Packing for Japan

We're in Japan for late May, but we expected some of the rain and humidity more typical of June's rainy season, based on the tweets we read from expats in Tokyo. All the advice we read suggested that we aim for smart casual, with no jeans, shorts, or low-cut tops - now that we're here, I'd say that's outdated advice for a tourist, as there are plenty of local ladies wearing short shorts (usually over tights or with thigh-high stockings), jeans, and jeggings.

I needed to pack light, and have a dress for a fancy date night, and considered the ability to wash things by hand an asset. Most importantly, I wanted to be using the Project 333 rules for myself. So here is what I packed:

This is my list for the trip, a smaller version of what will likely be my summer Project 333 list (I would have melted wearing only items from my spring Project 333 list):
- cardigan - navy blue cotton with shawl collar from The Gap (turned out to be too warm for most days)
- waterfall kimono-sleeve cardigan - beige
- stylish tops, no cleavage - navy stripe from Anthropologie, navy ikat-dot from Anthropologie, navy stripe tee from Gap, teal square-neck from Gap, polkadot tank from Anthropologie
- slacks or capris - black denim trousers, blue dark-denim leggings, black linen Bermudas, blue jeans (not shown)
- dresses: navy and cream ikat-print 2-layer dress from Anthropologie by Plenty by Tracy Reese; navy ikat-print dress from Jones New York, thrifted
- walking shoes (black Clarks Wave)
- dress shoes (navy Clarks Artisan Timeless)
- raincoat - just a pocket-size plastic emergency poncho, since locals don't use them
- black purse (not shown)
- brown elastic belt
= 18 items

Not included in my list but worth mentioning: 1pair comfortable PJs for summer humidity (although it turns out hotels here provide PJs or yukata or both), bras made with foam cups, socks in perfect repair and appropriate for lots of walking, 2 pair of navy tights, black yoga pants (loungewear) for on plane

Wanted to buy while in Japan: scarf, obi sash belt (navy blue), summer kimono (short so it can be worn as a jacket), umbrella, folding fan and hand towel for in purse. Possibly a second-hand Burberry Blue Label handbag.

Actually bought or was given: an iris-print long summer kimono (dress not jacket) and purple obi sash to wear with it, which I haven't worn; fabric which I will hem to make a scarf; a thin navy blue polkadot scarf, and a clear plastic umbrella. Second-hand Burberry in a colour that goes with my wardrobe wasn't to be found anywhere, even at a designer consignment wonderland like RagTag in Shibuya, and the short traditional jackets proved to be beyond my budget.

So my total item number for the trip was 20, including the scarf and umbrella. I did find this meant I did a lot of handwashing in our hotel room, and sometimes the humidity meant things did not want to dry overnight.

Monthly Slow News Summary: May 2011

On Slow Fashion:

The wonderful Slow Fashioned Pledge. Yeah, I took it. You should too.

EWG's indispensable Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database has gotten a much-needed makeover and relaunch. Also, Canada's Environmental Defense have brought out a report on heavy metals in makeup.

Slow Fashioned posted a genius primer on how to spot fake vintage.

Author Lucy Siegle wrote an article for the Guardian, Why fast fashion is slow death for the planet, outlining the arguments of her new book To Die For. I know that book's on my must-read list.

On Slow Food:

Currency suggested some budget-wise tips for getting the most out of the farmer's market - and Duncan Kinney made a brilliant case for shopping there being one of the most effective ways of making change in his article Dangerous Housewives.

On the Slow Food USA blog, an article suggesting ways to move from concern to community action on food issues.

On Slow Travel:

Inhabitat called attention to a gorgeous green-roofed round resort in Japan that is absolute architecture pron. But where is it actually located? I can't actually find out where "on the coast of Japan" it was built, and the word resort does imply tourism, no? If anyone knows please comment.

