Vegatable Dyes

While studying eco friendly fashion in college, i found various aspects that i did not even realise existed. One of these is vegetable dyes.

Vegetable dyes are a great way to dye fabric and hair, without using chemicals that damage the environment.

There are many different plants that can be used to create dyes, these are:

Plant	Part	Colour.
Woad (Isatis tinctoria):	Leaves	blue, Somewhat complicated process involving a real chemical cocktail. Woad (Indigo) dyes by oxidation, the trick is to get the dye bath right. Indigo is a fast dye that fades very little in sunlight or in washing.
Weld (Reseda luteola):	Whole plant	lemon yellow with alum.
Blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus):	Fruits	shades of purple and blue with alum.
Elder (Sambucus nigra):	Berries Leaves	purple and violets with alum, green with alum.
Blackberries (Rubus fructicosus):	Shoots Berries	black /greys with iron, blue, grey with alum
Bracken (Pteris aquiline):	Young shoots Roots	yellow/greens with alum; orange/yellow with alum
Heather (Calluna vulgaris):	Shoots:	olive/yellow with alum
Fig (Ficus carica):	Leaves:	lemon yellows with alum
Birch (Betula alba):	Leaves:	yellow with alum
Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium):	Leaves:	yellow with alum
Ragwort (Senicio jacobaea):	Whole plant	yellow with alum
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare):	Flowers	yellows with alum
Canadian Golden Rod (Solidago Canadensis):	Flowers	golden yellow with chrome
Pine (Pinus ssp.)	Cones:	orange/yellow with alum; browns with iron
Onion (Allium cepa)	Skins:	golden browns with alum
Walnut (Juglans regia)	Shells	pinkish browns (no mordant)
Turmeric (Curcuma longa):	Root:	yellow (no mordant)

The best known vegetable dye for temporary designs is probably Henna (Lawsonia inermis), which is still widely used in the Middle East and Asia, particularly in connection with wedding ceremonies. In recent years it has also become increasingly popular in the West, at first as a hair dye and now also for temporary tattoos. In South America indigenous people use Achiote (Bixa orellana) and Huito (Genipa americana) both, for body painting and as a dye for natural fibres.

Eco Friendly Fashion Designers

There are some designers that choose to make their collection from eco friendly produce. This is because some deigners choose to use their collections as a way of getting across the message that Fashion can be ethical, but still beautiful at the first time.

The first eco friendly designer i came across was Stella Mccartney, who is a high end designer, but still makes all of her garments by ethical means.

My personal favorite items for the Winter 2011 collection are:

Eco Friendly Fashion Boutiques

I am researching Environmentally Friendly Fashion, and i am looking at which designers support this movement.

I found a boutique called Annie Greenabelle. This online store sells on trend clothing, while making sure it is organic and fair trade. Here is a link to the Annie Greenabelle blog: http://www.anniegreenabelle.com/blog/

here are a couple of items i found interesting:

I thought the shape of the dress was very on trend, and the colours go very well together.

I thought the shape of this skirt is interesting, as it resembles petals.

Another boutique i found is Beyond Skin. This boutique sells shoes which are 100% vegan, and made in a family factory in England. Beyond Skin also has a blog - http://www.beyondskin.co.uk/blog/

Here are some shoes i thought were particularly interesting because of the shapes, colours and textures.