T.U.K. Footwear has recently become PETA approved and has also launched a collection using a new tech synthetic leather and suede including TUKskin.  TUKskin is a high quality synthetic leather that is breathable and can be polished like leather but is 100% cruelty free.

The super cool folks over at T.U.K. Footwear offered to let me test out a pair from their new TUKskin line and I was happy to oblige.  Being a lover of all things cat and cat related, I thought I would try out the Kitty Mary Jane.

So first off, how cute are these shoes?  Adorbs…right!?  When I have them on I can’t stop looking down at that cute kitty face and smiling.  I’ve noticed that these shoes make other people smile as well.  In addition to being super cute, they are also really well made.  From the topstitching details to the sturdy silver buckle and 1 1/2 inch lug heel, these are some quality shoes that were made to last.

I decided to test these bad boys out while running around the city doing errands.  I am happy to say that they were really comfortable the entire time.  My feet always seem to sweat in certain shoes and boots that I wear even during the cooler months.  Not with my TUKskin Kitty Mary Janes!   These shoes hold up to T.U.K. Footwear’s claim that TUKskin is breathable as my feet stayed dry and comfortable all day.

Cats not your thing?  Not to worry, there are other cool styles in the TUKskin line for you to choose from.  Word on the street is that T.U.K. Footwear is going to be broadening their vegan offerings with a new ladies only collection to launch in SS18.  So soon there will be even more styles to choose from!

So how about you listen to your inner rock n roller/fashionista and check out the new TUKskin line from T.U.K. Footwear?  Cruelty-free never looked cooler!

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According to the people at FABRIKK,

LED fibre-optic textiles are a brand new development; one of the amazing new materials that helped to inspire the birth of Fabrikk. Light travels through the light-emitting fiber optic threads woven into the material creating an amazing light-up effect. These threads automatically switch on when the bag is open, illuminating it with a subtle glow to help you find your things in the dark.

Super cool, right?  The light is powered by three AAA batteries in the bags discreet battery pack which will keep it powered for up to six months.  If you want to add some variety into your accessory game, you can even change the color of the light with one of the attachments available on Fabrikk’s site.

So now let’s get to the good stuff, the Vela bag!

This bag has a great, structured, classic design that will never go out of style.   With a zipped front outside pocket that is covered by a flap with a turn lock closure, you can feel confident that your belongings are safe and secure.  The Vela also has an illuminated zipped internal pocket with two credit card slips and comes with two detachable straps so you can wear it as a shoulder bag or as a cross body.   Now let’s check out the cool colors that this tech-savvy bag comes in.

 

 

 

So what are you waiting for?  Take the leap and come on out of the dark with the Vela bag from FABRIKK.  100 percent vegan, good looking and technologically ahead of its time.

All Images Source and Credit: FABRIKK

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Lucky for you, today is your best day to feel more stylish, inwardly and outwardly, while committing to kinder, more ethically focused fashion choices.

With this in mind, I’m offering 5 fashion shopping resolution ideas; take your pick as which inspires and fits you best!

1. Stop the shop – Join me as I venture into 2017 committed not to buy any new clothing in this year. You can set your own perimeters, for instance like: does that include underwear, footwear and accessories? Be realistic but remember to challenge yourself and push your limits!
2. Swap the shop – Exude style and individualism by giving fast-fashion stores a miss in preference to swapping items and buying gorgeous pieces found at thrift, charity and vintage stores.

Michelle, a 43-year old, and recent newcomer to watching The True Cost documentary, said, “I’m now committed to buying previously-loved pieces. These fun, unique finds are sure to connect me to my creativity and compassion for others.”

