Category: Eco Fashion & Beauty

  • Uniform Project Update: Fashion Friday

    Uniform Project Update: Fashion Friday

    the uniform project little black dress

    I wear my sort of clothes
    to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear.

    -Katherine Hepburn

    So I’m two weeks into my Uniform Project, and here are my observations so far:

    1. Holy CARP this dress is short. My husband makes me wear a “courtesy skirt” underneath it when I leave the house so that I do not sear out anyone’s eyeballs by unintentionally flashing my bum.
    2. This is fun. In an effort to make the photographs not seem all very much the same, I’ve been digging into the depths of my closet for bright accessories. You know how you buy things because they fit this fun, spontaneous image of who you’d like to be? (Just me?) But then you just keep wearing your same ol’ because that’s what you’re comfortable with? Well, all that stuff is being called into play now, and I’m being forced to wear them in public, and somehow I’m walking around with a lighter heart because of it.
    3. I’m shifting my mental rules a bit. I had planned to only accessorize with what was already in my closet, as part of the sustainable fashion initiative. However, I’ve been thoroughly decluttering these last few months and ruthlessly getting rid of stuff that I don’t wear often. As a result, I just don’t have a lot of options. Sooooo to keep it interesting, I’m going to say it’s OK to buy secondhand, and new if I can buy organic/sustainable. ‘Kay?
    4. Dude, I suck at having my picture taken. I have bad teeth, and so I’ve never been one for smiling for photographs. A few months ago I had adult braces put on, and now I have to either smile with my mouth closed, which looks odd, or really widely so my lip doesn’t get snagged on my braces, which makes me look like a jack o’lantern leering.
    5. I also suck at remembering to have Jake take my picture. In the last 14 days I wore the Uniform Project little black dress 10 times… and was photographed five. I’ll try to do better.
    6. I appreciate my sweats more. In the last 14 days I bummed around the house in fuzzy sweats and long sweaters 4 times, and it felt like a gift. It’s a huge change from when I spent most of my days bumming around in sweats (I work from home) and feeling… well, like a bum.

     

    uniform project collage

     

    1. Necklace made from reconstructed t-shirts, from Hoogs on Etsy (won this from the Green Eyed Monster forever ago. You’re signed up for their newsletter, right?)

    2. Rocking the black, white & red for Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

    3. Busting out the hot pink tights. Illustrating that I can still camouflage if strictly necessary. (Note: this pink sweater is one of my favorites. It has mother of pearl buttons, cost me $2 at Salvation Army, and is older than my oldest son.)

    Uniform Project outfit collage- girls lunch out philly

    4. See how I look halfway decent here? Don’t get used to it; I blew my hair dry and put on some mascara for Girls’ Lunch Out, a networking social gathering for Philly-area social media peeps, where I got to talk to grown adults who understand how I spend my days.

    I’ve got on a denim courtesy skirt and kickass argyle tights which I love. Please note my painful attempt to smile.

    uniform project- rainy day outfit

    5. Yucky, rainy day made much better by my awesome color-wheel umbrella (thanks, Nanny!). Wearing my wellies and one of many rainhats— just can’t bear to get rid of any of my hats.

    Want to see the Uniform Project done up way better than I’m doing so far? Check out Summer Rayne Oakes— she’s designed her own LBD that has more material to work with, and therefore a little more flexibility, and I’m totally salivating over it. And of course, she’s beautiful and has impeccable style. You can see what’s she done with it so far and how much she’s raised for charity: water on the Uniform Project blog.

     

    Check it: I’ve linked this post up to Just Precious and her Fashion Friday. Go indulge in some fashion fun 🙂

  • Fashion Friday: The Uniform Project (Let’s Do This!)

    Fashion Friday: The Uniform Project (Let’s Do This!)

    Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating.

    I want to create classics.

    -Coco Chanel

    So after thinking about it a great deal, I went ahead and bought myself a Little Black Dress from the Uniform Project. I talked about the Uniform Project and the LBD pretty extensively in this post so to recap:

    • the dress is made of organic cotton & silk;
    • the designs are created in limited runs so that as little is wasted as possible;
    • it features a removable collar & is fully button-down so you can wear it backwards or forwards;
    • the idea being, the dress is a blank canvas encouraging you to wear it creatively and often, reducing your need for a billion items in your wardrobe.

    My plan is to wear the dress 3-4 days a week, replacing my current day-to-day WAHM uniform of sweatpants and hoodie, as part of my overall resolution for the year: “More Martha, less Roseanne.”

    HOWEVER.

    I agonized over which size to buy, as I’m measuring a little big in the waist and thighs these days. (If only I have the same problem in the boobage area.)

    The one I went with fits fine and I have enough room to be comfortable, but DUDE. It is SHORT. I know that the reason for this is so that it can be worn as a tunic or shirt but OH MY GOD. My instinct is to say something along the lines of  “I’m not 16 anymore” but frankly, I don’t think I wore skirts this short when I was 16.

    the uniform project

    What this dress NEEDS is an extra attachable HEM.

    So, for the sake of illustrating the dress in its pure form, and so that anyone who is considering the purchase can see just how short it is, and because I have no plans to leave the house today, I’m wearing the LBD without embellishment (other than legwarmers that my friend Amy knitted for me, because it’s still February, yo, my legs be cold) for its inaugural outing.

    Buttoned down the front because I haven’t figured out how to button the back myself.

    uniform project day one
    Dresses with pockets = awesome

    Yuck. This photo makes me realize that

    • I need to go to the gym more,
    • my hair wants cutting,
    • I need to work on my J C Penney poses;
    • when I’m sucking on my braces you can totally see it. Note to self: cut that the hell out.

    Well, that’s out of the way, now I can have some fun with it 🙂

  • Wicked Fresh! Wednesday with Sophie Uliano

    Gorgeously Green

    Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.

    -Coco Chanel

    I think that many of us think green and we think granola- crunchy- hippie, of going without, and it really doesn’t have to be that way. Going green can be a way to add something to your life- the vibrance of growing plants and vegetables, a connection with nature, or just the knowledge that your lifestyle is healthy for your family and the earth.

    Sophie Uliano champions the green life while maintaining “the glitz, the glam and the gleaming house.” I’ve read her first book, Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life, and it’s a nice, straightforward introduction to going green without having to embrace your inner granola girl, with lots of beauty tips if I recall correctly. Admittedly, I sort of skimmed over those at the time; if you saw me quoted in “The Dark Side of Beauty” in the News Journal last week you already know I pretty much went au natural with my own beauty regimen. And by “au naturel,” I mean lazy.

    In any case, I do still want to dye my hair and wear makeup for the holidays, and I’m not really sure where to start researching my best options. I’d also like to hear where I can get organic cotton clothes that fit my sense of style and don’t cost a fortune.

    Oh happy day, for I received an email this afternoon letting me know that as part of the launch of their new Wicked Fresh! Toothpaste and Mouthwash line, Tom’s of Maine is hosting a Wicked Fresh! live web chat Q&A with Sophie.

    “Get an exclusive peek into Sophie’s wickedly cool, eco-friendly life, learn about the inspiration behind her New York Times bestselling “Gorgeously Green” book series, and get some tips on how to live fabulously without breaking the bank or hurting the planet.”

    Fun! I love live web chats. It’s happening tonight, September 15th, from 8:00-9:00pm EST. You can watch here (hint, hint) presuming that I’ve loaded this widget correctly, or you can check it out at the Tom’s of Maine Facebook page on the Live Chat tab.

    You can submit questions ahead of time or during.