SPL requests

Surprised to find so few co-op business books in the Seattle Public Library. I need to find out how to grow and avoid pitfalls via lessons from other USA co-ops. The Mondragon website is great for inspiration and outline but US policies are not Spains, so i suggested that SPL buy several books in support of the UN year of the co-op...2012. ( Ta da the shift as "predicted' by the Mayan calendar?)

Please go to your library websites and ask for more. Street up ( & grassroots) economics need to start at and benefit the same level, which is the biggest turf so more resources will stay at an equable level.

Photos of Montana skirts will be on the blog soon.

Happy Winter Solstice

recycled rag wreath

directions on the Ethos blog

i have decided to celebrate an original holiday.

Some will call it pagan, but wasn't that just code for outsiders, indys and the others who chose to think for themselves. It also applied to the ancient traditionalists ....as in "it was good enough for my parents so it's good enough for me" and the shamans and priests who were afraid of losing their power. (ergo ego)

From the feminine model of worship, we turned to the masculine but now the partner model is forming.

In honor of this i feel like clearing the clutter and creating some new ways to celebrate this amazing thing called life.

Scolded by Digital Eve

Most boundaries are just made up....

Some remain legit, some are harmful and some are necessary to provide a sense of order in the chaos so humans can function with a degree of "control" This has led to linear logic.

In a linear development we have a hard time connecting peripheral dots....which is why we are in trouble.

Technology is a great tool ....it cannot however, save us or be applied effectively when left in "the box" from whence it came.

We are in a critical period of planet/human evolution and we either deal with it full on and turn a corner (paradigm change) or we fail.

Is this off topic?

Sustainable Fashion- how one industry is re-inventing itself

Obvious self promo here, but i need to start supporting this work in another manner as i have pretty much run out of things to sell! Book this ultra fab lecture at Teachstreet.com

The dead mic, dark space and no extra lights ( gonna get me some roadies one day!) the awkward set up with the remote on the fritz....all of this couldn't stop Cynthia, Mom and me from going on with the show!

The live event was about 1 1/2 hours long , and could've gone longer as the discussions were still going strong. However it was a classroom setting with time limits. I really love how so many shared information; its such a fun, surprising and intuitive way to learn.

Friday the 11th

Courtesy of the artist and the website.

Sustainable Fashion is ethics over growth and domination of markets...
i mean no one thing can apply to everything, everywhere, all the time.
That's twisted!

Seattle had WTO.

This time the world is gathering in Copenhagen to "solve" another big issue - Climate Change. Today is COP 15 when corporations play to profit from the mess they created. "Our Climate-not your business" is ready to intercede for the people of whole earth.

And this time the people are ready for the justifiers and protectors of passe capitalist values. We are aware that infornmation driven by commerce has jeopardized our very humanity. We know we cannot evolve under the old corporate values because in the end they must value their bottom lines to stay alive and that is not a place where ethics thrive.

Many people enable bad things to happen as they go about just doing their jobs. We are not taught to put the pieces of this puzzle together; to see how we are part of this madness that has imperiled all of us, yet that is the construct! That is all it is; take our energy and our interests elsewhere and a new constuct will replace the old. Simple really!

Unless we allow the Peter Principle on a global scale? YIKES!!!

fashion trashed

for overproduction, over selling and over doing on all points. The industry has a huge carbon footprint, is dysfunctional and needs to evolve. Thats where sustainable fashion steps in to become the hero!

So designers and other humans, the global warming summit meet needs us to be proactive, educated participants in law as the old rule will try to exploit us all once again. Please take a few minutes to view Cap and Trade. thank you

money talks bs walks

That's an old cocktail cut from my Bahama Underground days of the 80s. Why i am thinking of it now is because i am so dismayed at how few do-ers there are! There are talkers, theorists and writers but when it comes to real economically sustainable re-routes like starting a co-op to buy a space to share for various eco entrees (like fashionRIP Project)...there is nary a show of hands (with cash).

Pooling funds for street up economics is foreign only because we were taught to throw our $ at stocks, making corporations more powerful. Corporations think in terms of bottom lines, HR and growth- an archaic, dehumanizing agenda. (actually a corporation is built of stakeholders as are co-ops -it's the goal that is the dif)

Now add that according to the book Social Intelligence by David Goleman - CEOs are often machiavalian or narcissistic folks. Need i say more?

Thanks to SCCC

havin' fun at the podium!

so prof with those glasses

audience as anon - i didn't have 70 release forms with me!

