Here’s a link to an article with good basic info! Thanks Jess for sharing the link!

Reduce your Closet

Yes…its been a while.. Had a little baby boy! Lucas was born July 22nd and is doing well..and yes I am starting to get some sleep! haha!

Our next step is the hardest for most: Its putting it all together. I tried typing it a few times and decided to take you along with me on a closet appointment-in a real closet that I’ve been working in over the last few years. This closet has gone through all the stages of organization etc, and now seasonally I visit her closet to add updates, remove items that have seen their day (or wear) and to make outfits for her for the upcoming season.

Click here to view Part 1 (intro/what to do)

Click here to view Part 2 (after I made outfits etc)

I’d love to post the pics of all the outfits I took for her..but my client list is always confidential. Enjoy the video and you will get an idea, and know what you need to do in your own closet.

Hopefully when you are done making outfits in your own closet..there aren’t many pieces left over, AND you like the outfits you’ve made! If not, you know what you need to work on!

Next, I have an AWESOME article to share with you! Till next post! Enjoy my (amateur) videos!
Stacie

Ok, its time to dig in and start getting the hard parts done. If you look at your closet, and are overwhelmed by the volume or chaos, are frustrated because your feel like nothing goes together, or you tend to end up wearing the same things every week, its time to undo the mistakes of the past and learn how to get it together and also learn how to keep it together going forward with a system that will ensure you never end up here again.

I am going to break this in to digestible chunks, so keep up on your lessons and don’t hesitate to ask me questions! To start, I want you to look at your closet as a whole; objectively. When I do a closet the first things I try to assess is what are the key problems. Here are some common issues:

Too much in general- Overall the closet is full (large amounts of clothing, racks and racks of items, as well as other drawers stuffed with things, and closets in other rooms used as overflow or off season storage). I will go in detail how to solve this, however for the moment continue with this list and highlight all that apply to your closet.

Buying Issues: No need to be ashamed or embarrassed, many of us has what I call buying issues. We repeatedly make buying mistakes, and it is frustrating.
Here are some examples of buying issues-
-Overbuying in general
-Purchasing items that we never wear-this results in items we let hang in the closet for too long.
-Buying spurred by emotion. We make purchases for all sorts of reason, one of the biggest is emotions, and it can happen oh so subtly. We often don’t realize it till weeks or months later. Common examples include; retail therapy gone bad, purchases made with friends, or due to a magazine or other ad. Purchases because the salesperson said it looked good, marketing (sales etc), a case of Jones-itis…and there are many more. While clothing and our moods/emotions are intertwined, bad habits make bad closets.

Need for an update: Life happens, and we get busy, and sometimes our wardrobe just needs updating. I have been in closets that haven’t been updated for a good 5 or more years, its ok and there is a step by step way to get through it.

Not a clothing or fashion person; For myself, whether it’s a basketball, volleyball, or a golf ball, I really don’t care to participate in any of it, I’m happy to just watch. So, yes, not everyone has a knack for fashion, however we do have to get dressed everyday and participate in the clothing game. This is often the reason I get called for a visit, however most women (and men) do want to look good, or know that they are appropriately dressed, and don’t want the closet be a source of stress and frustration. If this is you, its ok, my Closet Therapy system will solve your problems with minimal effort to maintain year round. I will say that I started quite a few clients like this years ago…and now they have so much fun with their wardrobes, they are the first to call at the beginning of the season for their maintenance appointment. If this is you, don’t worry. Once the frustration is removed from your closet, it will no longer be something you dread.

Which are you? There are more closet issues, however these are the most common, and the main sources of closet problems. Print out this email, and highlight those that apply to you. Acknowledge the problem, and think about it as you do your homework below. We will go through each closet issue and work through it, however fist let’s dig in and begin the work of organizing our closet, setting the foundation for a happy closet.

I will be giving you homework over the next few emails, do them and do your best to find sometime to do it. It’s much easier if you do a little at a time, if you try to do several tasks at once- you may get frustrated-because it’s hard to be objective in our own closets. Dig in and contact me via my face book page (Dress Code) to ask any questions you have!

