If you are looking for natural, organic, sustainable, ethical and eco-friendly clothing and accessories check out the websites below. There are others out there but I really narrowed it down to fit the “Kinding” standards:-) The most important component for me is that they are all natural, organic and ethical except for one or two exceptions and I mention which ones they are. A few years ago I had the experience of working for fashion companies like DKNY and Armani. I was also a buyer for a cutting edge womens’ boutique in FL so style and design were up there for me on this list. Who says green shopping isn’t fun?! Enjoy!

Coupon Codes!

This website gives you coupon codes for some of the below websites where you usually get 20% off of most of the green clothing and accessories sites that they promote. It’s a good way to arm yourself before stepping into dangerously fun territory! http://www.greengrechen.com/coupon-codes-eco-friendly-fashion-organic-cotton/

Park Vogel

uses high quality fabrics like organic cotton, wool, silk, tencel and cashmere. http://www.parkvogel.com/shop_collections/main

Covet

incorporates organic and sustainable fibers while remaining true to the details and styling of a contemporary fashion brand. http://www.covetthis.com/

Tinctoria

is one of the only designers on this list who uses both natural dyes and fabrics. The pieces are not the most stylish or modern but the basic designs look flattering and comfortable. http://tinctoriadesigns.com/store/

Beklina

sells high quality sustainable clothing. This is a site where you can find some of the best green designers out there. http://www.beklina.com/index.php?cName=women

Nimli

sells natural, sustainable, and organic clothing and accessories. They also sell green furniture and things for the home. http://www.nimli.com/

Greenloop

supports sustainable textiles, recycling and re-use, renewable energy, reduction of green house gases, organic farming, sweat-shop free production, and environmental non-profit groups every single day through the products they offer. http://www.thegreenloop.com/new_eco_fashion_s/1.htm

Shop Bop

has an Earth friendly section on their website-yay! http://www.shopbop.com/shop-earth-friendly/br/v=1/2534374302060416.htm

Peligrosa’s

styles are sustainable and certified organic. Their dye process is also eco friendly utilizing a low impact dye process. Their sweaters look and sound great especially the cashmere ones! http://yhst-56312605655295.stores.yahoo.net/index.html

Skinny Nelson

First of all I love their cute and simple site. I guess you can describe them as a higher end American Apparel but you can tell that they are so much more. Their styles are ones that you know you would wear everyday because they look so yummy and are still so fashion forward. Btw-all of their items are 100% organic. http://www.skinnynelson.com/Content_Common/pg-Skinny-Nelson.seo

Toggery

Very affordable, simple and flattering to the body. Everything is organic and most of the pieces are made from organic supima cotton. One of my favorite pieces is the “Kristie” tank because it’s simple, comfortable and very flattering to the curves. http://www.luxgreenliving.com/index.php

Nicole Bridger

is a designer from Vancouver who uses socially conscious fabrics and practices. She uses fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo and hemp. Her pieces are stylish and practical. She also sells pieces from her previous collections on her website and the prices are ridiculously cheap (like $6 for an organic cotton cami) so you should check them out! http://www.nicolebridger.com/catalog/

Sofie Olgaard

is the only designer that I included on this list that doesn’t use organic cotton but she mostly uses silk for her collections. Sofie is a new designer from Scandanavia and you can tell that she puts a lot of tlc into her designs. http://www.sofieolgaard.com/index_2.html

Stewart & Brown

This is probably one of the highest quality eco-friendly brands out there not to mention probably one of my favorite designers! Their fabrics include: organic cotton, merino wool, mongolian cashmere, hemp, and linen. I have a few of their shirts and no matter how many times I wash them they still feel silk on my skin. http://www.stewartbrown.com/index.php

Alternative Apparel

is hip, comfortable and cheap AND they have organic cotton items-what more can you ask for? http://www.alternativeapparel.com/

EDUN’s

mission is to create beautiful clothing, while fostering sustainable employment in developing areas of the world. http://www.edunonline.com/result.aspx?sec=2

BTC Elements

An online boutique that sells sustainable clothes and accessories. They also carry designers that use natural and/or low impact dyes for their fabrics. http://btcelements.com/products/?action=set_page&page=1&cid1=1&cid2=357&cid3=358

Laura Dawson

uses organic cotton, soy jersey and silk fabrics for her creative designs. http://www.lauradawson.com/store/

Project Earth Day,

a fashion show staged in the urban fabric of New York City, is dedicated to the promotion of green design and builds a platform for leaders and future leaders in the design industry to bridge their environmentally-conscious ideas and developments together. Project Earth Day advocates values of sustainability, innovation and environmental responsibility. Here’s a list of all the green designers that showcased their designs at project earth: http://www.projectearthday.com/page12/page12.html

Embodies

This online boutique uses organic and sustainable material like bamboo and silk. I’m not crazy about all of their stuff but they do have a number of cute pieces. http://www.embodies.com/SearchResults.asp

