Posh Swaps Blog

Style Eyes Fashion Blog is the latest in a number of designers, celebrities and fashion bloggers to switch their focus to green and ethical fashion. The blog has also changed its name to Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog can now be found at www.ethicalfashionblog.com.
Ceri Heathcote, founder of Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog, made the change after realising that there was more to looking stylish than constantly buying cheap bad quality fast fashion. She discovered that it is possible to combine a love of fashion with charity shop, second hand, vintage and ethical clothing. She has also joined the army of fashionistas who are getting creative to refashion and upcycle old clothes for a unique and sustainable alternative to shopping on the high street and sharing their creations through online social networks.
Ceri says “How could I enjoy wearing and writing about clothes that had been made at the expense of both people and the planet? Blogging about second hand and ethical fashion is the perfect way to indulge my love of clothes without any guilt and hopefully inspire others to get involved too.”

Future plans for the Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog include a monthly new letter with ethical fashion news, tips and offers, plus affordable ethical fashion and vintage clothing guides.

For further information
www.ethicalfashionblog.com
Email: ceri@heathcotecommunications.co.uk

A new Vintage Home and Interiors Fair will launch on 16th October at Cecil Sharp House in Primrose Hill. The fair is for lovers of shabby chic and a home filled with the charm of true vintage pieces that bring comfort and beauty from faded textiles and restored vintage furnishings. These together with treasures collected over the years all make an inspiring home which is certainly ‘where the heart is’……..
At the fair you will be able to find selections of vintage furniture, some painted and restored, tableware, glassware, lamps, mirrors, linens, textiles, curtains, eiderdowns and garden items. Also trinkets, treasures and unique gifts.
This is a great shopping alternative to escape the general high street trends and also the many reproduction ‘vintage’ items that appear in abundance! Nothing is comparable to a piece of true vintage.

Sunday 16 October 2011
Entrance to the fair is £2.00
Open from 11.00 a.m. – 5.00 a.m.
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London NW1 7AY.

Further Information
www.vintagefashionfairlondon.co.uk
fair@vintagefashionfairlondon.co.uk

Melissa Lady Dragon Westwood

Sometimes it can be difficult to be eco friendly and sustainable at the same time as being on trend and stylish especially when it comes to shoes. But fun brand Melissa are changing all that with their fun and colourful range of plastic shoes.

‘Hey wait a minute’, I can hear you saying to yourself  ‘plastic? eco friendly and sustainable?’  Well everything that we wear has some type of impact on  the environment including leather shoes and even organic hemp. Sustainability is all about reducing that impact as much as possible but in the fashion world sustainability also has to be trendy and attractive or it just won’t sell.

Melissa shoes are made from party recycled  plastic and are also recyclable helping to reduce their impact in terms of waste, carbon footprint and potentially other emissions produced during manufacture. They are made in a socially and environmentally responsible  factory in Brazil which also recycles its waste and water as much as possible.

The manufacturing process of thermo moulding plastic allows fun, colourful and creative designs to be made. The label has also proved that they are right on trend with collaborations with designers like Vivienne Westwood. They even smell like candy and I assume never need to be polished, what’s not to love?

A new online boutique company called Sequel London has arrived on our scenes- one of the latest boutiques to launch that are eco-friendly. Sequel London offers a range of leather handbags, which have been made from recycled leather jackets, discarded silk ties and curtains that are no longer wanted. The company has been created by cousins Claire Baigent and Laura Queening, both of whom want to reduce waste and to encourage sustainability in fashion by choosing unwanted clothes and accessories from Oxfam’s Wastesaver Warehouses, and using the materials to create their stunning new range.

The collection features bags made from leather including leather buttons, a removable silk tie decoration to add colour and style to the bags, and recycled curtains which are cut so to provide the lining of the bag. The ties on each bag will vary by design and will depend on the amount donated to Oxfam, so no two pieces will be the same. All of the Sequel London products are made in London itself, and the company is aiming to use recycled materials wherever possible- from the leather and the curtains, to the packaging and the stationary which will be made from recycled paper. All of the products have been designed by co-owner Laura Queening, who graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2007. “We decided to launch Sequel London as a way of encouraging sustainability in fashion by using those cast-offs that most of us have in the backs of our wardrobes, to produce classic, beautiful pieces that can be worn with pride time and again,” comments Laura. “We only choose the best quality material, even if the clothing itself has passed its fashion sell-by date.” Claire Baigent graduated from Newcastle University in 2006, and holds a CIPR Advanced Certificate in Public Relations.

The Spring/Summer collection, which is only available to buy online at sequellondon.co.uk, consists of six designs which are priced from £39 to £79, and offer beautiful and durable designs to last a life-time at high street prices.

