At one point or another we have all asked or been asked the question, “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” Typically this question directed towards a toddler or young child. The toddler’s response of “an astronaut” or “a movie star” is always seemingly outlandish to us wise adults. But maybe these kids are smarter than we think. Maybe they have the right idea about dreaming big and shooting for the stars. Jim Collins, a successful businessman and renowned author, teaches about the power of setting Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). He says, the way you know whether or not you are truly setting BHAGs in your life is if you’re achieving only 50% of those goals. If you are achieving more than that, well then you are not dreaming big enough. If you shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land among the stars.
Ethical Fashion Blog
Marisa Noelle, creator of The Shades of Monet Chronicles blog and Mata enthusiast, did an exceptional job remixing our Summerfest dress in four stylish ways. We couldn’t wait to share her creativity!
Fall is my FAVORITE season because it is the time of year you can get especially creative with your outfits. It’s the season of warm sweaters and lots of layering. Someone once told me that in order for an outfit to qualify as an outfit, you need to be wearing at least three pieces. Let this fall be the season of outfitting! Don’t be afraid to add layers of scarves, vests, blazers, leather bombers, necklaces, tights…you get the picture. I’ve created four looks to inspire you as you assemble your fall wardrobe, and with the help of my friend, Boyeon, I’m going to show you how to layer up and get out the door this season!
Don’t know about the rest of the country, but here in Chicago it’s getting chilly. Time to start breaking out the fall layers – tights, jackets, and hats! Marisa, from Shades of Monet, has seriously savvy style, and she’s got the Summerfest dress ready to make the summer-to-fall transition.
Comfortable. Stylish. Versatile. Well-made.
These are the words of Adin from Chetopian Family, describing our Summerfest dress in the houses print as she styles it SIX ways. In addition to her being a fan of the dress, I also want to introduce her as a supporter of fair trade!
Meet Sara, the sweet fashionista over at the blog, Swing the Day Away. When we say sweet, we mean it! Hands down, Sara’s got sweet style, and not only that, she loves to bake, sharing her recipes on the blog, as well.
Hey, we need your help! We’re getting ready to place orders with our co-ops for the Spring ’15 collection, which means deciding which styles move forward into production. We’ve worked hard for over a year now to develop the collection and we’ve got a lot of great prints and cuts. But we need objective opinions to help weed out the duds and identify the standouts. No lengthy discussions here; the new collection will be hung around the room, and participants will rate each style.
What do Mata Traders and West Elm have in common? Our good friend and fair trade advocate Jenny Gootman! We met Jenny through her previous position as the Executive Director for Global Goods Partners; she has been a part of the fair trade community for quite a while now. Nowadays, Jenny works as the Director of Social Consciousness and Innovation at West Elm. We think she’s a rockstar, so we interviewed her about her current position and her thoughts on fair trade.
Meet Leah! She took a fashionable stroll in our Isle of Skye maxi in navy & pink, styling the dress three different ways! Leah’s also wearing our Quill earrings, which are super fun to wear with a casual outfit or even for a night out.
When planning our nuptials, we knew we wanted something small and personal. And since we decided to have the wedding at my in-laws’ Montana home, the small part was taken care of – the guest list could only get to 60 in order for everyone to fit on the patio and eat dinner (that’s 30 a piece for each of our families – yikes!). I also wanted to incorporate as many fair trade elements as I could, starting with the dress.
As any fair trader knows, running a business like this is hard work! There are Skype calls, sketching, stacking, packing, the list goes on and on. At times you get so caught up in the day to day that you lose sight of the big picture, and with all of this moving and planning going on, things got a little hectic. We realized we’d been our new office for two months and there was no evidence of what we stand for in the space itself. Yes, our products are here, and yes, we’ve got some photos up, but what about the umbrella of our mission as a whole? What does fair trade mean, and how can we be reminded of it daily?
Hi everyone! Today we’ve got Lindsay from Lee La La styling our Printed Peplum skirt for a summer outing. This skirt is a great way to fancy up a simple black tee, as you can see. In fact, with such a bright, bold print, pairing it with more basic or subdued pieces is a good way to go. Lindsay looks super polished with nude pumps and a leather tote, but at the same time, the skirt is saying, “Girls just want to have fun!”