I could wear Mata’s ‘Aurora Crop Top‘ an embarrassing amount of times. It’s a great staple piece!
The neutral color allows you to mix and match it in numerous ways.
Casual:
(‘Something Blue Necklace‘, shorts/IOU, ‘Wire Cuff Gold Ring‘)
and Dressy:
( ‘Fanciful Earrings‘, clutch/Nyla Noor, shoes/Empress Antiquary, ‘Bastille Bracelet‘, skirt/Loverly Miss)
Eazy Peazy!
xoLaura
We’ve said this before, but just in case you missed it, Mata means mother in Hindi. For that reason, and because we work with women’s cooperatives, we tend to get a little into Mother’s Day. So here’s a special Mother’s Day post.
Happy Mother’s Day to our mothers: Nora, Camille, and Fran! Here’s Nora in the Tallulah dress:
And Happy Mother’s Day to my 97 year old grandma, Harriet.
A few month’s back, she fell and ended up with a small fracture in her hip. Thankfully she didn’t need surgery. During rehab, one of her nurses complimented the Grant Park dress I was wearing.
That nurse is now one of our biggest fans. Happy Mother’s Day, Tiffany! The Jennifer blouse she’s wearing is on sale for only $18!!
Bliss, in Knoxville, Tennessee, is known for its artful display of inventory throughout the store and in its window displays – which is pretty evident here: how cute do the Frida Loves Diego and Dahlia dresses look in their window?
When in Knoxville, don’t miss this delightful shopping experience, voted best store in East Tennessee in 2010 and 2011. An alternative to the standard retail store, Bliss curates a wide variety of gifts, women’s apparel, accessories, and jewelry – all unique pieces that you don’t find everyday. We’re so honored to be included in their shop!
Mata means mother in Hindi, y’all, and Mata Traders was so named in part to honor the women at our cooperatives.
So, what to get for the mothers you know and love on this Mother’s Day? We’ve got some fabulous gift suggestions for all the mothers in your life!
For the expecting or new mom, the Sula dress is perfect in several ways. For one thing, the billowy cut is roomy enough for a growing belly, as seen here on Mata Mama, Emily, at 8 1/2 months pregnant.
But that’s not all: once baby is here, the tie shoulder straps provide easy access to boobie release for breast feeding. No need to pull the dress up to your shoulders. Just untie, unclip one of those special breast feeding bras, and you’re ready. Do you know of any other dress that does that?
This season, the Sula dress comes in 3 prints to choose from: blue, green, and rust.
For the young, hip mom, well, just about any Mata will work for her. But, I’m recommending the Sweet Escape dress paired with a tie dye scarf and diamond earrings. The Sweet Escape is a comfortable, multifunctional dress that you can dress up for a special occasion or dress down for everyday activities. Throw it on with flip-flops for errands, pair it with nicer sandals for a picnic, or style it with pumps for date night. The dress has wide enough straps to hide bra straps, and the empire silhouette is a flattering fit, accentuating the bust while camouflaging the waist. The dress comes in 2 original Mata block prints: black and white and yellow pineapple. If you want to give her a complete look, try our new and super-soft tie dyed scarves with hand embroidery (in black or teal) and a pair of funky, lightweight diamond earrings (in silver or gold).
For the mature, stylish mom, – her kids are getting older now but she still likes to put together a good look – I recommend the Samba skirt, the Bolero jacket, and the Macrame necklace. The jacket is a bargain, on sale for only $15, and the multi-strand, beaded Macrame necklace, which is always a good deal at $22, is one of our perennial best sellers and comes in gold, teal, purple, red, orange, light blue, green, and yellow. 
For grandma, the Silver Ring necklace is a fool-proof choice – she’ll absolutely love it! She can wear it long or double it up. Grandmas like to match, and since this necklace has just about every color in it, I guarantee she’ll say, “It goes with everything!” Two more great gift ideas for grandma: the Embroidered stole and a set of Toiletry bags.
ps. If you’re looking for a dress for grandma, we’ve found that a surprising number of old ladies at street festivals buy the Sula dress (the one recommended above for pregnant and nursing moms).
pps. For even more gift ideas, check out all of our fair trade products!
Our inventory manager, Bree, sporting the At First Glance top – she looked so cute I had to snap a pic. Pretty fierce tattoo there, huh? It’s an image of her grandma, Mamee, who Bree says is the biggest influence in her life. So in honor of all the ladies in our life who inspire and nurture us, Happy Mother’s Day! Don’t forget to tell your moms, grandmas, and aunts that you love them.:)
Speaking of Mom’s – we’ve got some great Mother’s Day gifts on offer – here are my picks:
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
I celebrated Earth Day by having a mini picnic and wearing Mata’s ‘Blue Belle Dress‘.
