SOME LIKE IT SLOW

We can all learn more about making the most of our wardrobe. So when a girl wore the same dress every day for a year for charity — styled with only reused, handmade, or donated accessories — we took note. You’ve probably heard about this dress —Sheena Matheiken wore it as part of The Uniform Project and grabbed headlines across the world.

The result was a year of stories about personal style, and a refreshing retreat from design as a reason and engine for spending. Sheena raised money through donations and sales of copies of her dress for the Akanksha Foundation, which provides education to Indian children living in slums.

Since then, Sheena’s reinvented the project as a series of Pilots. Each Pilot is handpicked, with the same notion Sheena began—a different girl, a different little black dress, reinvented daily and a different cause each month. And Eliza Starbuck, designer of Sheena's dress, is now selling her little black dress (LBD) for $185 on her site.

The Uniform Project's LBD is one example of what the industry calls “Slow Fashion,” an idea courtesy of the slow foods concept. Slow Fashion represents the old-fashioned value of wanting something beyond next week, and expecting it to last for the next generation to love and behold. Long-lasting, stylish designs that fit, flatter, refine a wardrobe and stock it with essential items that are wanted today and tomorrow.

Our friend Leah Chernikoff (pictured above), associate editor of Fashionista, knows Slow Fashion first-hand. This summer she participated in a style challenge put on by Eliza Starbuck and her renowned LBD. Leah and a handful of other earth-loving ladies were invited to try on the dress and accessorize it with accoutrements from a NY village shop. Writes Leah, "Pushing my nerves aside at the prospect of being judged Vena Cava and Chris Benz, I tried to embrace the challenge. Starbuck’s dress is the perfect canvas. Buttoned on one side, pleated on the other, it can be worn either way. Or unbuttoned and belted over a longer dress. Or wrapped. Or tucked under a skirt. You get the point–the possibilities are endless."

Sheena, Eliza and Leah show us that small tweaks and creativity to our wardrobe can produce infinite outfits and looks. Some might call that slow. We just call that smart.

xx S+S

Photo: Bright Young Things & Fashionista

Sources: The Uniform Project, Bright Young Things & Fashionista

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