On screen - clothing from Monster shot at the Sustainable Ballard Festival 9/09

for opening their doors to sustainable fashion.
It's Thanksgiving and right now am listening to Rain by Jason Becker......i am thankful for the beauty in that song and for all the new and old friends, for family, mentors and everyone seeking to advance the policies and attitudes of the "world" and their communities.

recyCouture skirt

Menswear pants with remnants and a new bit of brown with rose fabric for pocket and tail detail.

Looks like fall. EZ to wear...possibly a piece for the Montana chapter of fashionRIP.

Water Ripped

old green bedspread attached to jean top -label from ?

We are going to put on the great big water show!

Steampunk Cabaret is calling all artists to the water.

What is on the surface, what goes on underneath- ol' toxic Duwammish, Puget Sound alien infiltration, paving over aquafers, irrigation salts, rain barrels, fountains and melting glaciers, showers, grey water, low flush toilets, to privatize or not to privatize -the world of water is exposed.

It is time to claim our bad habits and change them!

When i was a kid i read in Life magazine that people in the USSR knew Beatle songs. Thats when i knew for certain that art was more powerful, faster and better at uniting us than diplomats and politics....tunes, paintings, drawings, stories and spirit are us. Putting energy and attention towards that which matters changes outcomes and if its the eleventh hour.....its time!

Working it in the UK

Miss Butterfly Collection

"...also I have been sponsored - annual membership/access to training by Fashion Capital and selected for the next stage of NEW GEN and the Fashioning the Future competition...Lots of exciting stuff happening at the mo! Every thing crossed! I will keep you updated on the results.

Nicola

Beautiful Soul "

This is what support and collaboration delivers. Energy multiplied has more power. Its Simple! So why not here?

What is the difference?

(organizing the locals will help if we can get past some American mindset issues)

Life is power. We can live it in alignment with new science and spirit where that knowledge guides our present into an evolved future.

We in the USA are coming from a culture with many ideas that are no longer relevant. The hard part is that those old think systems hold most of the cards ($ & power).....that is the conundrum!

Thank you

to everyone who showed up for the sustainable fashion lecture.

This meant a lot to me, but there is more - it means a lot to the quality of our future.

Popularity gets attention, so i urge you to continue showing up, putting energy into the world you want and less into complaining!

i am ready to give more presentations. This was the Beta test and i learned a lot from the audience and have to use that info. The best way right now is to continue telling people about the paradigm pioneers; the sustainable designers, sourcers, thinkers and tailors that are seeking sanity.

Oh and of course, everyone in all industries, trades, systems etc. that are cleaning up from the inside out; you are the fabulous, you are the leaders, you are stars.

Free Lecture

Frye

dancers

Just had to comment on the installations of the Old Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art at the Frye today.

Old Weird America could be steampunk but no- it was dead soldiers and awkward still lifes in 3d.

I did like Dario Robietos work with mourning braids and they would complement an install of the "Species on the Verge."

But i guess we feel safer working from a troubled past then to change a troubling tomorrow. Why?

Anyway i wrote a plea for Species in the comment book and dropped a card at the front desk.

Women on the Verge..

men welcome! it gets boring without you!

it appears the whole world is coming together to form the next paradigm. Connected, non linear concepts that resonate with current research in physics, biology, sociology etc. have inspired the new theories and actions.

The fashionRIP Project is not alone, there are others. She is not an anomaly but part of a great awakening of spirit.

The old separatist Newtonian/Darwinian foundation is crumbling and though it is making a mess it is all part of the transition. It is an organic pattern at work in a theoretical world made material...cool!

Check out "Women on the Edge of Evolution " to hear some of the voices of change.

(wow i had the title wrong ...but that was why i paid attention. Some things are meant to be....and that is beautiful and at times annoying!)

Into the Lair at Bravern Square.

as Van Gogh said (loose)" i do a lot of self portraits
because the model is always available"

Yesterday I opened the glass doors of another challenge. I had a mission in mind and through that emerald lens i looked for signs of boorish design, garments made for seasonal discharge.

I was determined to sneer at expensive trash, the gee gaws of ego enhancement without style or grace, art or reason. Fashion whose emphasis on the bottom line put it in the straitjacket of corporate blanding.

I hurried past the major temptations; at round one, i was ok. However i have a thing for Chanel. The woman was an early hero. I read her bio when i was 20 and designed a pale blue chiffon and satin chemise with pearlized sequins in her honor and to snag an A in Fashion History!

So you see i have history here. I could not just walk on by!

