I haven’t been blogging for a long time. I missed it!

I am not a friend of obligatory gifting….. but of course I still want to show my love with gifts to my loved ones. When you are too busy to remember and to give all year long, The holiday season feels like the time to reconnect. Even if you are not a believer or have different beliefs, the Holidays still get to you! It must be the magic of the holiday lights and Christmas carols and the smell of cardamon (whatever that is)!

Here is my list of
1- Non Material Gifts (the kind I like the most)

The first one on my list is GIVE LOVE and TIME! By giving someone your time and undivided attention it provides an opportunity to reconnect with one another. Talking with them for a day, half a day or even just one hour can be a very fun and relaxing time for both of you.

GIVE HELP: Help with the undone chores and repairs, go do the grocery shopping, help fix a computer issue, help with legal issues…..however big or small the task -it matters!

GIVE SKILLS: Teaching someone “How to….” is a great gift. Everybody has a talent. It can be cooking, arts and crafts, business survival skills, gardening….. you name it! What are you good at???? You’ll be surprised how much people appreciate it!

GIVE AN EXPERIENCE: Give someone a 1 hour yoga, pilates, dance or meditation class or a massage. If you can’t do it yourself, take them to a studio and share the experience together.

GIVE HELP TO OTHERS IN NEED by contributing in the name of the person you are gifting. I love the idea of Adopting a Snow Leopard (from our partner Snow Leopard Trust) which helps protect the endangered snow leopards and thier habitat. Another idea is giving to an orphange. There are many orphanages in many countries that would love your help many ways. Choosing the right non-profit beneficiary to support can be difficult, but it is rewarding if you find one matching the interest of the person you are gifting. Together you can track back and see how your money gets spent and see directly the benefits of your gift.

There are countless other non-material gifts (actions) you can take to make others happy, and of course yourself at the same time!

By creating a symbolic item, card or certificate, to describe your non-material gift, you can also ensure they experience the joy of opening and holding a present and of course it helps if you tell the story of the gift along with it!

Giving material gifts is unavoidably, but also pleasurably connected to the Holiday season. So here are some thoughts on that!

2- Material Gifts

GIVE WHAT THEY NEED: Figure out if the person you are gifting has a material need. If you can afford it, pay the rent/mortgage for the entire family, I am sure they will appreciate it very much. Pay the electric or gas bill for your mom! Or the Monthly payments for …. you name it! Or get some friends together and build that new front deck, garden walkway, ramp or kitchen cabinets they have been needing so long.

With things instead of actions, it is of course easier to enjoy the unwrapping, etc. Material gifts are best when they are remembered the whole year around. So be remembered with gifts made with Quality, Design, Sustainability and Love!

We can shape our environment, our and our children’s lifetimes with our conscious consumption decisions. Sustainable Products from natural materials like glass, wool, Organic cotton, metal, porcelain, wood, seeds, paper, plants are easily renewable, reusable and recyclable.

We can make a difference.

My next installment will be about our Holiday offerings along those lines, but you can already sneak a peak by going to our Gift Guide!

Please join us for a Special Event open house
at YOGA AMONG FRIENDS, a yoga-dedicated
center where they encourage you to be yourself
and know that you are among friends.

Date: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED. NEW DATE TO COME.
Location: YOGA AMONG FRIENDS
4949 Forest Ave
Downers Grove, IL
Contact: Phone (630)960-5488 for more info
Website: www.yogaamongfriends.com
Program: Come and try on the new Prancing Leopard Organics clothing
everyone is talking about. Featured in Daily Candy, Women’s Wear Daily
and Pilates Style Magazine, these fashion-forward clothes are turning
heads across the country. Learn more about Uptown Pilates.
Refreshments will be served.

I really love my harem pants and wear them all the time

Well . . but I am very surprised that the harem fever didn’t already spread to the US years ago - in other countries Harem pants have been popular for a while! It occurs to me that perhaps most people living in America prefer to follow trends as a group rather than play with fashion trends on an individual basis!

With the Harem pants, the idea is to have a skirt-like pant which provides freedom of movement, with a low crotch, which has a contour which doesn’t necessarily reveal the exact contour of the lower body contour!

This was the first style in the collection we completed for sampling, and it kind of set the tone for all the other pieces in the collection in terms of how we treated the seams and cuffs in the end and what weight the fabric should have for pants . . etc.

Prancing Leopard Organic cotton Harem pants have modern cuts and detailing.
By using a bit less fabric in the middle (than the usual harem pants), the volume of fabric doesn’t iritate you, for instance when you want to cross your legs in a pose or when sitting. These pants are designed not restrict movement. For many of us, it is still an unusual style. But for those who carry the fashion to the studio it is a must - this is the perfect outfit - strong enough to make a great impression even combined with a plain top (for instance Leblon top in black gray or white - or the color version with built-in shelf bra).

