Jeeze, Julia!

I often feel that I am the only person with my strange combination of interests. I am concerned with our society’s treatment of the environment & of one another. I am inspired by fashion, & feel great when creating something that I can share. But fashion & social consciousness seem to be polar opposites in our country. The Gap, Old Navy, J. Crew, Nike, etc. are commonly known as companies who neglect & exploit their workers, yet they are still widely seen in the average person’s closet. It’s almost as though to be fashionable one must ignore the horrifying conditions that these companies offer their makers.

At the same time, it seems as though creation & environmental consciousness are opposites. Building, making, creating all result in waste, & require a great amount of energy dependence. In my life, there is an eternal push to discover ways to enjoy fashion & creation without having a negative effect on our surroundings.

So, imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon Boho Magazine, Issue number 7, on the shelves at Longfellow Books right here in Portland. It was too good to be true! An eco-friendly fashion magazine with a focus on “a new American spirit”! Then, as if this deal could get any better, the theme of the issue was all things Parisian! Well, if you know me then you know how truly excited I was.

Issue number 8 didn’t supply any disappointment for me either. In fact, I was even more tickled to find that they did an article on my very own sustainable city, Portland, Maine! And it featured three of my favourite boutiques in town! It was grand to see the familiar storefronts that I frequent, & faces that I know. They even introduced me to a brand new creator that I had never heard of, but I surely pass by at least weekly, Madgirl!

One of the things I appreciate most about the magazine is their “Shades of Green” rating system which tells readers exactly how green each company is! It’s just so refreshing to realize that I am not the only person who finds interest in these activities, & furthermore, to find encouragement in their combination. Here, I am provided with so many resources I otherwise wouldn’t have found that support & promote my ideal way of living.

Now go have a look for yourself!

Photo from rachellovespeace.blogspot.com

On a sidenote: The ridiculous video that I linked for “Portland, Maine” was one that I randomly found on youtube. I had no idea when I began watching it that our friend Josh was in it…he’s the man with the foliage in his backpack and has since moved to Hawaii to WWOOF. Perhaps this was the only solution to the pain he felt for losing such a truly amazing race.