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Design for a Living World: The Nature Conservancy + Cooper Hewitt

If you are in New York between now and January, make sure that the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum's current exhibit Design for a Living World, presented in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, is on your Museum Mile drive-by. The exhibit's vision was to send noted industrial, fashion and accessories designers like Stephen Burks of readymade, Ted Muehling and Isaac Mizrahi, among others, to various parts of the world let them develop new uses for the local materials/resources. What I love about this exhibit is that each designer seems to have married his or her modern design principles while leveraging the local, functional ways of doing things. For example, Yves Behar designed a micro-plane-like product that would enable locals to harvest cocoa, and collect shavings to minimize waste. Repurposeful design at its best.

(Photos courtesy of Cooper Hewitt; Design Addict)

Repurposeful Fashion: Preloved

Love the retro-chic look of Canadian designer Preloved's collection, constructed from reclaimed fabrics. Courtesy of Inhabitat. For a menswear option, I LOVE Alter in Greenpoint from an earlier post.

Shoe Stow

Problem: Quick and easy shoe changes, sans the constant ungraceful process of retrieving the heels from the plastic bag.

Solution: A repurposed promotional tote bag is sturdy enough to withstand heel puncture and lays neatly (and quietly) inside your bag.

I often find that it's impossible (especially in the winter) to do quick shoe changes in New York. There's always a cumbersome situation--unwrapping a plastic bag, pulling out your heels, switching out the shoes and then shoving it back in your bag.All the while, stuff's flying out. 

So....since I had an old promotional tote bag lying around....

I cut down the two side seams, cut off one of the straps, and folded one side into itself. Leave one strap still attached, so you can easily grab it from the bag abyss, unflap the fold and gracefully grab your shoes out. The things we NY girls do.

The Rules of The Bargain Battlefield

 

So I've been reading a lot about budget-conscious fashion, as noted from an earlier post on the NY Times' Style "recessionista" story. Current economic crisis notwithstanding, plenty of us are lifers when it comes to discount shopping. After having been trained to bargain hunt since early childhood, informed by my parents' immigrant experience and my father's commitment to frugality (uh, not always taste), here are my Ten Rules to navigate The Bargain Battlefield:

1. Travel Minimally. At my 1998 Battle against the German lady at Barney's Warehouse Sale, I learned that when entering such hostile territory, one must travel lightly (no bags of any sort) and wear the least bulky coat you own. While trying to manage too much stuff in hand, (clothes draped over my coat, purse, etc.) the hangers from my finds snagged the sweater a German woman was carrying. While I was trying to use diplomacy and undo this collaboratively, she insisted on using brut force to tug at her sweater, thereby flinging my things across the aisle, thereby causing me to come undone.

2. Shop Purposefully. Stock Necessities Only. At the height of the season, don't just "go shopping" without first doing a full inventory of your wardrobe. Are there things you haven't worn. Why not? Separate out those items that can be tailored or altered. Now look at the remaining items. Retain items that you like, even though you don't tend to wear them, items that are well-made/classic, and, items you spent money on. These are always workable. Figure out if there is a style of skirt, pant or cardigan that they will work with. Short list 3 must-buy pieces (meaning clothing. I'm not talking coats, boots, or other accessories) that will help you maximize these items and the rest of your wardrobe. Everything else is not a necessity, and can be considered an extra.

3. Survey the Battlefield. Don't feel the need to dive into a Filene's, Daffy's or Off Fifth without first lapping the store once. How is the store organized? Sometimes the designer collections are in their own section. Sometimes it looks really crappy or 'track-suity' upon entrance, until you realize you're in the "Juniors" section. My first tactic is to go straight to the fitting rooms. Look at what's already been picked through, as it's usually the best of what's available there.

4. Avoid the Tourist Traps, aka Hostile Territory. In NY, which is a tourist trap in general, it's best to avoid places like Century 21 or those random "Levi's" stores midtown. Anything that draws Euro or other foreign currency means 1) over crowding and poor shoppers' etiquette and 2) prices suitable to that foreign currency.

5. Basics and Staples Rule. For things like cotton knitwear, lounge wear and undergarments, cashmere turtlenecks or a simple, minimalist everyday black dress (like the one pictured above, found courtesy of edressme.com), there is no need to pay full retail price. There is plenty of oversupply for Calvin Klein underwear and Ralph Lauren cotton tights stocked in places like: TJ Maxx, CostCo, Filene's Basement, K-Mart, Marshall's, etc.

6. Do not buy a great deal just because it's a great deal. This is a trap that can lead to a flurry of ancillary purchases. If the item doesn't work into your wardrobe immediately, e.g. you need a new pair of pants that can pick up the orange in whatever you just lifted, put it back where you found it.

7. Pick an alliance. I'm a Loehmann's girl, and what that means is I proudly carry an "Insider Club" card, the perks of which include that five days before and after my birthday, I get an additional 15% discount on anything and everything. I'm sure there are similar loyalty programs offered at other bargain department stores. Whore your personal information. Get that discount.