In the Eurasian cultural tradition, women have worn harem pants in every situation from getting married to working in the field. They were practical, roomy and versatile - for instance women used them to help sort their seeds in the folds of the pants while squating in the field. They took women anywhere they needed to go, to important formal occasions or just to wear around the house, feeling great.

At Prancing Leopard Organics, we explore beyond these traditional and cultural borders. We love the forms that can be created and the freedom of wearing harem pants allows. They take the modern wearer where they need to go too, all day long, from the café to yoga or dance and then out for an evening.

Many women find that this slightly cropped pant is especially flattering when paired with a tight fitting or cropped top. This emphasizes the pant and balances the shape for a very modern and stylish look.

Even in the world of high fashion, the production process will surprise you from time to time. Our factory, being Turkish, is somewhat familiar with Harem design and selected a snug-fitting waistband which simply runs a bit tight for the size. So for most of us, the Small runs more like an XS, the Medium is more like a small and the Large is more like medium. Of course individuals lucky enough to have a fairly small waist for their size can stick with their size and enjoy them all the more! For exact sizing details please see the measurements for these pants in our website.

We are not only organic, but also somewhat obsessed about finding new ways to reduce the wastefulness typical in the clothing business and manufacturing processes. As long as the quality, functionality and appeal of a style have been achieved, we find ways to deal with whatever smaller problems occur in order to reduce the waste in manufacturing. So the Harem pant is one of those issues where quality, functionality and style appeal are right on! So sizing up became the solution. Try on a pair, you won’t regret it!

The Harem pants come in Black, White and Grey in 95% Long-fiber Turkish Organic Cotton + 5% Lycra for just the right amount of stretch and comfort.

Love,
Sevda

P.S. Here is a photo of the interior of the famous Harem quarters in the royal Ottoman Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul. Very much worth the visit - we were there last year in July. Imagine a young member of the Harem moving through the quarters with her litany of servants and friends - dressed in beautiful, comfortable Harem pants of course! -Bert

As I started the designs for the active wear - especially with yoga, Pilates and dance in mind, I wanted to have many different versions of jumpers. I think we had 4 different patterns….. This carmague body was the winner….. the best looking of all.

Compared with the Carmague body, all the other styles looked like they were not complete.  The challenge became to make the elegant smooth lines without adding more stitching details to the cuts. The best solution I found was to make it double layered, with a clean finish from both the inside and the outside.  We had to test the product before the production because I was not sure about the double layers. Well . . . both yogis and dancers loved it. They liked the warming, almost gently hugging quality of the style. And most of the people preferred the reversible one to the single layered version.

So the result was that this jumper is double layered, reversible, soft and warm and nostalgic “I love my body” clothing.  It is magic; almost like three outfits in one: Outside with a single color, the reverse side in another color, and then the fact that the reverse side has the optical effect of a short plus a tank-top.

At first, many people fear that jumpers would be impractical (you know, half naked in the bathroom . . . ).  But then in practice you notice that it is actually a better alternative to the standard combination of shorts and a tank top, because you don’t have to keep pulling your tank top down to cover your midriff after almost every yoga pose!  I remembered how disturbing it was.

Our Carmague one-piece body is named after the wild and magical river delta of the Rhone in southern France, most of which is now a wild-life preserve and bird refuge - a national park where they still have wild horses running free.  It is windy and fresh and you just want to celebrate life and move with the wind.

Horses in Carmague National Park - Salt Marsh River Delta - Photo Daniel Haug

The Carmague Jumper comes in three different combination:

1- White all over! inside and outside….. reversible: 95% organic cotton Jersey 5% lycra.

2- Black outside and gray top + black shorts inside, reversible: 95% organic cotton Jersey 5% lycra.

3- Gray outside and turq. top + gray short inside, reversible (temporarily out of stock)

Please comment: what do you think about one piece outfits in general?

The Heavenly Bahia is one my my favorite “good for several years” styles! It is modern and sporty and stylish. The drawstrings enable you to wear it a different way each time: if you pull the drawstrings tight around your hips, you can wear it baggy. If you make it even tighter and bring it up to the waist, then you effectively shorten the tunic and it becomes a T-shirt. Loosen the strings, or even take them out (you can put them back in) and you will be able to wear this tunic as a short dress. You can also find many creative ways to style yourself and combine this tunic with shorts, tights, pants, etc.

At first I envisioned a simple T-shirt design as the starting point for this piece. But I didn’t like the idea of designing just another T-shirt to add to the mountains of T-shirts already in production! The fine difference of having a Moon neck (this is one signature design element of Prancing Leopard) was not enough to legitimatize the “just another T-shirt argument”!

