Lots of people have tipped us off about this study in the journal Psychological Science, regarding an experiment that showed people who buy environmentally-friendly goods tend to offset that do-gooding with bad social behavior.

SmartMoney.com summarizes the research:

While mere exposure to green products may “prime” us to think about social consciousness and perhaps improve our behavior, if we actually buy a green product, we appear to take it as license to act like jerks.

At least, that’s what researchers Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong of the University of Toronto found in the lab. In an experiment, they had student subjects look at products in one of two online stores: a “conventional” store (with few green products) and a “green” store (with lots of green products). Some of the students were asked to purchase goods in these stores; others were just asked to rate the products.

Things got interesting when these students were subsequently given $6 for an economic task and asked to share it with an unknown partner. The students who had purchased products in the green store, it turned out, were far less generous with the $6 than students who had merely been exposed to the green products.

A subsequent experiment pushed things even further. Students were again asked to shop in a green or a conventional store. They were then put through an experiment where they had the opportunity to earn extra money by cheating — even to steal money from an envelope left in the room. Consistent with the previous experiment, participants who had purchased from the green store were significantly more likely to cheat and to steal than participants who purchased from the conventional store.

Seem counter-intuitive to all us green shoppers? We think so, too. It’s almost like the shopping version of religious indulgences.

Abercrombie & Fitch has been ordered to pay a fine of $115,000 for discriminating against a 14-year-old autistic girl who was not allowed into the dressing room in a Minnesota store.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

The civil penalty, the largest of its kind in at least two years, came four years after store employees refused to let the autistic teen join her older sister in a fitting room because of the clothing chain’s anti-shoplifting policy. The store refused to relent even after the sister, and later the girls’ mother, explained that the 14-year-old couldn’t be alone because of her disability.

The confrontation humiliated the girl, who testified that the incident made her feel like a “misfit.”

“She was singled out and required to hear her sister and mother repeatedly ask for accommodations based on her disability, in front of a long line of customers, at a store that markets itself to young people as a purveyor of a particularly desirable ‘look’ ” administrative law judge Kathleen D. Sheehy declared in her ruling.

Of the fine, $25,000 will go to the family of the girl — who we bet will be shopping at the Gap from here on out.

Anna Wintour is famous for several things: her bobbed haircut, inspiring the titular character in The Devil Wears Prada, and her fierce and flawless fashion sense.

So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to hear that she has a tightly edited closet that she only adds a little to each season. 

While promoting the first annual Fashion’s Night Out, Wintour admitted to New York Magazine that despite being the editrix of the world’s most famous fashion magazine, she doesn’t shop much:

“During the couture shows in February there was a lot of discussion about the lack of traffic in the stores,” Wintour says. “A lot of people were complaining, but people weren’t really doing anything about it.”

So Wintour, who doesn’t do much actual shopping herself—“I get a few key pieces each season and wear them a lot”—hatched a plan. She assembled the editors-in-chief of the international editions of Vogue and some Condé Nast execs, and decided that Thursday, September 10, would be Fashion’s Night Out: Stores worldwide would stay open late and perhaps even invite famous people and serve cocktails, and the retail world would get a nice, much-needed booster shot. …

“The amazing golden years that everyone in the industry was enjoying were fantastic from a business point of view but also maybe a little unseemly. Every celebrity thought she could be a designer, and how many handbags? How many shoes? How much of a thing does everyone really need?”

We admit that we sort of love the idea of having a closet full of exquisitely fabulous stuff, but magazines (ahem, like Vogue) come along every month and deliberately create wants. And yes, sometimes that leads to waste — as in, the clothes only hold our interest for a season or so.

Do any of you follow Wintour’s “key pieces” prescription? Is it a goal to work toward?

New York Times writer Anne Christensen waxes poetic justifying how she recently spent an ungodly amount of money on this bondage-inspired leather jacket by Rodarte:

In February, when I was sitting in the audience at the Rodarte fall show and out came these romantically patchworked, marbled dresses that defied description, I was moved by how beautiful they were. Next came the patchworked, marbled leather jackets that fit the models like a glove — and I knew I wanted one for myself. That’s how fashion works: you have an emotional response to something and you just want it, no matter what the cost. And the cost of this jacket is a lot. But I know I will wear it for years and even be able to pass it on to my daughter. After all, I still have my Schott black leather jacket from college, and I’m ready for the upgrade!

Now, we can calculate a garment’s cost per wear with the best of them — heck, we dedicated a whole issue to the idea — but what do you think? Is this jacket timeless or trendy? (We just hope her daughter has the same take on this heirloom!)

As the bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for retailers, J.Crew reported $357.6-million in sales in the last quarter — up 6 percent over last year.

We can’t help but wonder whether the company owes Michelle Obama a huge “thank you” in that regard.

The First Lady has given her stamp of approval to the brand time and again, whether it’s sporting a J.Crew cardigan and mint green pencil skirt while meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London (pictured left) or while working the talk show circuit. And for her next magazine cover, she wears another J.Crew skirt and a Gap sweater.

All of which explains why so many ethical designers are reaching out to her. There have been calls for her to shop more black designers, and so far she has shown a willingness to bestow her golden touch on emerging brands.

Personally, we’d love to see her shaking things up in American Apparel tees and in that waist-cinching bamboo dress by the Battalion that Maggie Gyllenhaal wore last year. Her famous arms would look great in it!

So here’s one unintended (positive!) consequence of the recession: More and more people are consigning their good clothes. Meaning if you’re a thrifter, there are great deals to be had on gently used high-end clothing!

The Mt. Vernon Register (Ill.) reports:

As people turn to consignment and thrift stores as an alternative to paying department store prices, these local shops notice the influx of business. According to Hutton, shoppers may continue to find quality items for a low price.

