Looking Green Can Be a Good Thing

When people used to say "green clothing" to me, an image of this weird hemp store in a little New Jersey mall I went to would always pop into my brain. The hemp store only lasted 6 months (it just couldn't compete with the neighboring GAP which had figured out yet another way to sell the plain white tee) but the hemp dresses, shoes and jewelry stayed in my mind. My mom, a devoted recycler way before it became trendy, actually bought a little jumper from the store in an attempt to be funky. It was a cute jumper but I remember thinking "I could totally smoke my mom's dress if I wanted to." At this point, I was still in my "It must be preppy or I will die" look so if it wasn't made by J.Crew or Lacoste, I would just assume “smoke it.”

And then, around last year, another image for recycled clothing came into my mind because of a Project Runway episode. The designers had a challenge requiring them to make clothes using trash. Though the outfits were artistic and stimulating, at the end of the day it was still a model wearing a bra made out of egg cartons. I just knew this wasn't a look I could pull off. However, in the last year great strides have been made in the world of green fashion. Designers concluded it was cool not to hurt the Earth. In turn, celebrities decided it was cool not to hurt the Earth so they started throwing big charity parties where they could dress up in Marc Jacobs and talk about the plight of the whales. No, no they actually did more than that. Excellent and smart designers realized they could make clothes from organic products that didn't look like potato sacks. In fact, you couldn't even really tell the difference between these "green" clothes and regular clothes. So one could look good and help the earth at the same time. Shoppers would finally feel a little less guilty.

For example, Urban Outfitters is selling an organic cotton belted trench coat by Good Society. And Fred Segal (yes the store where all the little celebutantes go and one of Cher's favorite stores in the movie Clueless) has made an adorable little multistrap bamboo-fiber dress that you can, of course, get in a lovely shade of green. I like bamboo trees and so do pandas, so why not wear a dress made out of one?

Even uber high-class designers like Phillip Lim are getting in on the action. Lim made a little organic suit for the tree-hugger/business mogul look. And if you are the kind of girl who likes to express how she feels about recycling on her shirt then perhaps you should go for the white t-shirt from C&C California which simply says in big, green letters "Go Paperless..." or you could get the "Think Green. Be Cool" shirt from the Zooey by Alice Green Label.

Well now we have your top half helping the earth but now you need to get eco-friendly gams. Luckily brands like Fred Segal, American Rag, Ruby London and Delforte have made very cute pants in various colors that will be like a tiny little hug for the earth. And if you are wearing a totally Al-Gore approved outfit you might as well get shoes to match at this point. EcoSneaks (surprisingly) makes shoes with hemp and organic cotton linings. Dr.Scholl's also makes their classic adorable sandals out of hemp and recyclable leather. So you can still have that Jessica Simpson look while at the same time reducing your Carbon imprint.

And of course we must talk about bags. Bags are one of my favorite things in the world and it is really easy to be green with bags. First of all you could just go in your closet and use an old canvas bag for when you do groceries. I grew up with tons of Canvas bags that were often almost as cool as vintage t-shirts so they bonus as conversation pieces. However, designers started making pro-green bags that have caught on like Ugg boots. You may recall seeing girls this past summer walking around with the "I am not a plastic bag" bag. I can confirm this was a huge trend because I saw a fake version of this bag in Chinatown in New York City (the fake version made it an ironic bag because I think it was actually plastic.) However, you can get real non-plastic bags that are indeed not plastic from Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Kenneth Cole, Beau Soleil and Vert by August Accessories.

Now some of these clothes aren't the cheapest but a lot of them are reasonably priced. Besides, what’s a little extra money if it means saving the Earth?The fact that the whole going green thing is considered hot right now is a little sad because this should be a lifestyle, not a trend. Well, maybe if we give it some time (and if Al Gore keeps making really good documentaries) it will catch on as more than a trend. But for now keep dressing green. It looks good on you!