Fur Free Forever Please

2010 was an incredibly interesting year and one that I will always remember as the year I woke up from a dream, of sorts. You see, earlier this year i decided to move towards a plant based diet and to move away from using leather in my main collection, John Bartlett. My boyfriend John Esty and I decided to stop wearing leather, even our shoes and belts, and have begun encouraging our friends to seek out alternatives to leather and other animal derived materials.

This journey was prompted, ironically, by all of the animal fur that has returned to the forefront of fashion this past year. The fall collections were dripping with fur from almost two-thirds of the designers showing in New York. I have learned that many of the younger designers are given free "fabric"(i.e. fur), funding for their shows and other swag like trips to visit the fur farms abroad. Designers who have never worked in fur are now using it with abandon. I asked one colleague, a fellow member of the C.F.D.A., why he used fur and he replied that he "could take it or leave it" but that he wasn't bothered about using fur because the animals are "humanely gassed". Does that sound strange to you? Am I the only one who thinks the fashion industry is light years behind other industries that have realized the unnecessary cruelty of using animals for selfish, outmoded ends.

When I realized how much work there is to be done in this fur-free arena, I met up with the Humane Society to see what i could do to help get the word out that the pitiless fur industry mistreats and kills more than 50 million animals a year. I joined the groovy team from the fur-free department at the Humane Society and spoke in front of a group of Parsons students about my feelings about fur. There is so much information to share about the dark side of the fur industry and any opportunity to get in front of students before they are brainwashed by the fur pushers is an opportunity to save lives.

If you are unclear as to what the fur industry looks like from behind the scenes please watch this video and visit the Humane Society's site:
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/campaigns/fur_free/

There are so many wonderful options in the marketplace now and wearing fur and supporting the fur industry is unnecessary, cruel and out of touch with reality. It surprises me that there is not one high-profile editor who is willing to stand up for a fur-free industry. Why is everyone so afraid to say something about the atrocity of fur?

West Village Holiday

 some groovy scarves from my friend and artist alex stadler and candles(and incense) made by my friend eileen harcourts, both for jb!

a treasure trove of vintage-varsity inspired sweaters and the sweet holiday limited edition tiny tim angel tee!

a view from outside our store window. thank you so much chris keslar for making this window sing! love the quote in the window too

Thank You Vidoe Fashion for the great posting about our holiday party!!

Please click here to see a great posting about our holiday party

Please join me next Thursday night....lovejb

Alan Cumming and his Tiny Tim Tee

Alan will be sporting his Tiny Tim tee on The Martha Stewart Show this Friday at 10am on the Hallmark channel!!!

THANKS ALAN!!!!!!

happy humble hopeful healthy hare krishna holidaze!

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a wonderful December and a great holiday season.  This time of year is always a mixed bag of emotions. I know many people feel their most lonely during this time of year and i encourage you to reach out to those people to let them know they are not alone. I am heading to the city shelters where many sweet dogs have been abandoned and hope to give them some love.

It has been a good year in many ways. I signed a wonderful agreement with the Bon Ton stores to design two brands for them which will be debuting in Fall 2011. They have about 280 stores throughout the midwest and east coast and are wonderful to work with. The store is doing great and i am excited about the product coming in for next spring.

I want to thank everyone for their support and for believing in me. Remember to take some time to yourself throughout this period and to take time to reflect on the many gifts God has given you.

My Sweet Tiny Tim

Hi everyone..I have been out of touch for a bit.  In early August my sweet boy Tiny Tim was diagnosed with lymphoma. Two weeks ago, October 27th, he passed on. Having decided against traditional and lengthy chemo treatments(Tim did one session and was quite unwell), I took the advice of my beloved John and our loving dogwalker Norma and chose to give him what time he had left a life full of great memories, love, and lots of steak dinners.  After much research, I chose to seek out holistic and homeopathic remedies in conjunction with a lot of cuddling on the couch, tug-o-war, and a hands-on-tibetan healer. Whether the treatments were ultimately successful, I feel that I gave Tim the best I knew how.  My job in the end was to be his "escort" and to make his transition dignified, loving, and sacred.  Tim passed from this three-legged life, laying on his favorite blanket on his favorite bed that I brought along to the vet's from beneath my desk where it had sat for 8 years.  Apparently later that day there was a gorgeous rainbow that filled the east village sky and I know that was not a coincidence.  Tiny Tim's legacy will live on in the eyes of every sweet dog who needs a forever home and I know Tim will be up there helping guide me until we see each other again.

