The Pioneer Renewer in the Castro has quickly become my favorite shoe repair place in SF.

In the past year, I think I’ve already been in three or four times. So many heels worn down from so much walking!

The repairs I’ve gotten there have all been above and beyond what I expected.

So that I can continue to wear my favorite boots — vintage Frye, found at the Buffalo Exchange on Haight for a whopping $30 — every single day. (OK, maybe just five days a week.)

After I’d worn these for a few months, the soles were the only part of the boot that needed repair. Not only did the guys at Pioneer Renewer replace the heels, they also rebuilt the toe tip and reinforced the sole under the ball of the foot (which was previously all leather).

I love these boots so much — they’re a color I can wear with anything, they’re great quality that lends itself well to good maintenance and they’re a timeless style. One of the best pairs of shoes I’ve ever owned.

Here’s hoping you have your own favorite shoe repair shop for your favorite pairs! Do you get your shoes repaired much?

]]> http://fashionlovespeople.com/2011/06/08/boot-repair-at-the-pioneer-renewer/feed/ 2 http://fashionlovespeople.com/2010/08/05/the-story-of-cosmetics-from-annie-leonard-safecosmetics-org/ http://fashionlovespeople.com/2010/08/05/the-story-of-cosmetics-from-annie-leonard-safecosmetics-org/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:09:02 +0000 Janette http://fashionlovespeople.com/?p=2455

How crazy is it that current FDA laws concerning personal care products haven’t changed since 1938? Apparently cosmetics companies aren’t required to meet any standards or regulations with their products. Crazy.

But there’s good news! Annie Leonard from The Story of Stuff has narrated this excellent video to educate us about what the heck we’re putting on our bodies, and on the very day it was released (July 22), the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 was introduced in Congress.

To take action and encourage your representatives to support the act, visit SafeCosmetics.org.

Token quote from the 8-minute video: ”Even babies are being born pre-polluted.” Blarg.

Read more at SafeCosmetics.org, a sponsor of this video, and at GreenBiz.com.

I’m in Omaha right now, where the temperatures are in the 60s (rather than the 90s in Austin), so I got to pull out my favorite boots again. Their only draw-back is that they’re not good summer shoes!

I got these in the fall of 2007, about a month after I started this blog, when I was just starting to navigate conscientious buying. On that note, you’ll laugh at the fact that they’re by Steve Madden, but I did get them for 20% off through the use of a discount card I’d bought for $20 to benefit breast cancer survivors in Kansas City — so a part of the purchase price at least indirectly benefitted a cause. But the real reason they were a smart buy was their versatility and, as I can vouch for now, their quality.

The gray color goes with everything, the heel height is perfectly manageable and they fold up from ankle booties to mid-calf height!

I’ve had the heel tips replaced about three times, at about $8 a pop.

Last fall I had the front tip of the sole rebuilt (you can see the line between old and new) to make sure I didn’t wear the leather down on the tip of the shoe. (I think this cost about $20. In Kansas City, I went to Broadway Shoe Repair for all these repairs.)

And the benefits of good shoe polish! Remember my recent post on closet care tips? Like I wrote there, good leather gets better over time with the use of good polish, and I was able to find a dark gray Meltonian polish that matched these boots perfectly. The shoe on the right is polished, and the shoe on the left isn’t.

These are the main pair of boots I’ve worn all fall/winter the past three years (with skinny jeans tucked in tidily), and I’m sure I’ll get another few years out of them. I still get compliments when I wear them, and I saw last fall that Aldo had just made their own version of them.

All that, plus saving me the $100+ per year that I’d otherwise spend on new boots, from buying the right style and then taking the right care of them. Just thought the story of my favorite shoes might inspire you!

I recently got to write a few articles about how to take better care of your wardrobe on behalf of one of my favorite clients, Hudson & Jane, the lovely high-end men’s and women’s boutique in Kansas City’s Crestwood Shops. With most of the articles’ content coming straight from the store’s owners, Rick & Flo Ann Brehm, I learned a lot myself and wanted to share it with you as well. It refreshed my appreciation for high-quality fabrics, which are always worth the investment.

“Hudson” and “Jane” are the men’s and women’s personas of the store, and the two of them write regular articles about fashion specific to their sexes. (I write on behalf of them both, but shh, don’t tell!) We published an article about men’s closet care from Hudson and one about women’s closet care from Jane, and I’m combining my own experiences plus info from both here. Enjoy!

***

Undergarments. On a day-to-day basis, it is said to give each of your bras at least a day in between wears, to allow elastics time to regain their shape. When washing, use cold water to make sure nothing shrinks unexpectedly (that’s what causes underwires to pop out), and protect those delicates with special wash bags or a BraBaby. Of course, always hang to dry.

Cashmere. With a little extra measure, cashmere can outlast and out-warm every other sweater in your closet. Machine wash your cashmere sweaters one at a time on the handwash cycle with cold water and a gentle detergent, like Dreft. Shape and lay on a towel to dry. The more cashmere is washed, the softer it will get and the less it will pill. (Even the highest quality sweaters pill.)

