The Time, it is A'Changin

You know what would look great in my new apartment?
StudioVE's Manifold Clock ($45 plus shipping)

Watch a little video here.

Is that a battery pack in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

When technology and fashion collide, it can be a poetic statement on the human condition:



Alexander McQueen: robots spray paint Shalom Harlow's dress,
in one of the most spectacular & ingenious runway finales ever.

 It can also produce malformed little bastards, so horrific and needless that they call into question the validity of all human progress.  Witness:

Why display your emotions on your stupid old face when you can write them on....
The 'Update Me Tee' by Fashion Geek.  Includes a mini dry-erase board to update your status a la Facebook.

Tired of getting a sore back while you wait in an 8-hour line to have
George Takei sign your Limited Edition BluRay at ComicCon?
TRY: C.P. Company's inflatable armchair coat!

The "M Dress" is a concept garment (release date: 2011) that allows the wearer to
answer the phone by simply raising her arm to her ear.  It will fit any standard SIM card. 
Sadly, any men who aren't up for crossdressing will just have to carry their cell phones around like total schmucks.

Now, The Social Network can take over your soul... AND your soles!
Shoe concept by Gerry McKay, sure to be snapped up soon by Adidas.  *shudder*

Technology + Fashion = ?????

For me, it's a not-so-fine line.  The good children of this marriage result from synergy of design; the function of the garment is enhanced, not overshadowed, by the addition of technological elements.  The redheaded stepchild is the crazy-ass novelty item that is neither useful nor beautiful. 
In other words: the invention of Goretex = good, the invention of glow-in-the-dark underwear = grody.

So, buy with caution.  It's bad enough when your laptop's on the fritz or your iPod breaks.  You don't want to have to call IT support to come fix your pants.

Here are some of the cuter current offerings: (Most are from ThinkGeek, which is a great site for nerdy gift giving.)




$100 rhodium and silver 2GB USB cuff links.



Voltaic Systems $249 Solar Backpack charges all your gadgets on the go.

$30 guitar T-shirt (comes with mini amp-shaped battery pack)
Also comes in kids' sizing and in 'Drum Kit' version.

'Wired' hoody from Rusty (about $40).
Best Part: built-in earphones that still allow the garment to be machine washed.

BONUS: light up Christmas sweaters, totally acceptable if worn to win Ugly Sweater Contest.

Stocking Stuffers (everything under $27)

Karim Rashid Water Bobble reusable water bottle ($15)

Annie Taintor Emory Boards ($12) - come with cheeky slogans on the purse-sized package

 

Candy Cane Tweezerman set ($22)

The Encyclopedia of Fashion Illustration Techniques by Carol Nunnelly ($18)

Skeleton socks ($14)



Cynthia Rowley Band Aids by Johnson & Johnson ($12)

Holly Golightly sleep mask ($14)

Bottle Opener ring ($8)

Butter nail polish ($20)

Sephora Color to Go palette ($18)

Philosophy Cheers! kit ($25)

Life memoir of Keith Richards ($20)

The Optimist Glass ($14)

Nice Jewish Guys calender ($16) - don't worry, the shirts stay on.

Fashion Origami set ($12)

Pret-A-Portea bags ($15)

The Fashionary is now in it's 2nd Edition!  34 pages of fashion content, plus figure templates and sketchbook space.  ($17).

Pencil Me In socks ($12)

The Selby book ($26)

Dip Dye Infinity scarf ($14)

Kate Spade desk calendar ($22) - inspiration and motivation for technicolour people

Wrapper's Delight Honesty Bows ($6/tube)

Amy Sedaris books (hostess ideas, DIY, recipes, humour - $26 and $12)

Yellow tea-Submarine ($12)

- Sephora puts out great festive packages, gift sets, and palettes.
- check out Fred Flare for lots of kitsch items year round.

- Sock Theory is a NY based company that does whimsical socks, from anklet to thigh high.

- watch for Amazon's holiday sales and Best of 2010 Lists (I love those!)

Holsters, the new Man Bag

Remember that Friends episode with the man bag* Joey loves?

(*not to be confused with the male nurse amalgam, 'murse')

In 2010, we're going a bit more butch, but nonetheless fashion-conscious:

Carry your $200 Best Made Co. axe in your $175 handcrafted leather holster:

Or better yet, tote a flask of your best single malt

in

Elc Mens' Westcliffe Flask Holster ($285)

Paging Ernest Hemingway.

The Neverending Glass

On last week's episode of Cougar Town, Courtney Cox Arquette broke her favourite wine glass, Big Joe.
I recently had a similar mishap with my mixing-bowl-sized coffee 'cup' I drink from daily.  I'm still reeling.
So...

from Kyouei Designs
If this didn't cost $420 to buy and ship from Japan, I'd be drinking out of it right now....sigh.

Worth A Thousand - The "Tool Belt"

For the men in your life, 686 Enterprise's "Tool Belt"...

Men Making Movie Magic

For those special men in your life, try fashionable gifts in a familiar form.  10 redesigned movie posters are available at Moxy Creative for around $30.  Each depicts a dapper dude in his career-making duds:

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I know I'm late to this party, but I just discovered the FEED program. Ellen Gustafson, one of the co-creators of the foundation, gave an excellent Ted Talk about global food security issues. Her thesis is this: 1 billion people overweight + 1 billion people undernourished = 1 global issue (food production and distribution). The FEED Foundation puts this Occam's Razor logic into action. To date, 539,188 'FEED bags' have been sold, providing 54,781,980 meals to children all over the world. New bags are launched for specific program targets, like Haitian relief or literacy. The most recent addition to the lineup is the Trick or Treat Feed Bag, sold exclusively through HSN with all proceeds benefitting UNICEF initiatives.

Three more good deeds masquerading as good duds:

ONE) Featured in November's Lucky, Lovetta Conto's Akawelle necklaces:


They are made from bullet casings found in and around the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The unisex design features two charms, one melted down and another untouched.

TWO) Wear You Music produces simple bracelets from used guitar strings, donating 100% of the profits to each artist's pet charity. Blues boy Jonny Lang's runs around $100 (cause: St. Jude's). Each order can be individually sized and embellished with diamond charms or other precious stones.

It's the perfect way to idol worship without having to elbow your way through a mosh pit and hope that Tommy Lee hucks his sticks in your general direction.

THREE) TOMS, founded in 2006 by entrepreneur and traveller Blake Mycoskie, is combatting soil-transmitted disease and injury in third world nations by providing footwear. The company motto "One for One" assures purchasers that for every pair of TOMS sold, a new pair of shoes will go to a child in need. The classic burlap flats are $65, and the rare wrap boots are $95. Think of them as Keds or Crocs, but with conscience.