton white trousers by Del Forte for sale online at ShopEnvi.com. The shoes would be cotton chambray Cri de Coeur slingbacks available at Endless.com. To bring it all together in a cohesive look fit for a rail rockstar, we'd add a Mad Imports renewable raffia clutch from BTCElements.com

Panty Revolution: Eco Friendly Ethical Underwear

This find is just too cool for school: Pants To Poverty, an ethical and sustainabley sourced underwear company for men and women.


These pants (née panties) are special for a few reasons. Beyond aesthetically being a sassy twist to a thick band boxer brief made popular by Mark Wahlberg in those delicious Calvin Klein ads, they are in fact a revolutionary undergarment. Why? These are fairtrade organic and sweatshop free panties that carry a message: manmade poverty is a scandal and together we can find beautiful ways to wipe it out.

Coclico Shoes: Grooving and Greening Fabulous Fabulous

Deliciously fuschia suede thong

OMG, latest obsession is Coclico Shoes, which are so fierce, they get 3 photos on the GSpotting post.

Light Grey Suede Sandal

New to the green scene, but not the fashion scene (the company was started in 2000), founder and head designer Sandra Canselier is using more vegetable tanned leathers this season. These leathers have a beautiful, hand-finished patina from tanning agents derived from bark, fruit and seeds and they are processed with streamline manufacturing technique to keep the tanning process cleaner.

Pale Pink Leather Sandal

I Only Date Boys Who Recycle

GSPOTTING:

We just saw a girl walking down the street here in Queens, with a shirt that read, I Only Date Boys That Recycle...

Fabulous! You can cop the tee here...

Green Textiles: Volcano Fabric and Coconut Cloth

TerraDry makes volcano fabric

One of the coolest things about being part of the sustainable fashion revolution is the badass textiles and fabrics that are coming from some highly unexpected sources.

Like TerraDry Fabrics, a Canadian company making naturally anti-microbial, moisture-wicking, quick dry fabric from volcanic material (yessir, you read correctly). The coolest thing about TerraDry is that the fabric naturally creates heat cutting the amount of drying time and energy use needed for itself and the rest of the load.

Coconut fabric

Another company that is just bizarrely cool is Cocona, which is a fabric for athletic garb made from the activated carbon of coconut shells. This fiber is also moisture wicking, quick dry, and anti-microbial.


The only thing to be done now is sing, "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts. Here they are all standing in a row. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head..." Or maybe not.

College Punks Moonlight As Eco Fashion Designers

Factory Green 100% organic argyle tee in pink and green that is perfect for ya'll AKAs (sorority much?)

Being partial to the Facebook generation, because we are members, has nothing to do with this GSpotting. Nope, this entry is purely aesthetic: Factory Green's clothes are badass!!

Factory Green WTF 100% organic tee made by wind power...our thoughts exactly

Factory Green is a new t-shirt, hoodie, and accessories site founded by 2 University of Missouri students, who are still in school, that sells quality organic campus attire. Their own Factory Green designs are not only 100% organic, affordable (like 20$ a pop), but manufactured at wind/solar powered facilities.

Factory Green 100% organic hoodie for dudes

Keep up the good work, Dan and Jack (co-founders)! And major shout out to Mizzou...

Solar Man Purse For Your Old Man

Solar Messenger Bag

Check out what www.SomeoneSpoilMe.com is offering as a green Father's Day gift: a solar panel messenger bag from Noon Logan Satchel. This bag is super sweet sophisticated and charges pop's gadgets.

Brunton Solar Roll from SomeoneSpoilMe.com for dad to charge stuff

We GSpotted SomeoneSpoilMe.com for the green Mother's Day gifts, and this Noon Logan Satchel is another example of good green stuff coming from their area of the cyberspace retail neighborhood.

V-Co.Logical bamboo socks from Volcom

Good thing our GSpotting Father Hank, and GSpotting Stepfather Rick both like socks for any and all presents. That's why we are going to get them Volcom's V.Co-Logical socks made from mostly bamboo.

JC Penney: Simply Green

Yesterday I was walking around Barneys Co-op, mentally co-opting everything insight, because I can't really afford the $150 Loomstate organic cotton white jeans or the $280 (reduced from $300 something) Phillip Lim organic cotton pinafore dress. Balzac.

Arizona recycled jeans

So today, I'm big-upping JC Penney's Simply Green. True, it's not Stella McCartney nor Theory caliber design, but $16 graphic tees for the World Wildlife Fund and $29.99 Arizona recycled jeans, 99% recycled denim and 1% spandex for fit? SOLD!

St John's Bay men's organic cotton short

PS - Don't those Arizona recycled jeans look like what Carrie Bradshaw wears in like 2 scenes in the Sex and the City Movie?

Eco Shoes Spotlight: Mink

Mink Pump

There are a great many reasons to be into Mink Shoes. The first, is the pair at the top of this post. I mean, aren't they just so Miami Botox Trophy Wife goes to Vegas shoes. But, they are made from natural or scientifically engineered alternatives such as cork, denim, linen, faux fur, and other animal friendly substitutes and no PVC.

Mink Cork Platform

Chanel SS 08 woven link shoe

The second reason to love Mink Shoes is because they remind us of the Chanel Tweed Chain shoes that we have been stalking at Bloomingdales on 59th street that are not only unfordable, but questionably green.

Go Mink.

Fritz: You Are That Dude!

Everyone loves flip flops - even old guys

This G Spotter would like to thank her friend Fritz who is a colleague from UNC, a dear soul and light unto the world, and a product of her hometown Asheville for his support of GSpotting.net, and biofoam surfer sandals.

