Is it having the Obamas in the White House that has seemingly everyone thinking out of the box with their inspired Earth Day celebrations? Or is it simply a sense of creating like madly because we’re on the Titanic and it’s 1999? (See a prior post about the revue at the Cavern Cabaret Theater.)

Certainly, yet another reason might be the marketing opportunity in affiliating with such a noble calendar day (hey, it trumps Grilled Cheese Day). But whatever the motivation, it’s heartening to see that Earth Day has gone fashionable, an inescapable observance that, unlike other communal holidays like Christmas or Halloween, isn’t about generating new stuff that will be trashed the morning after, but reclaiming what we have and revitalizing it for another day.
For Doris Raymond, the spirited owner of The Way We Wore in Los Angeles, every day is Earth Day. Like her peers in the vintage trade, Doris breathes a second, or third, life into beautiful castoffs. Today she kicks off “Out of the Ordinary,” a project that reimagines the not-so-beautiful pieces that also come into her extensive coffers with the help of a small army of ace designers from New York and L.A.

Before Jeremy Scott

Ruby Canner and Odessa Whitmire of Some Old Rubies, Jeremy Scott, Juan Carlos Obando, Summer Phoeniz, Michalyn Andrews of Trastervine, Britt Bardo and Jewels Steger are among the many collaborators Doris has recruited for this fundraising project.
Of course, for many designers, reconfiguring a secondhand glad rag counted among their first flights of fashion.
A nip and a tuck here and there can turn grandma’s frumpy frock into a vavavoom get-up. For some, it’s a continuing M.O. John Galliano is among the regulars who look for inspiration at Doris’ shop. And participating designer Magda Berliner has long repurposed crochet lace from old dresses and tablecloths into avant-garde looks—including a stunning wedding dress she custom made me for my walk down the aisle with Andy in Baja two years ago.
Debi Mazar and Dita Von Teese are hosting tonight’s private salon-style presentation at Doris’ fabulous La Brea Avenue boutique, with the auction following on eBay. Bids will be accepted through May 2, with proceeds benefiting Earth Pledge's Future Fashion, a nonprofit initiative promoting sustainable practices in the apparel industry.

Bid well. Bid often.

Whether the party’s almost over, or it’s just a matter of pushing our sleeves up and saving this planet, you might as well look incredible doing it.

Photo Credit: Liz O. Baylen