Homework:

Alright, so we have one section of basics, now we are going to do a light organization.
What I want you to do is to re-organize the rest of your closet by function. Some examples of categories you should have are:
Pants
Shorts/Capri’s
Tops
Sweaters
Layering Pieces ex. Cardigans/jackets/tops that are open front (require another top to be worn underneath)
Dresses

There is no real need to break down the categories further than this, for example short sleeve tops, are fine with tanks, your ¾ sleeve tops and your long sleeve tops. At this point heading into summer, if you haven’t already pulled your heavy/true winter items, I would pull those and store or move them to wherever you normally put them, we will handle them when its fall again. Also, there is no need to go through or analyze your winter at this point other than-get rid of it if you know you are done with it, no need to store it. We will cover how to begin a season-at the beginning of fall in August.

Within each category, you can organize however you please; if you like to organize by color you are welcome to do so. For myself, (when not pregnant and growing by the week!), I organize my basics by color, as I keep all of them in my closet year round, and the rest are in the categories in no particular order. I also, have a small wardrobe, for example about 20 tops, 20 layering pieces, about 10 pants, about 10-15 summer dresses, and since summer shorts aren’t my favorite only about 4 pairs of capri’s and shorts. Keep in mind-all of the above fit, and I like them…makes a huge difference when everything you have you like, it fits, and you enjoy wearing. This is what I call a happy closet, its manageable, its functional, it has the right pieces in it, and you have everything you need in about 50 to 60ish items total. That is all you need, if you have the right items. We will get you there; just keep pluggin along with my lessons!! Therefore, when you are about 20 deep in a category, organizing by color isn’t really necessary or worth the time to maintain.

Go through your closet item by item until each piece is in one of the above categories. If you find solids, remember to keep those in your basics section. It is best not to have your basics next to your tops category, as it will be easier for the two to get mixed again. Separate them by putting your pants/bottoms between them or other category.

You may find that you have items that you wont/don’t wear, but you don’t want to get rid of due to sentimental reasons, or for example potential use in a costume, want to pass down etc. These items are a category of their own- Keepsakes, and should be kept in a tub, or drawer somewhere other than hanging with your wardrobe. Only items that we wear or can wear on a regular basis are in the closet. Also, if you have formal dresses/evening wear, separate those items and find them a safe home, away from sunlight, temperature changes, and dust. Since we don’t wear them on a regular basis, they are good candidates for the off location storage.

Alright, I am off to NYC for a few days to work on the rest of summer and start fall for the shop, and early next week you will get your next lesson from me. In the next lessons I will go over, how to organize the categories in your closet, and how we are going to gradually change your closet thinking with a closet organized by function. If any of you are frustrated or want help getting this done, I will be offering one hour appointments, in which I will come to your closet and answer questions, help with any of the tasks in the lessons, and keep you moving along soon. Due to my NYC trip, the craziness that follows and getting everything ready for Couture & Cocktails (its May 16th!), the quick visit appointments will have to be the week after Couture & Cocktails, but that gives you time to get as much as you can done on your own 

Dig in, and ask me any questions via face book….and keep workin..It will all start coming together soon! Next email is early next week, enjoy!
Stacie

Nope, it’s not just you. Many women are confused on sizing-and it’s because retailers have whether intentional or not made it very confusing.

The Basics:

Women’s: True women’s sizing is 0,2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18. Your number one clue to sizing is even or odd numbers-women’s sizing is EVEN numbers. Petite women’s then would be 4P for example, and yes although petite apparel should be the same sizing-just tailored to a shorter woman it is common to find that you have to go up a size in petites. Typically targets women 35+.