Jorg & Olif profiled Six Senses Resorts & Spas' new property in Mumbai, and On Slow Life interviewed the company's marketing director. The same group has previously created the Soneva Kiri spa in Thailand, which looks like a permaculturists' wet dream to me with its stone-adobe-and-cob green-roofed Eco Villa and cob-built cold cellar for wine, and they're about to open their first European spa in the Catalonian region of Spain. For a luxury hotel chain, they seem to be pretty serious about sustainable building using natural materials, with several of their properties aiming for or having LEED certifications, and they pride themselves on offering local cuisines in their restaurants. It's not slow travel in the immersing-yourself-in-local-culture way - how can anyplace that offers package vacations be? - but each of their hotels do offer a variety of off-property experiences to guests. So they're making an effort to make luxury about localness.

Remember this photo from my post about Japan's Sloth Club? 

It's from a Six Senses spa in Jordan. 

Turns out this is the organization's marketing slogan.

On Slow Living:

Create The Good Life! did their monthly essay on resourcefulness, which they define, "in terms of borrowing, fixing, sharing, and experiencing". A must-read. 


In related news, Jorg & Olif profiled the UK's Street Bank sharing site. The guys who run it say on their Twitter feed that they're working on an International version - brilliant!


American decorator Gloria Battista-Collins wrote a lovely meditation on what the slow home movement means to her.


Wendy Abrams' brilliant On Slow Life blog had a great post back in February on the joys of knowing your neighbors. Can't believe I forgot to mention it before. More recently she interviewed architect Sarah Susanka about her book The Not So Big Life.




On Sustainability:


Lloyd Alter brought our attention to stunning calculations by cycle infrastructure blogger James Schwartz that show the average American (and probably Canadian too) are working close to three hours a day just to feed their cars. Wow. 


Shabby at La Poubelle Verte has written a thought-provoking essay on overpopulation.




...and I'm off to Japan for the next two weeks!

Little Black Dress Party a big success

We are so happy with how the first Little Black Dress Party went! It was small but mighty, with about 25 attendees raising $1132 for our charities, the Akanksha Foundation ($283) and Literacy Without Borders ($849) while mingling over delicious appetizers and martinis at Devlin's Cocktail Lounge.

photo courtesy of Marilyn Kontz

Everybody loved the accessory swap table and the silent auction. Thanks to everyone who donated their gently-used-but-rarely-worn treasures on the accessory table to find new homes, and huge thanks to our silent auction donors, Aminah Syed {Photographer}, Black & Bold, Caprice Consignment (on 99th Street), Devlin's, Jilly's Home and Lifestyle, Rebel Hips Belly Dance Studio, Edmonton-area Etsy vendors Everyday Diamonds and Stray Wires, and our twitter friends @recyclenazi and @GenoaK.

The incredibly talented Aminah Syed set up a photo booth which proved extremely popular - check her blog post at the link for more great photos.

Strike a pose. Photo courtesy of Marilyn Kontz

Gorgeous girls. Photo courtesy of Aminah Syed

Nicki wore a hair garden worthy of a tribal fusion bellydancer with her satin LBD.

Marilyn wore a Uniform Project LBD from Bright Young Things (which I had shrunk in the wash, much to my dismay) with a great straw cloche from Le Chateau. This is the dress from the slow fashion website that inspired this party, and you can really see it well in this shot where Marilyn is dancing with Premee:

Photo courtesy of Aminah Syed.

Christy, the mastermind behind the Garbaganza! recycled-materials costume project, found a studded purse on the swap table that matched her bolero jacket - which is embellished entirely with items that were originally headed for landfill. Her earrings were made from soda-can tabs.

#yegLBD organizers Deborah and Asia with garbaganza!'s Christy Boulter. Photo courtesy of Aminah Syed.

My own outfit is all from my Project 333 list: thrifted vintage mod-style shift dress, an amethyst-and-moonstone necklace that I made, and an organza-and-zipper floral headband handmade in Canada by Loralie and bought from local fashion mavens Black & Bold. You can't see them in the snap but I paired them with purple tights and my button booties. (I ran out of time to finish my sewing, but will wear my UP LBD sewn from the Classic pattern in bamboo viscose to the next one.)

(Yes, you read that right.)

We had so much fun that we're going to hold a second Little Black Dress Party! We're even going to let the boys join the fun this time.

#yegLBD2 will be held on Thursday, October 13th, 2011. Mark your calendars...