CORDUROY-Fabric of the kings(and queens!)

the perfect black cord military weekend jacket

My new fave-The Miss Jean Brodie skirt

burgundy cord vest!

burg cord vest and jean.(and vegan wingtips!)

I love corduroy. All the cool seniors in high school wore them with their wallabees and mutton chops. over the years i have collected vintage levi's cords and am always on the hunt for the perfect pair. Corduroy is the perfect fall fabric. it is warm but not itchy and comes in great colors that mirror back the gorgeous palette of the falling leaves. For Fall 2010, I made up a bunch of corduroy, from the classic JB military jacket, to low cut slim jeans for men and women to a very super dressy shawl collar vest. My recent fav is the Miss Jean Brodie skirt in black cord. Perfectly a-line and below the knee, a length that feels right again.

Falling For Fall

It finally is starting to feel like fall here in nyc...And since it is October now, we are selling tons of orange, my favorite color! Also we have introduced a small women's collection which we call our "sister fit". it is shrunken down for my girls but still has that great menswear feel and quality that so many women have been asking for. One of the best sellers thus far this season has been our super washed fleece hoodie with a tiny tim embroidery on the chest. love the one in orange, which we are featuring with forest green knickers.

For tailoring, i worked with an incredible maxi plaid that reminds me of my favorite seventies dudes. For my girls, we are doing shrunken merino v-necks, corduroy jeans, and a matching button shirt and bowtie.

And of course we continue to offer new versions of our tiny tim tee shirt, which we have for boys and girls.

Have a wonderful fall everyone! i am in the stores now on Fridays and have been trying to spend the weekends designing, spending time with our dogs and hanging with the hubbie! Life is short. Big love, JB

Thanks Sandy Ramirez and Modacycle!

John Bartlett – Spring 2011 – New York

September 28, 2010 Browse, Spring 2011 New York, top stories No Comments

story by Michael Fragoso
portrait by Sandy Ramirez
lookbook photos provided by the designer

The John Bartlett presentation was held in a chic West Village townhouse filled with various tail wagging dogs, there to greet the masses at the door, which revealed a presentation of bright colors for his Spring 2011 collection. Looks ranged from extreme beach wear, tight speedos in khaki and olive green, to bright orange and pinks that screamed tropical. After the pool looks, Bartlett’s collection took a dressy yet casual turn with light blazers of denim and cotton with cargo shorts that looked simple, elegant, and ready for the Hamptons. The standouts from the collection were the shirts and pants printed with a camouflage pattern that upon closer inspection was revealed to be shapes of Bartlett’s own dog, Tiny Tim.

Bartlett himself explains the collection: “I looked to the late 1970’s for this collection, really with my favorite models from that era like Rick Edwards and Jeff Aquilon. We have the whole khaki story going on with a hint of safari. It’s a true throwback collection with a nod to today.”

A notable feature of the collection was the use of ultrasuede, a leather alternative, once made famous by Halston, that is now Bartlett’s material of choice after recently having gone vegan. The looks are strictly pre and post beachwear, for the type of man that jumps off his yacht into the cool blue followed by a dinner at the local crab shack back on the mainland. Barlett’s ultra masculine looks, with their almost tongue-in-cheek nod to the buff and broad shouldered tanned beach babes of yesterday year is sure to be a crowd pleaser from Ibiza to Miami come the warmer months next year.

Thanks Jack Mackenroth For This Sweet Piece On Logo Channel

jb and fall fashion

Great Piece About My Women's Collection!!!!!!!

