If you’re like me and you think pedicures (both paid-for and self-given) are a required biweekly ritual, you probably don’t give too much thought to the paint itself.

I pick my nail polish based on my mood and the season–definitely not according to what type of paint it is, or how eco-friendy. But thanks to a new line of nail polish, I’ll be taking a closer look at the label.

American Apparel debuted a new line of nail polish this winter that embraces ethical style. According to its website earlier this month:

We’re excited to announce American Apparel Nail Lacquer. Made in the USA by a family-operated nail polish manufacturer in New York City, these are available only in American Apparel stores and online. The 18 unique shades of high-quality color like Cotton and Mount Royal are great year-round. DBP, toluene and formaldehyde-free.

At six bucks a bottle, that’s hard to beat. Treehugger goes into more detail about the science behind the product, which is not my strong suit. I love the total ’80s retro vibe of the bottles, though, and the fact that the color names actually sound like the colors. (“Hunter” is hunter green. I am sooo not confused by that.)

So Christmas may be over, but if you’re anything like me there are plenty of people you still have to give “winter” presents to. You know: the people you ran out of time to buy Christmas of Hanukkah presents for (or forgot)?

Kate Spade may just have the gift. After being featured in Elle (November 2009) for her work with Women for Women International, it only made sense for me to check out exactly what they’ve been working on.  Working with women who survived the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Women for Women International offers a year-long skills training program. When these remarkable women complete the program, Kate Spade offers them employment creating gorgeous, colorful hand-knitted mittens, hats, and scarves for her line of clothing. The project has extra “oomph” because weaving and knitting are traditional crafts of the women in the region.

These are perhaps a little pricier that your average winter mitten, but for me it’s worth it just knowing that the women who created them are benefiting, supporting their families, and creating a new future for their children. See these “Hand in Hand” products under the Clothing>Accessories section of KateSpade.com.

And click here to see a slideshow of Kate Spade’s visit to Bosnia.

How cool is this haute frock?

The climate summit in Copenhagen brought out all sorts of ideas. No, not that summit. I mean the parallel event known at the Bright Green Expo, which featured businesses from around the world showing off their own ideas for addressing the climate crisis.

Known simply as The Climate Dress, it was first featured at the the Expo by Danish company Diffus.

From Ubergizmo on December 22:

Talk about dressing for the climate in a literal sense – the Climate Dress from Diffus of Denmark sees a special concoction which features hundreds of small LEDs laced throughout the dress, where they will respond to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Depending on how high the concentration of CO2 is in the vicinity, the tiny LEDs embroidered onto the dress will glow in slow pulses all the way to rapid flashes whenever the amount of CO2 goes up.

My one problem with the dress, which I think is quite pretty, is that from all the descriptions, it seems the lights get more brilliant when CO2 and pollutant levels go up. To drive home the point, perhaps the makers of the dress should have made the dress glow brilliantly in clean air….and become dull in polluted air. I imagine that wouldn’t be too difficult of a switch with the microprocessor!

For more information on the dress, see here.

We’ve been loyal fans of Gypsy 05′s comfortable wear-anywhere maxi dresses for going on two years, but now we have even more reason to love the brand: Its Los Angeles headquarters has just gone completely solar this month.

In a press release, the company’s CEO explains how Gypsy 05 is taking its commitment to eco-fashion a major step further:

“It’s been our goal to make a mark in the fashion world, without leaving a carbon footprint on the rest of the world,” said Gypsy ‘05 CEO Dotan Shoham. “We feel like we’re living the dream right now.”

Using nature as the inspiration behind each collection, Gypsy ’05 is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly fashion lines on the market today. Garments are created using organic and natural fabrics, organic soy softeners, low impact dyes, and an organic seaweed extract for printing.

“People feel very connected to our clothing, not only because it’s so easy to wear, but because of our efforts to protect the planet,” said Shoham. “Gypsy ’05 is about a lifestyle, and our customers relate to the philosophy behind the brand in addition to loving the look of our clothes.”

Amen to that! If a small business can make this much of an impact, imagine what could happen if bigger brands followed suit.

If you are a 20s or 30s woman with limited closet space and a bad habit of sentimentality past all reason, chances are good you are storing at least one bridesmaid dress that you’ve worn once and only once. An enterprising Minneapolis designer has a solution for you: Angie Arner is collecting bridesmaid dresses and putting a fresh spin on them in her new upcycled line, CounterCouture.

