beginning june 19th, we’re having our first ever SALE!!

everything in the hand-made one of a kind section has been marked down. there are not very many things to sell, as people love the one-of pieces so much so that they always tend to sell out quite quickly, but over the years, we’ve acquired a mini collection of some things we thought instead of keeping for our archives, we’d let go for a sale…so here you are! everything in the hand made section is at least 50% off, some things are even marked lower than 75% off!

click here to see our Sale. happy shopping! and let me now if you have any questions. you can email me at sales@christinahattler.com.

Spring is upon us (finally!), which means, amongst many other things, that I must begin dissecting what it is I will be creating for my Spring 2008 collection. Though I do have a few planned surprises up my sleeves- the first and best, is that I will be collaborating for the first time with jewelry designer Arlene Guerra. Her line is called PYT (Pretty Young Thing…you know, the PYTs of Michael Jackson fame) and you can see her work here She always seems to be in Teen Vogue and she’s also made quite a name for herself in Japan, where they love her…Arlene has done styling for me in the past, she worked on my first two photo shoots ever- lending me her most spectacular eye. She really can transform a look with just a twist here and a bright something or other there…so I feel very lucky that we’re going to work together on this new series of dresses. she’s going to come down to visit me sometime in June and I’m really excited to see her reaction to the colors, smells, music and people here. You know her parents are from Mexico…and she has never been here!! so imagine the fun we’ll have.

And so for this series of new Spring pieces, I will also (and finally!!) begin to work with indigenous embroidery and weaving collectives. I’ve been living in Mexico for about a year now, and its not easy finding these women! Their pueblos are forgotten for the big cities, hidden behind mountain ranges and twisting with rural dirt roads that can go on for miles which are literally not on the maps! But when you eventually find them, it is a gift from the gods, as the hand work you find, which is quickly giving into extinction, is worth every flat tire and hour being lost imaginable. So my plan beginning with the Spring 2008 Collection is to begin working with these different indigenous communities, as a platform to display their beautiful stunning work.

above are some photos of beautiful women representing different parts of mexico

So many friends have asked me for Mexican recipes over the past year, that I figured it would be most beneficial to all, not to mention more fun, to just post them here… it also fills up space for when I really don’t have anything interesting to relay to the world about whats going on in my own world of work…enjoy!

Enchiladas de pollo con salsa verde

This will more or less feed 4-6 starving fools with a bit of salsa let over for some chilaquilles in the morning

Salsa verde

I’ve taken 4 different salsa recipes and mixed them together to come out with what I think is the best salsa verde in existence! Nojoke! the original recipe is tomas’ mothers, another one is from one of Diana kennedy’s books, the third is from Salvador a Mexican friend in Miami (he’s originally from Chihuahua) and the last bits are from Pablo, a Lebanese- Mexican friend I have now.

(You can make this up to 2 days in advance- the longer it sits the better it will taste)

Ingredients

• 15 medium sized tomatillos (those little green tomatoes that come in a brown husk)- take the husks off and wash the tomatillos • 6 serano chiles (for a medium state of spicy) • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves– washed and roughly chopped • Ground Sea salt – 1tbsp • ½ large white onion- sliced • 2 garlic cloves- mashed with the side of a knife (not chopped) • ¼ cup of white vinegar • ¼ cup Vegetable oil for frying • Large frying pan filled with about ½ inch of water • Blender • A gas stove is best- or use a frying pan to blister ½ of the ingredients

directions

Place the large frying pan with water on the stove top, med-low heat. Place the onion, ½ the seranos and ½ the tomatillos in there, watch the tomatillos carefully, for about 8 -10 min. the tomatillos should be a little squishy but don’t let them loose the green color. If they become too yellowish, you will end up with salsa Amarillo, yellow sauce, instead! So make sure they keep green. When finished, set aside. Reserve the water, you’re going to use this to make the sauce later.

Take the other ½ of the tomatillos and the rest of the chiles and burns the shit out of them on the flame of the stove. Try to get them black all over-

Place all the tomatillos in a bowl (both the cooked and burnt ones) and place all of the the seranos together in a dish. get the blender ready. have the pan with the water onions and garlic, the tomatillos, seranos, the cilantro, vinegar and salt all near the blender. And get an extra empty bowl to store the sauce in after its been blended. Begin the blending by adding cilantro, 4 tomatillos (2 cooked and two burnt) part of one clove, some onion, some vinegar, some salt and some of the water from the pan- blend it on high so its soupy and mixed well pur the sauce into the extra bowl. Repeat this until you’ve used all the sauce ingredients up—

