Ecouterre

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Tired of getting the wrong fit when shopping online? Try the FitBot on for size. Designed by Fits.me, a biorobotics company based in Estonia and Germany, each robot mannequin comprises a series of shifting mechanical “muscles” that replicate thousands of body types based on the shopper’s measurements. Plus, your doppelgänger does all the work for you, so you won’t have to leave the comfort of your home or office to try something on. The technology isn’t just a boon to folks who lack access to local retail stores, but it also eliminates the tiresome (and often gas-guzzling) process of ordering a garment sight unseen, only to return it because it doesn’t fit.

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Those boots weren’t just made for walking; they could also be the first of a new breed of energy-generating clothing and shoes. Thanks to bioengineers at the University of Auckland, bulky wearable generators that convert movement into electricity are a relic of the past. Taking their place? An inexpensive and lightweight rubber generator, based on artificial-muscle technology, that can harvest up to a watt of power when embedded in your shoes.

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We’ve seen three-dimensionally printed shoes, fabric, and even superhero armor. Continuum Fashion and Shapeways are now launching the world’s first fully 3D-printed bikini. But don’t mistake this for another concept piece. The N12 bikini, complete with components and closures that snap together without sewing, will be available for purchase at the “personal fabrication service” tomorrow.

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Give your little one a bit of home to take with them wherever they go with one of these cool teddy bears made from Dad’s old dress shirts. Mrs. Jermyn came up with the idea after looking for ways to repurpose her husband’s worn and shrunken shirts. “Knowing how much work goes into all that detail of making these shirts, I couldn’t let them go to waste,” she tells Ecouterre. Since Mr. Jermyn is a musician who’s frequently on tour, the missus decided she needed a cuddle buddy. She soon got to sewing, transforming the unwanted garments into huggable teddies anyone can enjoy. When her husband’s stash ran out, Mrs. Jermyn turned to vintage and secondhand shirts from thrift stores.

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Pantene, the brand of haircare products run by Proctor and Gamble, will be shipping its first plant-based plastic containers to stores in Western Europe this month. Sourced mainly from sugarcane, the new packaging is expected not only to slash P&G’s fossil-fuel consumption by 70 percent but also to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 170 percent, according to Len Sauers, the company’s vice president of sustainability. Not that consumers will be able to tell the difference—at first glance, anyway. With the exception of an extra green label, the packaging will look exactly the same as before. So, it appears, will its less-than-au-naturel formula.

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Brazilian police are taking law-enforcement cues from an unlikely source: ’80s sci-fi action movies. For the 2014 World Cup, authorities will be wearing RoboCop-like glasses outfitted with tiny cameras to scan and identify bad guys lurking in the crowd. The futuristic shades can snap 400 facial images per second—as far away as 12 miles—before sending them to a central database of 13 million faces for comparison.

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For college student Olivia Lenz, people are “wasting” energy all the time just by swinging their arms or walking down the street. But what if we could capture that energy and use it to charge a small battery? To answer that, Lenz, along with team members Hannah Clevenson and Tanya Miracle, experimented with zinc-oxide nanowires aboard a special reduced-gravity aircraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of the agency’s Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST) project. Working under the mentorship of NASA engineer Tamra George, the trio discovered that low-gravity conditions alter the material’s shape and length, producing “new and improved” versions that make better batteries for spacesuits. In fact, the super-wires might even allow astronauts to harness their movements to power the suit’s electronics.

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For the historically inclined architect—or the architecturally inclined historian—what better way to sharpen your evening (or daytime) attire than with bow ties based on 1917 blueprints? Digitally restored from original prints by William E. Higginbotham and William G. Malcomson, each tie traces the outline of Detroit’s Cass Technical High School, which was damaged in a fire and subsequently …

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Derek Burgess, a designer based in Pittsburgh, PA, is currently working on a reconstituted denim line that’s far removed from what we normally consider designer jeans. At $1,200 per pair, his “Wastelanders” don’t run cheap, either. The name of the collection, loosely based on his interest in post-apocalyptic fiction, encompasses both the process of creating the garment and its affinity to modern, performance art. Simply put, Burgess records anything of interest that happens while wearing the jeans, from fist fights to sexual encounters, and makes it part of that garment’s history.

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Philadelphia-based design duo Something’s Hiding in Here uses reclaimed wood and other eco-friendly materials to make funky accessories that are fun to wear and reasonably priced. These chunky hand-shaped wood gems are just the right combination of edgy and homegrown, not to mention we love wearing anything that features the subtle and organic patterns wood grain naturally provides.

+ Wood Gems $60-$65

+ Something’s Hiding in Here

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Laura Skelton of Prix-Prix revamps boring old neckties into cool wallets, and at $28, they are both green and affordable. Along with several other recycled accessories, including the necktie necklace, Prix-Prix continues to bring us fresh ideas that feature simple and sophisticated design. Handmade in Pennsylvania, the dapper-looking wallets feature exteriors stitched from recycled silk ties and interiors pieced together from old pinstripe suits, resulting in one-of-a-kind creations that are far from cookie cutter. …

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Tara St. James, former creative director of Covet, debuted her first solo collection on Tuesday at New York Fashion Week. Kicking off the two-day sustainable-fashion event, The GreenShows, “The Study” tastefully explored the relationship between rigid shapes with organic forms and materials. But St. James’ journey to the runway was no accident—it took an online fundraising push to raise the $5,000 she needed for to fete The Square Project at Fashion Week. Thanks to Internet word-of-mouth, St. James was able to achieve her goal—and then some.

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Photo by Aveda

These days, autumn seems shorter then ever, and this rapid change in climate can leave our hair feeling extra brittle. With the dry and dull tresses that accompany the season, many of us find ourselves trolling the aisles of our local drugstore looking for products that may have harsh chemicals that can exacerbate the problem rather than make it better. Don’t fret,there is hope yet for our hair! Here are our favorite naturally moisturizing conditioners that will restore your luster to your locks without harming the earth—or you!

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