Already! I ordered these bracelets last week as soon as I heard about the new Market Publique for Brooklyn Charm collaboration, available for a limited time on Market Publique. About 30 excellent bracelets and necklaces are available, intended for layering, designed by Market Publique founder Pamela Castillo from BK Charm‘s selection of natural, vintage and dead stock charms, stones and chains. Prices are super affordable at $25–$100 per piece.

I got the Gucci Link Bracelet and the Personalized ID Tag Bracelet — which I had customized with my baby’s middle name. The listings said they could be sized to fit, so I got out my measuring tape and ordered them at 6.75″ to make sure they’d fall exactly where I wanted. They’re perfect.

If you’re a follower of ethical fashion, social shopping or even social media in general, chances are you’ve heard of The IOU Project by now.

Launched last April, the brand is doing truly revolutionary things in the production and distribution of its garments.

In production, all items have a one-of-a-kind nature, with the India fabric weavers and European craftspeople shared on the website and traceable through a unique code associated with each item…

And for distribution, they rely on shoppers like you and me to create digital trunk shows and share in the profits when an item we’ve selected is sold (whether we know the buyer or not).

It’s an incredibly community-focused model that I’d love to see copied by bigger brands!

If I were to put together a trunk show of my own, I’d include the incredibly versatile madras scarf ($39),

a handful of button-downs ($75-$79) and reversible blazers ($175),

and definitely the espadrille wedge ($65).

Great prices for such an innovative concept brand, don’t you think? What do you think of IOU?

The time has come… to sell off my FLP Tees inventory! Which means all tees are marked down to $18 — that’s $30 off their original price of $48.

Five percent of sales will still go to the Not For Sale Campaign, and I’ll still package and send each one in my hand-stamped chipboard envelopes, including my favorite-ever hangtags that were letterpressed on sustainable birch veneer by Treasa at In Haus Press.

As much as I’ve enjoyed running my own line, it’s time to retire the stock I have, and I’d love it if you’d help me clear my shelves!

Shop all $18 FLP Tees now!

The weekend before last, I spent most of my Sunday at Renegade Craft Fair, and I did not come home empty handed. This was my fourth Renegade (last year I made it to Austin, SF and SF Holiday), and it seemed this time that the selection of sellers was more well-curated than ever, with less product repeats and more great-quality design. So I had to give a shout-out to my favorite finds of the day! Clockwise from top left:

• Stone & Honey This brass triangle necklace was a steal for $25 or so — it’s so delicate and lovely on. It will definitely be a staple. Check out the rest of Stone & Honey’s Spring 2011 collection, it’s beautiful!
• Mikinora This line makes some lovely alternatives to your basic studs, which is right up my alley. These gold windmills were about $20 and add a perfect dress-up of shininess while still keeping it simple.
• Early Jewelry I buy something new from Kylie everytime I see her for a show, but her pieces are particularly special now that she’s phasing her line out of production — a sad day for many of us! I love these effortless wire dangles, $20. (I got a necklace from her too, not pictured!)
• heyday design Claire Madill is so sweet! She had a perfectly branded both, themed around her tagline “modern porcelain with a vintage beat.” I really love these white porcelain earrings ($30), and assuming I see her at a show again, I’ll probably go for one of her bigger styles next time.

I also got art prints from Slide Sideways, Gangs of San Francisco and Eros Inc.

Thanks for another awesome show, Renegade!

Now that my figure is constantly changing, getting dressed in the morning has been more of a challenge than ever. But this new maxi dress has been perfect for both warm days and a fast-growing little girl — yes, it’s a girl!

You may be wondering whether she has a name yet. For now, we just call her “Sassy.”

Maxi dress from H&M (not my ideal source, but for occasional immediate needs, I still prefer it to alternatives like Forever 21 for its transparency about labor practices); quartz earrings, horseshoe necklace and African bead necklace by Early Jewelry; flats purchased with a gift card from an Urban Outfitters sale rack.

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?

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Last Christmas, I included Bottlehood’s recycled wine bottle tumblers in almost every gift guide I made. Now I have a set of eight amber ones of my own! This is the first time I’ve ever seen them discounted, so I wanted to share code DADDY for 10% off at Bottlehood.com. (In celebration of Father’s Day.) Offer good through the 19th. If you get a set, let me know! Enjoy!

We all love hearing about a new for-benefit company, where a business has built its concept around benefitting a social cause. Most for-benefits are based in Africa or other impoverished countries, which is completely awesome — but there’s something especially impactful about hearing about one in my own country. It hits closer to home, literally.

Thistle Farms is a bath & beauty company based in Nashville, Tenn., that sells products handmade by women recovering from lives of prostitution, addiction and violence. It’s the social enterprise of the Magdalene project, and on average, women in the project range from the age of 20 to 50, were sexually abused as pre-teens, started using alcohol or drugs by their teens, have been arrested an average of 100 times and have spent about 12 years on the street prostituting.

In America.

The Magdalene program offers women two years of basic needs and beyond — housing, food, medical, therapy, job training and education — without charging for it or taking any government funding. About 30 women at a time are split among six homes, where they learn to care for each other as well as themselves according to 24 spiritual principles inspired by the Benedictine Rule.

The paper labels on the bath and beauty products are made from thistles, which is also handmade by the women, and is symbolic to their lives. Magdalene founder Becca Stevens, an Episcopal priest, told NPR about thistles: “It grows in the places that are abandoned and kind of forgotten, and it also has a history of survival by brutality — but it also has this beautiful deep purple center.”

Magdalene is for women like Penny Hall, a lesbian, who was homeless and would get high to prostitute herself to men for money. She told NPR, “I never thought I’d be at a place making healing oil,” but that Thistle Farms and the Magdalene program have been her saving grace.

Seventy percent of the women who join Magdalene are clean and sober 2 1/2 years after starting the program, and they’re well-equipped to start a new life. The project offers a matched savings program to help prepare for economic independence upon graduation, and women who remain in recovery two years past graduation are eligible for a new home buying program.

Both donations and Thistle Farms profits help fund Magdalene. The project regularly has a waiting list of 80-100 women, which we can all help whittle down by purchasing products or donating.

“Magdalene was founded not only to help a subculture of women, but also to help change the culture itself. We stand in solidarity with women who are recovering from abuse, addiction, and life on the streets, and who have paid dearly for a culture that still buys and sells women.” — thistlefarms.org

Poketo just launched a line of accessories made from 100% vintage sofa leather — some lovely pieces, from the $32 leather button wallet to the $44 clutch. Shop here!

It’s been a long time since I’ve considered carrying a backpack, but right now, there’s something just right about them.

Fjällräven’s Kånken backpack was designed in 1978 and still has the same design and quality today. “At Fjällräven we strive to make products that will last you a long time and even be passed down by generations,” Maria from Fjällräven’s New York office told me. ”We focus on functionality and classic style and you will notice that Fjällräven’s equipment does not follow fleeting trends, but stands for durability year in and year out.”

The Kånken is climate compensated, meaning that the emissions created by the bag’s production are offset by decreasing emissions elsewhere within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol.

The bag comes in both a regular ($65) and mini ($45) size and a huge variety of colors. It’s been worn by every generation of Scandanavian kids since it was introduced! A lovely history.

What do you think? Would you carry a backpack?

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