Back at the stove now, place the frying oil in a large pot and heat it up to high—when its hot and ready, pour the sauce into the pot slowly- and let it fry- until it rises to a full boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and let it smmer for about 15-20 min to cook it down a bit to thicken it up. Will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Enchiladas

This is recipe is all tomas’ mom….mariana

ingredients

• 5-6 medium sized cleaned chicken breasts • ½ large white onion sliced • ½ large white onion chopped well • ½ large purple onion chopped well • 2 garlic gloves • 1 tsp salt • Pot for boiling chicken with enough water to cover boiling chicen • 15-18 normal sized corn tortillas (if you can find them hand made, that is the best!) • Large 2 inch tall (or so) ovenproof baking dish • 1 ½ cups Mexican crema- or sour cream • 2 cups cheese- the best is a mixture of queso oaxaca and queso fresco (you can usually find this at any decent grocery store- though if you have a Mexican market in town, best to go there as the cheese will be fresher you can add a little parmesan for bite- also cheddar or jack- what ever you feel like, so long that it melts well…shred and cut up the cheese so it is in small cubes or pieces- and meltable • Large pan for frying • 1 cup of vegetable oil for frying • 10 paper towels folded in ½ • Tin foil • 6 limes halved or quartered • ¼ cup cilantro cleaned and chopped

Directions

Boil water in pot and then place the chicken, sliced onion, garlic and salt into the pot. Cook until done. When finished set chicken on a place to cool. Once cooled, shred/pull the chicken apart with your fingers as thin as you can get it and set aside. You can keep the water for a stock or soup.

Heat up the oil in the fry pan on high heat. Once sizzling, place the tortillas in one by one for about 5 secs on each side- you want them to be fried but not crispy/hard. After each tortilla is fried, place it in the fold of a paper towel and then layer them as you fry onto the paper towels to soak out some of the oil and this also keeps them from getting hard.

Pre-heat the oven to about 350

At this point you need the salsa verde- place a ½ inch layer of salsa in the baking dish, and form an assembly line with your ingredients, or just have them all in arms length of you- start with a tortilla, fill the middle section with the shredded chicken, roll it up, and then place it on one end of the pan. Repeat this until you’ve filled up the pan’s bottom forming a row of tortillas. Smear a good amount of crema over the top of the tortillas then generously sprinkle some chopped white onion on top of that, then smother cheese on top of the enchiladas. Then take a ladle and pour salsa verde over everything, make sure you get it all wet and juicy, because you don’t want to it to dry out in the oven. Begin again by placing another layer of chicken filled tortillas over the first layer and repeat the process covering it all again with more salsa verde- lots of it!....repeat this again if you have any left over tortillas and chicken, filling up even the sides of the dish if you need to. (writing this is making me soo hungry!)

Cover the dish with tin foil and place it in the oven for15-20 min. you mainly want the cheese and crema to melt over everything.

Have little dishes with extra salsa (heated up), limes, cilantro, creama and the purple onions, some crumbled queso fresco, and salt to serve…and some Mexican beer of course! Bohemia is a good one if you can find it.

Buen provecho!

xoxo christina

woohoo~! i’ve finally gotten around to posting some one-of-a-kind looks in the handmade boutique. take a peek. i should be doing this more regularly from now on…so keep checking back every now and then, ok?

Yesterday, I finally took photos of some one-of-a-kind looks I had promised to put up in the shop! i also have two new versions of my violet dress for spring i want to show you all….today I’m in the midst of finishing up my taxes- last min, I know… though tomorrow and Wednesday I will be working to get all those great photos up onto the site’s boutique. I also took photos of my fall 2007 ‘Full Moon’ collection so look out for those on the site some time next week. Here’s a little sneak preview.

This past weekend we took a short trip to a beautiful place called Valle de Bravo. what the Hamptons is to New Yorkers, Valle is to those who live in Mexico City- a warm (fancy) escape. On the way we came across the last of the Monarch butterflies heading back to Canada for the summer. Apparently they come to Mexico for winter to mate and live a little, then head back to Canada for cooler temperatures come summer. I missed seeing the full exodus in the beginning of February, but we were lucky enough to get just a glimpse of the last few leaving…

for summer, I’m going to be producing the linen violet dress in a black floor length version and also a cream mini-dress (two inches above the knee) (these will be made in limited editions of 50). The cream version can also be ordered floor length via the special ordering process. I’m thinking it would make a very sweet summer wedding-in-the-country gown…daisy chains, bumble bees…

I will be posting photos of these new dresses and some new one-of-a-kind looks (finally!) in the store late next week so look out for them!