Now to say that Karl Lagerfield does her justice is hard for me. But yesterday he scored 85% in my book of impossible odds. Up close and personal with good design, beautiful fabrics, and that savvy attention to detail, i melted.

I am justifying this with a quote from Metro UK which i also came across that morning (really) "Designer Karl Lagerfield said: It's Coco Ecolo, ecology can be chic. No? One can use natural fabrics and learn from nature."

Thank you Mr. Lagerfield. Now i must sort through this emotional territory of want and need, saving the best of of what we have now, to carry into the future, is a good thing. It's the weeding that is controversial.

However, thanks to mom and a big rockery on Beacon Hill, i developed some pretty good weeding skills!

Sustainable Fashion (getting) Organized

Everything starts somewhere
- start walking!

Kim of Kimmi Designs and i got together yesterday to talk about the benefits of sustainable designers uniting to grow awareness, do shows and other major projects, learn , inspire and generally support each other.

I saw and felt how this works when i attended and participated in collaborative events in London. The Eco Design Fair and the Fashioning the Future Summit 08 at the Sustainable Fashion Center proved to me that strangers with a cause in common can create tremendous change. They become worthy accomplices and are no longer strangers.

The energy of 2 is double 1 after all!

The competitive nature of design could be an issue. However we concluded that we all have an indy voice and vision and helping each others unique styles to bloom is a benefit that surpasses any possible glitches.

made for sustainability continues......

top:
fashionRIP dresses, Rachel Carson skirt (Signs & Symbols collection) Rowena Wright from Habitat Mart in biker gear.
bottom:
Kimmi Design lace dresses in background; for more Kimmi go to Fashion Ethos blog!

made for sustainability

The embellished white dresses are by Alicia Czerwiec, the tan coat (bottom) is from Marge ?

made for sustainability

by Monster designers

SB Festival

we did it!

Laura twirls
(add dark leggings for a winter look)

Paige and Emily
pretty and poised

The Sustainable Ballard (alt) Fashion Show last week was better than i imagined. I was happily impressed and met some wonderful local designers and will post about them soon.

But first, at long last, the fashionRIP Project gets the tout.

My wonderful models were all last minute show-ups and are proof that fashionRIP has a life of its own. There wasn't time for fittings other than put it on and wow that fits and you look great, lets go!

I am so thankful for Laura, Emily and Paige as they took to the stage in the dresses from the "Species on the Verge" collection with style ~

Thank you Beth the coordinator who worked long hours to make this show happen. In fact it was Beth who asked Paige and Emily to model. She promised me models and she came through with the most charming young women ever!

Laura just happened to email me the day before (from Sustainable Seattle via an earlier SSF query) and i took a chance and asked her if she would like to don a recycouture dress and she said that would be more fun than a trip to Mt Rainier.
Y'all Rock, miladies!

fashionRIP speaks up

Louise at the Eco Design Fair surrounded by the pillows she makes.
The covers are all from second use materials.

October is here. The 28th is the day and noon is the time.

i booked this lecture date with SCCC months ago, proposing a basic sustainable fashion talk about eco fibers, production issues and a general round up of who, what, how and why designers were navigating this new turf.

This was to be my first real public speaking event, but London called (via Louise in the photo above) and i answered.

It is a good thing as the basic format fell away. i was asked to direct sustainable fashion toward the class theme of body and spirit.

Since then my path has changed dramatically. The direction is the same but the view has widened in unexpected ways. i faced some personal cobras in order to shake out my own fashion myth. I uncovered why and how i chose this field and how my view of the world was distorted by grade school pains and rewards. These early feelings created ideas that formed the foundations that supported my vision of the world.

The shakedown brought in a clarity. i feel foolish and bright at the same time! In that spirit
i am clearing up some after effects of my distorted lens and happy to say that so far so good.

The show will go on as unpredicted!

On to the show

Ballard Window dressig
-distortion courtesy of nature, glass and the observer

we will go!
It is 6 AM and all is better than well.

Looks like 3 wonderful people -Laura, Paige and Emily -will show up to wear dresses from the "Species on the Verge" collection. (there may be more, so i am packing extras! Mom is riding back-up and TG!)

As this festival in the park cannot replicate the set ambiance, i asked the models to to do their own make-up (with emphasis on more) and to wear black shoes or boots. We meet up at noon ...i have no idea how this will play but i like the suspense .

Surprise is a risk that i am seeking more often. I think it's to offset the control (power) issue, the action consequence system of mechanical devices and religion. Control is and is not true (at the same time).....i love that dischord in sanity!