Project 333 update, month 1

So I'm well into my second month of my first Project 333 stint. My first month went okay... not great, just okay. My single biggest challenge wasn't boredom, it was keeping up with the laundry so I'd have something clean to wear that was occasion-appropriate. I particularly found I didn't have enough shirts or jeans - the things I really wear almost every day.

I have also realized that this much black typically does not photograph well.

(I'll update this post with photos as soon as my camera is working again.)

Items I still have not worn - all but #17 will be swapped in an effort to improve the laundry challenge and incorporate items I needed to add to the list for the sake of honesty:
8. black polyester dress slacks
12. green velvet blazer (thrifted)
14. cream handknit cardigan (handmade)
17. UP LBD - not yet sewn - but I swear I will soon
18. green dress, worn only once (eco fabric)
30. shisha-mirrored belt (handmade)

Items I am subbing in
8. black linen capris (eco fabric)
12. navy blue blouse from Anthro
14. purple floral headband worn for #yegLBD (handmade in Canada)
18. navy blue ikat-print dress (from consignment store)
30. brown leather-and-woven-elastic belt from Anthro

Items I am putting away because the weather has gotten too warm (but may need again if we get a freak May snowstorm):
1a. winter boots
2a. wool peacoat
32. gloves

Slow Fashion: the Little Black Dress Party

I'm helping to plan the coolest little fundraiser ever: the Little Black Dress Party, on the evening of May 5th. We've been talking about it on our Facebook event page and on Twitter using the #yegLBD hashtag.

The Uniform Project expressed as a formula, via.

#yegLBD is a slow-fashion fundraiser inspired by the Uniform Project, wherein Sheena Matheiken wore the same little black dress, creatively styled with vintage or handmade accessories, for a whole year to raise money for the Akanksha Foundation (who educate underpriviledged kids in India). At year's end, a series of people followed in Sheena's footsteps for a month at a time to raise funds for other deserving charities. Here's Sheena's talk at TEDxDubai, to help you understand why we were so very excited by the Uniform Project:

Inspiring, right?

So, the idea of the party is that we all shop our closets and wear our LBD (or an equivalent basic) accessorized to express our personal styles, have a fabulous night out with our friends, and raise money for both Akanksha and a brand-new locally-based charity called Literacy Without Borders. LWB will partner volunteer teachers from developed and developing nations to set up literacy projects with lasting community-based support: 

How: By sharing its knowledge of effective approaches to literacy and harnessing the commitment of local volunteers, Literacy Without Borders helps communities adapt literacy models to their local customs. This way, each community will be more likely to create truly meaningful programs, better positioning their members to implement and direct the programs on their own. LWB Ambassadors are deployed as a pair to communities in development for a period of 18 months with the goal of bringing together the people within each community who are most passionate and able to develop sustainable literacy initiatives in their community.  Initially, these local volunteers will work closely with Literacy Without Borders’ Literary Ambassadors to adapt a literacy model that best suits the community, and eventually, they will run, direct, and teach the programs on their own.

 Our little party could truly make a huge difference for LWB, since they're at the stage where they're applying for charitable status, printing their first marketing materials, and embarking on their first pilot projects. We're so excited to be working with such an amazing charity during their formative moments.

Uniform Project's charity-of-choice the Akanksha Foundation, formed in 1990, educate underprivileged children in 58 centres and 6 schools in Mumbai and Pune and publish curricula for use by other educators, and cohosted the InspirED Conference on innovation in education in 2010. Photo via.

Mmmm, martinis. Via the Devlin's Facebook group.

We're also really excited to be having our party at Devlin's Cocktail Lounge, an upscale martini bar on Whyte Avenue. They're going to create a special drink and appetizer menu for the evening just for us, and the room's cozy-but-luxurious feeling will give our party the perfect atmosphere. It's going to be a fun night of socializing, with photography by the incredibly talented Aminah Syed (seriously, how lucky are we?); a silent auction of items generously donated by local, independently-owned shops; and an accessories-swap table.

Our giant tip jar is ready to go. Well, I might redo the Sharpie.

