Tag Archives: Loovu Dzevavor

Shocking! Culture Shock is coming to an end

Culture Shock Closes May 26

Tomorrow is the last day of Culture Shock and time is running out for you to save lives by  spending your lindens on fabulous fashions. I know buying a dress at Culture Shock rather than somewhere else seems a pittance, but your lindens make a difference. Your purchase of this dress buys the antibiotics to treat 3 children with pneumonia. The skin or the jewelry will buy vaccination against meningitis for 10 years! You see, many of the things that can save lives are relatively inexpensive, but it’s getting them to where they are needed that makes all the difference. That is what makes Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders so very important. Unlike many other aid organizations, they have no affiliation with any government, ideology or religion and have no agenda beyond providing the health care that saves lives where it’s most needed. This means they are uniquely trusted and able to operate in places where others are not welcome.

With projects in over 60 countries, MSF is saving lives not only around the world but here at home, wherever home may be. We like to think we are secure and isolated from the ravages of famine, disease and hunger but illness is infectious. No man is an island, particularly when it comes to viruses. People who are not motivated to support good health care for everyone out of a belief in access to health care as a human right, should be motivated by self-interest and the need to combat diseases before they become international epidemics.

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I’m Torn About Paying It Forward

Torn Difference

Gozii - a dress from Torn. Torn is a new store that opened in April featuring mesh clothing in a rainbow of colors and prints.

Mostly I am torn because I chose to feature a dress from Torn, a mesh clothing boutique owned by Torn Difference, but it’s not just a play on words. You know I am a sucker for community-building projects, so Harlow Heslop’s Pay It Forward Project has a lot of appeal for me. In an ideal world, it would have developed organically and not in response to conflict, but in the real world, conflict is the heat that makes the seeds of change sprout. There is one way in which I would love there to be a sea change in the blogging world and if this helps bring it about, I will be thrilled.

Torn Difference

Nails from WTG and bracelets from Je Suis continue the black and white theme.

In my opinion, too many see blogging as a zero-sum game, as though the traffic that goes to a competitor’s blog is traffic that won’t go to one’s own. In truth, fashion blogging is more like Starbucks. When Starbucks first began opening their stores all across America, there was a lot of griping about it killing the small local coffeehouses. The reality is, though, that a Starbucks opening up near a local coffeehouse is often the best thing that happens to them. Starbucks is not just selling coffee, it’s converting people to the idea of high-end, specialty coffee and amplifying the market.
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