S L O W

I've dipped my toes into the sea of learning about slow food, recently, and am very enamored. I think it will have to justify (yet) another trip to Italy sometime when the kiddos are old enough to experience it more fully. (I've been to Italy more times than anywhere else except the U.S, largely due to elaborate excuses for time off during the many years I spent waitressing and serving soup).

(above, a piece from the Spring/Summer 2011 collection by Tara St James of The Study, a green designer in NYC and old friend)

Slow food is a way of life, and an international community and I love how it celebrates quality and pleasure.

(above, an upcycled piece of vintage Marimekko made into an all-natural picnic blanket, shown with local organic blueberries from our favorite Quebec biodynamic farmer)

Slow cloth is the extension of the principles and philosophy of Slow into the world of artists, artisans and entrepreneurs.  There's "slow fashion", "slow clothing" too. I love this quote by Sharon Astyk, she says it so very eloquently (this is from her 2006 article from Groovy Green Magazine):

"I think there are a number of really good reasons to find and learn ways to make clothing, to prioritize homemade, or locally made clothing (including learning to find it beautiful), and perhaps to create a "Slow Clothing" or "Slow Fashion" movement rather like the "Slow Food" movement currently picking up speed. Maybe it's as simple as creating a campaign in which each of us would have at least one daily wearable outfit that we've made ourselves, a kind of democratic fashion statement that acknowledges that our clothing comes with human and environmental costs."

(above, an upcycled, handmade handbag by SparkyJones, whose work I adore - I own two of her hats which she lines with organic twill and makes so incredibly)

Slow cloth, like slow food, and slow fashion, is focussed on the journey, not only the destination. It honors skill, grace and diversity (and artisanal, local producers and artists) and it focusses on what is sustainable, as beautiful to look at as it is for the earth. And it's about community. 

And I now want to learn a lot more about it all. All. Don't you?