Award Winning Shoes at the 2010 Oscars
   And the Oscar goes to…  Another night of fashion at the 82nd annual Oscars red carpet this past Sunday, March 7th.  While everyone looked radiant and stunning, there were only a few stars who showcased their shoes.  Many of the females chose to wear long sophisticated gowns (though I’m sure the shoes underneath were still glamorous). For those who did not, we got the [...]

Celebrity Babies Kicking & Screaming In Style
Ever look at celebrities and wish you could be as stylish as they are? I’m sure everybody has. But I bet you would never think to say the same thing after seeing what their children are wearing too. A two year old with better style than me? Now that’s hard to admit…  Gavin Rossdale, Gwen Stefani, Kingston [...]

Look for Less: Paris Hilton
On February 24, 2010, Paris Hilton dressed fabulously while heading to a meeting with her lawyer.  Although this socialite has on a plethora of accessories  (sunglasses, earrings, belt, 2 rings, bracelet, leather jacket, tights, bag, shoes!), the look is surprisingly understated for the heiress, as the bold colored geometric dress is balanced by the fact [...]

Look for Less Twitter Contest: Michelle Williams
Get celebrity style and the latest shoe fashions with our Look for Less Twitter Contest! Michelle Williams is wearing a hot pair of platform black heels by Lanvin. Tweet a look for less pair from Shoebuy.com by 1:00 PM EDT March 5, 2010 and include #shoebuy. One lucky follower will win a $75 gift certificate! To Win: * [...]

Shoebuy Medalists 2010
In order to participate in the Winter Olympics 2010, we have formed our own team here in Boston at the Shoebuy headquarters. Except rather than compete, we will exercise our talents of judging. We will be looking at Shoebuy’s best winter gear and must haves for the season, ranking 3 items in each category with a bronze, [...]

Putting Green In Vogue: Organic Clothes Get Hot

 by Sarah Mahoney

HAVE BEEN buying green clothes for years, mainstream marketers--like the Gap and H&M--are betting even average consumers are ready to make an earth-friendly fashion statement.

Fiber sales are the third-fastest-growing category of all non-food organic products, reports the Organic Trade Association, based in Greenfield, Mass. with sales of $160 million in 2005--up from $85 million in 2003.

"Consumers have the belief that organic is better, and they're looking for all kinds of ways to reduce the impact they have on the environment," says Matt Mole, president and founder of Vermont Organic Fiber Co., an organic wool wholesaler based in Middlebury, Vt. "They want to do that with the light bulbs they use, the cars they drive and the clothes they wear."

Still, those fibers represent only the tiniest percentages of the apparel world. About 1% of the world's cotton is organic, as is about 0.1% of the wool. Traditionally, green fabrics have been more expensive and less practical. And from a fashion perspective? Let's just say organic clothes have been better suited to sincere grad students than to someone like Anna Wintour.

H&M, which began selling organic cotton in certain children's lines several years ago, has been expanding its use of the fabric and has worked it into the spring collection, which debuted last month. And Gap recently introduced its Organic Cotton T-shirt for men in more than 500 stores, which retails for $16.50. "Our customers have shown a real interest in responsibly produced products," the company said when it announced the shirts.

Environmental maverick Timberland is also pushing organic T-shirts linked to Earth Day on Sunday. And Nike, which blends organic cotton with non-organic, continues to be among the leading consumers of organic cotton.

But while certain core consumers are becoming increasingly committed to these earth-friendly fibers, mass marketers have their work cut out for them selling organic clothes to John Q. Public. Part of the problem seems to be that as marketers have begun using words like "organic" and "sustainable," consumers have lost sense of the terminology. In a survey, Cotton Inc. found that four out of 10 respondents "freely admitted to having no idea what the terms "sustainable agriculture" and "renewable" mean.

And surprisingly, Cotton Inc.'s survey also found that while marketers are making more of an effort to promote sustainability and much more of an effort to communicate that to customers, most clothing shoppers themselves are less interested. "Since 2000, there has actually been a 12 percentage point drop (from 34% to 22%) in the number of consumers who find environmental friendliness an important aspect of an apparel purchase decision," the report says.

What's more, most consumers aren't terribly surprised when marketers lie about the environmental footprints their products have. When asked how they would feel if they purchased a product they thought to be organic and then later discovered it was not, 60% of respondents said they "might be bothered, but would do nothing," 26% said they "would not be bothered," and just 15% said "they'd be bothered enough to complain about it," according to the survey.

Insiders chalk that up to confusion. Getting educated about the environmental correctness of fabric takes a certain amount of commitment, especially because conversations usually cross over into other areas of political-correctness in an instant. For environmentalists, the cotton versus polyester debate should be an easy one, until consumers begin to learn not only how many pesticides are required to produce cotton, but how often cotton production violates U.S. standards of labor. Silk and down are both renewable resources--but both are denounced by groups like PETA for their cruelty to insects and birds.

"There's definitely consumer confusion from countering messages," agrees Mole, who thinks that even more mainstream consumers are becoming gradually more comfortable with the idea that for any given product, "sustainability" is a complicated question.

"It's more holistic, and consumers are beginning to understand there's a whole story--it's not just the kinds of feed that the sheep eat, it's also the kinds of chemicals used in processing the fiber, and the wages paid to the people who work with it." Sustainability, he says, isn't a black-and-white question: "It really is a continuum." Sarah Mahoney can be reached at sarah@mediapost.com

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