GREEN CHIC: the Week's Best Eco-Fabulous, Cruelty-Free Links

The best environmentally-aware, green, cruelty-free, and karma-correct fashion and beauty blog posts of the week - brought to you by Green Chic: an exclusive (invite-only) group of the hottest fashion and beauty blogs. Who knew it was so easy to be stylishly eco?

the ultimate in eco "fashion"...Agyness Deyn in her birthday suit [Refinery29 Pipeline]
Alex & Chloe campaign for human rights [Ethical Style]
trends in eco handbags [stylelist]
Leanne Marshall for Bluefly [FabSugar]
do your hair & the earth a favor with dry shampoo [College Fashion]
eco designers embrace full figures [Eco Salon]
a Libertas earth-friendly trunk show [fashion fille]
eco-fabulous bags from Chile [Quinta Trends]
Bond No.9 gets the green bug [RedPoppy Fashion]
10 reasons to swap your clothes [Posh Swaps]
hot shoes that happen to be vegan [Fashiontribes]
win an eco-chic chair from IQMatics [Factio Magazine]
eco designers on the rise [Runway to Retail]
an eco-fab giveaway featuring BeadforLife [Looking Sharp!]
Phillip Lim goes green [Fashion Pulse Daily]

Chanel Fall 2009 Venice Makeup Collection

 

Coco Chanel viewed Venice as a city of great intrigue - simultaneously dramatic and fragile...much like herself.  The Chanel Makeup Studio used their imagination to bring this water-themed city to life for Fall 2009 in a palette reflective of its shimmery facades, mosaics, and sparkly aquatic lagoons.  Chanel's Global Creative Director, Peter Philips, recently created Venetian-inspired runway looks for the 2009/10 Cruise show - held on the beaches of Venice - with tones of rich sienna, deep rose, mysterious greys, and dusky greens that can be softened for day or emboldened come evening.  Purchasing info at Chanel.com.

- Lesley Scott

How to Wear Bright Denim Jeans

A fun sartorial antidote to the glum economic news is bright denim: jeans in bold hues like lemon yellow, vibrant aqua, cool coral, emerald green, cotton candy pink, royal purple, and luscious tangerine. To rock the look like a pro, the style experts at Cotton Incorporated recommend keeping the rest of your ensemble toned-down. "When wearing bright denim, your jeans are the focal point. Pair it with tops, cardigans, and tees in neutral colors."  Also, to balance the brightness of the color, keep the cut body-conscious, skinny, and ankle length. "Baggier cuts in bright and bold colors can be overwhelming, causing you to look larger than your actual size."  If you're feeling more daring, add a burst of color with a cotton scarf, a cotton tunic in a contrasting color, or even a shade of nail polish from OPI's BrightPair collection (designed in conjunction with coordinating Paige Premium Denim crops and shorts); alternatively, a graphic black-and-white zebra print looks fab paired with a bright.  And don't forget to care for your investment: before laundering turn your jeans inside-out, wash only in cold water with a color-safe detergent, and NEVER use bleach.  For more tips and cotton care tricks, check out TheFabricOfOurLives.com.

- Lesley Scott

Fashion Eyecandy: V Magazine's Beauty & Fall Preview 2009 Issue

Willy Vanderperre photographed Iris Strubegger in YSL, Dolce, Balenciaga, Prada, Miu Miu, Chanel, Jil Sander, Ann Demeulemeester and other A-list designers for this fashion spread "A Touch of Class" in V Magazine issue #60 - on newsstands July 7th.  The fab voluminous sleeves, artistically moody florals and rich palette of hues and textures are enough to make a fashionista wish summer was over already:

Rihanna Heeds the Call of the Wild in a Chimp-Print Dress

Christopher Kane's monkey-print dress from his Spring/Summer 09 collection (seen here on Rihanna) caused enough of a fashion stir to entice the designer to create an entire line of silk jersey tees with additional images that include a baboon, mandril, and gorilla.  "I have always intended on doing a small t-shirt line to sit alongside the ready-to-wear collection, and the monkey story was perfect to start with," explains the designer.  These exclusive pieces are now available, but selling fast...so swing on over to My-Wardrobe.com.