Fashion at Sustainable Ballard Fest

theme grows and surface changes

Well the show is on as Beth has worked to find models, set up a dressing area and make flyers....the woman is an appreciated do-er that helped make it worth the designers time to participate.

The weather looks great and the festival pulled good crowds in previous years.

The fashion bit is from 1-2 Saturday on the main stage in the park across from the Ballard Library. The park has a name but i still smart from the "Grindline Skatebowl tear down" episode of 2005.

i want to show a few dresses but the models aren't confirmed, however there are several product designers that have more incentive for this kind of event. I am looking forward to seeing their work.

I am wearing a fashionRIP prequel piece from the symbols, signs and spirit collection...
and after ripping off the jacket sleeves i may toss that on too.. Everything changes!

Hint Mag blocks

ooooohhhhh how scandalous!

recyCouture photos from posting "Sorry, the following photo submission to Hintmag.com was not accepted. This may be the result of unlawful or objectionable material in the photo or description. We encourage you to try again. Hint

Species on the Verge video still deborah

I wrote and asked them to explain. Will they reply? Stay tuned!

Bus Stop

46th and phinney

fancies.
Had to try to win a Metro bus pass by doing a video tagged "Dump the Pump" that went to Youtube last night just a few hours before the deadline. Since i used a little 5 yr old Pentax camera that had a video option i was leery of the results.

Well there is some pixelation polka going on but the stills look fabulous.

No matter it forced me to learn a bit about Premiere Pro that has sat on my computer since i bought it (5 years ago!) Some things take time and motivation. Now i am actually giggly....liking the software and better that i finally did something with it!

I am sure this has some deep relevancy....hmmmm.

what we see

"Species on the Verge" video still
of viva la evolucion dress

Fashion is like an iceberg. Most people just see the tip of it and yet under the surface there is a huge destructive industry that is hard at work pumping out mounds of product under some (not all!) intolerable conditions in a race to sell as fast and as many items as possible and then to have them appear as outdated as soon after purchase as possible. This is necessary in order to create desire for the products of the next season. When stuff sells, people have jobs and the economy looks good.

Throwing barely worn clothing out is bad form, so now we donate them to charity or swap. This is good intermediary action but we need to look deeper.

The economic strategies of the world we live in; the world we make real by being part of and are educated to keep its systems running- that world is in need of major overhauling. It is not the best economic system possible and we can certainly come up with a better one if we give ourselves permission to explore the possibilities.

Sending Forward

"never forget"

and the beat goes on

Had another selling weekend for the fashionRIP Project and sustainable ideals everywhere.

I have been consistently surprised by these "open house" sales that started in May! The conversations has been stimulating and educating. It morphed into an experiment on how to explain and promote the project and what it stands for. This has been a major task because what "i see" is a 5 d plus picture and translating it into words .....well still a work in progress.

Then a returning guest shows up sporting an item she purchased at the debut sale and it all makes sense. Not in some literally translatable fashion but in the context of the whole and it is sublime!

PS the photo caps have links with visual aids....the better to message you, m'dear!

Tee Tales

I have been in stripey tees for a long time. This is a recyCouture update on the theme below.
(Thanks mom for keeping a lot of photos)

Simple Support

the future is ours and yours

Nudges today - please go to Greenwala and vote for the fashionRIP Project.

It's a harmless, no register (you can bookmark and do it daily even!) way to help support the second phase of the Project. Phase 2 of the RIP is to develop a small business that supports local artisans and sustainable development in an experimental concept of how culture can be recreated. It is the many people who have helped this Project that inspire this leap. We can and will evolve into our best natures.

Please go to the fashion ethos blog for the weave.

fashionRIP Project

detail of the bottom of a recyCouture dress for "Species on the Verge"

in Greenwala contest. Please vote as you do not need to register and it will only take seconds. In fact you can vote daily and they all count.

Though the fashionRIP Project is an all volunteer sustainable art piece intended as an alt communication, it is also a model for the bones of a business.

Sustainable economics need to experiment with ideas and the RIP is on a road of discovery that will lead to applicable solutions. I am working on it as the product is more than a commodity and a service, it is about process and workshops...it is about the real lives of people who are stakeholders - long and short term. It is also about changes that dynamic concerns utilize to become sustainable entities that evolve as nature intended!

What a mouthful!

