Shift

I was completely oblivious to the treasure I would find when I stumbled into Shift last Saturday. Exhaustion doesn't quite explain the intensity of how much energy I didn't have as I drove to Hyannis, Cape Cod. I was already working in Plymouth for most of the day with my paying job, so I figured I'd just stop in at Shift.

But stopping in is not what you do at Shift. You stay. You stay so long you think about booking a night at the local b n b so you can sleep for a few hours and wait outside in the morning on their porch until Amy comes to put out the open sign again. I could have pitched a tent that night. And I hate camping. But shopping doesn't get any better than this, I'm telling you.

If there is a word for when exhaustion meets exhilaration, this is what happened to me. That overwhelming rush of adrenaline which floods every one of your extremities. Of course this leads to a hard core crash within a few hours and ask Ted, he'll tell you. I showed him my awesome, new top from Shift and almost immediately broke into 'why the hell am I crying' tears. Within minutes, the man had a Thai curry in my lap and a glass of Pinot Noir. Thank you Jesus for Thomas Edward.

Shift is a Mecca for designers who care about people and the planet. Most of their products are BOTH fair and eco-friendly. Each designer is doing their own thing, with their individual ways of keeping on top of the factories and fabric constructors. Shift does as much research as they can, and as Amy said, if they are iffy about a designer, they stop carrying it. Shift recently put out a survey, asking specific questions like "how often do you audit your producers" etc. (Maybe I could get a copy of the questions from her and post them on here, I'll look into this)

And their clothes are sooo hott! I tried on Good Society jeans (more on that to come), a few tops and some accessories. I'll post a pic up here soon of my fabulous top by Popomono. Shift lists all of their designers with a ditty on each of them on their website at: http://www.shiftboutique.com. You can order online too! And their prices are like shopping at BCBG or Anthropologie. You save and buy things piece by piece. Or perhaps after MIT, you go nuts. Here's the scoop on POPOMOMO:

POPOMOMO uses organic and sustainable fabrics for their entire line, design, sample and produce Popomomo locally in LA , use low impact dyes, ship using recycled materials and power their car by recycling waste veggie oil.

Shift also educates the public on why fair and eco-friendly are so important as we choose what to wear. Next Saturday night they are hosting a night to talk about different types of sustainable fabrics and giving space for Gretchen, the most recent winner of Project Runway, to share about her reasoning for using eco-friendly techniques in her designs (which is something that was completely omitted from the show)

I could have spent a weekend in Shift, which is why I'm going back for next Saturday! I didnt' ask enough questions, which may be shocking to Amy, who so patiently answered several dozen. Ted and I will make a day trip to the Cape of it and I'll be sure by then to have found the charger to my better camera...hmm...and by the way, I hate my voice on camera, I sound like a frazzled, teenage boy. So please know, all 13 of you, that I'm laying aside my insecurities in order to bring you the scoop on HOT

fabulous

Fair

threads.

(if you can't see the video below, here's the link on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxv73pWNFGY