3. Localise the shop – In South Africa we have a saying that goes, “Local is Lekker” (Lekker is the Afrikaans word, meaning ‘cool’ or ‘nice’). Pledge your allegiance to locally produced fashion by supporting only your local fashion industry in 2017. Easily done by purchasing from designers, tailors, independent retailers, and markets that can vouch for their commitment to fair labour and environmental practices!
4. Click the shop – Online shopping can be addictive when done thoughtlessly, yet purchasing from sustainable brands can really refocus your sense of style, ethical standing and selection discernment. Look out for sustainably focused online retailers who offer luxurious ethically produced pieces in animal-free fibers, with focus on fabrics like organic cotton, linen, tencel and upcycled materials.
5. Sell at the shop – I can really recommend this money generating resolution! The reason I’m able to commitment of ‘Stop the Shop’ this year, is by having sold my unwanted, ill-fitting, out-of-date, impulse-buys and never-worn, items via second hand stores. By witling down my wardrobe, and making money to boot, I’ve honed my wardrobe pieces to those I know can confidentially take me through 2017, stylishly.

So, which stylish resolution will make your action list?

If these 5 ideas all sound too daunting a start, remember becoming a more discerning shopper is a journey, not a destination. Because of this mantra, it’s important to begin, whether that’s in baby steps, like doing it for a month, or setting your own parameters.

Either way today presents a lovely opportunity to examine our ethics and revise our shopping habits to better suit our ideals for living.

Remember, whichever commitment you choose, and for whatever time period you select, you’re sure to save money and time. Yet the biggest benefit will indeed leave you feeling liberated, and empowered in knowing that you’re supporting a more sustainable fashion industry!

I’d love to hear your related thoughts, 2017 resolution ideas and comments.

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Believe it or not, self love is even evident in one’s wardrobe. Once we have mastered self care, kindness and respect around what and how we wear our clothing, this powerful love can permeate throughout all our fashion choices.

Consider these tips to assist in slowing down our shopping frequency, discover ways to muster up individual style authenticity, and make our fashion choices kinder all round:

1. Clothing Cleanse: unpack and try on every item you own. Decide what presently serves you well, gives you a sense of joy, then generously donate the rest.
2. Recovery: repair and remodel items that are worth keeping.
3. Keep it clean: free-up high wardrobe realty space by packing away out-of-season pieces.
4. Visual appeal: repack and organise your wardrobe to make your daily selection appealing and easily seen.
5. Avoid temptations: spend less time in shops, online, and spilling over fashion brochures and magazines.
6. Commit: to the ‘one in, one out’ item of clothing and accessories policy. This will make you reassess if you’re willing to give up an item for your next possible purchase.
7. Help at hand: employ a vegan personal stylist to empower you with the know-how, tips and resources you need for lasting style impact.
8. Create: have fun in your wardrobe ‘store’, by displaying your accessories, and playing with never-tested mix-and-match alternatives.
9. Declare your commitment: to cruelty-free choices with supportive friends; those who will help you resist any temptations in weaker moments.
10. Show support: if you are spending, invest in buying from intentionally vegan suppliers, companies with 100% transparency policies, thrift, consignment and vintage stores.

The post 10 tips to get you into kind fashion appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Thanks to Anne Hurley, founder of James&Co., I’ve found my new “out and about” staple!

Based in Australia, the James&Co. line of vegan leather jackets come in an array of styles and various colors for an authentically personal choice.

Not sure how to choose? Here is a guide:

1. Do you tend to dress in neutral colors? Choose a jacket with a pop of color, to make a personal statement.
2. Does your style usually include various colors? Pull your outfit together with a neutral color.
3. Know your body type.

The tight moto style can show off your figure.

The “boyfriend” moto is a bit more forgiving in the middle.

The blazer can really compliment an hourglass figure.

The trench is a great choice if you like more coverage and the option to cinch your waist with a belt.

But those aren’t the only options. Choose a style with a hood or without a collar; add a fabric or detachable faux shearling lining.

The best thing is, that you can either choose one of their stock designs, or, you can create your own combination of cut, color and lining. Very cool!

Anne is also dedicated to running not only a cruelty free, but socially responsible company. They are a listed member of The Ethical Fashion Source, as well as being PETA approved.

My favorite thing about James&Co? They come in sizes xs – 4x. Because you are beautiful and fabulous exactly the way you are and your ethical choices should reflect just that!

