A newly released study commissioned by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), a watchdog group with over 500,000 members, and overseen by environmental health consumer advocate David Steinman (author of The Safe Shopper’s Bible), analyzes leading “natural” and “organic” brand shampoos, body washes, lotions and other personal care products for the presence of the undisclosed carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane. A reputable third-party laboratory known for rigorous testing and chain-of-custody protocols, performed all testing.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneRelease08.cfm

And here are the products that were tested:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneResults08.cfm

Ruffled sleeves … a little bit girly, a little bit unique and a little bit of a twist on the regular old business attire.

I tried on a shirt this weekend that had a very cute ruffled sleeve. Looking online this weekend I found that some places it’s being called a lantern sleeve though when you do a search for lantern sleeve you get a bit of variety in interpretation. Some have a simple ruffle on the end of the sleeve that doesn’t flare much, some have elastic on the end of the ruffle that creates a sort of bubble on the end of the sleeve and some seem to have something that resembles a bubble skirt on the end of the sleeve.

The only reason I didn’t buy it was because it was black, already showing a bit of white fuzz at the store and I have cats with white fur. I’m almost regretting it anyway since it was only $7.50 – a location of Dillard’s is closing nearby and everything is on clearance with no returns (technically they are being chased out by the property owners and I don’t have a clear idea of what they plan on doing with that mall yet.) I keep thinking though that maybe I could bleach and re-dye that shirt since it was 98% cotton and 2% spandex…. sigh…

Here are some other cute ones:

I’m in love with a designer … one that is out of my price range ($1,000 for a jacket – ouch.) Mostly I like the Akris Punto line with the clean lines and classic look but there are a few dresses from the Akris line that also caught my eye.

I need a sewing machine … and instant tailoring skills … sigh.

Saks Fifth Avenue

http://www.akris.ch

I know I know … usually I don’t get into this debate because I really think companies should use whatever model they feel like. In addition, some people are naturally stick skinny and shouldn’t be force fed like geese being prepped for pate simply because people assume they don’t eat.

That said, below is a recent e-mail ad I received. THE first thing I thought was “wow, anorexic…” and didn’t even see the clothes. Maybe she simply has a head that’s dis-proportionally large for her body but it’s still distracting from what they are trying to sell.

There’s a fine line between a model that is a clothes hanger showing off the clothes and a model that distracts from the clothes (there are also models that simply look good in the clothes – where you see both the clothes and the model.)