“I’m very selective in what I take,” Hutton said. “I’m not a thrift store who accepts donations. We’re more particular in what we accept to sell. People like to come here because it’s organized and we have more upscale and more trendy items that people like.”

The Mt.Vernon consignment and thrift stores reported that even with the increase in demand, their prices have stayed consistent through the years. With more local shops receiving and selling for fractional costs, seasonal shopping for everyday goods continues to flourish, they said.

If you’re new to the thrifting world, check out these tips for finding the best stuff and scoring the best deals.

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Apparently Vivienne Westwood is still taking the DIY manifesto she expressed at Paris Fashion Week last fall and running with it.

The iconic designer made a special request to be on Jonathan Ross’ talk show Friday night to discuss climate change — which, according to Westwood, isn’t nearly high enough on politicians’ priority list.

Westwood’s advice to climate-conscious fashionistas? More quality, less quantity, and a bit of edgy creativity. Keep an eye out for towels and curtains on the streets this fall:

“Take the tablecloth if it’s beautiful, and even take towel if it’s good enough, or the curtains or anything. Put things together yourself and take things from your husband or your boyfriend like boxer shorts or whatever…

Take your old things and keep on wearing them. If you do buy fashion then choose it really well, wear it for a long time, until it sort of drops off your back.”

For more on Westwood and her eco “war,” check out this profile from the Sunday Independent.

(Video via Grazia Daily)

“Cellophane, nylon, a wrinkleproof suit — and the H-bomb.”

TIME magazine cover from April 1951. That’s Crawford Greenwalt, President of DuPont.

For a junkie of Cold War and fashion history, Jane Pavitt’s book Fear and Fashion in the Cold War is about as good as it gets. This TIME cover is one of its many awesome archival images. (Click here to see more in E.S. #17)

Synthetics are always a hot topic in eco-fashion. Did you know that nylon, lycra, tyvek, and many others were created by DuPont? E.S. has a small vintage Vogue archive, and there are a lot of DuPont ads in the 1960s issues. They look like regular fashion ads with a simple DuPont logo in the bottom corner. 

Anyway. It’s interesting how the Cold War obsession with technology and efficiency became counterproductive in many ways. Like synthetics, as Pavitt explains:

One of the defining characteristics of the new synthetics was their expendability: new materials that could be simply used up and thrown away were seen as benefits to a modern and efficient society.

Seems like we have yet to recover, doesn’t it? But it’s worth noting the ’60s was also the era of disposable fashion (paper dresses in that late ’60s photo were Paco Rabanne, FYI). So at least we’ve gotten past that idea.

This fascinating article from women’s magazine DoubleX.com examines a conundrum we at EthicalStyle.com considered during out recent Body Issue: Why do plus-size women have such a hard time finding fashionable clothing?

The answer makes a lot of sense economically, but unfortunately it means there is no easy solution for the fashionable plus-sized among us.

Consider this retailer quandry: The average weight for an American woman is 164 pounds, but the most commonly reported weight is 130 pounds if you’re under 25 and 140 if you’re older. That means there isn’t a perfect bell curve when it comes to American sizing.

There are millions of women in the over-200 camp, but because there are fewer sizes to cover a bigger weight range, it also means finding clothes that fit gets harder the larger your size.

From the article:

Translated into clothes, that means a lot of different sizes. “It’s not that everybody’s 20 pounds above average,” explains [David Bruner, a data analyst for the apparel industry]. “You can’t make something for somebody who’s 200 and expect it to fit somebody who’s 240.” At the upper weights, each new size covers relatively few people. Adding size 16 may make women who wear size 18, 20, or 22 feel a little better, but it won’t get them to buy your clothes.

The statistics also explain why plus-size clothes tend to be less tailored, even though larger women often look more attractive in body-skimming clothes. “You’ll generally see things less styled so each size can fit a slightly larger range of person, and you’ll see more stretch,” says Bruner. Designed to cover a wide range of bodies, a size 22 is thus more like a “medium” than a 10.

Looking for retailers who get it right anyway? Check out this list of boutiques that stock plus-size (and eco-friendly!) fashion options.

New York-based marketing firm Abrams Research surveyed more than 100 luxury experts to name the top retail and fashion brands that appear to have the best strategies for surviving the recession. The results were varied and interesting:

• 1. Topshop (34.1 percent of those surveyed named it as a brand that will flourish)
• 2. Chanel (28 percent)
• 3. Louis Vuitton (21.9 percent)
• 4. Forever 21, H&M, and Marc Jacobs (all tied at 13.4 percent)
• 7. Hermès (7.3 percent)
• 8. J. Crew (6.1 percent)

Honorable mentions included Cartier, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Rolex, Tiffany & Co., Diane von Furstenberg, and Prada. 

Says Dan Abrams, chief executive officer of Abrams Research and chief legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC:

“There is a huge contrast between these top brands, and you see it within the top two names: It’s Topshop versus Chanel,” Abrams said. “These brands represent two business strategies that can survive the recession. You either stick with discount prices and strategically market your products, or you stay true to your loyal fan base and don’t compromise the quality of your goods, so as not to dilute your brand.” 

Also noteworthy in our opinion is that most of these brands have shown an awareness of and some level of commitment to fashion ethics. Topshop has an exclusive deal with People Tree, a fair trade fashion line out of the U.K., and H&M’s spring collection included a whole range of organic cotton options. Louis Vuitton just bought a huge stake in Edun, and Hermès is more committed to quality and workers’ rights than practically any other luxury brand in the world.

We’d wager these eco-strategies are also contributing to these companies’ robust sales and growth potential.