Rib & Hull Technical Tote, $183

What a beautiful bag. Handmade to order by Rib & Hull in their Warsaw studio of full-grain Italian leather, organic cotton canvas and Italian hardware. I’d envisioned a bag with mid-length shoulder straps, but it might be super convenient to have a cross-body strap like this. I’m just not crazy about the silver hardware. For me, I think this unisex bag skews a bit masculine.

Clare Vivier La Tropézienne, $320

Clare Vivier’s styles are so classic, and this one is just perennially beautiful. All Clare Vivier bags are made in Los Angeles. My main concern for my use of it is that it doesn’t close at the top, and it’s unlined, so any spills would be a no-no. Great strap length — straps come in both a 5″ and 8″ length, and I’d go for the 8″.

Treesizeverse Recycled Vintage Cotton Tote Bag with Leather Bottom, $169

Handmade in Belgium of a camel-colored deadstock fabric and black leather. The straps are adjustable and the top has a loose closure. I love the “organic” vibe of this bag — well-crafted but not overly manicured. The colors are lovely, including the touches of gold/brass hardware, and it’s fully lined. I’m really debating on this one — if it’s as sturdy as it looks, it might be perfect!

Shannon South – Remade in the USA Degraw, $275

Shannon South hand-sews all of her bags out of reclaimed leather jackets (either that she finds or that you send in!). “There is so much perfectly usable waste in the United States,” her website says. The bag is lined in organic cotton, and the complete lack of hardware lets it go with anything. The depth of this tote makes a closure seem less necessary.

Clare Vivier Messenger Bag, $345

A second Clare Vivier style — this one with the cross-body strap and a top zipper. Whereas the La Tropizienne is made of a very stiff leather, I’ve tried this in person and was surprised by how soft and droopy the leather was. I think it’s too soft for my preferences. To anyone who has a Clare Vivier tote — was it worth the splurge?

Longchamp Le Pliage, $149

This bag has a great mix of affordability and classic style. I see them around SF every once in a while, but they were ALL over Europe. The style has been around for ages; I know some women buy a new one every five years or so. I do wish I knew more about Longchamp’s manufacturing process; all I’ve learned online is that some bags are marked as Made in France and some are marked as Made in China. But for the most part, luxury brands don’t skimp on any part of their production processes.

So what do you think? Please let me know if you have any other recommendations!

The only I’ve gotten so far about a diaper bag is that you want to have lots of pockets (thanks Mary!), so with any of these bags, I’d use an insert like this in it.

One out of five people in the world can’t see clearly – that’s 1.3 billion people living without proper vision. Earlier this month, you most likely heard about TOMS revealing its next one-for-one product, sunglasses. Inspired by this announcement, I decided to round-up my four favorite brands offering sight to people in need, in exchange for slick new shades.

4sight Sunglasses

At $89 a pop, 4sight’s glasses clock in as the most affordable on the list. Ben Midanek created the company in 2010 after traveling South America and East Africa and discovering how few people in the developing world had glasses, despite their need for them. 4sight offers eight styles, and for each pair purchased, corrective glasses are donated through nonprofit partners Unite for Sight and Feed the Children.

Proof Sunglasses

Launched earlier this year, Proof offers $90–$130 sunglasses that are made from sustainably sourced wood. They donate a “large” portion of each sale to help individuals in India receive sight-giving surgeries, as well as to a tree replanting initiative in Haiti. They also offer the most varied selection of styles of all the do-gooder brands, with nearly 60 different pairs currently for sale through the label’s site.

TOMS Eyewear

With the purchase of TOMS Eyewear for $135, a medical treatment or a pair of prescription glasses is provided to a person in need via TOMS’ Sight Giving Partners (expert eye care organizations already operating around the world). The TOMS website tells an educational and compelling story regarding the lack of corrective vision services in many regions of the globe, and also reminds us that TOMS customers have enabled the company to donate over 1 million shoes to date – a very impressive feat. Two styles in 18 color variations are available now.

Warby Parker Sun Collection

At this point, you should already know Warby Parker and their one-for-one glasses model. Last week, the company released a collection of $95-a-pair sunglasses. As with their regular glasses, for every pair purchased, a pair of prescription glasses is donated to someone in need though the nonprofit VisionSpring. Nine styles are available, and prescription sunwear will be coming in August.

What do you think of these four brands’ styles? Would you buy a pair?

Lena Corwin’s ~>O<~

Lena’s aesthetic (and even her approach to blogging) are so down-to-earth and lovely. As I’ve been buying things to decorate our apartment, I even find myself thinking, “would this fit Lena’s aesthetic?” She also had a baby last year and writes a beautiful blog about textiles for babies that I love as well, Wee Textile.

Ecouterre

The quintessential green fashion blog, of course! Jasmin, Yuka, Jill and team do a killer job of staying on top of need-to-know eco fashion news. Inhabitat and Ecouterre are both examples of news blogs done right.

