CheapJAP

Love With Hate Icing

Is Green Always Good?

Soooo, last night’s Project Runway hailed eco-friendly fashion, and some of the green material-inspired looks were pretty effing awesome. But I’m still not buying the notion that green translates to good, and here’s why. Opting for eco-friendly material (jersey cotton, organic satin and silk, etc.) is a nice way of doing your part to screw up the earth less. But buying green apparel from certain companies sometimes funds more than eco-conscious fashion. Sweatshops, for example.

Banana Republic and Macy’s - two recent additions to the green fashion bandwagon - had their wares manufactured by a factory that paid its employees $3.79 an hour for 66-hour, six-day workweeks until recently, when the Labor Department busted the facility for employee abuse. And it’s right here in Queens.

I honestly don’t know if any of Banana’s or Macy’s latest green apparel came from this Queens sweatshop, and I’m not saying eco-friendly fashion isn’t a good thing. But it’s not an exclusively good thing by virtue of its green-ness. Eco-friendly doesn’t mean people-friendly, and the earth’s effed up enough already. Maybe we should focus a little more on helping the people who make the clothes, instead of obsessing over the material they use to do their jobs.

Label Whore

Re-Assess, Re-Vamp, Re-Wear!

I don’t just recycle paper goods (my building doesn’t recycle plastic or glass bottles, how effed up is that?…I mean, not that I have a lot of empty wine bottles laying around…wait what) - I use the three Rs to recycle my clothing too. Sometimes I sell stuff to Beacon’s for store credit. Sometimes I perform hemline surgery on tired pieces. But never before have I taken a pair of scissors to a pricey, JAPtastic item. Until the other day.

Last summer, Mommy bought me this Nanette Lepore dress. While Mommy’s Jewish in the religious sense of the term, she’s a beauteous blonde WASP where personal style’s concerned. This means she’s frequently - and often correctly - concerned that my outfits lack a certain level of, ahem, class. So she insists on my needing wardrobe staples like $300 Cocktail Dresses.

I wore this dress once last summer, and haven’t thought about it since. OMG, it’s Nanette, what’s wrong with me?! Many things, mi guapas; let’s talk about what’s wrong with the dress first. Continue reading →

Splurgy Poo

A Leather Loophole in a Green World. Phew.

The fashion blogosphere has been in a tizzy over eco-chic style for quite some time now. I’m generally open to eco-friendly fashion. I’m also generally opposed to the idea of handbags made from anything other than leather. Sure, a few of the latest Stella McCartney Pleated Bags are decent looking. But if you think I’m spending $995 on a tote made out of fucking nylon, you’re all kinds of crazy.

Like fine wines, leather bags don’t just last - they actually get better with age. A tote constructed entirely out of Recycled Leather? That I can do. Ashley Watson seems to be the go-to designer for bags of this ilk, and rightfully so: Her bags are so fab, I’d be wooed by them even if I wasn’t seeking to reconcile my love of leather with my guilt over not giving a shit about the environment.

The Plover pictured is priced at $335. I’m all about calling out designers for jacking their prices, but as Watson’s bags - in addition to being totally gorge - are both handmade and one-of-a-kind, I can wholeheartedly say that this juice is worth the squeeze. Even for my cheap tush.

Cheap JAP 101

Recycled Denim: Bust Out the Scissors

It’s Earth Week, which means I should be plugging pleather handbags and shoes or something. Um, no. If I ever have $665 to drop on Stella McCartney platform sandals, they better be buttery, soft, expertly-constructed shoes from something that once mooed. However, I do strictly adhere to recycling where denim is concerned. This doesn’t mean I buy organic cotton Levi’s. It means that when warm weather hits, I bust out the scissors and recycle my least-worn jeans into shorts. I actually really like the cut of these J Brand cut-offs; they’re a refreshing, laid-back departure from the Daisy Dukes of summer. They’ve also got that never nude thing going on.

Paying $141 for these shorts is an example of the most irresponsible, reprehensible, toxic kind of waste: The waste of money. Denim is only a worthy splurge when it covers more than your upper-thigh area. This style can and will be inflicted upon my three-year-old pair of Sevens, and for the grand total of nothing dollars, I’ll have a new pair of shorts. Who says I’m not a conservationist?

Love With Hate Icing

Green & Annoying, Err, Gorgeous

This bag was part of my JAPnukah loot, courtesy of Mommy. It’s not my favorite thing she scored at Scoop; even at the fair price of $28, it’s a little too message-y for my taste. But I use it going to and from work when I have to cart around my tragically boring uniform of a white button-down shirt and black pants.

A friend saw me with the bag and quipped, “Is that supposed to be ironic?” Fine, I own a lot of leather. Fine, I had a shearling coat by the age of 13. Would I rather be carrying a massive designer leather tote? Obviously. Do I have the means to procure one at this moment? No, but I’m working on it.

Why is this silly little hemp bag more socially acceptable than designer fakes or low-budget leather? Because it’s not trying to look expensive. It knows it’s cheap. It likes that it’s cheap. It’s cheapness is a big Eff Off to overpriced bags everywhere. And thankfully, it’s not nearly as prevalent as that I’m Not A Plastic Bag everyone and their mom was wearing six months ago. Yet.