- Lesley Scott

Madonna for Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2009-2010

Inspired by the surreal photographs of Man Ray, the lush colours and sumptuous draperies of the paintings of Tamara de Lempicka, and reminscent of Hollywood's Golden Age, the newest LV ad campaign images have a softer, more intimate quality than the previous one, also starring her Madgesty. "After the fun we had with the Spring/Summer campaign, and the amazing reaction to it, all of us – Madonna, Steven and myself – were eager to get back together for Fall/Winter," comments Vuitton's Creative Director, Marc Jacobs, about the new campaign which breaks in magazines worldwide in August 2009.  "While the two campaigns look very different, there is also a unity about them, so it now feels like we have completed both parts of the story."  In the seven visuals, Madonna models key pieces from Marc Jacobs' Fall/Winter ready-to-wear collection for Louis Vuitton - ruffled silks, extravagant accessories and sequinned Monogram bags, as well as the sweetly ironic bunny ears that were such a hit on the catwalk.

- Lesley Scott

Don't Buy, DIY! How to Craft a Hardware Embellished Cuff

Designers appear to have reached into their desk drawers for inspiration this spring, pulling out the New Wave accessory du jour: staples, pins, and zippers utilized in a variety of different ways: exposed, in contrast-color, haphazardly applied as trim, or twisted into 3D shapes.  Interestingly, the largest zipper manufacturer in the world, YKK, was one of the official sponsors of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC (even the lanyard for the press badge was a zipper). From the staples on Victor & Rolf's beautifully cut wool jackets to Sex Pistols-style safety pins and cheeky punk jewelry by Tom Binns - thanks to this hot 2009 trend, low is the new high, and the functional...fabulous. 

The hardware-heavy, craftsy felt-flower cuff by Marc Jacobs inspired us to staple, zip, and pin our own...here's how:

Show Off Your Design Talent in the Oxfam DIY Fashion Contest

 

As a way to promote the recycling of second-hand clothing into something new and eco-chic, Oxfam recently launched Oxfam DIY - a new online fashion resource designed to encourage remaking what's old into something up-to-date and fabulous. To celebrate, star British stylist Mrs Jones (aka Fee Doran who has styled The Killers and put Kylie into that white-hooded catsuit for "Can't Get You Out of My Head") styled a photoshoot made up of looks created entirely using garments from Oxfam's recycling facility, Wastesaver.

And now they've teamed up again on a unique fashion design competition. Create a customized garment from old clothing or recycled materials, and upload a pic of you or a friend in it to the Flickr stream Flickr.com/groups/OxfamDIY (but hurry, entries close July 15th at Oxfam.org.uk/DIY).  The top five shortlisted designs chosen by Mrs Jones will be featured on the Oxfam DIY site, and the lucky winner will have a one-of-a-kind item designed for them by Mrs Jones.

Slip into a Patriotic Pair of Pants

 

Why wait for July 4th to break out the red, white & blue?  These fab, fringed leather Lost Art jeans were recently featured in British Vogue for July 2009 - photographed by David Mushegain - paired with a Gucci top and Jimmy Choo sandals.

- Lesley Scott

Is it Fashion, Art, or Statement? Maria Francesca Pepe Lets You Decide.

Inspired by the great French artist Jean Dubuffet, Maria Francesca Pepe attempts to merge her signature massive, breastplate-like jewelry with clothing and accessories in her latest collection, Art Brut.  "These works created from solitude and from pure and authentic creative impulses - where the worries of competition, acclaim, and social promotion do not interfere - are, because of these very facts, more precious than the productions of professions," the great Dubuffet once exclaimed.  Known for his reverence of Art Brut, or "raw/outsider" art (he was an avid collector of works created by prisoners, mental patients, and children), so Pepe is exploring areas where decoration becomes functional, and the functional, decorative.  "For me, fashion is about analogies between different worlds, making something functional unfunctional, and vice versa," she recently explained to Elle magazine.  Translation: striking black and white print tube-like dresses; punkish tees; ruby red silk cropped jackets, organically-shaped jewelry crafted from black hematite, sterling silver and ruby zircon; vintage'y yet high tech bags; and those stunning oversize metal lock necklaces.  Purchasing info at MFPepe.com.

- Lesley Scott