For example, the brands in my store that are Women’s are: Multiples, Lana Lee, Elizabeth Grace, Jag, Kut, Ali Ro, Synergy, Tresics & most all of what I order or bring back from NYC. I typically have women’s together in the middle of the shop, and sale items/overflow on the wall. Yes, there is still variation within Women’s sizing, many of you remember I used to carry Karen Kane, which was sized to true Women’s sizing, and then a few years later, about the time it got big at Macys, the sizes started shrinking tremendously so I dropped the line. So even old/large brands do change over time, and it usually is caused by either a concept/designer change and/or a change in factories of where the product is made. I tend to like lines from Canada, as they seem to stay true to Women’s sizing, and be price friendly as they aren’t made on the other side of the continent. For summer and fall, I have added quite a few new Women’s lines, and am headed to NYC in a few weeks to hopefully find more!

Also keep in mind-a style that is sized 0 thru 18…probably doesn’t work on all bodies from 0 to 18, its just impossible. That is why in a given item I will carry a run of three to five sizes, because those are the sizes that are appropriate for that cut/style. Yes it makes my racks a bit random, but for those that know me, if you put it on and it’s not right, I’m going to tell you to, so I try to just no order the ones I know wont work!

Contemporary: Contemporary is a somewhat new category and is between juniors and Women’s. Typically targets women 25 to 40. Contemporary is rarely sized- it will be S/M/L/XL, with a Small starting around a 2/4, Medium 6/8, Large 8/10 and XLarge 10/12, maybe 14, and it stops there. For bottoms sizing is often numerical- 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 31, 32, and sometimes 33. Below are the equivalents, note that it also stops at typically a 12. 26 (0/2), 27 (2/4), 28 (4/6), 29 (8), 30 (8/10) 31 (10), 32 (12)

Examples of brands in my store that are Contemporary: Costa Blanca, Urban Behavior, It Denim, Makers, Milla, Blue Bird… This is the category that a lot of my trendier brands fall into that I may order one or two shipments from, and then I move on typically so that we stay current and don’t get hung up on one particular style or trend. Contemporary is typically at the front of my shop, as it moves quickly, and does offer the trendier items at good prices. When shopping it is hard to tell what is Contemporary vs. Women’s, but use your sizing: numerical vs. S/M/L/XL as a clue and if the XL looks like a 12, it is definitely Contemporary. Most boutiques do carry a mix of Contemporary and Women’s, and the ‘trendy’ or popular brands usually fall in the Contemporary category. In department/chain stores it can be really confusing, as they will put Contemporary in Women’s when it’s really not.

Juniors: Juniors is not kids or tweens, but is designed for a somewhat pre-pubescent or early developing body. (aka- small chest, narrow hips) A junior is typically teens to early 20s at latest. Yes, junior brands will fit someone petite and smaller like myself (ok, not right now) however the fit won’t be great. Darts and tailoring (if there is any) won’t accurately hit, arm holes may be a bit too small, and so on. You can really see it after washing and drying, as the price points are typically lower as well as the quality.

Junior’s is a very disposable market, which makes sense as trends come and go quickly.
Vocab word to learn and use: Disposable clothes, as in ‘its disposable clothing’ or it’s a disposable clothing store’. Disposable clothing arose in tandem with mass consumerism (which is DEAD, that’ll be a later lesson!). It is low price, low quality, mass produced apparel, that is meant for a few wears and then be done. Often it is not machine washable or dryable (or if you do it will NOT be the same after), and trend, price, or volume driven. For example:
Trend driven: Get the latest trends cheap (Forever 21),
Price Driven: Get trends for less, 50% off etc (Kohl’s)
Volume Driven: Buy 2 Get 1 Free, Limited time only, etc (Old Navy)

Since Junior’s is typically a low price, it is often mixed in with Contemporary and Women’s, as some of it can run more generous. Tops are always sized XS/S/M/L/XL, and bottoms are easy to identify as they are always sized with odd numbers 1,3,5,7,9,11.

If you run into higher priced Junior’s apparel, yes there is designer/higher quality junior’s apparel typically carried at non-mass merchants, and often does cross into the Contemporary category sometimes. This is becoming more and more common, as we as a society on a large scale are getting bigger and bigger at all ages. Juniors Plus sizing is getting more and more common over the last few years, and will continue to be.

