Monkee Genes – Ethical Bamboo Jeans Review!

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

Top – People Tree
Jeans – Monkee Genes
Shoes – Pikolinos
Necklace – Made UK

I wanted to devote a whole post to my new skinny jeans by Monkee Genes as I am really pleased with them. I have so many skirts and dresses in my wardrobe but very little in the way of practical clothes, so when I was given some money for my birthday, I decided that I really ought to invest in a pair of skinny jeans.

Monkee Genes were the obvious choice for me as they are not only eco friendly and ethical but they also have a fantastic range of different colours and cuts. I deliberated over which colour and style to go for but in the end picked out these bamboo skinny jeans in dark blue which just happened to be included in a sale/ offer at Ethical Superstore. Whilst I was very tempted by the coloured jeans, I decided the dark blue would be more versatile and go with just about anything in my wardrobe and probably more flattering on my tree trunk legs. My daughter has an amazing pair of bamboo jeans which are really soft and comfortable to wear so I hoped that these would be the same. Bamboo is also really sustainable and grown without the use of chemical pesticides making it a great eco friendly alternative to conventional cotton. The jeans turned up in no time at all along with a People Tree top (worn above) and a Braintree hemp cardigan which I will be featuring in an outfit post very soon.

I wasn’t disappointed by the bamboo denim. It is soft and comfortable to wear and has a little stretch in it allowing me to move about even the jeans fitted pretty snugly. I really liked the look of the jeans and even got a compliment from Mr Style Eyes (a fairly rare occurence!). The jeans were a bit too long so would be fantastic if they offered shorter sizes but as I am so short, I am pretty used to taking up my jeans. I have decided to wait a few washes before I take them up though to allow for any shrinkage.

I wore them at the weekend when we deposited the children at my parents and took the our camper van just down the road to a campsite in Bath for a few nights, just for a bit of chill out and beer time. They were ideal for this trip as they were practical for climbing in and out of the campervan and also smart enough to wear out to the pub for a night out.

If you would like to see a great range of sustainable jeans by Monkee Genes and lots of other great brands, please check out the jeans shop UK on my new website style is…

I hope you had a fantastic bank holiday weekend.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

PS – this post does contain affiliate links. The jeans were bought completely with my own money and I was not paid for writing this review.

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Beautiful Soul

Posted on May 4, 2012 by admin

I stumbled across the Beautiful Soul website the other day and really wanted to share it with you. There has been so much talk about ‘Made in the UK’ lately and Beautiful Soul is yet another fantastic ethical fashion brand that is Made in the UK.

Beautiful Soul is a luxury womenswear label based in London’s Notting Hill. It is combines classic, timeless and very chic with a quintessentially British feel. The label offers both ready to wear and a bespoke kimono collection. Clothes are made using unique signature prints, luxury vintage fabrics, British wool, British lace and sustainable organic fabric. The companies zero waste policy has also led to interesting fastenings and embellishments made from material remnants where every last thread of fabric is used in the creative process.

Nicola Woods, the founder and creative Director trained at London College of Fashion and set up the label in 2008 after a complete career change. Nicola is a perfectionist and her attention to detail and standards of quality are superior. She is committed to a conscious approach to fabric sourcing and her designs have a strong emphasis placed on longevity, multi-function and adjustability.

For Spring Summer 2012 the Beautiful Soul collection is called Summer Breeze.

The Beautiful Soul online shop is coming soon.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

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Outsider

Posted on March 6, 2012 by admin

Outfit 18 301c Outsider

Outsider was one of the brands at Good Fashion Show that I unfortunately missed out on seeing. I have since been over to check out the website and I really loved what I saw.

I really love their vision that ‘Ethical Fashion should look just like fashion’ and their clothes are ’Inspired by fashion but designed to be classic, wearable and beautiful, Outsider garments can be worn and loved season after season’.

I definitely think that they have succeeded in achieving this vision, the clothes stand out as simply beautiful and they are desirable way beyond their ethics. London born, designer Noorin Khamisani has worked with Avant Garde labels Ann-Sofie Back, Jessica Ogden and Susan Cianciolo in New York as well as high street retailers including Debenhams, Ted Baker and Hobbs. Whilst she has a deep understanding of the impact of garment production and has spent several years researching sustainable fabrics and production methods, style and quality in her designs for Outsider is equally as important as ethical production.

The SS12 Outsider collection is filled with relaxed luxury interpreted in a modern way, combining different textures including denim, peace silk and jersey.

I can’t make up my mind which dress I like the best, at the moment I am torn between the peachy coloured draped dress and the mullet hemmed maxi shirt dress, sigh …

What do you think? do love this collection as much as me?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

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Kuyichi Top Review – I Have Wings!

Posted on February 29, 2012 by admin

Happy Leap Day, I am not really going to be doing much leaping today, perhaps more a bit of flying due to my new wings!

Top Kuyichi
Vest top – M&S
Organic cotton jeans – M&S
Bag – Oxfam
Jewellery – Made UK

I was recently contacted to see if I would like to review a product from one of the ethical brands on the Zalando online shop. I was instantly charmed by this top by this top by Kuyichi with beautifully delicate wings printed on the back.

The top is made from Tencel, sustainable fabric that is made from recycled paper. It is quite a thin fabric and lends itself perfectly to this draped kind of top. It is also soft and incredibly comfortable to wear. I really love the style of the top as it is loose fitting and long enough to be a dress, so quite flattering for someone of my height. As it is very slightly see through and cut away at the back, I decided it would look best worn over a close fitting vest top and a fairly extensive rummage through my wardrobe resulted in me finding a peach coloured top which was the perfect match.

