(Courtesy of TheGlamourai.com)

Just dropping E.S. readers a note that we’re taking a mini-vacation starting tomorrow, but we’ll be back with all-new blog content on Wednesday, September 8.

In the meantime, here are some ways to say goodbye to summer and celebrate the beginning of fall:

• Thumb through every single page of ad and editorial content in the 726-page September issue of Vogue, featuring the first cover model of color in 20 years. Spend the rest of the weekend trying to copy Halle Berry’s perfect smoky eye.
• Purge your closet and take your rejects into the thrift or consignment store. Come home with a few new seasonal staples.
• Wash and pack away your summer clothing, but follow these tips to ensure safe storage of your favorite sundresses and summer-weight cashmere.
• Tackle a fun but time-consuming DIY project. Need inspiration? Check our archives.
• Forget outdated style rules, like the one that forbids the wearing of white after Labor Day. Hasn’t anyone heard of  ”winter white”? Come on!

(Courtesy of JunebugWeddings.com)

The New York Times has an article today that makes our skin crawl: Bedbugs have made their home in clothes sold at a number of vintage shops and flea markets throughout New York. And shoppers are unwittingly bringing home more than they bargained for.

The article hits the point that the problem may not be contained to the five boroughs. How to protect yourself? Bridgett Artise, a Fashion Institute of Technology instructor who taught a spring course named “Is Vintage For You?”, has some good advice:

“I only worry about newbies, new vintage shoppers,” Ms. Artise said. “People like myself already know the telltale signs, and what to do. The first thing I always tell people who buy vintage clothing is if they see any type of anything that looks like it might have remnants of bedbugs, put it in a plastic bag and freeze it. You keep it in there, I would say, for at least three days. It can’t survive freezing. And after it thaws out, I would take it to a dry cleaner.”

An ounce of prevention, vintage-philes.

(Courtesy of LaurenceKing.com)

Selena Francis-Bryden’s new book DIY Fashion: Customize and Personalize is the latest addition to our must-read list. A guide featuring DIY fashion that you can do without a Singer, Ms. Francis-Bryden walks readers through a variety of projects that require only the most basic handiness with a needle and thread.

The book’s 40 fun projects include guidance on transforming an oversize sweater into a sweater dress, cutting a denim miniskirt, and designing an animal-print evening bag — all without the use of a sewing machine.

It’s not on Amazon yet, but you can purchase it directly from the publisher today for $24.95.

(via Treehugger)

(Courtesy of LoveAndCasinoWar.com)

As fashion’s heaviest hitters duke it out over intellectual property and design copyrights, fast fashion and streamlined manufacturing in Asia have made it easier than ever to translate trends into retail in record time. Sometimes it’s legal, sometimes it’s not. But in any case, is it ethical?

In this issue, we take a look at the reasons counterfeit goods have gone mainstream and when you should just say no to knockoffs:

• Is there really nothing new under the sun anymore? We ponder why knockoffs have become so prevalent.
• Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller makes the case that we are biologically hardwired to seek out status symbols — and whether they are authentic is besides the point. With that in mind, we review his well-researched book Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior.
• In the same vein, you may wonder – is buying fake every ethically warranted? Madison explores the problems and benefits of buying into trends.
• If you’re a dedicated online shopper, you want to make sure you’re not getting ripped off by knockoffs. But how? This handy guide to avoiding fakes will steer you in the right direction.
• And as always, check out Seam Ripper for more news and developments on the fakery front.

(M.J. Prest/EthicalStyle.com)

Earlier this summer, I became a thrifting convert. I was aware of the budgetary and environmental benefits of snapping up gently used clothing, but I always viewed the thrift-store scene as too much work for too little payoff.

That was before I figured out how to play the game. And so was born the “Goodwill Hunting” guide to successful thrifting.

The best part? Today I realized every last thing I was wearing (aside from undergarments and shoes) was thrifted. These items have become just that integrated into my closet. The striped sailor tee set me back only $3. My $5 vintage cross-body purse is genuine, thick Italian leather in the richest buttered rum color. The Salt Works bootcut jeans? Originally retailing for $175, I paid a mere $6.

All that means I managed to put together a reasonably presentable and totally recycled outfit for $14. And that’s not counting the $10 Seven for All Mankind black jeans, the $4 Michael Stars long-sleeve tee, the $4 cashmere-blend cable cardigan, and the many $3 real leather belts I’ve also adopted into my wardrobe over the past month.

My secret is threefold: patience, pickiness, and perseverance. I flip through every item on the rack, and I never go into the store unless I have at least half an hour to browse. For every 20 things I pick up, I try on maybe one and from those, I like maybe one out of every three items I bring into the dressing room.

And ultimately, with finds this cheap, I almost never have to choose between one item and another. If I like it, I will buy it without putting a serious crimp in my shopping budget. Because the one thing I can’t afford when it comes to blink-and-it’s-gone clothing is non-buyer’s remorse.

(Courtesy of QuinceAndCo.com)

A website that provides not just the tools and supplies you need to get started knitting your very own DIY fall wardrobe, but the patterns and indie fashion ideas too? We had to know more about Quince & Co. the minute we heard about it.