The Jealous Curator

I met Danielle Krysa last January at Alt Design Summit and am now so glad to call her my friend. Her curatorial skills are second to none — that’s what we tune into the blog for. But in addition, she’s a former award-winning agency art director who took some time off from her career to have a baby boy, and during that break, she launched her blog to spur an all-new career: a gallery curator, which she officially became this past spring with her first show. She originally wrote her blog anonymously, but a handful of us at Alt helped encourage her to out herself and share her work with the world, and isn’t it fabulous? On a personal note recently, she’s given me such a welcome perspective on balancing a devotion to your work with a devotion to your child. Great stuff all around.

Design for Mankind

Whereas The Jealous Curator covers art that makes her think, “Damn, I wish I’d thought of that,” the career that Erin Loechner has shaped for herself sometimes makes me think, “Damn, I wish I were that”! On Design for Mankind she curates excellent design, art and fashion, but my favorite posts are her Design for MYkind, where she posts personal outfits, musings and all the sweetness that she really truly is as a person.

The Sartorialist

Need I say more? Scott Schman’s eye amazes me. Still the best people, places and style in street style.

Closet Visit

Jeana Sohn in LA knows some of the most beautiful and stylish women I’ve ever seen — or if she doesn’t, she certainly makes it look that way, which of course is an art all its own. She photographs women in their homes, wearing different beautiful outfits in different beautiful rooms, typically including their closets. These homes often end up on my Pinterest account. Note: Closet Visit isn’t actually a blog and doesn’t have a traditional RSS feed, so I subscribe to Jeana’s personal blog for bits of her style and preview images each time she posts a new Visit.

And a handful of honorable mentions, because I just can’t help it:

• Refinery29‘s daily emails — for  general finger-on-the-pulse fashion tidbits, and especially for My Style galleries of the homes of indie women in fashion. (More popular fodder for Pinterest.)
• Well Spent (formerly Commerce With A Conscience) — The only men’s fashion blog I read (and regularly contribute to as well).
• Simple Lovely — Joslyn Taylor in Dallas has a beautiful home, two beautiful daughters who she’s dearly in love with and simple, lovely style in just about every area.
• sfgirlbybay — More Pinterest interiors fodder. Total eye candy.
• Arrow & Arrow — Brought to you by the Austin-based owners of Spartan and Bows + Arrows. Great random bits, and a good dose of love for Texas.
• Fashioni.st — San Francisco street style from Mai Le, who personifies San Francisco style both personally and through her lens.

What are your favorites — blogs you can’t miss without feeling like you’re missing out on something special?

(I mean, even well-edited lists could always use some fresh inspiration, right?… :)

Happy 2011! (Only six days late!)

Right before 2010 ended I got an email from Jasmin at Ecouterre asking me to contribute my predictions for 2011 in the eco fashion industry. You can read my response here. It was great to add my two cents in the company of John Patrick Organic, Sheena at The Uniform Project, Summer Rayne Oakes, Eviana Hartman at Bodkin, Brad at Commerce With a Conscience and more.

I think this was my first stab at a full-on prediction of this sort, and although at first I was afraid of getting something “wrong,” I think it turned out great! Some of the 28 contributors’ responses challenged each other a bit, but only in a positive way. When you have a few extra minutes, be sure to read them all.

TheFeast.com: Last week I was excited to curate a guide of local, ethical gift ideas for TheFeast.com. My list of 14 picks covers most of my SF favorites, from air plants at Paxton Gate to Early Jewelry at Candystore Collective and Renegade Holiday, which hits SF this weekend. This silk top by The Podolls is one I just snagged from Candystore and love! Read my full list here.

Mimi + Meg: Kansas City blogger Megan Biram posted a beautiful and amazing variety of guest gift guides this month, and mine hit the web on Tuesday. Isn’t Megan’s blog design beautiful? They didn’t hire her at Hallmark Cards for nothing. You can see the full post here.

PR Couture: What a treat to meet Crosby Noricks, founder of PR Couture, and have a Q&A on her blog in the same week! Crosby is a PR professional and has vowed to share her knowledge as much as possible. There is SO much to learn in the pages of her site. She’s working on a for-benefit jewelry line of her own (that sounds very exciting), so she invited me to participate in her series “Show Me the Pretty,” where she asks five questions of a designer, and the designer gets to ask five questions back to Crosby and her PR-pro network. I really enjoyed answering Crosby’s questions, and I can’t wait to see the answers to mine posted soon. If you’re into the fashion industry and don’t already follow this blog, you should start! You can read my Q&A here.

Storenvy: Even though you’re looking many of my gift picks in the face right now, I spent most of my gift-guiding time this season at the Storenvy blog! It was awesome working with Erin Loechner of Design For Mankind, Jessie Artigue of The Concrete Catwalk, Darius Monsef of COLOURlovers and Rachel Ryle of Tweety Got Back on their curated lists, and I loved filling in the blanks with several guides of my own. I think my favorites are 6 Gift Ideas for Moms and yesterday’s 12 Last-Minute Gift Picks from Indie Brands. You can view them all here.

