Finnish Clothing Retailers Support Clean Clothes Coalition Campaign on Sandblasting

In my previous post regarding sandblasted jeans, I mentioned there some of the clothing companies that provide support on abolishing sandblasting techniques. The last apparel manufacturer to announce their support on the said campaign of Clean Clothes Coalition was Versace.

Five months after the famous Italian clothing brand Versace supported the movement of CCC that aims to improve the work conditions in textile industry by ensuring the health safety of every worker, clothing retailers and sellers in Finland likewise stop importing jeans that underwent sandblasting process. According to the recent survey released by Finnwatch, 22 out of 24 apparel shops respondents of survey claimed that they are no longer buying sandblasted jeans.

Rising concerns over sandblasted jeans came out when a group of researchers found the hazards brought by sandblasting to the health of workers in textile industry. Studies revealed that the process could cause severe damage to the lungs and lead to silicosis.

By the way, below are some of the denim jeans for ladies that do not undergo sandblasting method and are surely safe to wear.

Source: Finnish clothing retailers say 'No' to sandblasted jeans | Amazon

Sandblasted Jeans Named as Killer Jeans

Photo: Courtesy of Levi-Strauss

When it comes to choosing the styles of apparel, I always love and feel more comfortable wearing clothes that come in worn out, used, or faded look. And my primary reason for choosing such style, apart from being cool and unique, is easy maintenance. For example in jeans, when I wear sandblasted or faded look denim trousers I don’t have to bother much in case a dirt stick on it. But little I know the production of sandblasted jeans put the health of the operator at great risk.

A couple of days ago, I read the press release of the popular Italian clothing brand Versace stating that they will now support in the campaign of other denim manufacturers worldwide to ban the practice of sandblasting.

Sandblasting is a technique used mainly in the garments producing countries when designing denim pants. In order to bring a fashionable faded or worn out denim pants, silica sand is used for styling. Sandblasting with silica sand makes a lot of dust and this fine dust, once inhaled, are very dangerous to the lungs as it could cause an acute form of silicosis and then results to death.

Considering the health condition of operators or production workers of fabrics needed for sandblasted jeans, a group of non-governmental organizations and trade unions named Clean Clothes Coalition (CCC) started their campaign to condemn the production of sandblasted jeans. The said campaign aims to improve the work conditions in the textile industry by ensuring that the workers’ health are not compromised.

Before Versace declared their support to stop sandblasting, there are already several famous clothing brands worldwide that joined in the campaign of CCC. To name some of them we have Benetton, Carrera Jeans, Gucci, Levi-Strauss, H&M, Pepe Jeans, and Replay.

Pantyhose are Back into Fashion

In today’s fashion, inner garments like pantyhose are already considered as symbol of elegance and style statement. It is proven by famous celebrities wearing their most impressive dress paired with black or nude pantyhose, depending on which will look perfect to their attire. This is one of the delightful lingerie that can make a woman (wearing a simple yet formal dress) look even more delightful and stunning.

Wondering how does pantyhose can make a significant effect on the overall outfit style and appearance of the wearer? Well, this delightful women lingerie help conceal the physical impactions such as blemishes, bruises, scars, hair, and varicose veins. Wearing soft and silky pantyhose also display the alluring charm of a woman. This comfortable to wear lingerie, which is available in variety of shades starting from nude to brazen colors, likewise ease chafing between the foot and footwear, or between thighs. And because of this, the wearer’s legs looks even more attractive and sexy.

I have here below some of the famous celebrities today who were captured pairing their outfit with pantyhose and that makes even more captivating. 

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton wearing sheer pantyhose during her North American tour

American sexy Hollywood actress Eliza Dishku stands out in mock seam pantyhose

World's best female tennis player Serena Williams wearing opaque pantyhose during the ESPY Awards

English-American fashion model Mischa Barton looks even more elegant in black pantyhose

A Closer Look on Kate Middleton's Custom Embroidered Wedding Dress

In every wedding, the arrival of the bride is always the most exciting part. People are often eager to see the overall appearance of the bride – from her hairstyle to make up to wedding dress to shoes, and even to her pouch. During the royal wedding of Prince William to his long time commoner girlfriend Catherine “Kate” Middleton, this excitement moment is again witnessed.

There were so many speculations who will design the dress of the royal bride. But as the big day came, Kate Middleton, who is now known as Duchess of Cambridge, stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey wearing a breathtaking custom embroidered wedding gown created by Sarah Burton under the famous British label – Alexander McQueen.

The royal bride’s wedding dress is a combination of tradition and modernity with artistic vision that depicts McQueen’s work according to a statement on the official royal wedding website. The whole dress is made of ivory and white satin gazar with V-shaped neckline and long-sleeved satin overlay. The ivory satin bodice, which narrows at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry and the white satin pleated skirt was made to resemble an opening flower.

The Royal School of Needlework through the supervision of Sarah Burton are the ones who handmade the bodice and skirt’s lace appliqué.

Uniforms of US Naval Officer in Three Different Styles

In our family, most of the males serve in the military. My younger brother and my brother-in-law are both members of the navy team while my older brother serves in the marine corps. Aside from them, I also have two cousins who serve in the air force while the other one is a policeman. Besides serving the country, job security is one of the reasons why they opt to join in the said industry. At some point in my life, I was also recruited to be a part of the navy team. I was the only female in our family who has the courage to join the trainings of navy officer that time. But while in the midway of processing my application, something went wrong. And so my dream of becoming a military naval officer ended there. This also hindered me from having the chance to wear that custom embroidered uniform of navy officers.

In the military, it is so easy to determine whether the person is a high rank official or not. And that is based on the type of uniform that the person wears. A high rank military official’s uniform is usually incorporated with small yet very important details on the shoulders and on the upper left portion of the breast. These accessories found on the uniform such as insignia, custom embroidered patches of a particular military seal, badges, and the likes will indicate the wearer’s credibility and ranking. I included below the three different styles of uniforms worn by a high rank military naval officer, according to function.

 Service Uniform - worn for official function like traveling in official capacity or reporting to a command.

Full Dress Whites - worn during special ceremonies like change of command, retirement, commissioning, decommissioning, funeral, wedding, etc.

Dinner or Formal Dress Uniform - worn during official formal evening function when civilians typically wear evening clothes.