As we’ve explored before, bridesmaid dresses one of the most common offenders of the unfortunate wear-once garment. In the interest of breathing new life into that wasteland of periwinkle-blue satin, sent it Arner’s way for some serious glamming up.

Arner says:

“One day I looked in my closet at the collection of these sad dresses pushed to the very back and I started brainstorming about their potential,” she wrote in a statement about her new brand. “I knew so many women could relate to this. So many, in fact, that there could be a market in turning them into new fashion. It’s problem-solving with a very sexy package.”

The full collection of custom dresses will be presented in April during Spring MNfashion Week, and she will soon be selling on Etsy.com. Prices range from $175 to $250 — probably not much more than what you paid for the dress in the first place. We love the look of the one at right, and this online gallery shows there’s a lot of room for creativity in satin. Who knew?

We just saw Nine last night and were swooning in our seats over the gorgeous costumes from 1960s Italy. All that glamour and slinkiness and femininity — meow!

So we were delighted today to find this slideshow entitled “Movie costumes that started fashion trends” on the Los Angeles Times website. Some of them you’re familiar with — Diane Keaton popularizing menswear in Annie Hall, Jennifer Beals’s legwarmers and off-the-shoulder tops in Flashdance, Faye Dunaway rocking the beret in Bonnie & Clyde — but some were surprises. We hadn’t considered that Brad Pitt in Fight Club was the one responsible for bringing back vintage tees and ’70s-era colored leather jackets (particularly among hipster enclaves, the L.A. Times notes), but the timeline fits.

Some of these movies we had completely forgotten about. (Gleaming the Cube and its asymmetrical haircuts, anyone? Time to reorganize the Netflix queue!)

Which of these have at one time or another influenced your personal style?

Shopping resource Paper-Doll.com did the hard work for us by compiling this list of the best post-Christmas sales on the internet for eco-fashionistas.

Save big money on the brands you’ve seen on E.S., like 35 percent off fall and winter styles by House of Spy, 40 percent on both men’s and women’s fashion from Thieves, and a crazy 70 percent off vegan designs from Elroy. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg — there’s way, way more.

Click here for the directory!

Just a quick note to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas (or Happy Belated Hanukkah, Joyous Festivus, etc.). We’re so grateful for all of you and we have reason to believe 2010 will be the most eco-conscious year in memory.

We’re going to take a break from blogging tomorrow, but if you want some light reading this weekend (or just need to get away from family and festivities for a moment), we recommend browsing our Winter Wonderland issue.

It’s jam packed with timely advice for green beauty routines, DIY scarf ideas, festive frocks for New Year’s and beyond, the best eco-presents your Boxing Day green can buy, and how to style a vintage brooch in an eye-catching way.

And don’t forget, spring fashion week is just around the corner in February. To remind us of what we have to look forward to, Project Runway designer Johnny Sakalis treated us to a sneak peek at what he has planned for Fall/Winter 2010. Think Zelda Fitzgerald meets Posh Spice — très chic indeed.

Enjoy the long weekend, and we’ll see you all on Monday!

Siel at GreenLAGirl.com has some advice about how to make your Christmas more green in just two words: White Elephant.

We don’t mean the kind featured on the classic episode of The Office (clip above).

In the spirit of recycling, re-gift unwanted presents to people who may be better able to use them.

You can even purchase a Save the White Elephant kit, with everything you need to throw a White Elephant themed party. There’s nothing unethical or tacky about it, especially since everyone will know you’re re-gifting.

Saving useful stuff from going into the landfill? It’s the new spirit of Christmas!

As the Copenhagen climate talks draw to a close, it’s worth noting how much our culture has come to value the merits of green – both because people truly care about the Earth, and because caring about the Earth has grown so chic. But the actual rules of green living are surprisingly hard to navigate, not least of all when it comes to choosing clothes.

Do you want to save the animals or the planet at large? Do you focus on your outfit’s origins, or its afterlife? Do you submit to the harsh realities of the food chain? Or do you fret about the death of cows and bunnies while the planet weeps over your petroleum-based pleather?

– Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss in her latest op-ed, “The plight of the green fashionista.”