The marketing of sizing: Yes, we all know wearing an 8 makes us feel better about ourselves than a 10 does. And a 3 feels better than a 4 (Chico’s), however remember that it is the fit that matters, not the size.

Age Targets-Above I gave the ‘target’ ages of the categories, these are in general, and yes many of us wear all three of the categories. However, it is important that we keep in mind what it is when we are trying it on. For example, Contemporary is best for me, so when I try on women’s, I have to watch the should width, and arm holes, as it tends to be too wide on me, and on the other hand juniors is too small across the back and chest.

If you should be in Women’s sizing but like the styles of Contemporary, watch the cut and lay off the dryer (which is a good idea across the board). There are more and more lines getting trendier in Women’s sizing, which is why my work is never done as I am always searching for those brands at a moderate price point. They ARE hard to find, it’s not just you. Keep in mind department stores have been manufacturing for the masses, and for mass consumption, so finding a good fitting quality garment is hard and will be until they change….not sure if they will though as most are quantity and price driven over quality as priorities. Some brands such as Banana Republic do a pretty good job at keeping women’s sizing, however as of late they are definitely capitalizing on it and prices are skyrocketing and quality is not improving. Brands to change over time, and its important to have a variety of price points and brands in your closet. I will cover this in more depth when I go through the foundations of a wardrobe, which will be pretty soon!

On a side note: Have you ever seen S/P, M/M, L/G? Nope, not petites. It is the size in English/Spanish, so it’s Small/Pequeno, Medium/Mediano, Large/Grande. Yes, confusing, but if you aren’t sure check the M and L and if it’s not a P, it’s not petite.

Alrighty, hopefully that helps define and separate the categories in your mind, and will help you when shopping. Never be afraid to ask the salesperson if it is Women’s sizing or Juniors. Not everyone gets or understands the Contemporary category, but in time they will as the category is growing like crazy.

If you have any questions be sure to ask me on facebook! You can find my page by searching for Dress Code, I have both a regular page and a fan page, ask on either!
Enjoy!
Stacie

Hello!
Kristi and I went to Chicago earlier this week for market, found lots of great items. I did bring back some accessories, and summer clothing/accessory shipments have begun at the shop…and finally the weather is in sync with the shipments! Haha! Right now we have great summer scarves in (come soon), accessories-even straw hats, and tops and bottoms are coming in weekly. Love the new convertible pants, so functional and a great update to the Capri of years past.

Also if you haven’t been in the shop lately, stop in- we have been giving the shop a ‘facelift’ aesthetically, and to make better use of our space and easier to shop. We are about half way done- we are adding a new category if you will-Gift to the shop, I’ll let Kristi keep you updated on that but fun and exciting new products in store and coming soon. Summer is always busy at the shop, so check out the upcoming events below-we will be having some serious sales, and of course its time for Summer Couture & Cocktails! I will be in NYC early May, and Couture & Cocktails will follow.

Stop in and enjoy our new layout, lots of new clothes and much more!

Upcoming dates:

Couture & Cocktails: Mid-May, Dress Code event, invite only. Fresh from NYC and Cocktails/Appetizers. (get on our email list www.shopdresscode.com

June 9th Ladies Night Out, downtown-wide event

Changing sizes is a part of life. We go up a size down a size over time, often regardless of what we do. Our bodies-and what is where also changes, this changes how clothing fits and what we want to wear. However, in the closet one principle stands: The only size in your closet should be the one that fits right now.

How we organize our various sizes depends on the size of our closet. If you have a smaller (or what used to be normal) sized closet, about 5 to 8 feet of hanging space, your non-fitting sized apparel should be in another place, whether it be a guest room closet, downstairs in portable or unused closet, or even plastic storage tubs. If you have a larger closet, you can store your off sizes in a separate section of your main closet. We just don’t want them mixed in with the sizes that currently do fit.