We love our indie brands, but oftentimes shopping at chains can be unavoidable. Last month Newsweek released its Green Rankings 2010, ranking hundreds of the world’s most environmentally sound companies, and I went through and grabbed just the Fashion & Beauty companies from their Top 500 US Companies list — so that when we do find ourselves at the mall, we don’t have to check our conscientious-shopping-selves at the door.

Note that these rankings are based solely on environmental factors, not social – though a lot of environmentally responsible brands tend to get the social side right as well.

As ranked according to the Top 500 list:

10. Nike

40. Kohl’s

51. Wal-Mart

52. Avon Products

53. Estee Lauder (incl. Aveda, Origins, Clinique, M-A-C, Bobbi Brown, Bumble & bumble)

61. Target

63. J.C. Penney

71. Gap

91. Hanesbrands (incl. Champion, Playtex, Wonderbra)

100. Limited Brands (incl. Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Henri Bendel)

108. Tiffany

113. Macy’s

118. Nordstrom

120. TJX (incl. T.J. Maxx, Marshalls)

232. Abercrombie & Fitch

245. Polo Ralph Lauren

316. Urban Outfitters

412. VF Corp (incl. Lee Jeans, VANS, Wrangler, Nautica, Jansport, The Northface, Reef, 7 For All Mankind)

436. Coach

Via GreenBiz.com

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!

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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!

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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!

For the past few years, I’ve gotten together with friends every six months or so for a clothing exchange. Without fail, I always find a few things I love. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the clothing swap concept, and many of you have probably done it before, but I wanted to pass along how we do it… with a little nudge to host your own. It’ll be awesome.

1. Invite people. However many you want. Tell them to bring clothes and accessories they don’t want anymore, and feel free to tempt them with food and drinks.

2. Before the exchange, be sure to clear some space for piles (or, even better, hanger racks) of clothes. The more space the better, because everyone will want to crowd in and see everything. And don’t forget full-length mirrors!!

3. At the exchange, separate everyone’s stuff into categories: shirts, dresses, pants, accessories, etc. If you do this as a group, everyone gets to scope out the selection… which is fun and more fair.

(If you have a smaller group, or a smaller selection of stuff (like, if you asked everyone to bring just five items), there is no need for categories and everything can be arranged together.)

4. Assign everyone a number. This can be done in order of arrival, or by drawing numbers.

5. Then the choosing begins.

Option 1: Focus everyone’s attention on one category at a time, letting everyone choose an item in their numbered order, cycling through the count until everyone has all they want. When/if things get slow, you can let more than one person go at a time. To keep things mixed up (and fair), with each category you begin, start your order with a different number. (#1 starts the first time, #5 starts the second time, etc.)

Option 2: You can have everyone rotate through the categories simultaneously. (Think “classroom stations” from elementary school.) Say you have six categories and 18 people; #1 chooses the category she wants to begin at, #2 chooses hers, etc. Each category would have three people choosing from it at a time. Once selections are finished in each round, each little group rotates to the next category — everyone in one big circular movement. And on and on, until everyone has had their fill.

In either case, after the first few rounds, let people take more than one piece at a time. And, feel free to put a time limit on each round!

6. Once everyone gets what they want in the initial rounds, open it up to a free-for-all. Then bag the leftovers to be donated to a local thrift store or charity.

7. Take home lots of excellent new-to-you clothes. And email me to let me me how it went!

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There are plenty of other approaches — by price point, with one big pile, with one big hidden pile, with general piles, etc. — but this has worked splendidly for us. Have you hosted or attended one before? How did it go?

Top image from Katy over at Kansas Couture

Loeffler Randall Simone; Eloise, $501 (sale); and Mabel, $419 (sale).

While Loeffler Randall isn’t a brand that necessarily touts its social responsibility, I add it to the list for the same reason that it’s made the ranks of a handful of eco boutiques: These shoes are brilliantly designed and crafted. The overall classic aesthetic, made of the most exquisite materials you’ve ever felt, combine for a series of shoes that will last you for years… as will the compliments, no doubt. The line is designed by a husband-and-wife team and made in Spain.

Terra Plana Dida, $195, and Herb, $140.

Terra Plana has a wonderful history of crafting some of the most holistically conscientious shoes around. (Some, in fact, so based in theory that style is left entirely by the wayside…) I’m a happy owner of the Grass, the predecessor of the Herb, and am a huge fan of its lightweightedness, breathability, durability and flattering style. My only complaint about the shoe is that it doesn’t wear well with jeans, as it slips off the heel with every step — which this removable ankle strap remedies beautifully. This colorway of the Dida, Multi Quilt, is made from recycled Pakistani quilts, so each is completely unique (and completely awesome). All Terra Plana shoes are made according to the high standards of the brand’s Eco Matrix.