LIAR LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE - FALL 2010

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 AT 11:26PM JASON JOBSON

CAMERON DIAZ IN FERRAGAMO FROM HARPERS BAZAARI swear it is true!   The Fall 2010 designer collections were full of - trousers, many of them full leg indeed.   While I've written about theCharlie Girl reference earlier this summer, I had to give a shout out to those beautiful pants that are in stores NOW!   With so many to choose from, three stuck out in my mind as I watched the shows.   So diplomatic I am - as here are looks from NY, Paris, & Milan! 

John Bartlett is a tried and true New Yorker.   With his downtown boutique, John has kept to his ideal of the men and women he designs for.JOHN BARTLETT - FALL 2010  Never one to follow a trend, John is more apt to reference a vintage issue of GQ from the 60's.   Always rugged, with an upscale finish - his collections have a sexy edge.   His trouser looks for the gals this fall were very Jodie Foster circa 1976.   JODIE FOSTER BY TERRY O'NEILL - VIA GETTY IMAGESVests and all! The pants a bit more fitted than Foster wore promotingBugsy Malone.. but gave me the vibe.  John also has a passion for pets - being a tireless crusader for the North Shore Animal League and pet adoption.  He often hosts adoption days at his boutique in NYC.  His logo even incorporates his charitable spirit and beautiful dog - Tiny Tim!  To find out more about JB and his cause click Tiny Tim!

From Fashion's Night Out!!

Dogs are Fashion Hounds in NYC

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This past Friday, Fashion’s Night Out (a.k.a. FNO) took over New York City, where the garment business is the second-biggest industry after finance. A thousand stores stayed open late across five boroughs. Payless provided free transportation to key shopping destinations on double-decker buses, plus photo opportunities with its star designers, Patricia Field, Lela Rose, Christian Siriano, and Isabel Toledo. And all over the city, hotels offered FNO packages to lure out-of-towners to sit, stay, and shop.

Dogs being creatures of timeless style, they managed to make cameo appearances at two swanky stores – and that’s not counting the numerous micro-dogs who accompanied their intrepid owners, toted along in designer carriers.

Downtown, on Seventh Avenue South – the further-North part of Seventh, in the heart of the famed garment district, is known as “Fashion Avenue” - the fabulous flagship store of designer John Bartlett is branded inside and out with the image of Bartlett’s dog, a mixed-breed named Tiny Tim.

This handsome mutt has quite a life story thus far: He landed at North Shore Animal League America, our country’s largest no-kill shelter, shortly before Christmas Eve eight years ago. After his right foreleg was amputated, he was aptly named after the sweet little boy in the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.

From those humble beginnings, K9 Tiny Tim steadily rose to fame as the image representing Bartlett’s signature collection of handsome, tailored-yet-hip threads and accessories. “Tim is my true icon,” Bartlett explains, so the dog’s striking silhouette is branded on everything from T-shirts to jeans to underwear.

Here’s a helpful hint, shoppers: Renowned astrologer Susan Millerwarns that Mercury, which went direct today, will turn retrogradeagain in October and December; she offers starry style counsel by encouraging us all to purchase holiday gifts well in advance of the actual holiday, i.e. in the second half of September, the first week of October, or November 19-30 “for best results.” Well, what more stylish, thoughtful present for a well-dressed dog lover than something bearing the Tiny Tim Bartlett logo?

The tripod K9 image also appears on the shop’s glass door and on the shopping bags and gift boxes. “At first, you don’t notice that the logo is a three-legged dog – he just looks like a sweet dog,” Bartlett adds. “And I like clothing and fashion to have that element of surprise.”

To celebrate adopted mutts everywhere, Bartlett even designed a special “Fashion Hound” Tiny Tim T-shirt, sized for men and women, with proceeds from sales donated to North Shore.

With his distinctive walk, Tim cuts quite the dashing figure. Bartlett is quite easy on the eyes himself, so when the two appear together, heads turn. Duly inspired, the artist Richard Haines – a talented Southpaw whose chic, charming pencil sketches are irresistible eye candy to fashion followers - recently immortalized the pair in a sketch that depicts Tim and his designer Dad most fetchingly.

