fashion

Online T-shirt retailer Threadless has announced it will be opening its first brick-and-mortar retail store in its hometown of Chicago next month. The store will open its doors on Friday, September 14, and will celebrate the launch with two free concerts that night (one all ages, one over 18).

Threadless has been hailed for its innovative business model, which it calls an "ongoing T-shirt design competition." Creatively inclined fans can submit their own T-shirt design ideas, and winning selections can rake in $2,000 in cash for the designer. There are plenty of quirky features, too--if you submit … Read more

The concept of a hair-straightening vending machine didn't make a whole lot of sense to me off the bat, but perhaps that's because my hair is naturally arrow-straight and I'm always drowning it in goo in ill-fated attempts to give it a little bit of life. But my curly-haired friends assure me that--especially in these humid summer months--hair straighteners installed in the bathrooms of bars and clubs would be a godsend.

And, yes, they'd be willing to pay a bit of cash to use them.

A company called Beautiful Vending is doing just that: manufacturing hair … Read more

While people without clothes on dominate a great deal of traffic online, the same can be said about those with clothes--otherwise known as the world of fashion. StyleMob, a new social network for street fashion, is opening up its doors on Thursday. Aimed mostly at female users, the service is a social network about clothes and people who like to show off their outfits. Users can pick who has the most style, and submit their own outfits or fashion inventions for others to rate and comment on. There's also the virtual equivalent of a fashion police with groups of … Read more

Walking into an upscale boutique, one is bombarded with all things designer--clothes, shoes, handbags, and even makeup. As if all those objects of temptation weren't enough, Armani has reportedly teamed up with Samsung to design a cell phone that will appeal to label fiends everywhere.

Armani has not released an official statement on the phone. But The Korea Herald, citing an unnamed Samsung representative, is reporting that plans are in the works and the phone will likely be released in Europe this October. However, "the two companies have not signed a contract yet," the story said.

Armani'… Read more

Actually, we're declaring the color-laptop trend to be no longer a trend, but rather a standard feature. A few weeks ago, Dell, not exactly known for its cutting-edge designs, announced that it would offer a fleet of new Inspirons in a range of color choices. And now even Gateway has launched two new notebook lines--the 14.1-inch T series and the 15.4-inch M series--available in three colors.

Inside the red, blue, or gray exterior (subtly pattered with a series of dissolving spheres), you'll find a computer that's classic Gateway: plenty of configuration options ranging from inexpensive … Read more

Lest we forget, Apple still makes a few products other than iPhone, and some of them are actually pretty good for things like listening to music. Until now, though, we just didn't recommend attaching the iPod to one's head as a public service.

Monster's "iFreePlay" seems to have gotten it right, in our opinion, by using the lightweight Shuffle to rescue its wearer from fashion victimization. The $60 headphones have an iDock built into their wraparound design for easy access as well as wireless liberation, according to Tech Digest. So if you've already purchased … Read more

Dell might have introduced a new slogan at the New York unveiling of its new Inspiron and XPS machines this morning: "Yours is here." But the event itself, held on a makeshift catwalk at the iconic Macy's department store in Manhattan's Herald Square, was clearly targeting the Gossip Girl demographic--you know, the young and tech-savvy purveyors of "status gadgets."

The runway was set up amid the colorful racks of the juniors' department, and massive speakers blared trendy party-style music from Mika, the Strokes, and the Hush Sound. The area around the event was interspersed … Read more

Thank goodness for Ermenegildo Zegna. We shudder to think what the convergence of clothing and technology would wreak without some Italian fashion sense.

Zegna, one of the earlier designers to embrace the concept with its iPod jacket, is now incorporating alternative energy into its apparel with its "ZegnaSport Solar JKT," a coat that has a solar panel sewn into its collar. Gizmodo says it can charge a battery in eight hours, but it's the discreet design that we appreciate most.

Why do we care? Because without such aesthetic sensibilities, we might all end up wearing solar fan hats.… Read more

There's now a fairly decent selection of iPod-friendly apparel, but most of it falls under the category of including shirts, jackets and suits--in other words, men's clothing. It was refreshing, therefore, to see some MP3-enabled garments that are decidedly un-male, on the order of mini-skirts, capris and bootleg pants.

In fact, being of the bearded gender ourselves, we're not even sure what bootleg pants are. Chip Chick does, however, and it's found an entire line of colorful "iPod/MP3 apparel" designed specifically for women by Colorado-based clothier Vickerey at a fairly reasonable price … Read more