If you're in Edmonton, tickets for the Little Black Dress Party are now on sale at Eventbrite. The $30 ticket price includes a martini and an appetizer, and every penny that doesn't cover your food and drink - more than half of the ticket cost - will be donated to the Akanksha Foundation and Literacy Without Borders. It's a small room so be sure not to wait to get your ticket - we're sure to sell out.

If you're not in Edmonton, why not hold a Little Black Dress Party of your own?

Slow in Japan: The Sloth Club

The Sloth Club logo, via their e-commerce site.

As I prepare for my trip to Japan (it's less than a month away now!), I've been reading a lot of blogs from there, and I ran across an absolute gem in Slow Japan. It's the English-language blog of The Sloth Club, a not-for-profit group formed in Tokyo in 1999 to promote the slow movement, sustainable living, a local living economy, and fair trade. The scope of their projects is impressively broad and ambitious for a group who say they strive to 'become the sloth'. Their members have organized many workshops with invited speakers (which seem to be usually promoted solely through their Japanese-language website and blog), participated in peace and antinuclear activism, organize voluntary blackouts to promote a slower lifestyle, published guidelines for slow business (essentially following the triple-bottom-line approach) and slow cafes, promoted conservation through the Hachidori Project, created a brilliant alternative currency system and a "Slow Business School", led slow-travel tours to other countries, promoted straw-bale building through a Slow Design study group, and created an intentional community called Yukkuri-mura in rural Fukuoka prefecture where participants live a han-nou han-x (half-agricultural, half-anything) lifestyle. Their Cafe Slow organic restaurant provides a community centre where some events are held, in addition to selling organic, green, and fair-trade products and books written by members of the Sloth Club. Recent events held by the club have included a conversation-cafe-style series on creating a slower post-3/11 world.

I absolutely LOVE this image they used to promote a recent orientation event for new volunteers.

I think it's magnificent that they've used sloths - instead of the usual snails and turtles - as their symbol of sustainable and slow living, especially given their fair-trade and conservation-project ties with Ecuador:

“The aim is to emulate some of the basic behaviors of the sloth,” in particular its “low-energy, cyclical, symbiotic and non-violent lifestyle.”

Sloth Club members at the 2010 Earth Day celebration in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo. Via.

Namake (alternative currency), via.
Some of their Slow Business articles also mention alternative currency called "zen", a nice wordplay on the yen.

Sloth Club member at a peace demonstration, via

The Hachidori Project logo uses the story of the hummingbird who carried a drop of water
to try to keep the forest from burning as a symbol to promote sustainable lifestyle choices. Via.

Sloth Club members at a huge anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo on 11 April 2011, via their Japanese-language blog.

via the SlowPhoto blog of a Sloth Club organizer - I think she's saying she took the photo in Jordan, but I can't be sure.

The Sloth Club's work has been profiled in Treehugger, 350.org's It's Getting Hot In Here blog, Kyoto Journal, New Colonist, and Metropolis - but none of those articles are recent, and their work is spread across several websites of varying translation quality, so I thought it might be helpful to have a recent synopsis of their activities in a single blog post. 

Inspiring stuff! I can't wait to check out Cafe Slow while I'm in Tokyo.

Monthly Slow News Summary: April 2011

On Slow Living:

It's Earth Month! Check out Discovery News' slideshow of Earth Day celebrations around the world and Newsweek's slideshow of places endangered by climate change for some inspiration - then follow up by perusing GOOD's "Earth Day Every Day" special page that curates the best of their green living stories to find some tips for actions that go beyond the obvious ones you're already doing.

Do you bring your own reusable bags when you go shopping, or forgo bags altogether? Ecosalon did a brilliant post on why you should consider it.

Jorg & Olif brought our attention to the international Slow Art Day. It's already past for this year, but next year will be held 28 April 2012, so there's lots of time to get your city on the list of those participating.

This review has me wanting to try OmmWriter to create a distraction-free environment for writing.

The Atlantic had a great book review that pointed out the huge role the introduction of bicycles had in social change in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The disaster in northeastern Japan has spawned innovation in publishing that use slow-design methods, with handwritten newspapers emerging in affected communities, and the Twitter-crowdsourced Quakebook fundraising for Japan Red Cross.

