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!