The internet was abuzz this week regarding Alexander McQueen’s final collection, and it made us nostalgic for the late designer’s signature looks.

McQueen transformed skulls from goth to high-fashion, and in homage to that trend comes these miniature skull earrings by Etsy jewelry all-star Michelle Chang.

Handmade by Ms. Chang in her Brooklyn studio, these earrings are available in 14-karat gold, sterling silver, gold vermeil, and with or without diamond chips in the eye sockets. We think they’re a charming way to pay tribute to one of fashion’s great visionaries, and support an up-and-coming designer in her own career.

Michelle Chang Baby Skull Earrings in 14K Gold, $198 at Etsy.com.

As we wrote last month, fur was huge on the runways of New York Fashion Week, but apparently the trend is more significant than we realized. The New York Times is reporting that 2010 marks the first year that a majority of the designers presenting collections used fur.

The question of “why?” is complex to answer. Programs like Origin Assured have resonated with consumers, reassuring them that their fur was humanely farmed.

And on the design side, a lot has changed. Some holdouts have always used fur (like Oscar de la Renta), but some PETA converts of the ’90s have since changed their minds (like Ralph Lauren) and young designers are increasingly accepting of the product (like Irina Shabayeva of Project Runway fame, whose F/W 2010 coat is pictured here).

The NYT reports:

Several of those designers are too young to remember the vicious battles over fur in the 1980s and ’90s, when a PETA member tossed a dead raccoon onto the plate of Anna Wintour while she was dining at the Four Seasons; another tossed a tofu cream pie in Mr. de la Renta’s face. But some remain sheepish on the subject. Thakoon Panichgul, for example, showed a coat in his fall collection with strips of fox bursting from the sleeves, but he declined to be interviewed for this article because of the controversy.

Others said they felt confident using fur after examining the chain of production and finding it humane.

“You see so much leather and shearling being used this season, and no one is complaining about that,” [designer Alexa] Adams said. “I don’t see the difference between using shearling and using fur.”

We know you have opinions. Share them in the comments section below.

The Society for Rational Dress has such a great concept: Women deserve freedom from conformity in how they attire themselves. That’s why the label produces unique limited-run garments from batches of surplus fabric — because everyone should have the opportunity to be one-of-a-kind.

So it’s our lucky day that SfRD is having a blowout sample sale this weekend in Los Angeles.

Society for Rational Dress Sample Sale
What: Nab tees for $20-$50; dresses for $35-$90; leather skirts for $85-$150; sweaters for $45-$160; and all other samples, overstock, and one-of-a-kinds at up to 75 percent off retail.
Why: You might even be able to rationalize a pair of shoes.
When: Sat. March 15, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: The Reserve, Society for Rational Dress Studios, 255 S. Santa Fe Ave., at E. 3rd St., ste. 100, Industrial District (213-613-0757).

(via DailyCandy)

Does “high-fashion fanny pack” seem like a contradiction in terms? Suspend your disbelief for a moment, just long enough to check out the fanny clutch by upcycling designer Fahmina.

The beauty of the clutch design is that it adds no bulk to your hips (because honestly, what woman wants to add inches there?) while keeping your hands free and fitting in all your daily essentials.

But Fahmina also has an eco-secret: Her accessories been made with 95 percent reclaimed and “precycled” leather that’s been salvaged from other designers’ waste bins. Other leatherworkers throw away “defective” leather by the ton for something as little as a scratch. Fahmina works by hand around the defects for a piece that is still high-quality but a little less wasteful.

Envelope Fanny Clutch, $180 at Fahmina.com.

(via YourDailyThread.com)

Tesco is in some ways the U.K. equivalent of Target — a place where you can buy well-priced groceries and clothes in the same trip. Now, in the tradition of Target’s eco-minded Go International collections, Tescois releasing a sweet sustainable clothing line in collaboration with From Somewhere. Fast fashion, this isn’t.

As Ecouterre reports:

Made up of damaged stock, end of rolls, and pre-consumer textile waste from Tesco’s own supply chain, “From Somewhere to F&F” consists of six striking, paneled designs that are being produced in a LEED-certified factory in Sri Lanka—the first apparel factory in the world, in fact, to receive a Gold rating for lowering its carbon footprint by 48 percent and using 60 percent less water than a standard factory.

Also, the clothes are pretty hot — we’d wear any of these dresses out on the town. Well played, Tesco!

The dresses, which start at £16, are set to go on sale on Tesco’s website this spring.

Vancouver-based designer Nicole Bridger sent us her spring lookbook this week and we were pleasantly surprised that her soft, drapey styles would work perfectly as maternity wear for the ethically stylish mama-to-be.

Ms. Bridger has interned with Vivienne Westwood and was an early partner at Oqoqo, the casual clothing line by yoga outfitter Lululemon. Now with her eponymous brand, she offers feminine styles that are as comfortable as they are body-conscious.