I received the following letter from a client a week ago and think its one of the nicest and most complimentary letters regarding my work I have ever received. Reading a letter such as this reaffirms why i m even sewing in the first place. Thanks Deborah!

Dear Christina,

I recently moved from New York to Dallas. A year or two before I moved, however, I was fortunate enough to pass beautiful little Albertine to and from my way to work. Everyday I would admire the delicate dresses draped on the mannequins in the windows and they would completely take my breath away. I soon met Kyong, Miranda, and Phillipa, and became a frequent customer. Spending time flipping through the racks even whisked away a bad day at work.

The Christina Hattler pieces were my favorite of the group. Kyong would even call me to let me preview some of the new pieces. I found each of the pieces to be so original, feminine, and quite frankly, genius. I own two of your dresses: a black silk halter dress with white lace around the neckline and collar with gold beads around the neckline and another colorful dress in pink, purple, and blue stripes. It has an adorable sweetheart neckline and a drawstring at the waist. I wanted to let you know that these are THE most compelling items in my closet…dresses that remind me of true talent and seem more like pieces of art. I plan to give them to my daughter one day…

I previewed your website and am so excited to be able to keep up with your work even though I no longer live in the city and stop in Albertine whenever I please. If I am ever in Miami, I hope to stop by your studio and say hello.

Good luck and thank you!

Sincerely,

Deborah

below is a smart article from the thursday’s style section of the NYT about, amongst other things, how fast inexpensive fashion from places such as target and forever 21 are creating an environmental disaster—it also speaks about how polyester is more environmentally friendly than cotton… or silk for that matter— i very much dislike those unnatural fibers! oh what a terrible shame! also yesterday, the JCreport dedicated their new issue to none other than….Sustainability. very intriguing stuff and very important in these strange weather days.

for my one-of- a-kind looks, i regularly recycle bits and pieces from vintage and antique clothing, the sleeves from an outdated victor alfaro for example or the beaded trim details of a turn of the century cape otherwise left for the moths. its a beginning i suppose. and then the next step would be weening oneself away from purchasing cheap trendy throwawayable items and buying classic WELL MADE pieces you’ll wear your entire life—now thats a novel conceptt!

NYT article:

Can Polyester Save the World?

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL Published: January 25, 2007

WOKING, England

JOSEPHINE COPELAND and her 20-year-old daughter, Jo Jo, visited Primark at the Peacock Center mall here, in the London suburbs, to buy presents for friends, but ended up loaded with clothes for themselves: boots, a cardigan, a festive blouse, and a long silver coat with faux fur trim, which cost £12 but looks like a million bucks. “If it falls apart, you just toss it away!” said Jo Jo, proudly wearing her purchase.

Environmentally, that is more and more of a problem.

With rainbow piles of sweaters and T-shirts that often cost less than a sandwich, stores like Primark are leaders in the quick-growing “fast fashion” industry, selling cheap garments that can be used and discarded without a second thought. Consumers, especially teenagers, love the concept, pioneered also by stores like H&M internationally and by Old Navy and Target in the United States, since it allows them to shift styles with speed on a low budget.

But clothes — and fast clothes in particular — are a large and worsening source of the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, because of how they are both produced and cared for, concludes a new report from researchers at Cambridge University titled “Well Dressed?”

The global textile industry must become eco-conscious, the report concludes. It explores how to develop a more “sustainable clothing” industry — a seeming oxymoron in a world where fashions change every few months.

“Hmmm,” said Sally Neild, 44, dressed in casual chic, in jeans and boots, as she pondered such alien concepts, shopping bags in hand. “People now think a lot about green travel and green food. But I think we are a long way from there in terms of clothes. People are mad about those stores.”

It is hard to imagine how customers who rush after trends, or the stores that serve them, will respond to the report’s suggestions: that people lease clothes and return them at the end of a month or a season, so the garments can be lent again to someone else — like library books — and that they buy more expensive and durable clothing that can be worn for years.

In terms of care, the report highlights the benefits of synthetic fabrics that require less hot water to wash and less ironing. It suggests that consumers air-dry clothes and throw away their tumble dryers, which require huge amounts of energy.

But some big retailers are starting to explore their options. “Our research shows that customers are getting very concerned about environmental issues, and we don’t want to get caught between the eyes,” said Mike Barry, head of corporate social responsibility at Marks & Spencer, one of Britain’s largest retailers, which helped pay for the Cambridge study. “It’s a trend that we know won’t go away after a season, like a poncho.”

Customers “will ask ‘what are you doing?’ ” Mr. Barry said, noting that 70 percent of Britons shop at his chain. “So we’re doing a lot of thinking about what a sustainable clothing industry could look like in five years.”

