FASHION Magazine

To me, the recession and climate change are the best excuses to convince you all to start shopping for vintage (hence recycled) clothes. Whatever your budget and however you like to shop, these are both good reasons to join in. First of all, don’t be afraid! The secret on how to wear old stuff is pretty simple: don’t wear it from head to toe. Mixing up designer labels, vintage clothes and low-cost goods not only to makes for an original outfit, but also helps you create your own fashion identity.

The transition from winter to summer can be an awkward one.  Suddenly the weather calls for sandals, skirts and dresses (sans tights).  And so, the first order of business is to repair and ready the winter-skin that has been abused and hidden for the past six months.

I headed downtown to Saffron Rouge (55 Wyndham St. N., 519-780-0467 x102, saffronrouge.com), Guelph’s organic skin care and aromatherapy boutique.   Saffron Rouge only carries products made with certified organic ingredients. (The same is true for their extensive online shop.)  Products range from hair and skin care items, to makeup and essential oils.

To celebrate Earth Day a Guelph company is making shopping green a lot easier.  On April 22, online health and beauty shop Well.ca launched their Green & Natural store.

How is it that my husband, charming and handsome man that he is, whose idea of fashionable outerwear is a Gore-Tex shell by Mountain Hardwear and thinks the Gel-Kayano by Asics is “the best shoe,” has suddenly become more chic than me, a Marni-wearing, Devi Kroell-carrying, Bond No. 9-spritzing girl?  Times have changed, green is the new black and being stylish means lowering your carbon emissions and decreasing your ecological footprint.

Snow’s back in Toronto, so this Lovely’s mix of greens has us dreaming of sunnier days.

Check out the full look after the jump.

Beauty editor Lesa Hannah, now in video form! From rich shea butter to shimmery gloss, check out Lesa’s picks for the best organic balms.

The post Video Beauty Closet Confidential: Balm Squad appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Here for a breathless ten minutes, haven’t even made it to the registration desk, and already two mussily cool girls with wicked shoes and SLRs have asked me to pose for their street style blogs. Ah, yes. Welcome to Fashion Week, the London way.

I recently spied the sweetest gift (with no sugar): Nahui Ollin (nahuiollin.com) purses and clutches. Resembling more pixilated versions of the woven Bottega Veneta Cabat, the large selection of styles, colors and patterns are hand-woven from misprinted and overrun candy wrappers.

By Jennifer Campbell

Long before everyone and her mother was touting green as the new black, Toronto’s Preloved was pumping out sustainable fashion from reclaimed fabrics. Their reassembled sweaters, former-trenchcoat jackets and dresses-from-khakis have been staples of a downtown girl’s wardrobe since 1995.

My friends always argue about which of these dresses, wolf vs. bird, is the most fantastic, and while a verdict is rarely reached, everyone seems to agree that these two dresses are the Lennon and McCartney of the local fashion scene.

It’s hard to describe the way I feel about certain local clothing companies. Phrases like ridiculously-enthusiastic-bordering-on-crazed-fandom, and completely-obsessed don’t even begin to cover the way I talk about and covet the pieces that a few of my most favourite Maritime designers produce. One of the most exciting of these small businesses is Rosebud Beads (rosebudbeads@gmail.com or join their Facebook group).

Guelph greenies have come a long way—and not just politically. A few years ago, it was surprisingly difficult to find clothing that was both environmentally conscious and, well, fashionable. But thankfully, that was no longer the case when Steve Johnson and Sara Chadsey opened the doors of Sole Earth Apparel (42 Wyndham St., North, 519-515-0194, soleearthapparel.com) this past April 2008. The two stock their shelves with pieces from over 30 different Canadian and American designers. The only imports in the store are pieces of fair trade jewellery or items found by Johnson and Chadsey while travelling.