Looking Trashy, Recycled Kenyan Cowboys, & Vintage Ties

Kilakitu shirts come in 58 styles. Floral prints are big for 09, and these bold cowboy-cut tops are made from second-hand fabrics from the Kenyan marketplace. At 75$ a pop, a portion of the proceeds goes directly to a lunch feeding program for school children in Rongai (video). Also, Kilakitu plans to start a community cleanup & recycling business that will receive 10% of profits from Kilakitu – staff will work on cleaning up the environment in Rongai.

“Kila Kitu is a swahili saying meaning “everything” – our garments reuse discarded clothes from around the world and lovingly bring them back to you”.

What are the top 10 worst zoos for elephants? Find out if your city made the list HERE:

You will look totally trashy carrying this handsome messenger bag made from the plastic trash that litters New Dehli’s streets. The company, CONSERVE also provides a sustainable living for the poor women that make these bags, in addition to continually working to solve social, economic and environmental problems in the city of New Delhi.

$49.95 at Original Good.

Giorgio Armani has broken his promise not to use fur. A new video narrated by actor Gillian Anderson (X Files), shows rabbits kicking and screaming during slaughter. After the skin is ripped from the rabbits’ bodies, it is sold to designers such as Giorgio Armani—who uses rabbit fur in his new designs.

The selection of vintage neckties and bowties at ties2pillows.com is amazing. Everything from the classic skinny black tie, to high-contrast-plaid (big for ’09!) to narrow bowties can be found here. Most ties are only about $15 and you get 10% off your order just by giving them your email. Here’s a few of my selections:

If I had a bit of money to burn, and I wanted a gorgeous, rustic, recycled dining room set, this is probably the one I’d choose. It’s made from reclaimed railroad tie wood. $1468 for the table and 6 chairs, at VivaTerra.

Bow & Narrow

I have something to admit. Until four days ago, I only used clip-on bowties. Then I stopped by Odin, one of DBs fav shops (and rumor has it, according the hot, vegan gal ringing me up, they have a no-fur policy!), and I picked up a real-life, grown-up, plaid, cotton bowtie by Engineered Garments. As fate (or necessity) would have it, I had to learn to tie the damn thing properly!

My Engineered Garments Bowtie

So, why do we love bowties? They’re not just for Pee-Wee or tuxedos anymore, and they’ve been rescued from the pits of nerd-dom. They are geek-chic, intellectual-sexual, and unlike the long tie which draws attention to the mid-section, they say “my eyes are up here!” One word of advice for the bow-tie adventurer: steer clear of over-sized bow-ties unless you make appearances at childrens’ birthday parties. The narrow  and smaller ones are quite fetching.

Thrift stores are full of ties and bow-ties, but if that fails you, ASOS (who has a no-fur policy) has a pretty good selection of narrow cotton bow ties.

I’m smitten for the bow tie necklace at Topman (also, with a no-fur policy), as well as their very affordable metallic, poly bow ties:

How to tie a bow-tie: