For those who don’t know, Livia Firth is an eco-fashion warrior champion badass who happens to be married to Mr. Darcy Colin Firth.

She first caught our eye when she announced her Green Carpet Challenge where she proclaimed that all her red carpet dresses for the year would be sustainable – and she did it! (Beautifully, no less.) When I heard that she was planning on debuting a line of sustainable dresses, I was more than impressed. I’m definitely please to see that her Green Carpet Challenge was a success! (I definitely get excited when I see a sustainable designer’s dress on the red carpet.)

She’s working with one of our favorite websites, Yooxygen, and Reclaim To Wear - an system that aids designers in using reclaimed fabrics, saved from the trash! Recently, she debuted a dress from her line, inspired by a vintage dress from her grandmother.

Gorgeous silver! Not into it? Well, it comes in five colors. Five. 

In case you’re still not impressed, her line is also charitable.

I love this dress in the dark brown!

Yep! – it benefits an organization in Livia’s native country, Italy, called Cooperativa Rinascere. All of this heartwarming stuff is making me start to wonder if Livia is trying to compensate for something. Maybe she’s an ex-assassin who is trying to seriously realign her karma. Maybe. She’s probably just a really nice person. And, yeah… probably not an assassin. (Damn.)

Here line definitely falls into the “eco-friendly luxury fashion” category, as the price is $832. Ouch. But, hey… It’s good fodder for my daily afternoon fantasy, aka the only place where I could actually afford this dress (and trust me – if I could, it would be on me right now).

What do you think of the dress? How would you style it?

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As we round the bend into 2012, the US election buzz is officially underway and I am nonplussed.  It’s no secret that Lindsay and I are liberals – I mean, obviously, since we want to save the earth and let gay people have rights and stuff – so it should also be no secret that even contemplating the potential Republican nominees for the 2012 election makes me want to stab something. I mean, Rick Santorum? Really?

So we’re not going to talk about it.

Instead, we’re going to talk about how cool it is that lots of glamorous beauty brands give back to their local community and the world with charitable donations and products.

All of MAC’s Viva Glam products support the MAC AIDS Fund, including a brand new lip color and lipglass from Gaga herself (which, hi, I love).

My mom and sister both want a clarisonic so badly right now.  I’m still a little suspicious of it.  We’ve been washing our own faces forever.  Why do we need a machine?

My sister is graduating with a degree in wildlife conservation this year, actually, and one of our often-discussed dreams is to travel to Africa together to study and help rehabilitate wild cats that have been rescued from circuses, zoos and other captive facilities.  Chantecaille, a family-owned cosmetics company based in New York, creates beautiful makeup palettes each year that not only help raise awareness about endangered species, but also donate to causes that support those species.

PeaceKeeper has been donated portions of its proceeds since its inception, and has given over $55,000 in cash, along with $30,000 in product, to women-focused non-profits. The list is long and impressive, and the products themselves are high quality (and eco-friendly!).

If you have a favorite charity-supporting brand, please let me know so I can feature them!

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There’s one man I’m certain can lay to rest those rumors about Lady Gaga’s genitals, and that’s Tony Bennett.

After Bennett and Gaga finished recording their duet for ‘The Lady Is a Tramp’ (which is amazing, so if you haven’t heard it you’d better click play on the video below), Bennett asked Gaga to get naked.

Then he grabbed some charcoal, sketched her, and the two conspired to sell the final piece on Ebay for charity.

The proceeds from the sale will be split between two charity’s: Lady Gaga’s Born This Way foundation and Bennett’s Exploring the Arts. According to ecorazzi, Gaga said the following about her body-baring encounter with Bennett:

“I walked in and said, ‘Well Tony here we are,’ and I dropped my robe and I got into position. I felt shy and thought, ‘It’s Tony Bennett, why am I naked?’”

You can bid on the sketch, which is currently priced at $9,100 (and the reserve isn’t yet met) right here, and if you haven’t already seen it, watch ‘The Lady is a Tramp’ below.