My dog Sheba was lucky to score a date with Tim one evening back in 2008, at North Shore’s DogCatemy Awards gala; photographic evidence of the evening is on Bartlett’s web site, where Tim has his very own page.

Behind The Scenes-Spring 2011!

Some images from our recent Spring 2011 look book shoot!

Fashion's Night Out!!!!!

Hi everyone. Hope to see you this Friday night at the store for Fashion's Night Out. Come see our new Fall 2010 men's(and women's!!!) collection and celebrate our third year of the store. Big love-jb

Latest North Shore Animal League Adoption Event...bless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbYGOAVjoAE&feature=player_embedded#!




Watch this sweet you tube video...

Bartlett/Simons/Ward!

I am thrilled to announce a new collaboration with the esteemed Canadian retailer, La Maison Simons, which debuts this September! It is a mini-collection designed especially for Simons, who have a wonderful grouping of boutique luxury department stores in Montreal and Quebec City. The co-branded label will be introduced this fall and is a wonderful grouping of military-inspired outerwear, suitings, shirts and denim. The campaign was shot on none other than Tony Ward, who has been one of my style icons for years. If you are in that neck of the Canadian woods, please check out the offerings come fall. they are sexy, beautifully made and very well priced. lovejb.

Family Values

I was so thrilled yesterday to see that love can conquer hatred and that the biased and unconstitutional Prop 8 was denounced in California. Same sex couples deserve the same rights as opposite sex couples and the concept of family has to move on, to progress, with the times. My concept of family is very different from what i grew up with and yet it is still as meaningful and as important and legitimate. Living in NYC, my family is a wonderful patchwork of friends, neighbors, business associates, gay, straight, human, non-human. It has nothing to do with pro-creation and everything to do with love and support and trying to live a life that values all lives, human and non-human alike. We are equal and part of the whole and to argue that one group deserves to have certain rights and that another does not is archaic.  I feel that we are at a pivotal time in the history of both our country and our planet. While things feel very scary and precarious, I have glimpses of a new reality around the corner that transcends differences and embraces the idea that we are all part of the same living organism. My family may look quite different than yours but that is what makes life interesting. Diversity helps us to learn and to accept the parts of ourselves that may fly in the face of what many consider "traditional". I love my family, both my blood family and my partner and our hairy children!

Just in on Racked.com....

http://ny.racked.com/archives/2010/07/28/dogooder_john_bartlettsage_advocate_and_animal_saver.php

North Shore Animal League Adoption Event this Saturday at the store!

Hey everyone, Tiny Tim and I are hosting another wonderful adoption event at my store this coming Saturday July 31st from noon-5. The North Shore is bringing their mobile unit full of adoptable mutt-igrees as well as a couple of puppy mill rescue pure breds(a shi tzu and a lhasa for example)...we hope to see you then..lovejb


ps-this gorg portrait is by my good friend Walter Briski!

Street Style with John Bartlett for Better TV

Street Style with John Bartlett

Countdown to Capsule

Well, what’s not to love about John 

Bartlett? After all, he epitomizes 

friendly neighbor, is a champion of 

animal rights, a mindful vegan, yoga 

enthusiast, winner of two CFDA awards 

for his eponymous label, men’s wear 

OG, hottie and oh yeah, Harvard alum 

(undergraduate, thank you very much). 

We’re more than excited to see what 

John has in store with his collection 

for S/S 2011. Expect colors inspired 

by optimism, the Hare Krishna and 

Eastern decorative arts coupled with 

his signature breed of American 

classic that includes military details 

and fine tailoring across clothes 

built for stylish men of all ages. 

John will be providing the soundscape 

for Tuesday night cocktails atop our 

new home at 548 West 22nd Street - now 

that’s a sunset cruise you’ll want to 

take. Only at (capsule). 

www.johnbartlettny.com