We call this Tunic “Heavenly Bahia” because we love Bahia and had a wonderful time there in Morro de Sao Paulo just a few years back. Just the unspoiled nature, and the beauty and soul of the Bahianas (not to mention their heavenly food!), and of course the sense of style, music and love of life which vibrates through every pore when you are there.

You will love this very high quality product. This is not just my favorite . . . . we have sold a lot of them already. Our dear customers like the idea of dressing flexibly!

It comes in:
Charcoal Black with a grey Prancing Leopard appliqué - cotton Jersey -95% organic cotton 5 % Lycra
Cloud Gray with a black Prancing Leopard appliqué - cotton Jersey -95% organic cotton 5 % Lycra
and in Silver Grey without the Prancing Leopard appliqué in fine mercerized silky 100% organic cotton.

I am also planning a Panther Pink without a Logo and our earthy Mango Orange, both without logo in fine 100 % organic cotton. What do you think? Which colors are your favorites?

Namaste!

Sevda

Marbella is a wonderful place, we visited there in 2004 and just loved the beautiful town and the sophisticated people there. So when we finished with the design we named it after the town.

Marbella was one of my first Prancing Leopard designs. When you look at the drawing and the end product… It certainly had it’s own evolution in the process of sample production. It had to be little bit more sensual, reveal more beauty.

Asymmetry is one of my favorite design elements. Our bodies are symmetrical from top to bottom on first sight… but not really in detail. I like the way this Marbella top differentiates right from left but stays at the same time equally interesting.

I intended this “sophisticated must have” to enable you to change your daily routine. This is truly a “no need to change” top….. all day long from breakfast to out-for-dinner.

It has turned out to be my most popular top.

-Sevda

P.S. It comes in Black, Grey, Turquoise, Lilac, White, and Light Green.

Hi again….. My family and I  spent the summer 2008 in Europe. One of my favorite places was Aix-en Provence. Such a beautiful town!

The established cultural mix of east and west in fashion was just stunning. It inspired me! People have been wearing harem-style fashionably in other countries for a few years. I thought, why not harem-style for active and yoga wear! It is more than harem style, it is a statement! It is total freedom of movement (especially if made from soft and flexible natural fabrics)!

We made a lot of samples before we decided to go with this one! One sample was accidentally made from this very fine organic cotton fabric. I liked it so much we decided to use this beautiful fabric, which was not in the program, but in our sampling corner. Somehow the  100% organic very fine cotton fabric and the feeling when you wear it and the beautiful folds that form as it drapes over the boy, the cut, the pockets were all of the sudden so perfect!  We decided to manufacture a ton of that fine organic cotton fabric just in order to produce that same wonderful jumpsuit!

And we made a different version with a cotton jersey for the people who prefer stretch fabrics - only in black this time.

Enjoy the lightness and feeling of freedom of this piece, whether in 100 % organic fine cotton or our beautiful soft sueded 95% organic cotton jersey. It is perfect for prancing around whole day but it is also great for practice, meditation or light excersize.

Thanks for reading,

Sevda

colors available:

Gray in S/M/L fine 100% organic cotton

Pink in S/M/L  fine 100% organic cotton

Black in S/M in 95% organic cotton 5% Lycra

Buy the jumpsuit

Which style should I start with? I love all of them! But the one I spent a tremendous amount of time to construct & design is the KALBARRI HOODIE.

It was worth it. I wear it all the time. In fact I don’t mind this cool summer with my stylish hoodie. I have one in Charcoal Black and one in Cloud Grey. Black feels more comfortable in the evening (it is not a regular sports hoodie) and sometimes I even wear it for casual business meetings. Gray is just a bit sportier, more for the street and studio, like the white one. But I’m not careful enough with my ink pen or my Earl Grey tea to wear anything white!!!!

This Drawing was the first design . . . . .

Initially I tried making a drawstring all around from head to neck to tail and manage it all with one string. But it didn’t work! After trying all kinds of forms I was about to give up……

Starting over again, I worked one long day hands on with my pattern maker Aycan, discussing it also with Cem (my agent - who liked having longer ribbed cuffs). It took Hamsa (my sample maker) another entire day to cut and sew and finalize the details. Finally this design worked!!!! Even in series production it takes a long time to manufacture this style; because it is unusual and a bit complicated.

Of course we’re glad that we did not give up! Thanks to Cem and Aycan for supporting me!

By the way…. we will receive a Panther Pink version of the hoodie very soon. How delicious it would look with Pear Green Yala pants from the collection!

Thanks for reading!

Sevda
Prancing Leopard Organics

Buy the 95% Organic Cotton, 5% Lycra Kalbarri Hoodie