Homework:
Remove all items that don’t currently fit from your main closet area, and move them to a secondary location. Before we move them to the secondary location, we do need to evaluate them. Once you have your pile or section of items that currently don’t fit evaluate their need based on the following:

How many sizes off is it from what size I currently am: Ex. If you are a 10, and you have size 8’s and there is a good chance you will get down to an 8 keep it. However if you are a 10 and the item is a 4, chances are when you are a 4 you will not want it. For reference, 10 pounds is generally equal to one size (women’s size, not juniors; see Friday’s email to understand sizing). Also, if you loose that much weight, chances are 1) a decent amount of time will have elapsed thus dating the item 2) your body will have changed shape & proportion making the fit off and 3) congratulations and what a great accomplishment-when you loose the weight (given that it is healthy and not below your ideal weight) I will put money on the fact that you will want to reward yourself with a new clothes – So if its dated now, share it (donate/give to a friend etc) and there’s no need to hang on to it.

When we go up in sizes-we typically wear what we have and mentally we are less likely to buy new items vs. when we go down and stay down we are more likely to buy new items. So keep less of your potential smaller sizes, given it is within reach, not already outdated, and you liked it to begin with. Keep more of your larger sizes, however keep in mind that when we put on a few pounds, we often don’t feel great about it, so if you didn’t like it before, it may not be worth keeping for the mental aspect of it. Don’t forget to evaluate the volume of your other sizes. Whether up or down, you don’t need hundreds of items in each size. When we have this great multitude of items they typically go out of style before we get the wear or value out of them. When we don’t feel that we have worn an item enough to get rid of it so we hang on to it which creates larger problems which I will cover in later lessons. For the time being use the above rationales to evaluate your off sizes and separate into a keep and share pile, then move/gather them into one place in a secondary location separate from your main closet/hanging space.

Lesson 2 Summary:

Locate and identify a place in your closet or home to keep the sizes that currently don’t fit you. Evaluate them before storing, size by size, item by item. The only size in your main closet or the main section of your closet is the size that fits you now.

You have a section of basics (solids, free of details etc), and you may keep both mediums and larges in your basics, as sometimes we are layering and want the medium, and other times are wearing it as the main piece and want the large. If there are basics that you would only wear if you are that size, you are welcome to put them with their friends that are the same size in you secondary storage area.

Topics I mentioned in this lesson and will cover in future lessons:
Understanding sizing: women’s, contemporary, juniors etc. (will be Friday Ap 15th)
Clothing and getting value or wear from them
Working through the multitudes (too much!)

Keep in mind-changing sizes (and keeping it) is normal, I see it in every closet. Even for those that may only go up or down 5 pounds; we do have items we wear on slim days and items we wear when we are a little thicker. We dress based on mood and function-how we feel and what we are going to do today, and we always will. Find some time this week and get your off sizes separated and we will continue our journey to get our closets organized correctly!

Watch for an email this Friday on Understanding Sizing, we will cover womens vs junior’s and so on!

Hello!
Congrats on identifying a major part of our lives that gets constantly overlooked-your closet. Wearing clothing is one of the few things outside of eating, sleeping, etc that we do every day…and yet we just buy things randomly. We also fall prey to marketing, sales, promotions and so forth further adding to the chaos in the closet. Many closets have what I call Chaos in the Closet- meaning they basically have no order, little organization, and there is commonly too much of the same categories. Many of you are thinking, ‘my closet is organized, I have all short sleeve together, all long sleeve together etc.” Unfortunately putting ‘like with like’ doesn’t cut it in the closet. Either does organizing by color. Organizing by color always intrigues me; think about it for one minute. Have you ever woken up and said I want to wear something blue or green today? Rarely or probably not at all.

We choose our clothing by function- what are we going to do today? And by mood. For example, let’s say I am going to work today (need to be business casual) however am not meeting with clients so I don’t need to be too structured. Or, I’m going to run the kiddos around, run errands, then have a meeting later. Your thought process naturally leads you to start thinking and looking for what items fit the requirements of the day, and therefore our closet organization should support that. So if you are organized by color, lengths, etc, or not organized at all, just forget it-and were going to start to organize Stacie’s way.