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…life would be pretty sweet.

EDUN Oversize Fairisle Cardigan

If Edun is one thing, it is Africa. The company was founded to encourage and develop trade with Africa; their mission is to continue to encourage trade with Africa; its founders (Ali Hewson and Bono) have a serious love affair with Africa. The company’s overreaching hope is to get other fashion brands to trade with Africa, to build Africa up as a thriving, self-sustained continent.

I love their clothes.

EDUN Handkerchief Hem Silk Dress and Silk Asymmetrical Hem Dress

In fact, a dress by Edun was one of the first things on my sustainable wish list. It was soft, and pale, and flowing. It was sort of sheer and had a striped slip beneath that faintly showed through when one moved in the sunlight. I never bought that dress – even after it went on sale for under $100 – and I regret it to this day.

EDUN Zipped Sweater Skirt and Twisted Waist Mini Skirt

In 2008 Edun developed The Conservation Cotton Initiative Uganda (CCIU). Along with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Invisible Children, “CCIU provides funding, training and enterprise support to cotton farmers to help build sustainable businesses in Northern Uganda, one of the poorest areas of Uganda which is recovering from 25 years of civil war.” The program supports four thousand farmers and strives to reach eight thousand in the next two years. You can support this project directly by purchasing anything from the Kenya Kids Tees or Edun Basics collections.

EDUN Crewneck Sweater

Speaking of which, the other name for the Kenya Kids Tees is the Bidii T-shirt Project.

“Edun worked with primary school students from the Bidii School in Kiberia, Kenya to draw their world. Their pictures are then brought to life through graphic tees. All profits from these tee-shirts go back to the school and help to provide continued supplies and support. Kibera is home to one of the largest slums in Africa with 1.5 million people.”

EDUN Ruffled Suede Jacket and Lace Print Dress

Guess how much this dress is? $88. I think I’m having a similar conundrum to the one I mentioned above…

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They’re not real stones, but they look like it, don’t they?  These earrings were donated by Etsy artist Biberklau to Europe for Charity:

“This shop serves as a platform for our European Street Team on Etsy to collect money for relief whenever a humanitarian crisis emerges and to support causes like child care & education.”

You specify which cause you want to support in the “message to buyer” section upon checkout; otherwise the proceeds from your purchase will be split between Architecture for Humanity (for their rebuilding work in Pakistan and Haiti) and the BlinkNow Foundation, which supports the Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School.

To see more of our 2011 Etsy Gifts of the Day, click here!

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After cutting my Etsy and Wishpot lists down to their bare bones (“out of stock…out of stock…when did I add that to my favorites?”), I went on a mammoth wish-list hunt this weekend. I visited ModCloth, which I don’t often peruse because there’s just so much stuff, and was pleasantly surprised to find two independent brands that Lindsay and I have shared with you before.

Mata Traders

Mata Traders made it onto Awakened Aesthetic’s E-List after Lindsay wrote about them in December 2010, and since that time the brand has continued to offer beautiful, feminine clothing that is handmade in India.  Their partnership with ModCloth means that, even if consumers don’t know it, they’re supporting fair trade, worldwide equality and ethical business practices. (Not pictured: an A-line Ikat skirt that I must own this fall.)

Out of Print

Though we first wrote about Out of Print on Broke & Beautiful, it’s definitely an ethical venture. The company not only prints iconic book art on t-shirts (Twilight* is cool, but Slaughterhouse-Five is cooler), it also donates one book to a community in need through its partner, Books For Africa. (Not pictured: the colorful, perfect-for-a-t-shirt The Great Gatsby tee.)

Being able to find two high-quality ethical brands in an aesthetically-interesting online store like ModCloth is really exciting because it means these brands are breaking boundaries between ethical fashion and “regular” fashion. When more ethical designers are able to compete against standard designers, it allows consumers the ability to easily make a choice: do I buy the pretty dress, or do I buy the pretty dress made using organic fabrics and fair trade practices?

Which ethical brand do you wish more stores carried?

*Not really.

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Let’s drum up a couple of statistics to start your Tuesday, shall we?

• The cosmetic industry, dominated largely by women, generates $170 billion annually.
• Of the over two million human beings trafficked each year, 80% are women and girls.

Nicole Marett figured out how to put those two numbers together and make something amazing.

After her dream of becoming a beauty editor in New York City wasn’t all she’d hoped it would be, Nicole moved overseas, where she began to hear rumblings about human trafficking. She got connected with an anti-trafficking organization in Thailand, where she became immersed in working to help the women caught in the crossfire.

After she moved back to the US, Nicole created Radiant Cosmetics, a makeup brand that donates a percentage of each purchase to fight human trafficking. Radiant Cosmetics is currently partnered with Free the Captives, an organization based out of Houston, Texas. They donate 20% of each sale to Free the Captives, and as Radiant Cosmetics grows, will get more involved by helping with events and raising awareness.

And, since Nicole’s previous dream was to become an NYC beauty editor, the makeup isn’t just charitable – it’s gorgeous.

See that sparkle? That’s my favorite Radiant Cosmetics product, hands down. Along with the products below, Radiant Cosmetics sent me their Ultimate Eyeliner Pencil in Mythology, and damn, it’s perfect: glides on smooth, has a warm color and just a touch of shimmer, and it doesn’t eek down into the creases of my eyes like so many other liners. If you want to play it safe, the Ultimate Eyeliner Pencil also comes in Gravity – aka black.)

Lastly, do you see that pretty pink pout? It’s Radiant Cosmetics’ Lipslicks in Autumn. I have just a touch on in these pictures, which adds a nice, soft hint of color (and lots of shine) without being too fussy.

Along with the above products, Radiant Cosmetics has a full line of foundations, powders, shadows and brushes – as well as pretty much any other makeup product you could think of buying. Not all of their products are paraben-free…yet. As the company grows, their ability to use the most ethical products available will also grow.

Radiant Cosmetics is super new – like, launched July 25 new – and deserves all your lovin’. You can purchase their products at RadiantCosmetics.com.

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This week, Awakened Aesthetic is being featured as a Tastemaker on our favorite ethical sample sale website, LovingEco!

Like most private sale sites, LovingEco offers deep discounts on beautiful fashion and beauty products…but they’re revolutionizing the realm of limited-time fashion discounts in two ways:

1. Everything item on sale is ethical. From clothing to accessories to beauty products, LovingEco is ethically on-point. Their products are eco-friendly and healthy, and they even offer a full-page Product Key to explain the merits of each green product.
2. Proceeds are donated to an eco-related charity. Three percent (net) from each purchase supports a vetted charity – either social or environmental in nature – including national eco-awareness charities like Global Green and worldwide community organizations like Village Empowerment.

Lindsay and I were asked to work directly with LovingEco to choose our favorite items from this week’s sales, as well as a charity to support with our choices. Here are our favorites:

Charity: Farm Sanctuary

Farm Sanctuary “works to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.” As Lindsay and I learn more about ethical eating, we’re excited to have the opportunity to support an organization that works to promote those values.

ecoSkin

LovingEco doesn’t know this, but they have great timing: we both love ecoSkin, and it was hard to choose two favorite styles from them as our Tastemaker choices. We decided on the Magpie Top and Lyrebird Dress, which are both fair trade, organic options for your staple wardrobe this fall.

Essence of Vali

Lindsay and I keep making promises to our bodies: she’s promising to start running, I’ve promised to start getting eight hours of sleep each night…yeah. No. Not happening. When we saw the offerings by Essence of Vali, she was immediately drawn to a balm that would sooth her sore muscles, and I went for a soothing mist to help me get away from the computer and into bed.

farrah b jewelry

Look at these cute necklaces! farrah b jewelry takes vintage finds and combines them with new products to create beautiful, old-timey pieces with an interesting kick. The poet in me loves the Wish Necklace, and Lindsay gravitated straight to the Cherished Vintage Locket Necklace.

Check out our Tastemaker picks on LovingEco, as well as all of the other gorgeous options available this week. What are your personal picks?

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I think it’s ridiculous when girls in movies spend a full-day date – a fifteen-minute montage scene, with lunch, a walk through the park, a trip to the candy store, a late-night drink, the walk back to their apartment where they awkwardly confess that they have a boyfriend, but he’s in Europe finding himself, and the guy asks how anyone could go to Europe without her blah blah blah – in four-inch stilettos. Seriously?

Said movie girl, however, was carrying a super cute tote bag. I would have assumed the tote bag carried her flats, which she would change into when she left the office, but it seems between the lunch, the candy store and the awkward apartment antics, she must not have had time.

Unlike movie girls, I carry tote bags for the purpose of comfortable shoes. Bussing downtown, walking to the office, sitting and standing and walking in the office, then walking back to the bus, and from the bus to my door in heels? No thank you. No. Thank you.

So, flats. And a tote bag.

The eco version.

Enjoy.

Bonus Not-Summer Flat Shoes/Not-a-Tote Bag:

Yes, sometimes I need to be a little ridiculous. Moss green; burnt orange. They scream, “I’M GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. SO WHAT. YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?”

Or maybe they scream eco-friendly rich girl hiking trip.

…and now I’m imaging some rich movie girl trying to hike in four-inch stilettos.

It’s always refreshing to see fashion designers promote charitable projects. With the sustainable movement still going strong, giving back is not only in vogue, but almost required in order to gain attention from the eco-loving media.

For Fall 2011, the biggest names in fashion have come together to support not just one charitable project, but a host of them, through a new venture called Runway to Green.

Selections from the Runway to Green collection are featured on Net-A-Porter.com. Trying to name every featured designers would be exhausting, but here’s a list of some of them:

Prada, Gucci, Balenciaga, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik, Oscar de la Renta, Stella McCartney, Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, Tory Burch, Derek Lam, Notte by Marchesa, Marni, Michael Kors, Rachel Roy, Rag & Bone, Thakoon, Osklen, Pringle of Scotland, Aurora Lopez-Mejia, Tabitha Simmons, Kara Ross, Sergio Rossi, Timex 80, Tommy Hilfiger

Intense, right? Here’s how each designer-priced purchase makes a difference:

• Each designer has promised to investigate sustainable manufacturing practices as put into place by put forward by the NRDC’s Clean by Design initiative. (Designer awareness is always a good thing.)
• A portion of each sale of a Runway to Green design (at least 10%) will go to one of the following charities: Alliance for Climate Protection, the Natural Resources Defense Council and/or the United Nations Environment Programme’s Billion Tree Campaign.
• Proceeds from the Bid to Save the Earth event, which launched the collection on March 29, 2011, were donated to Conservation International, Oceana and Central Park Conservancy.

Click here to read more about the Runway to Green launch, and keep reading to see some of my favorite designs, now available for purchase (if you have designer dollars, that is).

RtG Rachel Roy Embellished Trench Dress and RtG Kara Ross 14K Gold-Plated Necklace

(…seriously, these designs are not in our usual price range. What they ARE in range of, though, is gorgeousness. The dolman sleeves and printed skirt are killing me.)

RtG Jason Wu Tulle Maxi Skirt and RtG Marni Bib Necklace

 
RtG Notte by Marchesa Ruffled Silk Dress and RtG YSL Cropped Jacquard Pants

 
RtG Jason Wu Embellished Silk-Chiffon Blouse and RtG YSL Metallic Cotton-Blend Pants

RtG YSL Silk-Satin and Twill Tuxedo Jacket and RtG YSL Silk-Chiffon Blouse

What do you think of this designer compilation?

Do we need projects like Runway to Green to continue to create awareness in the high fashion community?