Extra special bonus: For the month of September, they are running an animal advocacy campaign called “Don’t Eat Them, Don’t Wear Them”. With your purchase, they will send you a copy of the “Forks Over Knives” cruelty free cookbook!

Find your jacket at www.jamesandco.boutique

The post Can’t Find a Fall Jacket You Like? It’s Easy with James&Co. appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Retailers know just how to lure consumers into these absurd circles of micro trends. This incessant push for consumerism is a well-masterminded strategy to simply deliver profits for shareholders, but without revealing the exploitation and devastating effects this $3 trillion garment and textile industry has on our planet’s resources and on the people who produce the clothing.

By fueling customers’ endless desire for more, packaged in highly aspirant lifestyles and unrealistic ideals of beauty, fast fashion retailers just might have your teen drawn in hook, line and sinker!

With such aggressive tactics employed, it’s not surprising the peer pressure to dress in branded clothing and wear a season’s hottest looks is enormous among impressionable teens and young adults.  So how can we help tame their taste for fast fashion, while bringing their awareness of choice toward more self-discernment?

Telling our teens to want less, or not allowing their peer shopping trips would be counter-productive. Rather these 7 tools can assist facilitate change, thereby giving them the freedom to find their personal fashion footing.

7 tips to taming teens’ taste for fast fashion

1. Keep it clean:  Once your teen has implemented the 7 steps to a clean teen closet, then they can be encouraged to take responsibility to maintain a well organised closet by keeping pieces; hung, neatly folded, clean, any repair jobs done.

2. Take care in magazines choices: The majority of mainstream fashion titles are open invitations to feed your teen’s feelings of dissatisfaction, incompleteness and body-inferiority issues. A home free of fashion magazines can help liberate your teen!

3. Build self and body confidence through movement: The need for constant clothes shopping can often be masking self-confidence issues around physical inferiority complexes. So activate self-body love through fitness training, dance or sports.

4. Is shopping time really quality time?: Let’s rethink quality parent/teen time if retail therapy is your ‘together time’. Simply enjoying one another in a quieter, more relaxed and natural environment could be time better spent.

5. Delay instant gratification: When your teen does find something they want to purchase, allow some cool-off time. Emotionally charged purchases often make for poor choices. Most stores will put an item aside for 24 hours.

6. One in, one out policy: If your teen’s closet has the right basics, then a new purchase should replace an existing closet item. This not only makes the purchase a more conscious act, but also encourages a charitable ethos.

7. Be the change you want to see: The double standards of “Do as I say, not as I do” always feels like betrayal. Are you ready to step up to the plate by being a fashion conscious role model?

“As a vegan personal stylist, and mother of teens, I certainly see the value of not only practicing more discernment and self-awareness around my own fashion choices, but also sharing this empowering self-realisation with my daughters,” says Lyn Cowie. Look out for the third article in this teen-fashion series in the coming month.

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I can attribute my obsession with handbags to my mother. She was from a generation that believed that you had to have a bag to match every pair of shoes to make the perfectly assembled outfit.  Needless to say, she had quite the collection of handbags.

Now my style is not nearly as formulaic as my mother’s, but I did inherit her love of handbags of all shapes, styles and colors. I am constantly on the lookout for bags that are durable, functional, stylish, and of course vegan. So when LANY asked me to do a review of their vegan handbags for Chic Vegan, you know this girl jumped at the chance.

Located in Los Angeles, founders Robert and Jane’s vision behind LANY is to “…create fashion-driven, affordable yet uncompromising quality handbags.” Well let me tell you people, they’ve done it and done it well.

So let me introduce you to LANY handbags so you can see for yourself!

Appropriately named, Love at First Sight is a great bag full of sass. But don’t let that sparkly exterior fool you, this
bag is not just another pretty face.  Full of functionality, Love at First Site has lots of useful compartments and pockets, so you can keep everything nicely organized.  The chain link straps add to the chic sophistication of this compact shoulder bag.  Available in green, navy, pewter, purple and black (shown), you can have a bag to go with every outfit!