Social Justice/fair trade

BluMeadows on the music

Fair Trade is a Social Justice issue; for commerce and humans are tied despite the attempt to disconnect the humane from the statistics.
We humans are the consumer, the market, the labor, the management, the security, the talent, the masses and the elite. We are human resources-a commodity to be used, often defined by the education that fills us with the data deemed necessary to function within a small area of the cult (root of culture no?)...lotsa titles and roles, oh my!

The myths of our culture are being written daily.

The sad part is that so few recognize the fact that it is only as true as the energy we give it to maintain itself. Yikes!

So my next chapter explores social justice here in Seattle and the school and fort takeovers of the 70s (just) and 80s (not so very fair). Collective energy is powerful!

Stay tuned, it is bound to be a bumpy ride through local history with some great recycouture garb to pretty it up.

Hmmmm

London near Truman Alley

I am not sure if i want to laugh or get all pc and be offended. I like the trailer and the snarky attitude.
Not reFashion, not eco but .....something right in the windows and the gap-lessness.
It makes me think of the blog "stuff white people like" ....poking fun at the pale.

Its the Context

Truman Alley

Fashion in context is the relevant issue.

Why is this so hard to grasp?

Metal button laws in GB. Silk button laws in France. Coal tar based dyes for fabric (annaline) started by an upper class kid in UK (1856) boomed in Germany as a chemical explosion (they had a system of public education ...more brain power at work!)
Class rigid clothing rules were almost universal. Cut and color laws were enforced.
Techno fibers pushed by designers as industries pushed patents.
South American bird species lost in the great Victorian stuffed bird and feather hat fads.
Lacey Act 1900
Mercury poisoning caused real mad hatters.
Dior full skirts after WWII, good for fabric mills and for getting women back into the home and old fem rigidity.
Fashion and King Cotton (cotton for one organic tee takes 25 bathtubs worth of water)
Cotton uses 10% of all pesticides and 25% of all insecticides.
Sheep dip is a toxic bath that pollutes the environment ...how much is absorbed by the fibers?
Old Egypt style was bald (easier to clean a shaved head)
Do veils denote domination (ownership) and control or merely modesty?
Super high stilettos and breast implants, fashions fault or a sexist societies?
Nettles for fiber in Norway.
Hemp and bamboo grow like weeds and make great fabrics.
The Garment Workers Union was first to stand up against free trade aka job loss.
The garment industry was the first to outsource in a major way, opening the gates for others.
More later!

is it fashion or is it more?

Beautiful Soul

has a gorgeous new website with catwalk video, portfolio, shop....words cannot do it justice so go see for yourself.

PS the flip cards on the shop page are great. Click on the photo and it will turn over to reveal a description of the garment. Congrats Nicola and all......delightful Small Print collection in a delightful setting.

Twit talk

Really had an attitude about Twitter. I met it for the first time last winter at a fake start up gathering. It was weird, as people started imaginary enterprises and worked to get them "going" for 2 days and it was all make believe, for adults, who paid $40 dollars for the fun of not doing anything real in a very serious way!

Maybe i am peeved because if i had collected the door for that big nothing the Fair Trade chapter artists and crew would be paid for this next round. Supporting the arts at the artists level is the sustainable economic model i am trying to establish. Do i have to make it a game first?

Species on the Verge .....to Youtube

"Species on the Verge" video still

as is and up she goes.

I am cutting the cord and setting chapter one free.

The Fair Trade op is open - Blumeadows cd, as well as the event for Women's Equality Day at the NW African American Museum the 27th of this month, the London connection-appear to be a path. The synchronistic collage is available and i am not one to dis opportunity that arrives via the known unknowable.

If you attend the show at the Museum, you have a chance to see the quilts they are showing and connect with local women who are uniting to make changes for a better balance. See you there!

moving on to Fair Trade

Beautiful Soul website - a new look is on the way

Blumeadows is about to finish a cd and since he is interested in doing the soundtrack for the Fair Trade chapter -the "Water Rip" is on hold. Collaboration works best with flexible plans and a double "release" can optimize both of our projects.

I became better acquainted with the Fair vs Free (to exploit) Trade issues while i was in London. Check out the Ethical Fashion Forum for more on this topic.

I met 2 women in London that had gone to Africa on grants to help create small business works. Both stories were plus and minus. Both started out with a clothing model and both ended up walking into a situation that had either lost it's machines or it's lease. The solution became jewelry from local sources that one of the women had to scout out herself. The other woman ended up with jewelry also, however she made an antique kimono source connection that is behind her newest collection that will be going into London Fashion Week shows September 19th -26th. Yay for sustainable spirit! and watch for "Beautiful Soul".