B Green Apparel

Certified organic cotton for an active lifestyle and very affordable prices. I like how their pieces come in the natural color especially when it comes to their underwear and loungewear. http://www.bgreenapparel.com/Catalog.aspx

T H E  B A T T A L I O N

mostly uses bamboo jersey as their main fabric. Their styles are cute and their prices are reasonable considering how much detail goes into each piece: http://www.shop.thebattalionclothing.com/main.sc

You can also find more of their pieces at: http://www.revolveclothing.com/brandpages/TheBattalion.jsp?&d=k

Lara Miller

Fashioned from eco-friendly fibers such as organic cotton, hand-loomed bamboo, hemp and vegan silk, Lara’s modular designs are created with a playful geometry that connects to the personalities of the women who wear them. Most garments can be wrapped, reversed, and most distinguishably flipped to reveal an entirely different look. http://laramiller.net/collections.asp

Brook There

uses fabrics like Bamboo and organic cotton for their designs. I bought a dress from them and I love the fabric and color. There are a lot of fine details that go into every piece even though they have a simplistic style to them at the same time. http://brookthere.com/shop/

I Don’t Like Mondays

This online boutique has a few pieces that are cutting edge, natural and reasonably priced. Make sure to check the details on the  fabric though because not everything is natural. http://www.idontlikemondays.us/

Skin and Threads

uses natural and organic fabrics. I heard that their superfine merino wool items are the best but they also have organic cotton items that look great. I tried on one of their merino wool cardigans and the fabric was delicious.  I would recommend to order one size smaller than you normally would because their stuff runs large. What I like about the actual website is that you can browse through the collection pictures and it gives you a chance to click on the “shop this look” icon which takes you to the item(s) that you can order.  This is definitely up there on the Kinding list:-) http://www.skinandthreads.com/home.htm

Anja Collection

only uses certified organic and sustainable fabrics. They are probably the most expensive brand on this list and it doesn’t seem like it’s so easy to find their stuff. Their collections are really innovative and beautiful. http://www.ajnacollection.com/

Kind Boutique

They don’t have the largest selection but they sell organic and sustainable clothing and they also sell vegan shoes and vintage stuff. It’s worth it to also check out their super cute site! http://kindboutique.com/

She-bible

is based out of San Francisco. I own one of their jackets (the one below on the right in the moca color) and it is super soft and comfy-it’s also flattering to the body. Most of their collection is made from organic cotton-very reasonable prices. http://www.she-bible.com/shop/shop_womens1.html

RawGanique

Last but definitely not least! This site ranks highest on the list in terms of how natural and pure their items are. You will probably hear me mentioning this site quite often. That’s because they sell clothes, shoes, home items and the list goes on… it’s worth it to read more about them just for the sake of educating yourselves. This is where I buy my underwear and bras as well as natural t-shirts and loungewear, my yoga mat cover and other home items. http://rawganique.com/

In 2007 the lawmakers of Annapolis, Maryland publicly apologized for treating African Americans in an inhumane way during the time of slavery. There were a myriad of responses from people after hearing about this public governmental apology. Among them were people who felt like this apology didn’t create full closure as there were still racial indiscretions happening all around them especially with crime and education. They felt that in order to come full circle with this apology action needed to be taken. As the saying goes “actions speak much louder than words.” If this apology was enough to create true closure there wouldn’t still be this unsettling feeling among these people. If this is the case then what is the missing piece of the puzzle? Maybe we need to do more than just make a public apology to resolve humanity’s past mistakes. This apology is a mere reflection of what still lies deep in our unconscious regarding this matter. It seems as though there is a certain dosage of grievance that still needs to be released from our individual and collective consciousness to prevent our past from repeating itself. We can only move on to an elevated level of existence if we fully realize the consequences of our past mistakes more than just on a cognitive level. A good number of our society’s institutions were built upon discriminatorily based foundations. Whether we were there or not this history is still a part of what we inherited in our psyches. If we blindly accept our “inheritance” it will lead us to a continuous cyclical unconscious transference of the past. If we solely look at our history through a cognitive lens we will not be given the chance to fully mourn for its injustices.

If we have the tendency to ignore our own physical and/or emotional pain it will inevitably amplify itself to the point where it becomes unavoidable. Choosing to go through the healing process gives us the opportunity to learn how to nurture ourselves in healthier ways. Listening to our pain with compassionate curiosity can lead us to an elevated state of awareness about ourselves. The same concept holds true for our collective consciousness which carries with it an unavoidable painful history that has been recycled time and time again. If we ignore the Karmic cycle created by man’s unconsciousness from the past it will amplify and inevitably repeat itself again in the future.

Our realization in and appreciation for the universe’s web of connectivity will help break this cycle. It can only be broken by surrendering our inferior/superior feelings and by focusing on our commonalities. This is not to be mistaken with the power of discernment that allows us to recognize the world of non-duality in its purest form. Andrew Zimmerman from ‘Bizarre Foods’ explains it best: “what I’m trying to show to the world is the more we can relate to the things we have in common the less we can focus on our differences”.