The Buckle Me Up cross body bag is all class. This ladylike bag has a timeless style that goes well with any outfit, day or night.  With a convenient long strap, this bag can be worn as a cross body or on your wrist with the top handle if you prefer.  The top flap has a magnetic buckle closure that opens up to reveal an interior lined with several convenient compartments and pockets.  Available in beige, black or brown (shown) Buckle Me Up bag is a staple that should live in everyone’s closet.

We all have tons of things that we lug around on a daily basis, so why not do it in style with the Studded Feet Barrel bag. With its bottom covered in heavy metal studs, this oversized barrel bag has a cool rock n roll vibe.  Because I mean, who couldn’t use a li
ttle rock n roll in their life, right?  This bag is available in a rainbow of colors with my personal favorite being the turquois featured below.

LANY has a wide assortment of styles to choose from and no matter which bag you choose, you can be guaranteed that you will get a beautifully made, high-quality handbag that makes a statement. The only question left is, what statement do you want to make?

Images source and credit for all images: LANY Handbags

The post Fashion + Function + Compassion = LANY Handbags appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Fast forward to when I became vegan and I realized not only was fur wrong, but that leather was as well.  So I set out to revamp my wardrobe and replace all of my leather bags and shoes with vegan leather options.  I didn’t have any fur pieces to replace, however, because I felt at the time that even faux fur was wrong because it seemed so garish…so over the top.  I guess I thought that somehow faux fur was a blatant representation of a dead animal.  You know, because leather isn’t (insert eye roll here).  Sometimes I look back and I wonder, “what the heck was I thinking?”   Needless to say,  I’ve gotten over the idea that faux fur is bad and faux leather is good and realize that if something is made from cruelty free products, it really doesn’t matter.  There is lots of faux fur out on the market, but few are as fashion forward as Unreal Fur. This company has style for days my friend.

Unreal Fur was created out of “…a love for animals and a passion for fashion.” Sounds like my kind of company!  Based in Australia, you can get these fabulous faux furs in over 20 countries, 100 cities and 450 stores.  Unreal Fur offers a wider variety of clothing, accessories and even pillows all made from faux fur and/or leather. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Check out the oh-so-chic Hybrid-Hoodie Jacket.  This jacket is made from knitted faux-rabbit with contrasting ribbed-knit sleeves and body.  I love the body hugging fit, cozy hood and sleeves with thumb holes.  I mean, who doesn’t like thumb holes?

I’m also in love with the Wanderlust Coat in grey ombre.  I could see this dressed up with a great little black dress or thrown over a pair of jeans for a girls night out.  This coat is available in several colors and also in a shorter jacket style.

Need some drama in your life?  Unreal Fur has got you covered.  The offer a cape and a poncho.  Can you say impact piece?   The Fire and Ice Cape in black and ivory is a real show stopper in my book.

If you’re not feeling like having that much drama in your life, that’s ok because Unreal Fur has several adorable  vests that you can choose from.  Throw on Fur Play vest in black to instantly pump up your outfit!

Unreal Fur has a wide assortment of scarves in different lengths and colors.  The stand out for me is the Furocious Thread Through Scarf  in dove and white.

Looking to add a bit of style to your home?  Unreal Fur also sells homewares; pillows and blankets.  I love the detail of the Raven Cushion.

So I hope that you take the time to check out the fabulous faux fur finds (say that five times fast) at Unreal Fur and see how chic kindness can be.

Images source and credit for all images: Unreal Fur

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If you haven’t heard of NICORA shoes, pull up a chair. You are going to want to read this.

Stephanie Nicora is the designer and founder of NICORA, a Los Angeles based footwear company that creates quality, sustainable vegan shoes.

What sets NICORA apart from other shoe makers is not just that they create fashionable vegan shoes, but it’s their commitment to keeping and creating jobs for U.S. workers by using only domestically sourced materials and having their manufacturing operations based in Los Angeles. Every single part of NICORA shoes are produced on U.S. soil. It is refreshing to see a business where integrity is at the forefront of its mission.