We especially like the subdued palette of this cocoon cardigan and tunic tee for Spring/Summer 2010. Paired with leggings, we can’t imagine anything cuter for a baby bump.

Courage Cardigan, $227, and Grateful Top, $136 at NicoleBridger.com.

Forget the LBD — the little green dress is where it’s at for spring, says the Houston Chronicle in its profile of eco-fashion brand Doucette Duvall. (It’s also one of our favorite brands.)

Annabet Duvall, one-half of the brand’s design team, says she scours New York’s Garment District for dead-stock fabric and then creates limited-edition upcycled dresses and accessories from their hauls of silk, cotton, and wool.

Duvall was in town this week for a trunk show of her “simple and very wearable” spring 2010 looks at Coquette, where she unveiled bright shorts and a full skirt cut from an animal print covered in tropical flowers. (She estimates the fabric was produced in the 1980s.) The brand does exceptionally well in her home state, she said, where customers like supporting one of their own. “Texans are very loyal,” she says. They also “appreciate the ‘eco’ part of what we do. They like the individuality of it.”

Because the simple silhouettes are inspired by found fabrics rather than runway trends, Duvall said the looks are ageless. “We don’t want to make disposable clothing. We want the girls to love what they buy for a long time.”

An excellent sentiment. Does the idea of dead-stock designs intrigue you? Check out our slideshow of other offerings here.

Pacific Northwest-based Terra Firma Cosmetics is known for its awesome organic ingredients and chemical-free beauty products, but we think it’s about to be known for its irreverent marketing as well.

A new product, the High Performance Natural Mascara, boasts that “this ain’t your mama’s natural mascara.” Unfortunately, my mama doesn’t use natural mascara because it’s a.) hard to find, and b.) usually a gummy, smudgy mess, but Terra Firma gets it right with its paraben- and silicone-free formula.

This flake-free mascara volumnizes as well as any other chemical-laden product but you can pronounce everything on the ingredient list. Not to mention each batch is made by hand and it costs less than the natural mascaras available at Sephora (one of the only other places we’ve seen carry them).

Plus it comes in a sapphire blue as well as black and black-brown so you can try out the colored lashes trend painlessly.

High Performance Natural Mascara, $12.99 at TerraFirmaCosmetics.com.

From Lizzi Miller’s celebrated nude photoshoot in Glamour to the ascension of Crystal Renn on high-fashion catwalks, everyone is buzzing about size diversity. All of a sudden, pin thin is not the only acceptable silhouette in the fashion world.

So in our second-annual body issue, we explore variations on the weight theme.

• British designer Mark Fast has made waves again for employing plus-size models (including the aforementioned Crystal Renn) for the second time in his Fall 2010 Ready-to-Wear Collection, presented at London Fashion Week on February 20. But, as excited as we are about this development, there remains some room for improvement.
• We surely can’t be the only ones who miss Mad Men while the television drama is on hiatus, but to fill the aching hole left by empty space on the Tivo, Christina Hendricks appeared in a bustier on the cover of New York Magazine this month. We totally understand why everyone is gaga for her classic curves, but why all the controversy?
• If there’s one must-read article in this issue (we like to believe that includes all of them, but regardless), it’s Kara’s profile of the exceptionally insightful ballerina known as Melissa T. in our second Real Girl Ethics column. Ever wonder what it would be like to work in an industry that constantly pesters you to be thin? As Melissa shows, it requires self-confidence (as well as buns) of steel.
• Of course, if all these stories merely whet your appetite for more, check out Seam Ripper for a few more articles on the subject of body issues.
• And don’t forget: A few days remain to enter our Weleda hand cream giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment on this very blog. So simple it’s criminal, right?

If you’re one of the lucky few who get to be in Vancouver right now for the Olympics — or if you’re planning to join us at Vancouver Eco Fashion Week in April — you’ll want to check out the Los Angeles Times’s round-up of the city’s best secondhand-clothing stores.

We particularly liked the intro:

A few years later, lesson learned, I packed carefully for my trip to Vancouver last autumn: my smartest New York-bought parka, layers of excellent textures, skinny cords, comfy walking shoes of real leather, and sneakers for the gym only.

Puffed with pride, I strode the chilly city until, on a corner in the Kitsilano neighborhood, the zipper on my parka broke and I faced an Angeleno’s dilemma: spending a fortune on a replacement I might wear a few times a year versus getting something blah and forsaking my fashion-plate look.

The solution was just down the block at a consignment shop called In Again (1962 W. 4th Ave., [604] 738-2782). I walked in with a dead parka and walked out with a gently used but still très chic Hugo Boss blue suede shearling for a fraction of its original price.

So who feels like shopping?