Source: Ghentstreets — *Source:* *Ghentstreets*

For models, it’s not only our job to wear incredible garments by top designers but we always try to look put together when we’re “off duty” and on the go. (This may sound incredibly vain talking in first person) but when you see us on the street you’ll generally know we’re a model and not only because of our height but oftentimes because of our timeless style that never goes out of trend (mostly talking about my friends here, my street style consists of a lot of workout wear, naturally). However, for days when I’m feeling like dressing the part, here’s what I’ve learned after six years of modeling in New York City about achieving a classic wardrobe to complete your model off duty look.

As a rookie in the industry, a model tends to wear the same black tank top, white t shirt, black jeans, etc. because you’ll get 15+ castings a day during fashion week and you have to always be ready to go for that last minute job or go-see (I think I have over 15 black tank tops!). It is in our best interest to wear this because we meet so many new clients and our 'uniform' makes us work appropriate at any time. If you get caught out of the house in anything that isn't great for clients to see you in (it’s happened and it sucks…), you’re damn right that’s when you got a last minute casting that you have to be at ASAP with no time to go home and change.

As you grow with the industry, agents and clients start to trust our judgement that comes naturally with experience. You start to feel more confident about branching out and wearing things a little more gratifying than these go-to tanks and tees. Don’t get me wrong I still have and wear all of them, they're my staples, but I’ve learned to add fun accessories and awesome vintage jackets and make that same black tank top we all have my own.

After your first few seasons go well and you make a good amount of money, naturally as a new young model in NYC you spend it. It's easy to justify spending way more than you ever have because you were making a lot of money up front and you don't have to think about paying taxes until the end of the year. Other girls wear designer clothes, shoes, and bags so you inevitably feel the pressure, after living in the same tank top for weeks on end, to spruce up your wardrobe with the newest, hottest stuff. What happens at the end of the season is that a lot of us learn trends go out of style and you’re left in debt wondering how you will pay all your accumulating taxes. Was it really worth it to buy a bunch of stuff that you no longer wear so you could land yourself on a couple cool street style blogs? Probably not.

From my experience of trying to achieve that perfect off duty style, I've finally learned how to dress in a way that is budget friendly, eco-friendly and timeless. When we’re off duty, we’re always wearing something that could be well perceived in front of our agents or clients. We have all the basics to complete a timeless wardrobe, the best white t shirts, the perfect fitting black tanks, amazing skinny jeans, slim-fit boyfriend jeans, denim shorts, cool boots and a great bag. We also occasionally indulge in designer clothing and accessories (for me it's important that they're thoughtfully produced in sustainable ways, better yet used from sites like The RealReal or Tradesy) but it’s always important to remind yourself to choose pieces that will never go out of style. That all black leather backpack I have gets worn every single day. My oversized bright pink sweater that was ‘in’ two seasons ago still gets worn, but maybe only once per year. Think about what you invest in and try not to fall into the latest trends. You'll find you'll save a ton of money and always look put together with your simple, stylish staples.

Here are some of my go-to off duty looks!

We did it!

We finally have some of our own product on the site... Nothing makes us happier than promoting the sustainable and ethical companies we love and trust, but we've always had the itch to create our own stuff and finally we can say we're making strides in the right direction.

The Start...

With the help of online accelerator program Factory45, we were able to seamlessly source materials, factories, suppliers, you name it, with sustainability and ethical production at heart. Shannon Whitehead founder of Factory45, collected everything she learned from starting her own sustainable company and decided to create an online accelerator course to help other passionate entrepreneurs in the eco-friendly world. For anyone with a desire to learn anything pertaining to sustainable production, this course is a gold mine!

We initially had plans to start ODC with our own line of off-duty model basics, but after some thought, we decided it was a smarter choice to focus on one piece and do it well. Enter the perfect white tee. Our hope is to expand on the wardrobe staple in the future, once we really get the hang of things.

The Perfect White Tee

Living in New York City certainly has it benefits, especially for those of us who work in the fashion industry. There are plenty of manufacturing options available, but trying to get your own products or garments made can get a little pricey, especially if you hope to do so in an ethical and sustainable way. That means we had to make a few compromises throughout this whole process, but regardless of that, we promise to continue being open and honest about our methods and practices. That is our main goal.

If a company produces their clothes overseas but works with a factory that takes care of their workers and ensures proper wages, that's great! We'll promote that kind of work. If they use sustainable materials but may not be fully transparent about their factories, we'll still promote them, but we'll let you know they don't disclose the factories they use.

When it came to deciding on the production process for our perfect white tee, we knew if if we were going to use cotton, we'd make sure it was organic. And since organic cotton uses a vast amount of water to produce, we decided it was best to source the material locally to ensure we weren't using an excess of water in addition to flying the materials overseas and increasing our carbon footprint. Ethical production was also a big concern, so we chose to use a factory in Brooklyn, giving us the freedom to check in on the production process and meet the people who were making our clothes! By using organic cotton we compromised on water waste but made sure to use a factory that was open with us about their policies.

Surprises along the way...

In addition to chasing the perfect factory, it was important for us to get the fabric right. One thing we learned, though, was that it’s very hard to find a supplier who is open to working with a new company with low production minimums. Luckily, through Factory45, we were able to find a supplier in New York City’s garment district who had organic cotton sourced locally from Texas. (I will note, however, that when I asked to learn more about the actual cotton farm, the supplier didn’t provide further information. The experience taught me to be more diligent about getting as much information as possible in the future, and I pledge to do that to my best abilities from here on out.)

Eventually, , we were able to agree on a price that matched our budget and brought our sample yardage into the Brooklyn factory to do a sample T-shirt. Pro: we had this 'test' before we ran full production. Con: I hated the fabric once I felt it in t-shirt form.

So... what next?

Rather than going back to the drawing board and buying more sample fabric, I decided to buy wholesale T-shirts from Groceries Apparel, a company I already knew and loved. Groceries Apparel will remove their tags and add yours, and the best part about them is the fact they are extremely transparent about their production process. They have lovely white tees that would rival any of your faves, they’re made with organic cotton and they’re manufactured at their factory in Los Angeles. A perfect match for the ODC perfect white tee!

We were also able to find a water-based ink printing company locally in Brooklyn along with sustainable fabric for our labels, sourced in Canada.

Sustainable is sexy...

The next phase in completing our perfect white tee was deciding on a design that would both promote the ODC brand and work as the perfect white tee you could wear with anything. We also wanted it to include a message people would be proud to wear and support.

Rather than using our logo, as we've done in the past with water bottles and reusable straws, we decided to use the slogan "sustainable is sexy.” To us, this takes the "un-cool" out of sustainable clothing and is a catchy slogan that people would be excited to wear. With our #sustainableissexy campaign, we’re hoping to take the edge off the eco-friendly discussion and prove to our customers you can dress stylishly, sexily and simply, all with sustainability at heart.

With our t-shirts, you don't have to worry whether or not they were made ethically. You don't have to worry if they were made with sustainable materials. We will always be transparent about our practices and how we strive to better our planet. Along with that, we’ll tell you what roadblocks we face along the way and share how we are constantly learning to be more sustainable and ethical without, of course, compromising on style.