Patagonia

"No longer can we assume the Earth's resources are limitless; that there are ranges of unclimbed peaks extending endlessly beyond the horizon. Mountains are finite, and despite their massive appearance, they are fragile."-Chouinard Equipment catalog of Oct. '74

Patagonia was founded by Yvon Chouinard.  His story and that of his company is long and romantic.  Every rock climber I know worships at the Patagonia altar.  Since the early 90's the company has also taken a chunk out the apparel and gear market for surfing. 

I know the company helms large environmental initiatives and sponsors sports ambassadors all over the globe.  They are a model of corporate consciousness.

A while ago an outdoorsy friend told me something I didn't know:

You can return ANY Patagonia product for repair, replacement, or refund... no questions asked.

Bull-honky, I thought.

--I couldn't imagine getting a refund instead of store credit.

--I couldn't imagine returning something by mail as opposed to waiting in a long, grouchy line and then negotiating with whoever was behind some high counter, receipt in hand.

--I couldn't imagine getting a free replacement for a 10-year-old product that had finally given way.

Well, it appears to be true.  Patagonia calls it the Ironclad Guarantee, and they really do stand by their products that fervently.  Canadian citizens have a smidge of paperwork to fill out, but it seems like any dissatisfaction will be met with return/replacement/refund whether or not you have an invoice or receipt.  A few people I've checked with tell tales of returned chalk bags from the 80's and headlamps that were seamlessly replaced 5 times over.  Talk about value (yes, Patagonia is a touch pricier than competitors, but apparently is the everlasting gobstopper of the apparel world).  I would like to put this too-good-to-be-trueism to the test, but my few pieces of Patagonia trekking apparel are holding up nicely, 6 years and counting.  Looks like I may never get the chance.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I know I'm late to this party, but I just discovered the FEED program. Ellen Gustafson, one of the co-creators of the foundation, gave an excellent Ted Talk about global food security issues. Her thesis is this: 1 billion people overweight + 1 billion people undernourished = 1 global issue (food production and distribution). The FEED Foundation puts this Occam's Razor logic into action. To date, 539,188 'FEED bags' have been sold, providing 54,781,980 meals to children all over the world. New bags are launched for specific program targets, like Haitian relief or literacy. The most recent addition to the lineup is the Trick or Treat Feed Bag, sold exclusively through HSN with all proceeds benefitting UNICEF initiatives.

Three more good deeds masquerading as good duds:

ONE) Featured in November's Lucky, Lovetta Conto's Akawelle necklaces:


They are made from bullet casings found in and around the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The unisex design features two charms, one melted down and another untouched.

TWO) Wear You Music produces simple bracelets from used guitar strings, donating 100% of the profits to each artist's pet charity. Blues boy Jonny Lang's runs around $100 (cause: St. Jude's). Each order can be individually sized and embellished with diamond charms or other precious stones.

It's the perfect way to idol worship without having to elbow your way through a mosh pit and hope that Tommy Lee hucks his sticks in your general direction.

THREE) TOMS, founded in 2006 by entrepreneur and traveller Blake Mycoskie, is combatting soil-transmitted disease and injury in third world nations by providing footwear. The company motto "One for One" assures purchasers that for every pair of TOMS sold, a new pair of shoes will go to a child in need. The classic burlap flats are $65, and the rare wrap boots are $95. Think of them as Keds or Crocs, but with conscience.

Dare to Repair!

I volunteer as an 'image consultant' at a local Dress-for-Success-type agency that outfits women with appropriate interview and business attire. I suppose someone has to work a ladle down at The Soup Kitchen, but as far as socially conscious time investments go, mine is the FUNNEST! A couple times a week I get to dress up needful, grateful lifesize dolls and then thrust them into the downtown core with a veritable spree of shopping bags. It's a blast (ours originated with the local Junior League; see if there's an organiztion in your area).

