::: River :::

Winter shopping as a vegan is a challenge --

but who knew that could be a good thing?

I've mentioned before I'm that vegan, which means I don't support any products containing animals (that may or may not have been severely harmed in the process) in them (whether it be food, clothes, beauty products or even toothpaste) or tested on them (lots of beauty products). I honestly love living the vegan lifestyle, it's very fulfilling for me, but it definitely makes winter shopping extremely difficult.

The struggle is real; and basically only other vegans will relate to it -- especially those who mainly shop second-hand. Go to any vintage/thrift store and most of the sweaters and jackets are wool. My shopping goes never fails to go: 

Touches the sweaters and immediately recoils from itchiness of wool. Goes through jackets and tries not to even touch one bit of leather,  and real fur. (This made working at vintage shops in the past a challenge for me.) Debates unmarked item's materials. Finds incredible item but sees small percentage of wool or leather included in the materials and puts it back. Sad-face. But I'm still able to try on way more items than the dressing room attendants let in at one time. Happy-face.

I'm literally just giving you a picture of what cold-weather shopping is like as a vegan. Staying along the material lines, there are great perks too. Technology advances every year with synthetic and non-animal organic materials; I have never had something fall apart on me because it wasn't made from animal parts. Non-animal items tend to be cheaper and don't have to go to the dry cleaners nearly as often (or at all) as silk, wool or leather. (The expensive upkeep of these materials made me stay away from them even before I deliberately cut them out of my life. [If you ask why, I suggest you take a look at Earthlings -- it easily pushed me past plant-based eating and into full, life-long veganism. *I only suggest it because everyone deserves truth; you are more than welcome to your own opinions and I don't want to come across as a "pushy" vegan.])

So when I find great vegan items, I am extremely happy and thankful; such as this this camel coat jacket from Elite99. It's surprisingly warm and obviously stylish (it comes with a belt, but it's quite optional). Once I put the jacket in a river setting with the hood on, I felt like a fancy elf (which is a good thing in my eyes). The camel color is so versatile and looks exceedingly well with my usual neutral-colored attire. Adding simple black, grey, gold and amber browns to the jacket made it really stand out while tying it all together as an outfit. Elite99, you've got a friend in me.

black / grey beanie :: neff :: amazon ::

gold pyramid earrings & ornate gold and amber stone necklace :: dearest a style pixie ::

gold talon ring :: buffalo exchange ::

lips: obsessive compulsive cosmetics in black dahlia ::

camel khaki coat :: elite99 ::

black crewneck dress :: vintage ::

grey knit knee socks :: vera wang ::

amber brown laptop / camera cross body bag :: cosmos :: amazon ::

amber brown booties :: vintage ::

PS. Make sure to check out my FB page for updates on the blog and unique present finds!

:: River :: Joni Mitchell ::

( [music description] : lovely holiday melancholy )

Photos: Alex Baumann

Copyright Ammalynn

2014