Upcycling Around the World!

Rags2Riches, an eco-ethical company from the Philippines, takes fabric scraps from factories to create beautiful, ready to wear items.

It's time to think about Where your clothes are coming from

Another clothing factory fire killed 7 in Bangladesh last week, just 2 months after a factory fire that killed 112 workers. These factories make clothing for Disney, Walmart, Sears, and some European brands such as Zara. Since this past November, there have been 18 fatal fires in Bangladesh clothing factories.

Munir Uz Zaman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

These factories are unsafe and unfair. They are not maintained, the emergency exits are kept locked, and the employees are paid as little as $30 per month. International labor advocates are pushing companies to make changes in the quality of their workplaces, but nothing significant has been done, and people continue to be harmed. Many of the past fatalities were underage workers; children, and young teens.

Judging by what necessary action has been accomplished so far, it's going to take a lifetime for fair labor laws to be put in place. In the meantime, think about where your clothes are coming from. Are human lives worth a cheap new shirt?

Keep your dollars local, support independent design, and wear vintage. Every garment counts.

Heart Attack- Pop Up Shop!

In December, Where Clothes and Down South Vintage put together a holiday pop up shop at Angioplasty Media Studio in Burlington, Vermont. It was so much fun, and a smashing success! A few of us decided that we should do these pop up shops every other month, so this time I teamed up with Althea of Althea Designs to host another: Valentines Day- Heart Attack!

Poster by Abby Manock of AbbyAbby

There will be live music throughout the day, and a full on rock show at night with Maui, Nuda Veritas, World End GF, Chuck the Plains, Trapper Keeper, and more! Our talented vendors include:

Althea Designs

AbbyAbby

Christopher Vaughn Pottery

Down South Vintage

George Gonzalez

Jacquelyn Heloise

VT Yak Sack

World End Girlfriend

Where Clothes

Party While You Shop! Shop While You Party!!

Check out the facebook event for updates and more information!

That's right!! Shop Where here, and shop Lost and Found Bin here!

Leather for Vegetarians

As a vegetarian, I used to avoid wearing leather like a terrycloth sweatsuit. I loved the look though- so I turned to vegan leather...until looking into the harsh and non-biodegradable chemicals used to make a lot of it. Even though real leather is biodegradable, I could never justify buying new. To solve the ethical problems of fashionable leather, I have been collecting vintage leather and suede garments and scraps that would otherwise be put into land fill. It has been super great experimenting with leather, and now we can all feel good about wearing it! Pouches available here. I have also been making custom belts like the one below for customers, if you want one too, choose your colors and size and it's yours!!

Milkshake

Milkshake is a fantastic Eco-focused blog about "all that's good". Last month, they featured Where in their shopping article series "Good Finds That Give Back"! Check out the beautifully written, well spoken article here. They truly captured my mission!

Photo by Ash LaRose

Fall 2012 Photo Montage
Photos by Ash LaRose
Modeled by Lucy Wild
Music by Dirt Bird
Clothing by Where