Three Polished Ways to Wear Plaid, Embrace your Inner 90s Grunge Girl, and Stay Eco-friendly

Now that I've introduced you to my favorite new hat, it's time you met my favorite new shirt. The dream of the 90s is officially alive in DC.



This rockin' plaid shirt is made from upcycled dead stock flannel by a company called The Reformation. I looooove them.



In fact, not only do I have three ways for you to wear this tartan treat today, but I also have three reasons that you, too, should fall in love with The Reformation. 

1. They're an environmentally sustainable fashion brand that repurposes vintage and surplus materials to create on-trend, limited edition collections. Waste not, want not.
2. They make all of their clothing in New York and Los Angeles. 
3. The clothes are really edgy and cool. I think of them as the eco-friendly version of Nasty Gal. 

I mean...look at that collar. The shirt has a sweet, polished silhouette, but the plaid keeps it tough and a little masculine, which is super important to me. The cut is roomy but clean, and it's really, really warm. Like this is the real deal flannel, people, not some thin polyester crap. The material is so soft and yummy that it feels like wearing pajamas, and isn't that the ultimate win in grown-up dressing? If only all of my favorite clothing could feel like pajamas but read like "fashion."

I know I'm not alone on this one, as my girl The Glamourai went on a bit of a pajama rampage during her recent travels through southeast Asia (see here, here, here), and I want to put it out there that I fully understand and support her new jammies-in-the-daytime lifestyle.

All pajama discussions aside, I do hope you will take a minute to check out The Reformation. I think they are the jam. And no, they didn't pay me to say this. I just like sharing awesome things with you, and I think they are awesome.

Photography by Victoria Corkhill. She is also the jam.

Fair Trade Patterned Shorts by One Mango Tree

I wore these patterned shorts by fair trade brand One Mango Tree in an earlier post this summer, and today I'd like to tell you a little bit more about what a wonderful company they are. They tell the story best in their own words:

"One Mango Tree began in a tiny market stall in Gulu in 2007. During the conflict in Northern Uganda, many humanitarian organizations taught women to sew - in the hopes that this skill would provide a sustainable livelihood. The local market was quickly saturated, resulting in hundreds (maybe thousands) of women with basic sewing skills and no way to earn a living. Auma Lucy was one of those women - she rented a small stall in the market and sold traditional dresses. With the combination of beautiful and bright kitenge fabrics and some Western designs, we helped Lucy to develop an export market for her products, and One Mango Tree took root."

Since 2007, they have trained and employed 30 tailors, provided trainings on health and financial literacy, and the women themselves have organized into a Village Savings and Loan Association (a program pioneered by CARE), thereby counting on each other to help finance their dreams. But One Mango Tree goes even further than the concept of fair trade, making a continued, conscious effort to improve the quality of life of the women who produce their beautiful garments.

By 2011, most people in Northern Uganda had returned to their villages. Many women were renting homes in town to work for One Mango Tree, and only saw their families occasionally. They missed their children, and longed to be back home, digging their gardens and spending time with family and friends. In response, One Mango Tree implemented a work-from-home program, allowing each tailor to return home with her sewing machine. The women still come together once a week in the production manager's home to pick up cut pieces of fabric to make handbags, then they bring the finished pieces back the following week.

You can learn more about the One Mango Tree mission and story right here. I know I'm a fan for life, and I especially love the versatility of the beautiful shorts I'm wearing above and below (similar available here). You can dress them up with a collared shirt and heels, or go for a boho-chic vibe by mixing a floral print with their graphic pattern.




Last but not least, I've selected a few more of my favorites* from their online shop. One Mango Tree doesn't stop at apparel, offering beautiful ikat bags, exotic jewelry, and staple t-shirts that would work well in anyone's wardrobe.

*Just to be clear, while I occasionally accept gifted items for review when a brand's ethics are a good fit with my mission (example here), One Mango Tree did not provide me with these shorts, nor did they provide any other compensation for this post-- I just think they're rad, and I wanted to share! :)

Don't forget: you can shop all of my favorite, fair items 

in my new store section!

Clover Canyon {Mixing Prints and Patterns to the Max}

Allow me to introduce you to the most awesome shorts ever: the City Palace short by Clover Canyon. I got these as a little birthday present for myself, and I couldn't be happier with them.





Taking into account their major mix of prints and patterns, I paired them with my vegan Stella McCartney ankle boots (similar here), a Mango Tree Bangles cuff, a simple black tank and my vegan Matt and Nat bag (several are on sale on ASOS right now!). These shorts can clearly stand on their own without much embellishment.

Clover Canyon is a Los Angeles-based company that also manufactures all of their clothes right there in L.A., so buying a pair is buying American. I snapped up this particular pair on sale at local DC store Betsy Fisher, but there are so many more pieces I'd like to collect, and I've rounded up several of my favorites for you below.

*IFB's latest project is a link-up on fall boots (more here).

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Garden Party {Mixing Prints and Patterns}

• Ikat shorts are fair trade by One Mango Tree (and on sale for $21.60)
• Tank is made in the USA by Porridge from Anthropologie. Similar HERE

I went to my mother's house this weekend for some pool time, but I also got some bonus time in the garden. One of my favorite things to do as a child was to "steal" green beans and cherry tomatoes right off the vine. My Mom truly has a green thumb, and she grows everything from herbs to lettuces to strawberries to squash.  Sadly, I can barely keep houseplants alive, so I love benefiting from her end of summer overages.

The pattern and print mixing is out of my usual wheelhouse, but I was feeling breezy and bohemian. Would you have have paired these two crazy patterns, or is it too much?

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