It's a Wrap! Dresses for Everyday Style

Wrap Dress by Yu Clothing $152

Sometimes it’s hard to stay in style and look good when fashions change so frequently. But with the popular wrap dress, women of all body shapes can look chic and sexy while at work or on the go. The wrap dress highlights your curves, offering the illusion of a small waist and an enhanced bust. We’ve sought out the best indie designed wrap dresses to show how versatile and fun the wrap design can be.

Victorian Stamp Dress by Hype $179

When trying on your next dress design, make sure the fabric isn’t too thin and clingy. You want to portray curves, but not highlight bumps, bags, and wrinkles. Also do a modesty check in front of the mirror; you should take note of whether you can look down and see all the way to your bellybutton, and you should lean forward once or twice to find out how well your wrap dress wraps.

Empire Wrap Dress by Samoy Lenko $200

A good wrap dress will have enough fabric to cover your legs and derriere when a gust of wind hits. If not, you may want to make good use of a safety pin or two. That said, wraps come in all different fabrics and prints, offering excellent possibilities for both a fun day at the beach and a classy cocktail hour. Support handmade and fair trade with these stunning styles.

Organic Cotton Cap Sleeve Wrap Dress $39

Avian Fashion Fever: Anunciação Winter 07 Collection

Anunciação is a charismatic Brazilian fashion label that mixes folklore with culture. Between color, fabric, and graphics, Anunciação combines sensual design and childhood nostalgia.

Designer Catalina Estrada mixes her Colombian heritage with Japanese mangas and European art. She creates illusive natural creatures to adorn her whimsical apparel.

This winter, the bird motif is making an appearance throughout her collection. Just as it is taking a turn in many jewelry designs, the bird motif has appeared on many fashion pieces. Catalina Estrada is only one example of an artist infusing her work with the feathered friends. As both delicate ornamental details and bold graphics, her fashions have captured this popular trend. If you’re not lucky enough to live in Brazil, check out the Winter 2007 collection at Anunciação online.

For more, check out Avian Fashion Fever: Handmade Jewelry.

Sassy Finds from Solsis Designs

We have loved Solsis Designs ever since we first discovered the little fashion line several years ago. Since we’re forever envious of the bright colorful clothing, it seemed appropriate to highlight this unique designer while the weather’s still hot and the beaches are cool. Solsis Designs are inspired by the spirit, movement, and energy of life. Each item of clothing is unique and handcrafted for the woman with an active sexy lifestyle.

Solsis brings the Brazilian beat to her creations, incorporating the world of dance, rhythm, and laughter into her work. Each item is free flowing, perfect for hot nights in the dance club or long days at the oceanside. Colorful and creative, these pieces are surefire headturners.
Pictured here are the best-selling New Orleans Crescent Dress ($78) and the Yemanja Blouse ($62). The dress, shown in two different fabric swatches, is a limited edition and a very popular style. The high waist gives the dress a slimming effect and the fabric is stretchy enough to hug all your curves in just the right way. The blouse is a new design brought back from Brazil and inspired by the funky seaside culture. Check out other styles at Solsis Designs.

Purple Passion: This Fall's Top Color

As a color once reserved only for the rich and powerful, purple has again hit it big in the fashion world. A regular favorite in the fall season color lineup, purple has been plucked out as the “it” hue for this fall’s fashion trends. The rich, deep, plume shade has always been a hit when crisper weather arrives. Purple integrates well with earth tones, shades of brown, and a more neutral schema. Plum, dusky lavender, and deep wine shades look bold but not glaring when integrated with dark denim, black, burgundy, and chocolate brown. When shopping for the perfect piece, be sure to choose an article of clothing with rich undertones, like a deep velvet violet or a shade of rich purple wine.

These go best with an understated palette and can be combined with other shades like mustard, ochre, or dusky cobalt for an exciting color combination. As a jewel tone, purple is an excellent choice for eveningwear or accessories. Look for brighter shoes, shiny purses, and sequin tops for a night out and about. For more help coordinating colors, check out this season's color chart

Purple is a creative color, and because it was so expensive to come by (in the ancient times, purple dye came from a mollusk), purple is known throughout art and history as the color most associated with kings, emperors, and wisemen. Check out these indie designers for more fashion inspiration.

Empire Gown by AngelRox at Unsung Designers $228
Old Friends hand screen printed top from Little by Jenny $34
Georgette Top by Scott Gibson N.Y.C. at Unsung Designers $220
Purple Marsh T-Shirt by The Red Prairie Press $25
Flashdance Top by Robot Arms at Unsung Designers $60

Go Global! Nomad Fashion from Independent Designers

Feeling inspired by this fall’s nomad fashion trend? Ready to wear some bold ethnic prints, layered textures, and free flowing fabrics? If you like the eclectic and adventurous look of this season’s global fashion exchange but don’t want to pay top dollars for the premium designer brand, check out works by these independent designers.

Venni Caprice offers custom handmade-to-order pieces based on her red carpet designs. This empire waist dress features a tribal African design and her batik dress is just right for fading from summer into fall. For more information, check out her Etsy store or her blog.

