(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• Forget outdated style rules, like the one that forbids the wearing of white after Labor Day.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 Vogue U.K.)

Becoming a mother changed my life in the biggest way ever. You become a lot more conscious of yourself and your relationship to the environment and to other people. You become a living example of what your children live by. And they teach you to be very present and in the moment.

From an environmental perspective, at first I focused on the external environment—pollution, all of those things—but now that I’ve been on this journey for 10 years in a major way I’m realizing how everything is so interconnected. It’s not only external—it’s internal. It’s taking it down from the macro to the micro in our communities: How we interact with one another and our families and values.

If we’re aligned and connected we make choices that impact the larger whole in a positive way.

– Retired supermodel Angela Lindvall on her evolving view of the importance of eco-fashion. Read the whole interview to find out her favorite eco-beauty companies and designers.

(Courtesy of PeopleTree.co.uk)

Emma Watson strikes us as the type of intelligent, thoughtful actress who really considers the impact her fashion choices can have on her young fans. So we are pleased to see this open letter on fair-trade brand People Tree’s website posted by the Harry Potter star, following a summer trip to Bangladesh with People Tree founder Safia Minney:

The contrast between the slums in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh) where the people who work in the garment factories live and Swallows (the Fair Trade community supported by People Tree) was all too apparent. …

I cannot imagine how I would have the mental ability and strength to go into the garment factories in the slums everyday and have my children living six hundred miles away.

We interviewed a woman in the slum in Dhaka. She was very candid about the fact that there just wasn’t any hope for her. There is no hope for anyone living in those conditions and being paid that kind of wage. Coming to Swallows I see that there is an alternative.

The living conditions are modest but it’s clean and there is a real sense of community, their families are together and they seem to love and be proud of what they are doing – many things that we in the West take for granted.

Swallows is special and I need to believe for my own peace of mind that there will be more places like this in the developing countries in the world.

The whole interview is worth reading for its candid look at the benefits fair-trade manufacturing offers workers, and it concludes with a video of Ms. Watson touring Bangladesh and modeling People Tree’s fall collection.

(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.

(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.

Fashionable women of size have a reason to celebrate: Marc Jacobs is set to become the first high-end designer to design a clothing line especially for plus-size women.

The news leaked last week when Robert Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs International, posted on Twitter that a collection of larger sizes is in the planning stages, with a tentative release of next year.

The Guardian reports:

While [Jacobs's] work for Louis Vuitton has involved high-profile collaborations with artists such as Takashi Murakami and rapper Kanye West, he has always taken risks with his eponymous brand, creating a number of unusual lines under his name. He has recently launched Little Marc Jacobs childrenswear, Bark Jacobs dog accessories and a fragrance for men called Bang. During New York Fashion Week next month, he will launch Book Marc, a bookshop.

GQ commissioning editor Jonathan Heaf, who has worked as a consultant for the Louis Vuitton brand, said: “If anyone can turn their hand to plus size clothes – out to create something elegant rather than simply make a splash for their own name – it’s Marc. About time, I say. He just makes pretty, modern, sexy clothes for pretty, modern, sexy girls; girls confident enough not to have to shout to be noticed.”

And if you follow Marc Jacobs’s runway shows as religiously as we do, you know this collection promises to be free of the shapeless dresses and frumpy pants that too often characterize plus-size fashion.

(via Luxist)

With the arrival of the phonebook-sized September issues of our favorite magazines, the fall fashion bug has officially bitten.

And after perusing the F/W 2010 lookbook posted by The Battalion Eco Couture on Facebook, we can’t wait to bust out the label’s take on the cozy layers, leggings, and luxe fur trims that are so in style.

Our favorite looks include this dolman-sleeved sweater over leggings and industrial boots, as well as a fur vest over an embellished tee with riding pants and wedges. (The Battalion uses “veggie fur,” but it reminds us of this vintage-inspired getup worn by Emma Watson in her boyfriend’s music video.)

Ever since discovering The Battalion last year, we’ve been continually impressed with how designers Chrys and Linda Wong seamlessly blend style and eco-sensibility in their collections, which focus on organic textiles and expert tailoring.

The designs are urban, not hippie, and we count them as a must-buy for the discerning shopper who wants to do good while staying on-trend.

It might take a certain body shape and degree of confidence to pull this one off, but we can’t help but admire The Glamourai’s take on the summery caftan using two vintage silk scarves, thrift-store jewelry, and minimal sewing skills.

She selected two scarves of similar size (31″ square) and pattern, stacked them, and stitched an oversize hourglass outline down the sides to match her proportions and allow the excess fabric to drape around her body. Then she attached four grommets and threaded through mismatched goldtone chains as straps.

That’s it! DIY in hardly any time at all, and no cutting required. We also love how she accessorized it with YSL sunglasses, luxe bracelets, and a woven belt — all vintage.

More detailed instructions and photos can be found here.