Consumers spend more than $1 trillion a year on clothing and textiles, an estimated one-third of that in Western Europe, another third in North America, and about a quarter in Asia. In many places, cheap, readily disposable clothes have displaced hand-me-downs as the mainstay of dressing.

“My mother had the same wardrobe her entire life,” Ms. Neild said. “For my daughter, styles change every six months and you need to keep up.”

As a result, women’s clothing sales in Britain rose by 21 percent between 2001 and 2005 alone to about £24 billion ($47.6 billion), spurred by lower prices, according to the Cambridge report.

And while many people have grown accustomed to recycling cans, bottles and newspapers, used clothes are generally thrown away. “In a wealthy society, clothing and textiles are bought as much for fashion as for function,” the report says, and that means that clothes are replaced “before the end of their natural life.”

Dr. Julian Allwood, who led a team of environmental researchers in conducting the report, noted in an interview that it is now easier for British consumers to toss unwanted clothes than to take them to a recycling center, and easier to throw clothes into the hamper for a quick machine wash and dry than to sponge off stains.

He hopes his report will educate shoppers about the costs to the environment, so that they change their behavior.

There are many examples of how changing consumer priorities have forced even the most staid retailers to alter the way they do business.

Last year Marks & Spencer — Britain’s mainstay for products like underwear and shortbread — decided to go organic in its food business; it now sells only fair-trade coffee and teas, for example. Many executives regarded the shift as a foolish and risky decision, but the store found that sales jumped 12 percent. The store learned a lesson that executives think will apply to clothes.

“Morally, we know more sustainable clothing is the right thing to do, but we are more and more convinced that commercially it is the right thing as well,” Mr. Barry said. In fact, marketing the “green” value of clothing, even if costs a bit more, may provide an advantage over competitors.

Part of the problem is that neither manufacturers nor customers understand much about how and when clothing purchases degrade the environment, since these can occur anywhere from the harvest of cotton or the manufacture of synthetic fibers to how — and how often — the garment must be washed.

“We’ve got fantastic standards when it comes to food, but it is all brand-new when it comes to clothes,” Mr. Barry admitted. “We have a lot to learn.”

In their efforts to buy green, customers tend to focus on packaging and chemicals, issues that do not factor in with clothing. Likewise, they purchase “natural” fibers like cotton, believing they are good for the environment.

But that is not always the case: while so-called organic cotton is exemplary in the way it avoids pesticides, cotton garments squander energy because they must be washed frequently at high temperatures, and generally require tumble-drying and ironing. Sixty percent of the carbon emissions generated by a simple cotton T-shirt comes from the 25 washes and machine dryings it will require, the Cambridge study found.

A polyester blouse, by contrast, takes more energy to make, since synthetic fabric comes from materials like wood and oil. But upkeep is far more fuel-efficient, since polyester cleans more easily and dries faster.

Over a lifetime, a polyester blouse uses less energy than a cotton T-shirt.

One way to change the balance would be to develop technology to treat cotton so that it did not absorb odors so readily.

Also, Dr. Allwood said that “reducing washing temperature has a huge impact,” speaking of a significant drop from about 122 Fahrenheit to 105. Even better, he said, would be to drop washing temperature below normal body temperatures, but that would require changes in washing machines and detergents.

The report suggests that retailers could begin to lease clothes for a season (just as wedding stores rent tuxedos) or buy back old clothes from customers at a discount, for recycling.

But experiments along these lines have faltered. A decade ago, Hanna Andersson, an eco-conscious American clothing company, tried offering mail-order customers 20 percent credit toward new purchases if they sent back their used garments. This “hannadowns” program was canceled after two years.

People hope “we’ll find new sources of energy, so we won’t really have to change much,” Dr. Allwood said. “But that is extremely unlikely.”

To cut back the use of carbons and make fashion truly sustainable, shoppers will have “to own less, to have less stuff,” Dr. Allwood said. “And that is a very hard sell.”

And so Marks & Spencer is thinking about whether its customers will be willing to change their buying habits, to pay more for less-fashionable but “sustainable” garments. After all, consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for clothes not made in sweatshops, and some are unwilling to buy diamonds because of forced labor in African mines.

On a recent day outside Marks & Spencer on Guildford High Street, where everyone was loaded with shopping bags, Audrey Mammana, who is 45, said she was not “a throw-away person” and would be happy to lease high-end clothing for a season. She would also be willing to repair old clothes to extend their use, although fewer shops perform this task.

But, she added: “If you cut out tumble-drying, I think you’d lose me. I couldn’t do without that.”

finally the invite!....pls rsvp to chattler@christinahattler.com if you’re coming, i hope to see you all there!