Ethical Fashion Shops on the High Street

There’s a huge wealth of fashion choice on the high street today, with many of the shops and retailers in the UK’s town and city centres trying to find an edge when it comes to attracting customers. The high street is the matrix for important trends and innovations, so it not surprising to learn that ethical fashion has found its way there.

What exactly is ethical fashion? The concept concerns the focus of social and environmental sustainability within the fashion industry. The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is an innovative alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organisations all over the globe that are dedicated to improving the working conditions of the people who make the products they sell. Ethical trade means that retailers and suppliers are taking responsibility for the people who work for them as most are from poor countries where there are either no laws protecting their welfare or they are not enforced.

Using ethical trade practices is a difficult endeavour due to the complexity and vastness of modern supply chains. Labour issues, such as determining a proper living wage or children working, can be problematic. Ironically, removing children from a work place can ultimately make their tortured lives all the more difficult. Monsoon is a founder member of the Ethical Trading Initiative and the importance of fair trade and ethical fashion has been a vital aspect of its business for the last three years. For more information on this company’s efforts to reduce our carbon footprints via a sustainable lifestyle and support system and the many available discounts, go to monsoon.co.uk.

Using the Monsoon Discount Codes and Monsoon Discount Vouchers is a way to contribute and help maintain this valiant attempt to improve the lives of the working people of the world and help sustain our environment – and obtain discounts at the same time.

What type of eco-friendly items can you find on the high street? The range of items is growing quickly as more and more consumers respond to the important message behind products made the eco-organic way. New Look offers a new range of products, including glasses made with bamboo frames, and H&M’s last line of organic cotton goods did so well that they are initiating a new line of clothing for women (including maternity wear), men and children. Topshop, in collaboration with People Tree, have launched a line of Fairtrade T-shirts.

Hope for tomorrow lies in saving the planet today and significant trends like ethical fashion are seriously addressing the issues that threaten our existence. By raising the standard of living, and thereby fostering economic stability, the lot of millions of workers is enhanced and a ripple effect is created with repercussions that magnify with the purchase of every eco-friendly item. Daring to be different is the only way to begin, and ethical fashion and the Ethical Trade Initiative have lit the spark for the beneficial fire that may well become a new, eternal flame of caring and social conscience.

Get Trendy With Eco Friendly Handbags

By Julia Chiang

Are you planning to buy a gorgeous handbag that is great for all occasions and makes a perfect style statement too? Then you are in for a pleasant surprise. Eco-friendly handbags are the chic fashion statement this season. Now, you can be fashion-conscious and eco-conscious too. It's the new sexy with substance.

We all love stylized accessories and when it comes to handbags, it must be sassy and the latest trend of the season. What could be more fashionable than eco-friendly handbags, available in super cool and sustainable materials such as hemp, bamboo, jute, rubberwood, vegan leather and recycled polyester?

Women around the world have taken to these handbags with a zest never seen before. Is it the eco-consciousness? Is it the unique style? Is it the environmentally friendly materials? After years of recycling the same tired trends, the fashion industry has begun to embrace recycled materials.

In fact, this has become one of the most widely expanding and evolving segments in the fashion industry. These days, you can find handbags that use recycled zippers, reclaimed jeans, sweaters, recycled books, candy wrappers, soda cans, motorcycle tire tubes, rice sacks, pre-worn leather and much more. This is more than a trend. It's a movement. It's the fashion of the future.

Eco friendly bags are light-weight and available in beautiful designs. Ranging from elegant to casual to wild, the stylistic design patterns are a true reflection of the alternative spirit that the segment stands for. The true appeal of these handbags is the attitude and the eco-consciousness they stand for, the new kind of luxury.

The smart and vogue eco friendly bags are comfortable and spacious. These bags come in a variety of colors, sizes and prices. It is easy to choose one to suit your image perfectly. You can walk into a store as well as browse online for a wider range of products. There are numerous sites which specialize in such handbags and offer cost-effective as well as high end solutions.

These handbags are the perfect find for young girls looking for the latest in styles and materials. In schools and colleges, where almost every other trend has become over-exposed, eco-friendly bags can set you apart as distinctly cool and sensible; you are seen as someone who has an eye for fashion and a heart for the environment.

Working women are forever looking for that perfect combination of glamour and elegance, something with both style and substance. For them, nothing fits the bill better than eco-friendly handbags. These bags offer easy distinction and help them make a style statement, even in the most conservative office environment.