Because I contribute during regular business hours the blend of fellow volunteers is strangely dichotomous. It seems the volunteers are either 'ladies who lunch' comfortable or somehow marginalized/unemployed/in transition. I am neither (read: comfortably unemployed). There is a fine line of circumstance that separates the two, and I am surely the volunteer who is toeing it. I wear brand names and have some tastes so expensive they sound like Tracy Jordan lines/Kanye West tweets. Yet, I buy almost everything steeply discounted online or through charity or vintage shops. I love that victorious feeling schlepping through Value Village, like I've somehow pulled one over, beaten the system, damned the man. At the volunteer agency I get a kick out of being the indistinguishable gray to the haves and have-nots (BTW all of whom get along famously, arguing only over things as trivial as "is this embellished cardigan cute or gaudy?")

There was a rather stirring conversation last week in the back-of-house while sorting through the mountain range of donations that is somehow constantly creeping towards the fire exit. These discussions are usually sparked by a single article of clothing being pulled from a garbage bag and held up, Lion King style, for the hushed onlookers to worship. My Scandinavian friend (recently immigrated and volunteering until her work papers are in) hoisted a spectacular wrap dress only to find a couple moth holes on the skirted portion; then the "do we toss it or is it WORTH saving" debate circled the room as the dress was passed and examined by each person. It looked orderly, like a Kindergarten classroom in which only the person holding the Share Bear gets to speak. I listened, unsurprised, to each woman's vote fall onto her side of the aforementioned line of privilege. Worth is subjective. I am guilty of devaluing items because they are, or even have an air of, disposability. Simply because I can throw something away doesn't mean I should.

I can't remember whether the dress was rescued or refused, but it has been front of mind since. I've been padding around my bedroom, eyeballing the unworn and forgotten garments that line the drawer bottoms and remote corners. There is a white hoodie ripe for a washing machine dye-job, jeans to be cut off, and even a wrap dress that would be far more useful as a top. So for the next few weeks my Bernina is going to take over the dining table, and hopefully I'll end up with a few 'new' things to wear volunteering.

Great DIY sites like BUST magazine and Threadbanger have friendly hosts that impart complex crafting know how in digestible little pieces. You can find anything from millinery techniques to silk screening. Free.

Some excellent resources for those interested in EcoChic. Beware: scary info about the environmentally deleterious effects of the cotton industry and alarming amounts of post-consumer textile waste... may change your lifestyle.

Slow Fashion: Alternative Fashion Concepts

Comprehensive and well researched, Green Is the New Black: How To Change the World With Style

More books for upcycling inspiration:

Patternmaking for a Perfict Fit:...Recreate and Redesign You Favourite Fashions

The Generation T books (there are 2)

The modern day version of the Make Do and Mend propaganda of the 40's and 50's is Platform21's (an Amsterdam-based collective) Repair Manifesto. If you can get your hands on the vintage pamphlets too there's some grandmotherly wisdom about increasing textile longevity (ie: the extinct art of 'darning').

Note:

Another volunteer just told me to check out Wabi Sabi (Wiki That Shit), a Japanese theory and spiritual concept that focuses on the transient properties of material objects, honouring the imperfections and evolution that results from natural processes.

Beauty is impermanence.

I like it.

The Little Black Dress vs. The Big White One

Two of my favourite blogs operate around the same principle, multifunctional fashion.

The Uniform Project is now in it's second year and is a true testament to the socially conscious, legitimate journalism that blogging can be. Founder Sheena Matheiken wore the same LBD for 365 days, successfully fundraising for third-world education initiatives. You may have read about her as one of Elle's Women of the Year in 2009. Now there are several more campaigns underway, complete with 'dailies' of each pilot girl's unique styling choices (1 month of LBD wearing per cause). Fantastic!

My Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress is also all about sustainability, as well as having a creative outlet through which to channel our innermost selves. However, the birth of this blog was less goodwill, more good riddance. When Kevin Cotter's wife of 12 years left him, she abandoned her wedding dress and told him to do "whatever the $%@#" he wanted with it. And, boy, has he. The list of 101 (projected) uses includes: yoga mat, floss, scarecrow, Tug of War rope, pasta strainer, hammock, Smart Car cover, and shower curtain. Fantastic and funny!