By choosing to wear Mata’s clothing you are making a difference. Usually fashion is seen as having a negative effect on our planet (lots of dyes and chemicals are used to produce garments). Luckily for us, most of Mata Traders’ pieces are hand block printed with eco-friendly vegetable dyes. Mata also uses fair trade cotton, which means they support small family farms and follow environmental standards that restrict the use of agrochemicals and encourage sustainability.
Love it! Some other ways you can show the earth some love:
>plant something! I want to plant some herbs/veggies for cooking.
>turn off the lights and have a candlelit dinner! It sets the mood.
>turn off your iPhone and play a real board game with your friends!
>and don’t forget to shop Mata!
It’s like Maureen always says, “Everything is connected. The point is to know it and understand it.”
xoLaura
Our intern, Carmen, came in the other day with gold nail polish and a solo sparkly nail.
Bree, our newest employee, got so inspired she painted her nails sparkly, too. Who will be the next Mata girl to jump on this trend? I’m betting Joni.
Editor’s Note (Editor is Jonit aka Joni): You’re right, Mo…I’ve been eyeing the sparkly polish for months now.
Ikat is a print known and loved around the world. Mata uses ikat prints in many of their pieces, and, as we all know, Mata’s pieces are handmade by Indian women artisans. I thought I’d delve into this world of ikat and really see what is behind the scenes. I was in for a surprise. Hopes of a DIY ikat project were shattered when I found out how intricate this process is. I didn’t even know how to pronounce ikat correctly until I heard Maureen say it; it is pronounced ‘ee-kaht.’ It is a style of weaving where the yarn is dyed in zigzag or geometric patterns. The weaver chooses the exact pattern by wrapping the yarns with wax and clay before dipping it in different dyes. It is like a puzzle that gets more complicated with each color that is in the ikat design. Since the threads are dyed before they are woven it gives an “inaccurate” color distribution resulting in the enchanting blurred edges of the finished product.
Ikat weaving may have originated in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Time-wise, it is unknown how far back ikat textiles go (some say 10th century). A strip of ikat fabric was an extremely prized possession and status symbol because of the time and precision it took to make each piece. Trade and European travelers brought ikat west, where it has had a great influence on the design world ever since. Here are some examples of how ikat is used currently in interior design:
And used in fashion design:
It is such a beautiful, exotic, and romantic print. Here I am wearing Mata’s new ikat shorts – the quintessential spring/summer item. A simple Must Have.
And don’t forget about Mata’s ‘Adobe Diamonds Dress!’
(I love this dress with cowboy boots)
Once you understand the complexity of the craft it means so much more to look at the clothing you are wearing – a piece that Mata’s women lovingly and carefully made using ancient techniques! I’m in love.
xoLaura
(Photo credits: galenfrysinger.com, pinterest.com, toms.com, matatraders.com)
I was visiting a friend in Santa Cruz recently and thought it would be fun to pop into Wallflower Boutique, a shop that carries us. So, I googled the shop to see where I was going, clicked on street view, and what did I see?
Two Mata dresses in the window!!!
That’s the Charity dress and the Princess dress from the Spring ‘10 collection. We only have a few extra larges left at this point, but they’re on sale for $28.
The Charity dress, named after our stylish friend and CPS teacher Charity Atteberry Hamman, is making another appearance this season. Now called the Sula Dress, this easy number comes in 3 new prints in our Spring ‘12 collection: rust, green, and blue.
ps. Wallflower is awesome! Stop in for some seriously good shopping if you’re in Santa Cruz.
You might have noticed something missing from fashion lately:
Cut outs are popping up everywhere. And guess what? Mata’s already on trend with their ‘Forget Me Not’ dress.
You can find it here. I love that this cut out dress is still bra friendly- Mata makes it easy!
I have way too many Full House references in my mind right now, but I will spare you, and leave you with only this:
xoLaura
Do we get the most photogenic interns or what? That’s Mallika and Laura in New Buffalo, Michigan and our own talented Taylor behind the lens.
This collection of fair trade, handmade clothing – dresses, skirts, and tops – features fun, sunny styles with our signature hand-block printed cotton. Click on the image for more information on each piece.
Our Charity of the Month for April is Inspiration Corporation, the coolest place to volunteer. IC is a community organization that helps people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness, offering meals, case management, job training, and housing. What started out 23 years ago as one woman pulling a little red Radio Flyer wagon filled with sandwiches and coffee is now a powerhouse of homeless services.