There’s a summer sale going on right now at Asian iCandy, an online boutique store offering Asian ethnic inspired fashion from artists worldwide. The shop offers authentic and unique apparel and gifts for those who would like to blend a little Asian inspiration into their day. Also on Etsy, check out the wide leg linen Capri pants for easy movement in an earthy brick red color or the all-natural linen mermaid skirt for a free flowing bottom with a bold decorative pattern.

Fall Fashion Sees Nomadic Trend

What can you expect to see in the fashion lineup for this upcoming season? A trend towards nomadic fashion is subtly arising through the work of some of the world’s top designers.

This global exchange of sorts illustrates a mixture in styles, textures, and patterns between a number of cultures. More than just an ecclectic hippie-gypsy movement, nomadic fashion plays on a mixture of Oriental and Middle Eastern patterns and decorations mixed with natural materials. Renowned designers like Duro Olowu, Anna Sui, Nicole Miller, and Tsumori Chisato all filled the runways with nomadic fashion.
Outfits are layered with many textures and fabric weights playing into the fusion. Texture and volume are important in the overall composition of the outfit, which can be achieved through the inclusion of skirts, shawls, and blankets.
Nomadic people lived outside and faced the elements daily. They traveled through a variety of climates, and their clothing reflected their behavior. Here we see garments made from traditional materials like wool, fleece, leather, and cotton appearing, decorated with ethnic patterns. The clothing is loose and flows around the wearer.
Colors popping up in this fall trend respect the natural and earthly legacy of the nomadic woman. She shows her appreciation for the earth and adorns herself in shades like khaki, nut brown, smoke, brick, alabaster, and silver shadow. This fashion trend indicates an attitude of adventure. To get the look for yourself, choose heavier pieces like turtlenecks, sweaters, and vests in earthtones to complement lighter pieces like skirts and dresses. Look for bold designs and patterns, drawing inspiration from animal print, African textiles, Oriental designs, and Middle Eastern print. Layer on a shawl, scarf, or sarong. Accessorize with leather sandals or leather boots, vintage fur trim, and long necklaces made out of wooden beads or seeds.

Perfect Products for Your Pet: Handmade, Organic, Non-Toxic, and Stylish

We all know that our animals are just furry extensions of our family. We would never willingly treat our dogs and cats with less than stellar care, sub-par products, or toxic toys. However, lately the stories of bad ingredients in pet food and toxic chemicals in toys are growing in abundance. Not to worry. We’ve rounded up a collection of the best handmade, organic, or non-toxic products to fill your dog or cat’s every need.

The Modern Pet offers a variety of stylish and handmade products for your dog or cat. Included among them are extra-durable handcrafted collars and leashes from recycled materials, organic shampoo, biodegradable waste bags, treats, and announcements (think birth announcements for your newest furry child). The Modern Pet also offers a pet collar recycling program and a shampoo bottle recycling program.

Featured here are the Vintage Rose Dog Collar ($28) made from durable pink cotton webbing and a selection of hemp dog collars ($24) made from hemp canvas and dyed with low-impact dyes.

BaconSquareFarm offers a classic looking handmade wrought iron feeding station for your small dog or cat. The feeding station ($18) has an iron stand and two stainless steel bowls. This mealtime essential will blend in perfectly with any contemporary or modern home.
Jake and Micah offer an adorable treat for your cat: a takeout box with three fortune cookie toys inside ($17.99). These cloth playthings are stuffed with 100% premium organic catnip and come with a real fortune too! The cotton fabric is also organic. Who couldn’t resist these lucky organic catnip toys? No cat should be without!

Eco-Me, the maker of the human-geared Eco-Me Body and Eco-Me Home Kits have lined up two new kits to keep your furry friends feeling green as well. Eco-Me Cat and Eco-Me Dog ($28 each) include everything you need to jump-start your pet’s sustainable lifestyle. The Eco-Me Dog Kit (pictured here) is 100% natural and includes all the essentials to get you started with flea and bug spray, cleaning wipes, powder shampoo, doggie essential oil mix, cookie recipes and cookie cutters, and a few pooper-scooper essentials.

Bodhitoys has a line of very modern and stylish playthings for your pooch. Inspired by the designs of India, China, and painters such as Matisse and Miro, Bodhitoys offers non-toxic durable playthings to keep your dog in a tranquil place. The namesake Om ball is decorated with a pattern inspired by West Indian tribal embroidery. Best of all, when bounced it actually plays the Om mantra, as recorded by kirtan master Bhagavan Das.
Purrfect Play has put a lot of time and research into developing their organic dog biscuits. This 2 oz tin of mini bones ($3.50) from Robbie Dawg is a travel essential on any walk or trip. Not only do these doggie treats make great gifts, but they come in a variety of flavors. Check out the doggie treats like peanut butter and carrots, turkey sausage and romano cheese, and four-cheese oatmeal. All the biscuits are human grade-quality and made from the finest artisan ingredients.


And finally, Fetching Tags is the place to go for your next dog tags ($30). These handmade metal dog tags (or cat tags, or rooster tags) come with customized personal inscriptions to make sure your pet’s ID is spot on.