Fashion

It's not easy being a "Star Trek" extra. I can only imagine the cold sweats and terror you'd feel if the wardrobe manager handed you a fresh red shirt from the rack. Your chance of making it through the episode just took a dive. Or did it? New mathematical calculations show that the redshirt death rate may not be as dire as we thought.

Matthew Barsalou breaks down the numbers for Significance Magazine. He sticks with the original series and starts by looking at the casualty rates for the different uniform colors across all three seasons.… Read more

While anyone could dream up a spinning virtual GPS globe constantly updated with a slideshow of global Flickr photos emanating from a hat, competitors in Frog Design's contest for new wearable technology concepts had to keep their designs within the realm of feasibility.

The key requirement that keeps all the designs within reason is that they have to be able to come to market within three years. That doesn't necessarily mean they will come to market, but at least there's a chance.

The global design firm ran its internal competition for new wearable technology concepts last year and just unveiled the results (PDF). They include some fun and fascinating ideas that explore everything from communing with trees through technology to an urban compass that leads you into discovering unexpected parts of a city.… Read more

Opinions on the alleged Apple iWatch are all over the place. Some people see it as a sign of Apple jumping into a hot space. Others question just how many people will feel the need to wear Apple on their wrists.

Apple iWatch rumors have been floating around like people in blue shirts at an Apple Store. We've gotten a report that Apple has a small army of 100 people working away to create the smartwatch, but we're still short of any real evidence.

The whole wearable tech market is buzzing right now, so it's not too … Read more

Along with Bermuda shorts, bold stripes, and statement sunglasses, Mars is hitting the catwalk this year.

Fashion designer Nanette Lepore debuted her fall 2013 collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York yesterday, and it's all about the Red Planet. Bags and high heels that shimmer like mysterious, shiny objects. Mod and angular shapes. And lots of red.

"Moody tones and spacey surfaces define Nanette's fall collection as she explores the contours of Mars," read a pre-show teaser on the designer's tumblr blog. … Read more

Perhaps someday we'll see a reboot of the 1952 Gene Kelly classic done as "Textin' in the Rain." To pull off the elaborately choreographed texting scenes, all the actors will need to be sporting Brolly umbrellas.

Let's consider how we handle umbrellas when we want to use our phones. We tuck them under armpits, fumble with them in our hands, and sometimes drop them in the process.

Brolly umbrellas are designed to keep your thumbs fancy free and at the ready for all your smartphone texting, Web searching, and e-mailing needs. Heck, you might even want them free for actually dialing and making voice calls.… Read more

Wallets usually aren't the most exciting accessories. They hold your money and cards in place and pretty much stay quietly out of sight. If you have a Sonic Wallet, however, your wallet will be making a racket every time you open it.

Sonic Wallets come in eight flavors: American flag, baseball, Buddha, drum machine, Jesus, moolah, The Scream, and Shakespearean insults. A small sound device in the Tyvek wallet is triggered on opening. The American flag wallet plays "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "The Star Spangled Banner." The Jesus wallet gives you the sounds of harps and angelic choruses.… Read more

The shoe phone is not a new idea. Just ask Agent Maxwell Smart. Still, nothing Smart wore was ever quite so fashionable as what designer Sean Miles has come up with for a campaign to encourage phone recycling.

The "Walkie Talkies" project presents recycled cell phones built into classic footwear. Miles' creations came about at the behest of O2 Recycle, a U.K. company that buys used handsets and other gadgets. Recycled phones from O2 Recycle have been embedded into a Christian Louboutin heel, a men's brogue, a Nike Air training shoe, and a Hunter Welly.… Read more

People like to hide pointy things inside of other things. The classic Swiss Army knife is a great example of this. So is the TaskOne multi-tool case for the iPhone. Now, all those pointy things can be found in a fashionable ring.

The Man Ring from Etsy seller boonerings takes that Swiss Army knife philosophy, shrinks it down, and hides it in a ring made from aerospace-grade titanium and brass rivets.

The ring's tools include a straight blade, a serrated blade, a saw blade, a bottle opener, and a comb. That's a nifty assortment of tools all crammed into a small space, but I have to wonder about the functionality. It would take you years to cut down a small tree and you'd look pretty silly trying it.… Read more

People sometimes joke about pouring blood, sweat, and tears into their work. Iceland-based designer Sruli Recht put some actual skin into his.

The Forget Me Knot ring is mainly made of 24-carat gold, but instead of sporting a diamond or an emerald, it has a bit of human skin for embellishment. That skin came from a willing donor, the designer himself.

Recht had a 4 inch by 0.4 inch piece removed from his abdomen. The skin was tanned, complete with hair intact, and mounted to the ring. I think even Sauron would think twice about wearing it.… Read more