Fashion

It's 2020 and you've a party to go to. What do you wear? If the techno-garments on display at the TechnoSensual exhibition in Vienna are any indication, you might strap on some backbreakingly high 3D-printed shoes and a dress that lights up when you blush, and top it all off with a feathered hat that reacts to medium-wave radio signals. (Or you could just go in jeans and your usual "I heart R2-D2" T-shirt, but what fun would that be?)

TechnoSensual -- which runs through September 2 at the MuseumsQuartier Wien art and culture center -- … Read more

It's always nice to encounter poetry in everyday life. But imagine wearing it -- literally. Lace Sensor Dresses by artists Anja Hertenberger and Meg Grant feature embroidered poems that are prerecorded and play aloud through tiny speakers sewn into the frocks.

Specific gestures trigger the poems to broadcast through the speakers, which are covered with decorative conductive lace custom-made with help from the Dutch Lace Factory Museum (and detachable in case something breaks or needs to be resoldered).

To play a poem about death and remembrance, for example, the wearer embraces herself by crossing her arms over her chest … Read more

I silkscreened a shirt once for a middle school art class. It was an intensive, smelly process that didn't come out very well. That's why I'm intrigued by the Lumi Process, a water-based printing method for textiles that uses sunlight to develop the prints.

The Inkodye used in the process was developed from a nearly-forgotten dye formula from the 1950s that has some useful light-sensitive photographic properties.… Read more

High heel shoes terrify me. The few times I've worn them, I've either tipped over or broken the heels. U.K. fashion footwear designer Janina Alleyne has crafted some high heels that will haunt my nightmares for years to come...and I like it.

Alleyne designed a set of three very unusual shoes and had them printed by 3D modeler Inner Leaf.

The first shoe, called the Exoskeleton, looks like what would happen if H.R. Giger designed shoes. It features alien flowing lines, a spiky top, and a row of small and sinister teeth at the toes. This takes the concept of spike high heels very literally. Imagine balancing on that delicate point. Even Tina Turner would find it challenging.… Read more

Michael Phelps isn't like most people, so it stands to reasons his pajamas aren't like most people's. There are no fuzzy bunny slippers and sheep-print flannel pjs for Phelps. He wears a high-tech compression suit from Under Armour.

The Recharge Energy Suit is a full-body suit designed to help the body recover from fatigue after training.

Under Armour claims the super tight compression fit pushes out the water damaged muscle fibers take on when sore, leading to a faster recovery. This is also probably as close as you'll get to knowing what it feels like to be swallowed by a snake.… Read more

Thank you, Etsy, for bringing us such gems as a Zelda fireplace insert, Wonder Woman running gear, and, now, Han Solo and Princess Leia matching rings.

When I first heard about these rings, my imagination thought they might have images of the two "Star Wars" lovebirds emblazoned on them somehow. When I actually saw the design, I smacked my forehead and exclaimed, "Of course!"

The adjustable aluminum his-and-hers rings each sport an inscription. One says, "I love you." The other says, "I know." … Read more

Talk about being in eye of the storm. This shirt from Due Fashion sports satellite imagery of a hurricane. Yes, you can wear Hurricane Rick right on your chest.

The printed T-shirt is part of the U.K. company's first collection, called Earth Tops. The line of cotton/polyester tops features dashing digital aerial imagery of weather patterns and geographical terrain like the Sahara desert and Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. … Read more

Much ado has been made about Marty McFly's self-tying sneakers from "Back to the Future Part II." What's been forgotten is his groovy hat of the future...until now.

That's right, McFliers, you can now dress even more like your hero thanks to the Marty Hat Replica at ThinkGeek. At $24.99, it's a lot cheaper than the $37,500 a British rapper paid out for a pair of McFly replica sneakers.

The hat is made from a super reflective fabric that shimmers and glimmers with swirls of color. It looks like a herd of unicorns upchucked some rainbows all over it. The hat is one-size-fits-all-geeks with a Velcro closure at the back.… Read more

After a small press conference at Google I/O, cofounder Sergey Brin let a few writers try on his pair of Google Glasses. I took a spin in them.

The glasses were locked into "demo mode," Brin said. The only image visible from my perspective was a video loop of fireworks. The image was just above my normal line of sight, and quite small, about the size of a postage stamp.

The glasses have a compass and an accelerometer in them, and as my head moved, the perspective in the video panned as well. … Read more