Nature Shop Designs For Life

Like most women  I appreciate quality, comfort and well made pieces of clothing that can do double duty in my wardrobe. Ok I will amend that to, I can be a little fanatical at times about these issues with regard to my wardrobe, quality fabric and dressing other women! I don't know about you gals but on really busy days spent styling other women my work out is often my walking time! So when I had the opportunity to review a pair Keen sandals from ethical company Nature Shop and a Icebreaker vest and pant set made from natural fibres  I jumped at it.

 First impressions

It's not often that you find a leisure wear company that offers the kind of attention to detail, level of service and standard of ethics that I found Nature Shop offers. Let's face it how many stores offer a 365 day return policy, free returns and 100% biodegradable packaging?! Often when stores talk about bio degradable packaging, we don't associate biodegradable with the kind of pretty packaging that will have us salivating about the goodies inside. So I was excited to

discover that the packaging I received my vest and pants set in from Nature Shop  had broken that sometimes frumpy mould and was really elegant with clear information, that I did not need to squint at to read..

 

 

                                       

The pant and vest set by Icebreaker, in Snow -Sahara,  a warm ivory shade are part of a much wider range of underwear by Nature Shop, made of fine pure Merino wool, both the tank top with a flattering scoop neck and the hot pants feature a pretty ice blue floral design. Soft and light to the touch the gage was so fine I could see my fingers through the vest fabric!  Working as a personal stylist, VPL is an absolute no- no whatever the occasion, so I was pleased to discover that the pants had nice flat seams, that did not show when I slipped on a pair of yoga trousers or under my favourite clingy dress. Even more impressive was the invitation on the clothing labels to trace the sustainable nature of my pants and vest set back to its origins in the southern alps of New Zealand, by taping in a bar code, now that is what I call attention to detail!

Comfort Versus Style

With British weather being so unpredictable  natural fibres feature big in my wardrobe, as they are cool when it's hot, but  warm when there is a chill. It was great to have an opportunity to test my Icebreaker set out and after walking briskly for an hour( and at the risk of sounding like the weather man I encountered plenty of high winds and a few sunny spells) did I manage to keep my cool ? Yes, beautifully, I would quite happily stock up on this premium quality panties and vest set in a variety of colours as they wash perfectly and leave me with a squeaky clean conscious.

The  La Paz moulded sole sandal in bronze green by Keen, provides a great solution for someone like me who does not want to sacrifice style for comfort  when wearing these for what I imagine to be their most popular use of walking.The sandals have ultra fine woven straps and a contemporary gladiator feel, teeny tiny functional fastenings in black plastic, which make them a breeze to get on and off in a hurry and feature pretty zig zag stitching in pastel pink and wheat on the olive green straps. Even better, these elegant but casual walking  sandals would work just as well with my floral maxi dress in jersey or some crisp cotton city shorts from my spring wardrobe. Extremely light weight with a moulded sole and cushioned foot bed, strong supportive heel backs, comfortable and versatile, I think they offer great value. My only niggle from a design point of view is that I would have preferred the sandal fastening to be in olive green in keeping with the rest of the sandal rather than black, but that's just personal preference. Bring on the festival season!!

If you want to check out Nature Shops green credentials and ladies clothing range go to

http://www.natureshop.co.uk/

Disclosure: I was provided with a Icebreaker vest and pants set and pair of Keen sandal from Nature Shop for the purposes of this review.