Utilikilt

Only in Seattle could such a preposterous insult to the noble kilt take hold.

Hat death

NPR looks at whether President Kennedy is guilty of killing the hat and concludes that the culprit is more prosaic: Motor Cars.

This has always been my theory.  Modern cars from the '50s onward have tended toward lower tops until wearing a hat while driving becomes quite impractical.  I rediscovered this a couple of months ago when I was driving in a crowded car.  Since it was raining, I wore my customary Australian rancher hat, but with the cab filled I had no way to remove it–and no way to turn my head because of the brim.  The neck ache lasted two days.

Not that this is a simple explanation.  I also believe that the second factor was the complete collapse of taste in the Western world as civilisation began to slide toward the abyss.

Grappa

BARMAN:
Are you serious sir? I mean, do you really think the world’s going to end this afternoon?

FORD PREFECT:
Yes. In just over one minute-and-thirty-five seconds.

BARMAN:
Well isn’t there anything we can do?

FORD PREFECT:
No, nothing.

BARMAN:
Well I always thought we were meant to lie down and put a paper bag over our head or something.

FORD PREFECT:
If you’d like, yes.

BARMAN:
Well will that help?

FORD PREFECT:
No. Excuse me I’ve got to find my friend.

BARMAN:
Very well then. Last orders please!

Peekaboo

Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde creates a dress that turns transparent when the wearer becomes aroused.

Every time I wonder why I don't miss going to nightclubs, something like this comes along and reminds me.

Future Fashion

Men's fashions... of the FUTURE!

World's Most Expensive Suit

Presenting the £70,000 suit from Alexander Amosu; purchase of which is legal proof of insanity.

HRP-4C

The world's first "fashion model" robot.

What she lacks in a figure she makes up for with her devastating killbot moves for her hunt for Sarah Connor.

Mad Men

The BBC has an interesting piece on the series Mad Men and how it's sparking a renewed interest in early '60s fashion. Let's hope that this catches on, because one of my pet peeves about modern society is the death of the smart suit and tie. Not that I have any intention of wearing such a get up. In fact, I can't. I'm inherently one of those rumpled professor types who can and has worn bespoke evening dress and instead of having the neat, crisp lines of a would-be James Bond I looked like a retired archaeologist who's more at home in unpressed tweeds and a sweater vest–which I am.

No, what I need is everyone else going around looking like Cary Grant so as to throw my abesent-minded boffin look into sharp contrast.

Zegna

Presenting a ski jacket with solar panels sewn into the collar so you can charge your ipod while slaloming on the piste.

Mind you, at $1350 you could buy a lot of batteries instead and still get something that made you look less like a dork.

LumiTops

And I thought those see-through blouses back in the '80s were bad.

If they figure out how to stream videos on these things, I'm leaving.

Astro Fashions 1967

From the era when fashion designers needed a little lie down.

The Butt Bra

They are not kidding.

Urban Security Suit

The answer to why no one in his right mind will allow fashion designers to develop NBC suits.

NEW! Future Fashion

For the style conscious, or unconscious, we present our new Tales of Future Past section:

Future Fashion

Haute Couture

Having exhausted all the trivial issues of the day, the BBC weighs in on The Question of Our Times:

They do charity work. They want their contribution to British culture to be taken seriously. But why do people look down their noses at the fashion industry?

At a guess, it might have something to do with the industry being top heavy with a load of narcissistic, talentless frauds who have reduced the making of overpriced frocks to an irredeemable laughing stock.