Quince & Co. was founded by two designers and a spinning mill owner with a penchant for natural, sustainably grown fibers. It’s eco through and through, as the website recounts:

We offer wool yarns that are sourced and spun in the US. Known in the trade as “territory wool,” our fiber comes from Merino, Rambouillet, and Columbia-based sheep that roam the ranges of Montana and Wyoming. All our wool and wool-blend yarns are spun in a New England mill with a venerable history. By sourcing our wool in the US and manufacturing our yarn locally, we minimize our carbon footprint.

But, hey, as much as we want to promote our American sheep and yarns, we also want to enjoy the pleasures of fibers that aren’t readily available in the US. We also want to be responsible for what we import. So, when we blend our wool with other fibers, we find out as much as possible where, how, and by whom they came to be. If we’re sourcing a yarn from a plant fiber, we want to know if it was grown in conditions that are healthy for the soil and for those who tend and harvest it.

If we’re looking for an animal fiber, we want to know if the animal was raised in a way that sustains the earth and preserves the culture of the people who raise it.

You can purchase four types of eco-friendly yarns by the skein and download your favorite from a plethora of patterns — from cozy sweaters to stylish berets — for $6 or less. Our entry-level DIY pick? The cuddly Cullin Cowl pictured here, using Quince’s chunky and felted Puffin yarn in “frost.”

(via DailyCandy)

(Courtesy of NYMag.com)

New York Magazine‘s fashion blog The Cut is sponsoring a personal-style contest for its readers, soliciting photo submissions of who’s wearing what around the country. Today, the blog highlighted this reader, who we agree looks stunning in her vintage look:

It was hard choosing a favorite, but Cut reader CourtneyPrince (pictured) just looked so elegant in her veiled fascinator, fashioned from hand-dyed vintage velvet and ostrich feathers, we couldn’t resist plugging her. So, congrats CourtneyPrince, you’ve inspired us to forget for a minute that Gossip Girl pretty much ruined feather headpieces and actually give the plumed look another go.

No matter what The Cut says, we still are fascinated by fascinators.

Want to give the look a spin yourself? We love Ban.Do’s vintage and handmade hairbands, or you can give it the old college try with a DIY.

(Courtesy of Glamour.com)

I know I’m not the only one who delighted in DIY fashion starting around junior high.

Bedazzled cut-offs, Fimo necklaces, friendship bracelets, taking Sharpies to our Chuck Taylors — every summer and winter break, my friends and I were all over craft projects to customize our style. (Sometimes I still find glitter embedded in my parents’ living-room carpet.)

Now Seventeen magazine has an online DIY fashion feature to help tweens and teens make their own clutches, fringe-accented tanks, and beaded headbands à la Taylor Swift. It’s enough to make me wish we had the Internet when I was wee.

You have to love that the projects are age-appropriate and easy to follow, tapping into the creative spirit that surges during adolescence.

And I will even admit that the results look way better than my Puffy Paint jobs of yore.

Sacramento stylist Kari Shipman of Juniper James poses in some of her thrift-shop finds. (Courtesy of JuniperJames.WordPress.com)

Look, we love a great deal. But that doesn’t mean we want to compromise our fashion ethics. Is it possible to balance both?

The short answer is yes. Bottom line is: You don’t have to get a second mortgage to support eco-fashion endeavors, and green looks great on you.

But cheap eco-fashion is equal parts great find and big scam. In this issue, we look at both sides of the coin.

• First off: How to do cheap and eco-chic right? This article will get you started.
• Kara, our DIY Doyenne, throws herself into a project of remaking old belts without spending a lot of money or time. It’s the kind of DIY you can do on your way out the door for dinner and a movie. Follow along with her tips here.
• Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be cheap: Plastic shoes and polyester clothing are some of the worst environmental and social offenders. How bad are they? Take a look.
• Fall is a popular time for makeovers, perhaps because the heat finally abates and your makeup will finally stay in place. There are a whole host of great green options for 2010, and we put together this list of our favorite potions and lotions for under $25 a pop.
• Finally, in Seam Ripper there’s always something new to be found by revisiting our top posts on cheap fashion from this very blog. And as always, it’s free to join the discussion in our comments section!

In a provocative piece for The Guardian, ethical living columnist Lucy Siegle writes about how consumer demand — even something as small as button placement — can have a very real impact on working conditions in factories far, far away:

A CMT (cut-make-trim) factory in India, Bangladesh or Cambodia must be hyper-responsive to cope with design changes from offices in Europe. A last-minute fax insisting that a button needs to be moved sends a poorly funded, badly managed factory into a panic. Third-world firms will never tell western retail superpowers that an order is too difficult, so workers simply must finish it. …

It’s tempting to cast retailers as Dickensian ogres but fast fashion is driven by consumer appetites. We love fashion but we also dump two million tonnes of textile waste (mostly clothing) in landfill each year, which suggests we don’t value it. We get the type of fashion retail we deserve and ask for. We need a new plan.

So the next time you eye the trendy pleather boots that mimic the ones a starlet just wore in this month’s W, consider that they may have cost a garment worker in a developing country her lunch break — or more.