8. Identify local intelligence, aka Ask a Shop Girl. These girls are privy to incoming shipments, future sales AND hidden gem store policies. For example find out if the store has a price adjustment program, meaning, if you return to the store within 14- or 30- days and something is further marked down, do they re-credit you the difference in price if you present your receipt.

9. Avoid the "Bargain Hunt" all together and go "Closet Shopping" on your own turf. One of the things I do now, because I have become a repurposeful waste-hating, ethical consumer is what I like to call shopping out of your own closet. I have a bag of purgatory clothes/accessories that I've have been in purgatory for a couple years, and I keep it out of site on purpose. I purge things from here eventually, but in the interim, I often forget there are perfectly good items in here. Recent finds: a black spaghetti strapped cotton dress (circa 1999), horrible stretchy tweed bell-bottoms (circa 1997), which, surprise, work tucked into a pair of riding boots or vintage slouchy boots.

10. Establish your own personal ten principles to shop by. Figure out what you're willing to spend money on. What are your signature categories (I would pick three) -- handbags and shoes, pendants, denim, coats, dresses? And then establish the caps for those spends. Are you going to be a slave to Italian or French designers? Are you going to be vigilant about the workmanship? Are you ruling out synthetic materials, clothing made in sketchy, military-ruled Southeast Asian countries? Are you going to buy something based on it only having a shot at being your favorite pair of pants, or your favorite dress? Does it pass the "I-would-put-this-on-even-if-it-was-Monday, raining-and-I-had-cramps" test?

Reflections on my own mis-consumerism, years of battleground training

While, as a nation, we are coming to terms with the half trillion dollar debt and the domino effects of the financial crisis, I think of when I was fresh out of college and ran up a brand new credit card, only to have the 'it' handbag and shoes (and cashmere sweaters, and expensive drunkenly-ordered Champagne, etc.) in about two month's time. Sure, I wasn't spending billions on a mismanaged war of nationalism and ego, but I think there was a psych 101, nascent, adolescent need for approval and acceptance I was battling. For simplicity's sake, couldn't we point to this as the reason for the housing/credit market failure? Luckily, for all my impulse-control problems, I, at least, made things like sample sales and Loehman's my BFFs. While I dreamt of shopping brand-name proper on Madison Avenue, I stuck to my guns. Now as the mainstream fashion media, e.g. this NYT Sunday Style story on the rise of the "Recessionista" revels in this new found appreciation of designer digging at Kohl's and Marshall's, I can't help but think of my many years of training on such battlegrounds.

Broken Plate Reincarnate

 

I just found The Broken Plate Company courtesy of a Great Green Goods post. I particularly like these cufflinks made from, well, broken vintage plates. Reminds me of all the mismatched dishware I dug out  during that kitchen makeover I embarked on this past summer.

Comments Needed! Why'd You Stop Wearing Something?

I recently surveyed my closet to find at least 30% of the clothing in active rotation (hanging up) was not in use. I am a nut about streamlining, so it's rare that I have 'stuff' lying around. I keep one 'purgatory basket' handy, which consists of clothes I am not ready to give up, but that I definitely haven't worn in two years. I keep these around because they are made by great designers or have some sentiment attached to them. But the 30% of stuff I haven't worn...?

Here are some specific reasons why I stopped wearing ____:
1. 8 Shirts: I don't like the way they make my upper body look. The shoulders look a little mean in them.
2. Beige Pants: I can't seem to find the right color combination
3. Cocktail Skirt: How do I seemingly have nothing black to wear with this? I have 10+ black tops?

What are some of your reasons? Please post amongst yourselves.
"Why I stopped wearing ____: {insert reason}"

Luke Dukes?

Yes, apparently, cut-offs for men have arrived. I think this is an absolute gem for men, like my fiance, who are on the fence about shorts, but as the Styles section (NYT Thursday 7.10.08) reporter (paraphrasing designer Michael Bastian) writes: The trick, should you care to make your own for the price of a razor blade, is this: Cut just the seams and lightly score the fabric with the blade, first in front, then in back; carefully, firmly, tear along these lines. The resulting frayed edge should, Mr. Bastian said, come out perfectly after a wash. But be warned: without subtle stitching above the fray, the shorts will unravel with each wash, so you had better be happy with your quads.

Weirdly, the men interviewed in this piece had purchased theirs. What have you done with those Gap khakis of yesteryear? Pull them shits out and Luke Duke it up.

One Is The Loniliest Earring

Problem: lost earring

Solution: new necklace

An earring I bought fell down the drain. I liked the earrings so much, I was even willing to repurchase the pair, but the boutique where I got them did not have the same chalcedony stone. I had thrown the remaining one in a drawer as a way to immortalize my find. I recently came across it and did some down-and-dirty re-assembly using some basic jewelry making tools and a small gold-plated ring . What do you think?