These are NOT Fritz's feet

Apparently homeboy Fritz, a documentary film maker and cheese connoisseur (no? maybe?) read GSpotting yesterday and immediately went online to HavassyArt.com and purchased a pair of flip flops. Not only did his money go to a boss pair of summer mandals (flip flops are a completely acceptable man-sandal, PS) but founder Robb Havassy sent him a post-purchase thank you email. DOPE!!

Thanks Fritz. Keep up the good work, cousin!

My Couture Is Biodegradable. Yours?

"Oh this old thing... it's just a rag I found in my closet," takes on new meaning when one thinks about compostable clothing. At Heriot-Watt University School of Textile and Design in Galashiels, Scotland, students have done just that.

You should have trashed that stuff sooner, sistah!

Using biodegradable materials like potatoes, nettle, and hemp students were asked to make both an evening outfit and a gardening frock. The catch was that all the garments had to be trashable after wearing.

The students' designs are being displayed at the annual Gardening Scotland Festival this weekend. Good stuff Scottish youth! We applaud you trashy clothes.

Havassy Eco Surf Flip Flops

Havassy "Pipe" eco flip flops

Surf designer Robb Havassy, who has partnered with surfing standards like Op, O'neill, Hurley, Surftech, Globe, and Freestyle Watches recently released a line of flip flops with sweet paintings on each foot bed.

Havassy "Sunset" eco flip flops

These flip flops are made from organic based biofoam and are available at HavassyArt.com for about $16-$18 a pop. With each purchase, a donation is made to ocean organizations like the Surfrider Foundation.

Surfer Bro Gabe

This G Spotter will be copping a pair for her younger bro, Gabe, who is perhaps the most devout inland surfer... ever. Poor kid, he lives in the mountains of NC and with his long board in tow, only makes it to the beach for a *few weeks a year. But with these Havassy flip flops, he can by the ocean (in his mind) all year long!

*See you next week in the Outer Banks, Gabe!

New Eco-Fashion Label Alert: BODKIN from Brooklyn

3 Bodkin looks

Seems like Brooklyn produces hip hop legends (Biggie, Jay Z), revolutionary baseballers (Jackie Robinson), and Eco-Fashion. The latest green label out of Brooklyn (which is also the name of one of David Beckham's children) is Bodkin.

3 more Bodkin looks

Bodkin is created by designer Samantha Pleet and writer Eviana Hartman. The staple pieces include collar-waisted skirts, funnel-neck mini-dresses, and structured bustier and are made from organic and reclaimed materials.

G Spotting On Devidoll, Hot British Eco Retailer

Mociun tie dress available at DeviDoll

A few months back, owner of DeviDoll eco boutique and badass Brit Sindhu Venkatanarayanan asked us some questions about eco-fashion for the DeviDoll blog. Here is the sweet article.

Satya toddler set available at DeviDoll

For the article, Sindhu fused our G Spotting answers with those of Starre Vartan of Eco-Chick and Jocelyn Whipple of Element 23, and agency representing ethical fashion labels in the UK.

Green Jeans, Not Blue Jeans! (yessir)

KohZu cannabis (hemp) jeans

This is an unexpected and cool blog entry on eco-denim at KitMeOut.com. Us G Spotters had never checked this site out, but it's a fashion weblog focused on mostly sophisticated street wear and urban lifestyle gear. Think Kanye West type clothing.

Sugar Cane jeans made from, you guessed it, sugar cane

The article talks about some bad mama-jama men's jeans companies like Sugar Cane where some of the jeans are made from sugar cane, some are just re-woven vintage denim, woven using an ancient Japanese weaving technique. KohZo Denim is made with hibiscus, bamboo, pineapple, cannabis, and more. KOhZO dyes consist of pure indigo, vegetable, natural mud, fruit, and charcoal the fabrics are semi-hand woven on traditional shuttle looms. The article also mentions NOHARM clothing whose denim is in this same urban style.

Nice work, urban fashion sneaker head mavens. This is some next next fashion.

Kids Like Eco Fashion, Too! Alright?! Now Where's My Juice?

Halabaloo yellow eyelet coat

These fantastic photos are currently in a slideshow in the Pulse section of the NY Times called What's a Girl to Wear? Two thumbs enthusiastically up for the photos themselves and the actual garments the little models are wearing. But, what's the point in dropping loot like that on sassy children's clothes when it isn't organic? Little bodies have little immune delicate systems that shouldn't have to deal with the nasty toxins that are used in growing traditional fibers and can be embedded in the fabric, too.

Kule cotton dress

Just a thought, but why don't all three designers featured in these pics use organic materials? For kids and babies, organic fabrication seems like a no brainer.

Kid by Phillip Lim cotton dress

For healthier clothing options that are equally hot-to-trot, check out organic kids clothiers Kiwi Industries or Speesees. Your kids will thank you.

Slight Correction To A Previous Spotting

So this is just to correct an entry we G Spotted a few weeks ago about the Banana Republic Green Capsule Collection. As it turns out, some of the "organic" pieces have as little as 5% organic cotton in them. I mean, dayumn Banana, if ya'll are gonna do it, do it right! Sure every little bit helps, but 5%?! What's up with that.

When folks talk about "green washing", they are referring to companies that make a product or service that seems more eco-friendly than it is, either because they don't know any better or because they think it will help public perception.

Dear Mr and Mrs Republic,
Please be advised that your son, Banana, might be infected with a green wash bug that is going around school and is being sent home immediately.
Best, Nurse G.