The draped neckline was the perfect place to show off my new necklace from Made UK (which you can read more about in my post on Ethical Jewellery) and the colours worked so well with my new (old) bag from the Oxfam Boutique, (which you can read more about in my post about The Good Fashion Show)

Despite the weather being unusually warm, I think this outfit is probably more suited to proper spring (rather than the freaky not supposed to be) early spring that we are experiencing at the moment. I am afraid I chickened out of wearing peep toe shoes and changed into my boots before taking the children to school. I also added a short jacket. I wonder if anyone noticed there was a pair of wings poking out under the botton of it?

Kuyichi are one of the pioneers of sustainable fashion, being the first brand to introduce organic jeans. They continue to be at the forefront of innovation in sustainable textiles with their collections being dominated by organic and recycled fabrics. Their clothes have a relaxed but contemporary vibe. Their website describes them as style with a soul and explains how they care about the product, the people and the planet and how their fabrics are grown and sewn with love and crafted with a conscience.

If you are love on trend ethical fashion, you should check out Zalando, not only do they have some great ethical brands including Kuyichi and Hemp Hoodlamb, but they also stock ethical shoes including Toms, Green Comfort and Grand step shoes and beauty brands like Burts Bees and Cowshed.

I hope you are having a lovely week.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

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30 Days of Ethical Fashion – Zakee Shariff For People Tree

Posted on December 11, 2011 by admin

Tommorrow, People Tree will be launching their latest collaboration with designer and artist Zakee Shariff. The collection will consist of jersey pieces with unique bold prints.

Zakee Shariff has developed a cult following over recent years. Her signature is the elegant drawings, prints, and paintings that are used to decorate clothing. For the People Tree collection she has applied pop colours and paisley and bird motifs to a stretch mini-dress, a slouchy long sleeve box sweat, and a slashed sleeve tee.

The collection wil be made from 100% organic, Fairtrade certified cotton in India by Assisi Garments, one of People Tree’s Fair Trade producers who pay up to 30% more than conventional garment manufacturers. The organic cotton is from Agrocel, a pioneering Fairtrade certified organic cotton producer in Gujarat, India.

I will definitely be checking out this collection which looks fun and affordable with prices from £35 – £40. It will be available from People Tree from tommorrow.

If you would like to check out other posts in my 30 days of ethical fashion series, you can do so here.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

30 Days of Ethical Fashion – Playsuit Parlour

Posted on December 8, 2011 by admin

I can’t even remember where I spotted Playsuit Parlour, but they definitely caught my eye with their colourful and individual playsuit designs. They are really cute, perhaps a little cold for this time of year but so perfect for the summer. They also have some beautiful kimono silk wrap dresses for winter. I was even more pleasantly surprised when I discovered that they are eco friendly and sustainable, another amazing example of recycled fashion. Everything is made from recycled natural fabrics, organic and traditional herbal block-printed cottons and off-cuts.
They are a small family-run business.

I love this quote from their website

Because every Body is wonderfully different, and occasionally changing shape,
each piece is flatteringly adjustable.

You can find out more about them on www.playsuitparlour.com or by following on Facebook. They also sell their beautiful kimono silk wrap dresses on ASOS Marketplace.

I hope that you are having a good week. If you would like to catch up on any previous posts in my 30 days of ethical fasihon series, you can do so here.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

30 Days of Ethical Fashion – Antiform

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin

Antiform was set up by Lizzie Harrison in 2007 and upcycles high quality materials that would otherwise become waste to make women’s wear. Lizzie has a wealth of experience in sustainable fashion design, textiles upcycling and local fashion systems. At Antiform they work with people from the community with the aim of recognising the diversity of local skills, creating local employment, adding value to local waste clothing and bringing people together through a shared passion.The collection is all hand made in Leeds with the help and support of 64 local people, including beaders, knitters, artists, seamstresses and volunteers.

Antiform’s partner organisation Remade in Leeds also runs workshops on upcyling, garment repair and alterations aswell as organising a monthly clothes exchange.

The AW11 collection is jam packed with bold patterns, handknitted accessories and classic styles with a twist. There are some of the seasons hottest trends including patterned leggings and some more unique and individual pieces like the floaty chiffon shirts finished with patterned collars.

You can buy Antiform from the Antiform online shop but if they don’t stock what you are looking for, the label is also stocked in Remade in Leeds or in online Ethical Boutiques Magic Number 3, Think Boutique and Ethics Girls.

I think that the prices are very reasonable especially considering the attention to detail that has gone into making these clothes. I also love that this is an ethical brand that can definitely hold its own amongst the conventional fashion labels in terms of design and innovation.

What do you think?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

P.s you can check out the rest of my 30 days of ethical fashion series here

30 Days of Ethical Fashion – Braintree Hemp

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

For day 5 of 30 days of Ethical Fashion, I would like to share with you Braintree Hemp. Unfortunately the name of this brand doesn’t really do well to convey the stylishness of this ethical fashion brand which, as far as I can see is a little under the radar, but has some very desirable offerings none the less.

The company, which is one of the largest hemp clothing companies in the world started off in Australia in 1995 before setting up shop in Portobello Road and then Camden in London. The brand now also sells online and is introducing new eco and sustainable textiles to its range including Bamboo and Tencil.

The knits and bamboo/organic cotton jersey dresses and leggings are really comfy and warm for this freezing cold weather. They look really stylish and luxurious and nothing like something you might expect to be worn by a ‘hemp wearing hippy’!

Ethical Superstore currently stock Braintree Hemp and have a great promotion where you get a £10 voucher when you spend £60 or more.