Brand marketing gurus BBMG's newest report identifies a group they call New Consumers, who comprise up to a third of the US population and combine pragmatism and a do-it-yourself attitude with an interest in sustainability and social responsibility, according to a synopsis in Environmental Leader. Hmm, the New Consumer sounds like the Slow Consumer to me.

It's election time in Canada, again. Engaged citizenship is definitely a goal of the slow movement.
(poster via a friend's Facebook feed)

On Slow Food and Permaculture:

CSRWire profiled the Slow-Food-affiliated RAFT's important work in identifying and preserving endangered North American heirloom plant varieties and livestock breeds that are adapted to specific terrains and climates.

Eat Magazine noted the release of Slow Food's sustainable fish buying guide to coincide with this year's Slow Fish festival in Genoa, Italy.

The USDA is considering (finally!) warning labels for artificial food dyes, and Ecosalon posted a brilliant and thorough synopsis of why such labels are sorely needed.

The Rambling Epicure outlined ten rules for eating the French way, and Active Kids Club suggested ten ways to connect nature with food. Both lists are really about Slow Food. Meanwhile, RedGage reported on the emerging #NoFastFoodFriday movement on Twitter.

Life On The Balcony has posted a great DIY for turning a (preferably heat-treated) pallet into a vertical garden for small spaces (found via Apartment Therapy). Combine that idea with Mike Lieberman's advice on Ecosalon and soon you'll be growing your own food no matter how small your space.

Jorg & Olif did a great piece on the slow-food trend of home-curing meats with a great recipe for brined pork. The same process (shown in this short video) is used to make salt beef (or corned beef for you Americans).

On the philosophical front, Michael Pollan did a great interview explaining the recent 'war on foodies' with the Globe & Mail that makes a fascinating, nuanced read. Meanwhile, Bob Comis wrote a compelling piece for Grist on why the food movement needs to move beyond the gourmands and localists in order to effect real change for the greater good.

On Slow Fashion:

Lou Sagar mused about the adoption of the Slow Fashion movement by luxury brands as a marketing strategy (at least I think that's what he was musing about - but the distinction he tried to draw between eco-fashion and slow fashion just didn't ring true to me). Meanwhile Ecosalon posted a fascinating and provocative piece about the fashion industry's prevailing business models.

La Poubelle Verte abounded with inspirational slow fashion from Junky Styling and Martin Margiela. Swooooooooon. What incredibly beautiful work!

Rowena Ritchie reports to Ecosalon that the 'Hemline Index' theory has been thoroughly busted - so, continue to wear whatever length skirt you want.

Bright Young Things (the designer of the Uniform Project Year 1 shirtdress) has been picked up by Urban Outfitters! How exciting - congrats to Eliza!!! I hope they'll carry these pieces at the Canadian locations.

Meanwhile the Uniform Project has launched a gorgeous new site design that shows off the many facets of the project and makes space for new initiatives (like other bloggers who are taking the UP 1-dress challenge, and the UP-inspired LBD fundraiser party we're having here in Edmonton) to be introduced.

On Slow Travel:

Jorg & Olif rounded up the three best Slow Festivals going, tempted us with a cycle-and-yurt holiday in southern Norway, and profiled a couple who are documenting their trip cycling the British Isles at the speed of spring (which reminds me of Will Ferguson's book about chasing the sakura!).

On Slow Design:

GOOD profiled some great DIY urban design projects - amazing stuff.

The ten principles for creating a Slow Home got more great press from Natural Awakenings, Jorg & Olif and the Miami Herald.

A friend sent me this YouTube video showing DIY sun tunnels made from 2 litre pop bottles filled with water. Measurements taken on a bright day show they can provide the same amount of light as a 50 watt incandescent bulb.

On Sustainability:

The NYT's Paul Krugman summarized what happened when an expert witness brought in as a ringer went off-script at a Congressional hearing on climate science, and the UK's New Scientist explained how the US budget compromise will affect the environment. Sigh.

The Guardian published an interesting piece on what Japan's disaster tells us about what a post-peak-oil world might look like.

Discovery News reported that our opinions on climate change are measurably affected by the weather.

...Have a great Easter long weekend everyone!