Now let’s get down to business…the shoes!

Sallys

This little flat has style for days. Sallys can be worn with or without laces and are made from a recycled microfiber blend which makes them water resistant! Available in four colors, with the extra sparkly “Solid Gold” being a real show stopper.

Willow

From the hand cut wood heals to the perforated detailed upper, the Willow ankle boot has some serious pizzazz. Also made form a recycled microfiber blend, the Willow is available in black and bone.

Wynonna

With a fabulous pointy toe, nice chunky heel and killer antique brass studs, the Wynonna stands out from the crowd. These bad boys are currently on sale for pre-order with a ship date of March 2016.

Sinclair

Fittingly named after labor-rights activist, Upton Sinclair, the Sinclair boot is the combat boot with class. Available in both men’s and women’s sizes made from recycled microfiber blend, canvas or waxed canvas, this boot has kick-ass good looks.

Watson

The Watson moto boot is all business. Made to withstand wear and tear while on your motorcycle, there are two versions of this boot, a standard version and a more heavy duty version which has a thicker sole and a steel toe.

One of the best ways in which we can help grow veganism is to support vegan businesses, and what better way to do that then to shop for shoes! Word on the street is that there are plans in the works for NICORA to open a brick and mortar location in Los Angeles. Road trip anyone? Until then, check out NICORA’s online store at www.nicorashoes.com and show the world how fashionable vegan can be!

The post Made in the USA. NICORA Shoes. appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Fast-fashion is frivolous, and pretty ferocious too. (I’m not saying style is frivolous, nor is caring deeply about looking great).

I have an issue with retailers who aggressively promote constant new weekly ‘must-haves’. With this unrelenting message of needing more, it subtly encourages us consumers to believe we lack just enough to never feel satisfied!

The industry also does a good job of convincing us they’re always about to give us something better, to help us feel younger, sexier, slimmer.

Yet, don’t be fooled. It’s nothing. Empty promises. They’re simply trying to hook us into more sales, feed the wheel of persistent consumerism. Speaking directly to our egos and our insecurities.

Thankfully though we don’t need to remain slaves to the next fashion forecast. We can build on changing our unsustainable greed, and feel awesome doing it!

That’s exactly what I’m getting stuck into!  So here are my 5 tips to spend less and have more:

1. Move your clothing budget to your fitness programme. Whether you spend on hiring a personal trainer, begin taking fast walks, joining a yoga class or swim lengths at gym, start investing in building your body for strength, health and confidence. I’m finding that the more I respect my body, as it is now, the happier I am in the clothes I have.
2. Find a re-sale clothing store. Recently I delivered 10 items to my local shop for reselling. 10! And guess what, as soon as I realised I was always reluctant to wear them, (they were beautiful pieces, but simply weren’t relevant to my current lifestyle) I didn’t mind parting with them. Out with the old, in with some spare change!
3. Limit your time in stores, malls and magazines. They’re here to entice us, make you feel less than if we don’t yet own what they’re selling. Rather spend that time reading about sustainable fashion, or have some fun in your own wardrobe. Play with your clothes, by trying on new combinations. Wear those unworn pieces, re-organise your accessories, donate spoilt or badly fitting items.
4. Get your pieces back into tip-top shape. And it’s not only your body I’m referring to! My trusty mother took to the pins to re-hem 5 pairs of my pants and a skirt. Nowadays, I find myself in flats far more than heels, so my wardrobe arsenal needs to adjust to my seaside lifestyle. My what-to-wear choice has just grown by 6 items, at no cost!
5. Become slow & deliberate in your selection. Start to build your wardrobe based on your lifestyle, colour palette, personality and, most importantly practice some awareness around ethical choices!  Make time to research good local seamstress or tailoring services, find young designers to support, read composition labels and know what wearing wool, leather, and exotic skins costs your earth and fellow beings.

Here’s to becoming informed and transformed!

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