Concept: Basics

This is a hard one. Over the years basics have gotten confused with every other category, so much that we fall prey to buying tons of them. Basics are tanks, short sleeve, 3/4 sleeve, and long sleeve that are solid, cotton or a cotton/poly blend, that have no details, screen printing, embellishment and are solid. They are the base of our wardrobe. I often get asked what are the 10 things you should have in your closet. It’s different for everyone however 1 category you should have is basics. They are the foundation pieces that we wear for layering and are the backdrop to the rest of our wardrobe.

Homework:
Clear a section of your closet, (or make a pike on your bed till you can make space on a rack) and start collecting all of the basics from your closet. Go through your closet hanger by hanger, and drawer by drawer and get all solids in 1 place. When you have all of your basics together, put them in color order (White, Ivory, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Navy, Grey, and Black).

Hmmm….what do you have? Many of you are probably missing a lot of the colors, which is ok- only if they are colors that you shouldn’t be wearing (ex, I rarely wear white or yellow because my skin is fair with blonde hair, so I have white tanks and tees, but no white long sleeve because it doesn’t make sense with my coloring or with my petite build). Many of you will have multitudes of white and black tops, this is very common.

What you should have: A nice selection of a variety of colors and sleeve lengths. If you have more than 3 or 4 of one item (ex short sleeve white tops) you really have more than you need. Get rid of the ones that are worn, stained, or ill-fitting. We want ONLY things that we like and wear in our closet. So if you know you are never going to wear it again-now’s the time to pare down your basics. I always cut up old basics and use as dust or cleaning rags For those of you that use a swifter, cut them in rectangles, and they work just like the real ones! Whatever you do with them, now is the time to get rid of the ugly and poor fitting tops. If your not sure, wear them for a day.

Lesson 1 Summary: Although there are many different ways to organize a closet, we are going to forget our past organization skills and organize Stacie’s way. Basics are solids and are the foundation of our wardrobe. They are essential in EVERY wardrobe, and we will keep them all in 1 place in our closet.

Next: No need to worry if you only have 3 colors of basics, you have very few, or if you have TONS! We will work through what needs to be there for you and how to do it effectively. No stress. Some of you found that for the most part-you only have basics in your closet—you are the ones panicking, it’s OK However if you frequently feel like your closet is boring, your wardrobe is boring, or you wear the same things every day-this is why! Keep your basics together, and continue to pare down if needed. Remember 3 or 4 of each color/sleeve length are PLENTY, so downsize those that are ready to go. Get used to having a Basics section, and your next lesson will be coming soon!

Topics I had to mention in this lesson and will cover in future lessons:
How to know when to get rid of things
How to know what colors are right for you
How to know what cuts are right for you
Understanding quality and quantity
Therefore it you had questions on any of the above; we will cover them in upcoming lessons!

Get your basics together and lesson #2 will be coming soon!!
Congrats for taking the first step to ending Chaos in the Closet!!
Enjoy
Stacie

If you want to get your wardrobe in order the place to start is your closet. When I come to your home for a Closet Call, I organize based on your needs, and do so in a way that works against any of your bad habits, and is functional for your lifestyle needs. I then go over it with you, and work with you on color, cut, fit, style, appropriateness, style ideas, identify pieces that are missing, and so on with you. From there I give you my reccomendations on how to continue to build a functional wardrobe and maintain it. For the past 5 years the only way you have been able to enjoy the benefits of a happy and functional wardrobe and closet is to call me and hire me to do it for you……until now! I am going to ‘teach’ you how to do your own closet! You can still hire me, for info visit www.shopdresscode.com, and click Closet Therapy or click visit www.shopdresscode.com and click Closet Therapy. However, if you want to do your own closet, get excited and lets do it!

Here’s the details:

-Your lessons or steps will come via email-in my email newsletter. They will come in irregular intervals-some tasks I’ll give you a week, others more depending on the topic. (see below to get on the list!)

