Elephant Awareness Month | The Elephant Pants Unboxing & Review

Two weeks ago I mentioned The Elephant Pants in my Favorite Elephant Saving Organizations post, and shortly after I made my very first purchase! As I mentioned, this company gives a portion of the profits from your order to various wildlife conservation organizations, mostly to those that focus on the conservation of elephants. Basically, they're awesome. I thought that I'd do a little unboxing and review for you all to show you what I bought!

Classic Prints 

I ordered 3 items outright - two pairs of pants ($18 each) and a pair of shorts ($16 each), all in classic prints (TEP donates $1 per item for classic prints). The cool thing about each design is that each is named after a famous elephant in history. When I first discovered this website I spent a solid half hour just clicking onto each design and reading the story of so many elephants. Not every story is easy to read, but it does help you remember why it's important to make an effort - no matter how small - to save these animals from harm. I wanted to share with you the stories of the elephants behind the prints that I bought.

Left to Right: Tyke pants, Billie shorts, and Black Diamond pants

"Tyke was a circus elephant who on August 20, 1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii, killed her trainerAllen Campbell and gored her groom Dallas Beckwith, causing severe injuries during a Circus International performance before hundreds of horrified spectators. Tyke then bolted from the arena and ran through downtown streets of Kakaako for more than 30 minutes. Police fired 86 shots at Tyke, who eventually collapsed from the wounds and died." 

"Billie was a circus elephant who was known for rebelling against trainers and their abuse. She was rescued along with fifteen other elephants by the USDA from a barn where she had been retired to after attacking a trainer. Her life is documented in the book 'Last Chain On Billie'." 

"Black Diamond was an Indian elephant with Al G. Barnes Circus."

Mystery Box 

As I was shopping around the site, I noticed that they had Mystery Boxes available. These tend to sell out quickly, so I knew I had to scoop one up. For $25 (promting a $1 donation), you receive a pair of classic pants as well as two mystery gifts (one that usually is in the $10/$15 range and one that is a bit smaller) - not too shabby! I was very eager to receive this mystery box to see what kind of items were coming my way, and I definitely wasn't disappointed.

I received a beautiful pink and maroon pair of pants (which I later found out were the Ruby pants), a canvas tote, and a TEP Sharpie! (I can only assume that the Sharpie is intended to fill in the blank on the tote design!) I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved the design of the pants I received. I don't think I would have ever picked out the Ruby design for myself (for whatever reason I tend to go for cooler colors when I shop for clothes) and I'm so happy that these were the ones I received. I was also PUMPED about the canvas tote! I was really considering buying the "This Bag Helped Save and Elephant" canvas tote and ultimately decided to wait 'til next time, so when I saw the tote in my Mystery Box I was VERY excited! (Oh, and who doesn't love a good Sharpie?!)

"Ruby was an elephant artist, resided at the Phoenix Zoo; at least one painting was sold for $100,000."

And since this is a haul post of sorts, I figured I'd also try on the items I bought for you, to show you how they look. (Please forget the lighting and the down angles that are inevitable when taking a mirror selfie of your legs!) For reference, my pant size can range between 7-10 depending on the pair of pants (amirite ladies?), and the elastic waist accommodates shapes between 0 and 12! My runner butt and thighs fit super comfortably in each pair of bottoms, and each item is super light, airy, and COMFY AF. I'm SUPER excited to start creating some outfits with these beauties!

Clockwise from top left: Billie shorts, Ruby pants, Tyke pants, Black Diamond Pants

I spent a total of $77 dollars and got a decent amount of gear that I know I'll be wearing regularly. The shipping is free after $75 and my order got to me relatively fast (I ordered late on a Tuesday Night and I received my package on Monday). The pants themselves are made in Thailand (information on how the pants are made and how the employees that make these pants are treated is available on their website, if that is an area of concern of yours) but they ship from NYC, so if you're in the US I'm assuming you'd have a similar shipping timeline (though I live in MA - not far from NY - so maybe it will take longer). 

I am thrilled with this company and the products I bought and I'm so excited to be sharing this awesome company with you all. I would strongly encourage you to consider making a purchase at The Elephant Pants, and if the pants aren't your style, consider donating to one of the organizations that this company supports!

If you would like to see my unboxing & review video, check it out below!

Elephant Awareness Month | My Favorite Elephant Saving Organizations

Happy Friday, everyone! 

For those of you that might not know, August is Elephant Awareness Month! (Don't feel too bad if you didn't know. My elephant-loving self only just found this out this year. There seems to be an awareness month for everything, so it's hard to keep up!) We all know by now that I LOVE elephants, so I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to talk about a few of my favorite organizations whose aim it is to help save elephants from poaching, abuse, and captivity. I highly encourage you to check these organizations out - all of them are fairly active on social media and all do very cool things!

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

I found out about this organization earlier in the year and instantly fell in love. This wonderful organization takes in orphaned animals - primarily elephants and rhinos - and raises them to the point where the animal can live in the wild once again. Coincidentally, I am right in the middle of reading Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story - perfect timing for this month! - and am learning all about the story of how this organization came to be (look out for the book review next week). They also offer a program where you can donate to foster an elephant, which I think is the coolest thing EVER. I definitely plan to participate in the foster program sometime in the near future, and would LOVE to visit the trust in Nairobi one day. They're doing such wonderful things!

Elephant Parade

Elephant Parade is a really cool art project that raises awareness of elephant endangerment and donates 20% of their proceeds to various organizations that work to prevent the poaching of elephants and improve the welfare of the species. The organization has artists from around the world paint large elephant statues in their own unique way and displays them in cities around the globe to raise awareness. You can even buy smaller statues on their online store - each one unique so you just have to collect them all!

The Elephant Pants

Black Diamond, Mamie, and Tyke

This style is so in right now, so why not buy a pair that supports a wonderful cause? The Elephant Pants donates $1-$2 dollars per item to various elephant conservation organizations, and during the month of August, a few select items will donate $5! I love how each print tells a story about a famous elephant in history. I could click through each item just to rad the story that goes along with it. It really reminds you why these causes are so important. They sell pants (my favorite designs are above!), shorts, bags, tapestries, and even a cute little charm bracelet. I can't wait to get my hands on my next paycheck so I can buy a handful of these beauties! :)

Do you have any favorite wildlife conservation organizations? 

Let me know in the comments because I would love to check each and every one of them out!