Pictures and Quotes from www.sequellondon.co.uk

A beautiful new collection has appeared on racks and shelves in H&M shops- The Garden Collection, named for its floral patterns and use of organic and sustainable materials. The collection has arrived just in time for Spring to show off our romantic, exotic and glamorous side with plenty of floral patterns which includes big, bold prints, sunny landscapes, vibrant green gardens, and the cool 70’s hippy flower print look. The collection is made entirely out of organic and sustainable materials such as organic linen, organic cotton, tencel, and recycled polyester. The organic cotton and organic linen for this collection has been grown without the use of hazardous chemicals, the recycled polyester tops and dresses are made from PET- bottles and textile waste, whilst the tencel provides you with a silky, renewable material that has been produced with minimal environmental impact, so that when you buy these clothes you are helping to do your bit for environment!

The sumptuous designs mixed with sustainable materials helps to create a sensuous sophistication, whilst the vivacious patterns spread the radiant richness of the season. The stunning floral and bright women’s fashion trends will offer a modern yet sustainable look to everyone, no matter what their own style or taste is as the collection also includes pretty neutrals as well as the bright and the bold. You can combine a vibrant floral top with neutral cropped trousers or linen shorts, or wear a feminine chiffon dress with plenty of floral print combined with a beige anorak which are all available in the collection. These fantastic floral prints will really add some sparkle to your wardrobe, helping you to update and totally rejuvenate your own collection.

For those of us looking to update our wardrobes, there is a new craze sweeping around which could be the answer to all our shopping dilemmas- Swishing Parties. Swishing Parties are great as they don’t cost anything, you get to clear out unwanted items from your wardrobe and gain new pieces simply by swapping what you no longer need for something that you really want but what your fellow swisher doesn’t want. You can do swapping online as there are more websites appearing that are dedicated to swishing, or you can organise one in the comfort of your own home. All you will need is a few friends/neighbours/colleagues with an armful of clothes that they are each willing to trade! And because you’re not throwing away your clothes or spending money, swishing parties are environmentally friendly- even more perfect!

How to organise your swishing party:

. First round up as many friends as possible, telling them to completely empty their wardrobes and decide on what they no longer need. This can be clothing, shoes, accessories, jewellery, and bags.                           

. Next, decide on a date and venue for your party, sending out invitations/emails if necessary.

. Encourage your friends to bring along other friends so that you have a wider variety.

.You will need to think about how to organise everyone’s clothes for show, perhaps by size or by type, and use whatever space you’ve got- doors, chairs, tables etc.

Once you have organised everything, you will need to lay down a few rules so that everyone knows where they stand and that it works out fair for everyone.

. First things first- No money should ever be exchanged- all clothes are free!

. Second- Everyone must bring at least one item but can leave with as many as they like!

. Third- If two people are arguing over the same item, then toss a coin to make it fair.

. Forth- No one can claim items before the opening of the swish- it’s first come, first served!

. And finally- Whatever people take is theirs, but make sure that you are happy to give things away (although you don’t have to). To prevent people from walking out with armfuls of clothes they may never use, encourage them to try things on- perhaps create a dressing area in a room with the curtains closed and where no one can accidentally walk in!

If your party is a success, then maybe next time you could make it even bigger. Find a suitable venue such as a cafe and create posters to advertise it.

You could even try having a themed swap party. how about ski wear. Just take you old ladies ski jacket and ladies salopettes along and hope that you will come away with a lovely piece of Adidas Stella McCartney Ski Wear.

Clogs are right on trend at the moment (well if Alexa is wearing them they must be). Chanel do a great pair but as most of us just can’t afford Chanel and some of us prefer to take a much more eco friendly and comfy path, these eco clogs are the perfect choice.

The Eco friendly clogs are biodegradable with 50% of the sole being made of biodegradable materials. Quite simply they are shoes that rot (eventually- not while you are wearing them). The plus side being that you can’t feel just a little less guilty about buying into the latest fashion and be sure that these shoes will be well worn as they are just so very comfy.

We can’t say this for sure but we are betting that many those high heel cloggs are not all that easy to walk in and end up in the bin by the end of this season! These babies will be with you for years until the leather and rubber that they are made of finally return to where they began as part of nature.

These Eco clogs are made by El Naturalista, whose eco friendly designs are brought to you with the greatest respect for the environment.They can be bought from Spartoo an online shoe retailer of women shoes that Posh Swaps has recently partnered with in order to bring you details of some of the most desirable eco shoes.

