Terri Bly
Time to confess: Even after getting into the natural cosmetics business, I wasn’t really paying much attention to the eco-friendly clothing movement. I knew it existed, but I pictured long, flowy dresses made out of beige bamboo. Not really my style. For me, going green was first and foremost about eliminating chemicals, primarily from my household cleaners, makeup, and food. I knew precious little about the clothing industry and therefore wasn’t clear as to the benefits of switching out my wardrobe for organic cotton yoga pants and shoes I was certain would feel like hay strapped to cardboard.
Without going into the environmental and ethical benefits of supporting earth-conscious clothing and shoe companies right now, I will tell you that all of my preconceived notions of eco = hippie art teacher have been soundly demolished, no thanks to this little number (and many of its peers) from Synergy Organic that I try on nearly every day I’m at Eco-tique in St. Paul:
As it turns out – and as most of you probably already know – what I’m finding with these brands is much higher quality, sturdier fabrics, richer colors, and cutting-edge fashion designs. While I can also find all of my basics, like HT Naturals t-shirts and knit dress tops, I can also get a smashingly gorgeous skirt or that beautiful Synergy jacket pictured above. This jacket fits me like it was hand-tailored for my 5’9″, broad-shouldered body – and I don’t get to say that about every belted coat I try on, or even most of them. Yes, I do wish they weren’t quite so expensive, and for now I have to keep putting the coat back on the hanger with a melancholy sigh until I either win the lottery or some unknown uncle passes away and leaves me a few hundred bucks to spend however I like. But at least with these brands I am (or would be) paying for the great lengths to which these designers go in order to source their exceptional-quality organic fabrics from ethical manufacturers, who don’t practice slave labor or use tons of toxic dyes and other chemicals to produce and deliver the goods to the masses.
By the way, I did happen to notice that this jacket is on sale at Planet Threads, so you may want to check it out!