-Join my facebook page: Dress Code When you have questions, ask using Facebook! I will answer questions via facebook to help you along the way!

-There is no cost to participate, however know that YOU will be doing the work in your closet!! You do need to do your homework, in order for it to work correctly. Some of you have YEARS of build up and chaos in the closet that we have to undo! This will be a fun and rewarding experience and once you learn it- you will always have it-and I promise you’ll never go back to your old ways! I have done over 300 closets to prove it.

-Many of you are asking why am I doing this for free? Well, between my store, about 75 clients that I shop for year round, approx 3-5 new closets a week, alterations, and a baby growing in my belly, my weeks are busy and I really want to get to all of you now… not 6 months from now!! This is a fun way that allows me to share the joys of a happy closet with you! My customers love their closets, and I want you to love yours too! For those of you that don’t want to do the work yourself, give me a call!

-Ok, let’s get started! Your first step is to make sure you and all of your friends, sisters, mother and anyone that could use a good closet cleaning are on my email list! Your lessons will come via email, to make sure we have your email you can 1) send us an email at shopdresscode@live.com, put Closet Therapy Challenge in the subject line. or 2) Join my list on Facebook here’s the link: Join My List

Get excited and for once lets get your closet in order!

Next post will be Lesson One!
Stacie

Parabens, in a nutshell, are a chemical compound (a preservative) that are used to reduce the growth of bacteria in a variety of toiletries that we use on a daily basis, such as deodorant, face creams, shampoos, toothpaste, soaps, bubble bath etc.

Why should I be concerned about using products with parabens?

Parabens cause allergic reactions and skin rashes and have been linked to asthma, eczema and cancer…..

One of the biggest areas of concern is the effect of parabens on breast cancer; several studies have found traces of parabens in women with this disease. There seems little doubt that parabens can affect breast tissue but whether or not they actually cause the possibility of breast cancer is not conclusive.

Methylparaben, one of the forms of parabens, has been linked to premature skin aging.

Other test indicate that parabens are responsible for the increase of oestrogen (a female hormone) levels which can possibly affect the male and female repoductive organs.

I, for one don’t knowingly want to use products that are linked to breast cancer or premature aging. With that being said, I have decided to introduce an organic, sulfate and paraben-free Bath House Branded Line… Not only is this line great for your face and body, it is easy on your wallet as well!

Also, we are taking it one step further; we offer a recycling program!!!

Return your empty Bath House bottles to the shop and receive $2 off your next purchase of Bath House brand organic, sulfate & paraben free products!

We have organic, sulfate & paraben free: body/hand lotion, hand soap, exfoliating scrub, shower/bath gel, bubble bath

and much more! We have over 15 new fragrances in stock! Scroll down for a coupon to get paraben free!

-Kristi

The Bath House

As many of you know we are working on our ‘green-ness’ at the store and for apparel and accessories that means items made from recycled products, and made (begining to end) in the US and the closer to us the better…….my question of the day is Can we break our china addiction?

Products made in the US often cost more….will you pay it? Most china products are actually knock-offs of products originally designed or created here in the US. Seasonal Whispers vs Whispers (the wire jewelry) is a good example. We carry the original, designed in NYC by jewelry artists (absolutely stunning)…but yes they cost more than the knock offs- a US vs. China thing. As I’m working on my fall orders for the store…do we want US made/Green merchandise, or China?? Which do you prefer???? Most USA and/or green products range in the price difference…for example an organic top is usually about $10 more…accessories usually about 20% higher, however are made with sterling silver and most all have lifetime warranties. Whatcha think?

My next blog…will be on Consumption and the fall of Over-Consumption and fashion…..
Let me know your thoughts on the above!!
Stacie

On a side note- Most of our Bath products are US or KC made, and little by little Ive been working on other categories.  Shop local, buy local…..we’re doing our best….and working hard to do so at the best prices.  if you havent been to the shop for a while, stop in!