Desperately seeking organic clothes in San Francisco

Siel, aka GreenLAgirl, is in town! We introduced ourselves Saturday at a notorious fair trade cafe and hunted through drizzle for eco-friendly, sweatshop-free clothes. Thanks to Siel for posing the challenge.

You'd think that of all places in the country, the SF Mission might have the most to offer. We skipped the many terrific second-hand and vintage shops; I wanted to see what textiles local designers use. This was no comprehensive survey, but our jaunt found that jewelry, gift cards, and accessories made from recycled or organic materials are common at area boutiques, while eco-friendly clothing is not.

For example, at Otsu, a vegan store on 16th near Guerrero, Siel found a bracelet made from spoons. Otsu had sweatshop-free silkscreened tees and hoodies, but only from American Apparel, which we were trying to avoid. More ideal products included organic cotton socks (which I got), belts from recycled scraps and tires (above, Siel bought one), and Speesees baby clothes. Unfortunately, some materials were synthetic, such as pleather-like wallets and vegetarian shoes. Still, there were some hand-knit "neck nooshes" (left) and  organic baby hats.

Down the street, Candy Store had sweets, clothes and more. I liked their stuff, but AA tees were hiding underneath some boutique labels and no organics were in sight. Heading down Valencia, we found a shop (I'm spacing on its name) hawking wares made by 71 artists. Again beautiful clothes, no sign of organic textiles. Yet there were bracelets made from legos as well as lite-brite pegs. Siel walked out with a neat Nif brand bracelet made from dolls' eyes by the nice woman at the counter.

Finally, we trekked to Fabuloid (right) in Hayes Valley. While the fabric, often bought from remnants in L.A., isn't organic, these irreverent SF designers make everything in town. The store also sells vintage pieces cherry-picked by two Mission dwellers who scour estate sales. Siel walked out with a pair of rosy, hot vintage shoes and I got a synthetic-but-second-hand, creamy-sheer 50's top.

Verdict: Organic clothes are easy to find online, but most are for fitness or have a heavy hemp feel. You can't try that stuff on, and then you have to deal with shipping. So even walking around San Francisco, if you're trying to dress yourself on a budget without feeling guilty about sweatshops and pesticides or annoyed by supporting American Apparel, your best bet is still to buy used clothes.

Wait, maybe that judgment is premature. Now that the weekend's over, I find this list of organic local clothing stores that we missed. Plus, Patagonia deserves credit--not just for its underwear recycling program. Do you think you could dress yourself from head-to-toe, night and day, work and play, at these places? The mission has just begun. Have any tips?

Update: Siel checked out the list I just mentioned above, and reported on her NoCal hunt for eco-friendly clothes here and here.

Comments

[childrens jackets]

Promoting of organic clothing is the best idea. We have to be aware what is the benefit of using of this. Go organics!

[womens supra]

It's great to hear from you and see what you've been up to. In your blog I feel your enthusiasm for life. thank you.

[supra vaider]

let's join our hands together to stop this kind of wrong doings. It may risk lives in the future if we just let them continue.

[kitchen]

Thank you for sharing. Very happy to see your article, I very much to like and agree with your point of view. Have a good time.

[furniture dry cleaning]

The new line is absolutely fantastic! I was very amused by your blog, it is very beneficial for me and it is packed with information. keep smiling and take care!

[wholesale tapout]

I could not agree more with your post. Thank you for taking the time to share this. It is greatly appreciated.

-mikee

[ugg shoes]

I just walk around, suprised by your blog,please give more information.

[Scoremore]

great lens and i am surprised and learn that there are organic clothes, found it very intersting,will credit this...

[Jack Walcer]

Get Your Website on the 1st Page of Google, Yahoo and MSN

Hi Website Administrator,

We are purely organic search SEO Firm; we can get your website on the 1st page of Google, Yahoo and MSN (Bing.com).

We can increase your sales at least 4 times. We do not use \"link farms\" or \"black hat\" methods that Google and the other search engines frown upon and can use to de-list or ban your site. The techniques are proprietary, involving some valuable closely held trade secrets. Our prices are less than half of what other companies charge. We can fairly quickly promote your website to the top of the search rankings with no long term contracts! We are working on Guarantee basis.

We would be happy to send you a proposal using the top search phrases for your area of expertise. Please contact me at your convenience so we can start saving you some money.

Sincerely,
Jack Walcer
jackseomarketing@gmail.com
COMPLETE INTERNET MARKETING SOLUTION
SEO - Link Building - Copyrighting - Web Designing - PHP

[organic cotton t shirts]

Thanks for your excellent information about organic clothes. Your blog is very interesting and I like to read it!

[Cheap Jordans]

The new line is absolutely stunning! I have been so entertained by your blog, It's very beneficial for me and it's filled with information. keep smiling and take care!

[air yeezy]

Excellent post. It was very helpful for me. if I would not read this article then I wouldn’t learn new knowledge. I just loved this post.

[Payday Loans]

Hi, great post. thank you!Fast loan up to $ 1500.

[Buy Viagra online]

You have a very good blog that the main thing a lot of interesting and useful

[Yeah Yeah Pony Prince]

Check out Yeahyeahponyprince.com, a San Francisco based organic clothing company.

[target stores online]

Thank you for this great blog information!I'm finding this whole blogging world a great resource for any topic, and really inspirational.

[Acheter Viagra]

Your blog is very interesting and I like to read it!

[buy viagra]

Great to see a collection of blog posts that includes thoughtful and perceptive commentary.Keep up the great work .

[healthguard]

Its kind of surprising for me to know that there are clothes like that available. To some its kind of weird but for me its kind of exciting.

[Jobs]

I was surprised to learn that there are organic clothes. I don't know what it looks like but I guess it will be nice for everybody to wear.

[Kindle]

That's quit interesting, I have never heard of it. Organic clothes you say, Wow!

[JTV Coupons Girl]

This is interesting stuff. The biggest thing to me is being true to yourself. That is the goal that I have every day and I hope I accomplish that.

[Peaceful Disorder]

I know from first hand that organic cotton clothing is a great way to naturally alleviate some skin conditions.

That is an easy call since conventional methods of cotton production use such harsh chemicals.

I have heard some varying numbers on the amount, but everyone agrees the chemicals just are bad for the earth and us.

"Traditional cotton production also attributes to 25% of worldwide insecticide use and 10% of worldwide pesticide use."

http://www.peacefuldisorder.com

[Joe]

Brand of the Free Debuts American Made, Eco-Friendly T shirts

The Brand of the Free line of apparel provides authentic American grown and manufactured graphic clothing for men and women. They embody thought provoking graphics to promote conversation about American pride and our environment. The shirts also feature low impact dyes with graphics printed using water based, low impact ink to help preserve the planet. All shirts are manufactured in America with the highest standards in a sweat shop free, fair wage environment.

Please visit our web site at www.brandofthefree.net

We would appreciate your comments.
Thank you

[jen]

Those looking for speesees might want to check out http://www.bohmo.com. Bohmo is running an organic clothing Thanksgiving sale until 11/25/07.