Today, women's handbags are important fashion statements and if one is environmentally conscious, then nothing could be better than the eco-friendly handbags. In fact, these trendy and fashionable eco-friendly handbags have already become a craze in many parts of the word. By carrying one, you are a part of the fashion elite.

This article is written by an expert working for Reveal, a designer of eco handbags and eco friendly bags.

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What Did Hippies Wear?

Image via WikipediaBy Bruce Bentley

Way back in the 1960s, a new culture emerged. This culture was actually a movement of the youth. In the hippie culture, people are free from social restrictions and are free to do and wear whatever they want. The hippie culture was an anti-war movement and so the peace sign was a common sight.

Hippie clothing is actually very simple and you can still find the styles in stores even now. Their clothes are very colorful, and they tend to wear their hair in a straight unkempt style, while the men grow beards. Their accessories have a native look and their t-shirts are colorful. They also like wearing scarves and bandannas as headbands. One other common hair accessory in these times was a flower. If you want to revive the hippie look, then you might want to get these items as part of your wardrobe:

Bellbottom jeans and wide belts
Colorful t-shirts and leather vests for men
Leather sandals
Micro miniskirts and chains
Colorful headbands and native accessories
Peace symbol locket
Mexican Baja Hoodies

The hippie culture really made people raise their eyebrows for their look and their way of life. Not everybody at that time was accustomed to the thought of not going along with the restrictions of society, as most people of the era were really conservative.

However, the hippie clothes really meant something and I think lots people can relate to it, the sense of just being yourself and being free. And besides, the fashion statement of the hippies was really cool and it associated all the colors of nature together. More than that, the culture also meant something and stood for a greater cause.

Buy your own hippie clothing at Mexican Threads where they have everything from the tie dye hoodie to the baja hoodie.

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Short Bio About Twiggy

Image by Thuany Gabriela via FlickrBy Charles Bloom

The fashion of the 1960s was a drastic departure from that of the 1950s. Slim, girlish figures were popular in favor of the curvy silhouette of decades past. Fashion in general became focused on a more youthful, slender, and generally a gamine look. The models in the fashion industry too began to reflect this general switch in aesthetic. There were several lanky, girlish models who exemplified the new 60s look. British based women Jean Shrimpton and Colleen Corby were among the most idolized models. But no models were more prolific or successful than Twiggy.

Twiggy was born Lesley Hornby on September 19, 1949. She was brought up in London by working-class parents who strived to provide opportunities for their aspiring young daughter. Twiggy's mother Lydia was an expert seamstress, and passed her knowledge of sewing and fashion design on to her daughter. Twiggy was recognized in school as the beautiful, fashionable girl who sewed her own clothes.

Lesley went to get her hair short and colored blonde in January of 1966. The stylist took headshots of her and used them as advertisements for his salon. A model scout and professional photographer saw the photos and sought out the young Lesley who was only 16 and still living with her parents. She was featured in a local magazine modeling clothing, and her modeling career took off quickly. Managed by her hairdresser boyfriend, the 91 pound, 5'6, diminutive girl became a cultural sensation.

Twiggy, called "Twigs" as a child after her slim, boyish figure, hated how she looked, but in that opinion she seemed to be alone. Within a month of her appearing in the local magazine, she had over a dozen editorials in Vogue. She was covered by several high-profile newspapers and magazines including the New Yorker. Twiggy was referred to as a "phenomenon." She modeled in the U.S., France, and Japan. Twiggy was on the cover of Paris Vogue, British Vogue, and even American Vogue, which she graced three times with her presence.

Twiggy's thin and boyish figure gained criticism for promoting an excessively thin and arguably unhealthy episode. Today, girls go to extreme lengths to acquire and maintain a slim figure, similar to Twiggy's. Today, Twiggy has denounced exceptionally thin models, and claims that her own petit physique was genetic. Her family had a history of skinny people, and she ate responsibly. The slim look that was popularized in the 1960s has not regressed just yet.

Twiggy quit modeling in 1970, preferring to focus on other aspects of her life. She won awards for her singing and acting, and her stage acting was particularly lauded. Twiggy won two Golden Globes for her performance in the musical The Boy Friend. She also became a television host; her show was called simply Twiggy. Today, Twiggy makes appearances on various television programs, recently as a judge on America's Next Top Model. Twiggy still occasionally models for Marks and Spencer shopping chain and Olay skin products. She lives in London with her husband of 20 years, Leigh Lawson.

Charles Bloom

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