But they still maintain that family feel through the 2 core programs: Inspiration Cafe and The Living Room Cafe. In these gorgeous spaces, participants gather daily for meals and camaraderie. The meals are cooked and served by volunteers, and this has got to be one of the coolest volunteer opportunities in the city. Where else can a volunteer have direct interaction and develop personal relationships with the people they’re there to help? It’s a friendly environment and a meaningful experience, for sure.
Serving meals is my personal favorite volunteer job at IC, but there are others. Mock-interviewers are always needed to give practice to participants who are applying for work. You could also volunteer in the resource center, giving basic lessons on Word, Excel, and even online job searching.
Don’t have time to volunteer, but still want to be involved? Well, ya gotta eat, don’t ya? Stop by Inspiration Kitchens!! One of the most innovative of IC’s programs, Inspiration Kitchens is a social enterprise – a job training program consisting of 2 restaurants open to the public, one in Uptown and one in Garfield Park. After several weeks of classroom instruction, students get on-the-job training in the restaurants, preparing and serving delicious food to happy customers.
I was recently one of those happy customers. You can read my review of that experience here.
What is fair trade? That question comes up a lot. I have 2 knee-jerk responses that I tend to blurt out in equal share:
A way of doing business that’s based on transparency of production and treating the producers fairly instead of exploiting them.
or
A movement to end global poverty by paying people a fair wage for the products they make instead of exploiting them.
Of course, fair trade is more complicated than one sentence, and I usually follow up with explaining some of the principles of fair trade like no child labor, safe working conditions, etc.
I recently heard fair trade activist, Jackie DeCarlo, discuss the official definition during a conversation on what has been a bit of a controversy in the fair trade movement – fair trade certification for factory produced garments. I encourage you to listen to her whole presentation, but her definition begins at 7:15.
‘Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency, and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair Trade Organizations (backed by consumers) are actively engaged in supporting producers, in awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practices of conventional international trade.’
Want to delve a little deeper into fair trade? Jackie’s got a book on the subject (click the image to find out how to purchase):
A family friend asked for an advanced order on our best-selling Spring dress, the Forget Me Not. She needed it in time for her granddaughter’s 16th birthday. We literally just got it in, so I shipped it out right away. It hasn’t even gone live on the website (next week, after we send out our wholesale orders). My mom sent me this pic of Ally in the dress, and she’s looking sweet in Mata spring. What a cutie! The dress is perfect on her.
When I saw this photo of Academy Award-nominated actress Jessica Chastain, I did a double take.
Was she wearing our Terra earrings?
Alas, no. She is wearing Jade and Diamond Bochic Earrings, and Julianna Margulies has the same ones.
Looks like green earrings are a hot trend on the red carpet. Get the look for less with us – our Terra Earrings are only $16!
Emily and I recently got back from the Pool trade show at Mandalay Bay in Vegas. Happy to say we made our sales targets (woot!). We also saw some seriously fresh fashion. My brain was a buzzin’ with all the trends – totally ahead of the curve and everyone’s bringing out their true style sense.
Miss Emily getting the booth ready.
My momma at a cool art installation.
Guy from Formalitees.
Even the doggies dress up.
Jeffrey Campbell shoes
Here are some pictures of some of our buyers – they inspire us and we are so proud that they carry Mata!
Chrome - Lubbock, TX
Audrey K - Burbank, CA
Branch Out - New Orleans, LA
Show and Tell - Oakland, CA
Molly Green - Homewood, AL
Ruche - Fullerton, CA
Rue de Mimo - South Pasadena, CA (Spot the Mata!)
In our Fall 2011 collection we debuted Mata Home, a line of home decor featuring our trademark block prints with hand-stitched embroidery and applique.
The line was designed by none other than Maureen’s mom, Nora Howe. An artist and art teacher, Nora’s been involved in the creative process at Mata Traders since the beginning, particularly with textile and applique design.
Over the holiday season, Maureen and Nora had a blast decorating Nora’s home with Mata Home. Check out these gorgeous pictures!
On the table
For the week of March 7-14, we’re running a special on these fabulous home pieces. When you spend $50 on Home Decor, you’ll get $10 off with the coupon code MATA HOME.
In the bedroom
For the holidays
There are things that I come across, stories and images online, that have a big impact on me – really shake me up. I feel like it is important to publicize these things, to spread the word. So:
The finger test really is as bad as it sounds.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/india/101029/rape-laws-health-finger-test-women
Thousands of dead baby albatrosses with stomachs filled with lethal quantities of plastic.
http://chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000668%2016×21
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