Linen. Same here. Linen is best handwashed, or machined washed on the handwash cycle, and then ironed. If you like your linen stiff, use starch sparingly, as starch makes fabrics stuffy and unbreathable. (Starch in particular breaks down and clogs the shirt’s fibers, causing it to retain body heat when worn.) Avoid dry cleaning, which yellows and weakens linen fibers especially.

Wool. A good clothes brush will bring out the lanolins in a wool garment (sweaters, coats, suits), which helps it naturally resist stains and grime build-up, thus needing fewer cleanings. Lanolin is a sort of naturally occurring wax that makes sheep’s wool waterproof, which professional cleaning actually removes.

Denims and knits. No dryer for you! To keep any of your more vulnerable fabrics looking newer for longer, wash them inside out and avoid the dryer. Some knits may need to be shaped and laid out to dry, but jeans can be hung.

Outerwear. Think coats, jackets and lightly used suits — for items you can’t wash yourself, dry cleaning at least once a year will extend the garment’s life by removing grime that can wear down fibers. Clean garments also stave off moths in the off-season, as moths are attracted not by the fibers but by body oils and dead skin. Storing clean garments in plastic bags should do the trick.

Dry cleaning. The chemicals used in dry cleaning actually decrease the lifespan of your garments, so dry clean only in moderation. Of course, it’s necessary for cleaning some pieces — jackets, coats, lined garments and anything that says “Dry Clean Only.” (For labels without the “Only,” garments made of natural fibers can often just be hand-washed, including cashmere, linen, wool and silk.) Consider having your garments cleaned before putting them into storage for the off-season, as moths seek out and eat skin oils and dead skin, not the fabrics themselves.

And as I’m sure you’ve heard, the primary chemical used in traditional dry cleaning is a hardcore pollutant, not to mention that it is dangerous for dry cleaners to even work with. Many alternative cleaners have sprung up over the past few years, so check out options in your area. Read more at Commerce With a Conscience.

Reweaving. For damaged garments, all is not lost! (Hopefully.) Marred wool can be rewoven, often for an affordable price. For other fabric issues, ask a good dry cleaner, who can help lend their expertise on how to get it fixed.

Alterations. Have you watched What Not to Wear? Many body shapes need alterations to get off-the-rack garments to fit flatteringly at all. Hems, waistbands and more can be fixed for as little as $10. (I’ve seen a man at my tailor who brings in all his ’90s-tailored shirts to get them sewn into a more up-to-date fit — love it.) Just be sure to ask for pricing upfront to avoid any surprises, and get ready to start wearing better-fitting clothes.

Leather care. When cared for correctly, good quality leather gets better with age, developing a deep patina from years of polish. Use a cream polish instead of wax, to keep leather from drying out, just like skin. (It is skin.) Cream polish rubs deep down into the leather, conditioning it for a supple shine and rich color. Keep leather soft and moist. When you buy a new pair of shoes, have them polished before wearing them to avoid stains right off the bat. Hudson & Jane’s pick for cream polish is Meltonian, which is available at most drugstores.

Shoe repair. For small fixes, help is just a car-trip away. New high-heel tips, buckles and zipper fixes are a cinch to most shoe repair shops. From my own shoe guy, I can get high-heel tips replaced for $8 (and have many times), and he once rebuilt the front tip of the sole on my favorite pair of boots for $20-something, ensuring that I wouldn’t wear down the leather on the toe any more than I already had. It gave them at least another few years of wear.

Stay in shape. “When your fit stays the same, your classic wardrobe really can last you a lifetime.” I wrote this in Hudson’s words, but credit goes to my friend Erica for pointing this out to me once. Taking care of our health and wellbeing benefits us all across the board!

***

You can sign up for the Hudson & Jane email list here, and you can become our fan on Facebook here. (For every 50 FB fans we gain, one fan wins a $50 gift certificate to the store!) Hope you get as much out of this info as I did!

To keep my dark jeans looking new, I wait as long as possible between washes, as machine washing seems to inevitably bring out new signs of wear. But Brazilian denim brand TriStar is starting an alternative denim washing movement — just throw your jeans in the freezer!

“After use, just put them inside a plastic or cloth bag and leave them in the freezer for 24 hours to kill the bacteria,” TriStar CEO Jandira Barone tells Jornal A Tribuna. Not only with this decrease machine-washing wear-and-tear, it will save water.

But if you’re planning to try this on your own, be warned: The article notes that the cooling of the denim actually sets any stains in. The brand considers this a benefit — “Don’t consumers buy pants frayed, ripped, and stained? The concept is the same, only it will be a detail produced by the user” — but if you’re not going for that worn-in look, you might steer clear.

Read more info about TriStar’s holistic thinking about sustainable denim at Ecouterre or Treehugger.

Image from TriStar