Tesco have just recently announced the launch of their new clothing collection, which is made out of recycled and discontinued materials. The collection ‘From Somewhere’ for Florence and Fred consists of just six pieces and is made purely from left-over materials that would have otherwise been thrown away.

Tesco got the inspiration to produce recycled clothing as part of their commitment to help the environment after a visit to From Somewhere’s collection at Estethica as part of the London Fashion Week back in February this year. The decision to launch a recycled clothing collection has had mixed responses as this is just a small step for Tesco to associate themselves with a commitment to recycling and helping the environment whilst yet remaining a company not normally known for their ‘light carbon footprint’- and because of this, why would one of the UK’s most respected ethical fashion labels want to be associated with Tesco? From Somewhere and Estethica designer Orsola de Castro has said that she believes that ‘upcycling’ fabrics should be made more accessible, and that the larger retailers should be encouraged to take responsibility for their waste. ”I have always believed in infiltration,” she states. ”We put Estethica right at the centre of London Fashion Week.”

The clothes, being produced in a ‘green’ factory in Sri Lanka, has still received negative views from the customers, with some believing that this is not a ‘go green’ production as the recycled materials are being flown to Sri Lanka and back again. The factory, however, is the first one of its kind in the world to be awarded a gold rating for Environmental Responsibility.

The collection is as you would expect from ‘From Somewhere’- they have kept to their original style with dresses made to flatter the shape, using bright, bold colours. The collection is available exclusively at www.tesco.com/clothing.                                                   

Picture taken from www.guardian.co.uk

There has been a lot of talk lately about sustainable clothes and eco fashion. Every day a new brand emerges that is in some better for the environment than conventional clothing and usually more ethically produced. But with fast fashion and the culture of buying cheaply (and often unethically) made high fashion clothing still highly popular and ‘environmental green washing’ becoming the new in phrase, what really can be done to make clothing more sustainable?

At Posh Swaps we believe that there is no right or wrong way to become more sustainable, anything that we can do, no matter how small is a positive step in the right direction. But there are some things that we can do that are likely to have a more positive effect than others.

1. Buy less clothes - it is quite simple really, the less clothes that we buy, the less environmental damage is caused in their manufacture and the less waste we make. Clothes swapping is a great alternative to buying clothes. It allows you to update your wardrobe without having an impact (or a very minimal impact on the environment)

2. Buy second hand clothes- this is the most eco friendly way to buy clothes. There is no additional carbon footprint (except for transport) associated with buying new clothes. But we understand that you cannot always find exactly what you want second hand and will sometimes need to buy new.

3. Buy quality clothes that will last, where possible in Eco friendly fabrics- fabrics made from recycled materials, probably have the smallest footprint as they do not have to be made from scratch. There is also the benefit of having saved materials that may have otherwise ended up in landfill. Other eco friendly fabrics including organic bamboo, cotton and hemp are all better than their conventional alternatives but still have a carbon footprint associated with their growth and manufacture and contribute to the problem of waste so should always be bought to last.

Finally, in order to ensure that your clothing is really sustainable, you should consider its whole life  cycle:

• Buy clothes to last
• Wash and dry (or clean) in as eco friendly manner as possible
• When you no longer need them recycle by selling or donating to charity.

Posh-swaps.com was at the Southbank Centre in London on Wednesday for the Sustainable Clothing Conference and update of the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap. The conference included entrance to Estethica, London Fashion Week’s sustainable trade show, a reception and address by Environment Minister Dan Norris.The conference brought together over 200 clothing industry representatives to discuss the ethical and environmental impacts of clothing.

One year on from the first sustainable action plan in which Posh Swaps pledged to promote recycling and reuse of clothes by encouraging clothes swapping and buying and selling of second hand clothes as well as other eco fashion and sustainable clothing. A further 40 companies and organisations have signed up to the action plan including British Retail Consortium, Ethical Fashion Forum, Forum for the Future, Levis Strauss, MADE-BY, Cotton Made in Africa, RSPCA, Society of Dyers and Colourists.

Since its creation the SCAP has brought together over 40 organisations, from high street retailers, to designers and textile manufacturers to battle the environmental and ethical impacts of ‘throw away’ fashion.  Some of the biggest names in fashion are working to take actions which will make a significant difference to the environmental footprint and social inequalities which blight some of the consumer fashion supply chain.

Many of the initiatives from the original action plan are now well underway including Tesco’s new sustainable clothing range in collaboration with From Somewhere which will launch this Spring and the Oxfam ‘Clothes Exchange’ partnership with M&S.

There was also the announcement of a £3.5 million fund to be made available over 3 years by the Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector (RAGS) fund for bids from organisations who want to make the clothing business more ethical and contribute more strongly to development in poor countries.