By Ariel Azoff of The SNSPost & Heartsleevesblog.com

Earlier today, my friend Mariyam, J.D. asked me to write a post on eco-friendly business suits for herself and her fellow practitioners of law.  When I referred her to my earlier piece on fashion suggestions for the GOP candidates, I realized that it wasn’t comprehensive or  even very useful to people actually looking to buy mother earth-approved business attire.  It turns out that finding eco-friendly suits is more difficult than it should be.  Fortunately, they do exist, and fortunately for the business casual workplace goers, there’s plenty to choose from.  I created a few artboards (pictured below) on Polyvore to give you an idea.  Also check out my “EcoFashionable Business Attire” board on Pinterest.

HIS

Suit-wearing men should take a look at the hemp suits at Rawganique, which also sells dress shirts. The brand’s founders live “off the grid” on a homestead in Denman Island, British Columbia and have been making eco-friendly clothing since 2000. Conscious Clothing also sells hemp silk suits (ostensibly for weddings but they look versatile).   From Joshua Katcher at the Discerning Brute blog (fashion, food & etiquette for the ethically handsome man) I found this post about an organic cotton suit from Loden Dager.  The sharpest suit I found is the Bagobo organic cotton grey suit by Eairth, available online at Juno and Jove. To complete any of these outfits, ethically handsome men can snag an organic white shirt from Boll Organic, a belt and shoes from Bourgeois Boheme, and these recycled cufflinks that I love oh-so-much from Great Green Goods’ roundup.

HERS: suits

First stop: Nanette Lepore.  Everything is Made in NYC and she’s got a good selection of cute skirt suits.  Next stop: Pendleton.  Pendleton is a family-owned business that manufactures mostly in the U.S. and is constantly improving its sustainable practices.  It has a good selection of more classic suits, as well as work-appropriate blouses and blazers.  If you’re still not having any luck, check out this cute, slightly more casual, hemp/silk suit from Canadian label Elroy (it’s cheap, too!).  If it’s summer or you’re in a warm climate, try this nice linen suit from Marcia Patmos.

HERS: Business Casual

Here comes the fun part.  For a first-stop, check out Fashion-Conscious.com, which aggregates lots of great eco and ethical brands and has a good selection of workplace chic. The aforementioned Juno and Jove, Elroy and Nanette Lepore are also good sites to check out.  To that list, add Sublet for clothes and NeuAura, OlsenHaus, and Beyond Skin for shoes.  

Don’t forget: When you can, buy second-hand!  That is the most eco-friendly way to shop.  Also consider that your garments’ carbon footprints grow every time you wash or dry clean them.  According to Kate Nelson of Women’s Magazine, the solvent used by most dry cleaners has been identified as a probable carcinogen by the EPA and exposure to it has all kinds of bad effects.  For alternatives, check out this list from Co-op America.

Born and raised in Woodstock, Ariel Azoff is an adventurer and aspiring writer who spent the past year working for a human rights organization in the Middle East. She is a contributing writer to The SNSPost & Midthoughtblog.com, and now that she is back in the U.S. is delving into the world of sustainable fashion and blogging as she goes at Heartsleevesblog.com.

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