Your word of the day, dear readers, is mei.  Mei translates from Chinese to “beautiful,” a word that is often replaced with “cute,” “pretty” or “hot,” but is much more classy and should be used more often (in English or Chinese).

Mei Vintage, a woman-owned handbag company, has the perfect descriptive name: they create beautiful handbags from vintage-sourced materials – handbags that are just waiting for you caress and coo at them. (Who needs kids when I’ve got handbags?)

Mei Vintage handbags, which are priced from $150 to $300, are created using environmentally conscious materials – a practice I find to be, well, beautiful!  Their bags are made using leather remnants, which would otherwise be thrown away, as well as vintage kimono fabric and hemp lining.  This melding of new and vintage materials creates something classic yet so unique that some of their designs are only made in a limited run.  Each color combination comes in small batches, and everything is handmade in the USA.

Designer Alice Huang spent her formative years in Los Angeles and various parts of Asia. This bi-continental lifestyle set her creative juices flowing.  As she entered college, Alice began collecting vintage kimonos and, when she began designing her handbags, she took inspiration not only from her two homelands, but also from her other travels around the world. The result is a set of designs that are universally beautiful – not to west coast contemporary, not too classically Asian.

You can purchase Mei Vintage handbags and wallets at MeiVintage.com.

Images via the Mei Vintage Facebook page. Like them for free shipping!

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It’s Friday, and I am going to give you not one, but four gifts from Etsy. Made of wood. Because I can.

It’s Monday, and somehow, this never got posted on Friday. I’m tilting my head the way the dog does, because it’s too early in the week, I haven’t had coffee, and why didn’t you post, you silly thing you?

Anyway. Love these. Chat with these Etsy sellers about expedited shipping if you want them by Christmas!

All Natural Wood Ring with Moss: $55

Walnut Bear Necklace: $34

Twig Bobby Pins: $18.50

Ampersand Letterpress Necklace: $37

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The title of this bag kind of says it all: “Diaper bag – Messenger bag – Cross body bag – Travel bag.”  It’s versatility makes this bag the easiest gift of all: give it to a new mom, a student, a downtown office babe (because we all need something to carry our heels in on the bus), a new grandmother, aunt, or godmother (because you know they’re going to need it when they ‘sit for the munchkin – whether or not they think they do) or a traveling goddess because well that’s a gorgeous carry-on, ma’am, and how are you today?

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

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Some of my favorite artists are the ones that surprise me by thinking small. These handmade earrings, made of oxidized sterling silver and 22 karat gold leaf detail, are reminiscent not of a butterfly wing, but of a single butterfly wing scale. They’d be a great gift for anyone with short hair, a love of flight or a penchant for aged, imperfect (but still beautiful) things.

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

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I love getting gloves for Christmas. It sounds like a cop-out (gloves? they’re so obviously wintery!) but if you take the time to find something special, gloves can be just as great as any other personalized gift.

Sara Lagace calls them “White Paws“. They’re made of double-thick Peruvian Highland wool yarn and the softest recycled fox fur, making them warm, fashionable and ethical. These aren’t cheap throw-away gloves – they’re $68 – but they should last the right pair of hands for years.

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

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I had this thought, just now, that it might be fun to do an “Etsy Gift of the Day” from now ’til Christmas. Of course, that means some of those gifts won’t actually make it to their recipient until after Christmas, but I know at least a few late gifters, and I’m sure at least one of my readers falls into that category. (Better late than never, right?)

Oh, Jen. Stop musing about this idea and start posting gift ideas.

If I was a robot I would have quickly weighed all of the pros and cons of making Etsy Gift of the Day posts before I started typing. If I was a bear I would eat a lot of salmon and possibly some campers.

These Robot Bear Bobby Pins are $6. They’re made in Switzerland, which is classy and European, and ship to the US for a flat $5 fee. This shop has tons of kawaii accessories, so I suggest you stock up on your favorites (stocking stuffers! gifts for kids!) and ordering it bulk-style.

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

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…but that one is super pretty.

The Laurel Earrings are perfect for the girly-girl on anyone’s list…and that includes the girls that are hard on their jewelry. These are made from laser-cut acrylic, and can handle themselves when thrown into a drawer full of baubles.

This scarf is meticulously hand-woven using hand-woven cotton and traditional Turkish handlooms. I love how soft it looks and all of the different colors it comes in.

These moss agate beads are perfection, and I love how they’re paired with vintage guipure. This is the over-$50 gift (by five bucks) and it’s unique enough to be worth missing your daily latte.

This scarf is so delicate! I guess that’s my vibe today: everything delicate. I promise I’ll get a little funky with next week’s list.

First, look closely at these ear wires: they’re almond-shaped. These earrings would be pretty enough with circular wires, but that bend in the center was what really stood out to me. They hang like little icicles, perfect for winter, but they’ll also catch the light beautifully come spring.

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It’s raining all the time and none of my jackets have hoods. I’m a bad Seattlite.

I do have a couple of hats, but they’re “interesting” hats. You know, those really cute kitschy ones you buy, and then realize that they fit your daily mindset and style about sixteen percent of the time because yeah, it’s funny to wear a hat that kind of looks like a peach, but not when you’re walking into work with a headache and absolutely no desire to respond to, “That’s so cute; where did you get it?” a million times.

Cloche Hat & Hayworth Beret: £29.99 each
(and yes, that scarf is by eka, too!)

eka designs hats – and lots of other things – in Auroville, an internationally-endorsed universal township in India. (You have got to read more about this township, and can do so here.) Because the township is focused on sustainable living and mankind’s future environmental needs, it was the perfect place for eka to create and manufacture their designs.

 
eka Deerstalker Hat: £29.99 // eka Nordic Beanie: £19.99

All of eka’s hats are made using either organic cotton or vegan acrylic yarn. The Deerstalker is one of my favorites: the style is universally flattering (or as flattering as any hat can be – heads are strangely-shaped things), and the flaps can be buttoned up or let down to keep your neck warm.

Of course, I say I don’t need another silly hat, but the truth is that I can’t resist them. The Ghost Beanie is adorable, and the four animal beanies, illustrated by swedish artist Emma Karlen, are too cute. (All of them are made of 100% organic cotton, FYI.) Like eka’s other hats, these are £29.99.

Do you have an awesome winter hat? Show it to me!

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I cut off my hair again – you know, as I am wont to do every few months.

I love juxtaposing boy stuff, like the shaved back of my head, with girl stuff, like precision-cut bangs and really high heels. So imagine how excited I was when I stumbled across a lovely new collection from tomate d’épingles:

bow tie necklaces.

Okay, yeah, and headbands, but the necklaces are what make me swoon. So cute, and totally recycled using old ties sourced from thrift stores. Buh. I die.

Plum and Turquoise Bowtie Necklace

Khaki and Gold Bowtie Necklace

Hi, yes, those ties are made for autumn. Also, a few friends of mine celebrate “Tie Tuesday” and, even though I don’t wear collared shirts and have therefore lamented not being able to participate, now I can. Take THAT, you adorable hipsters. (I’m looking at you, Cass and Greg.)

Double Grey Bowtie Necklace

Look how fancy she is! Perfect for a black and white event. Oh, you have a black tie event? Here’s a classic black bowtie, you rebel.

What do you think: Are bowtie necklaces the next most awesome thing, or will I regret the purchase six months from now?

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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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