fashion

New for spring, jeans maker Naked & Famous is rolling out color-changing pants made with thermochromic dyes. A molecule inside the dyestuff reacts to heat, changing colors depending on how steamy hot or frigid cold you are. The colors fade between blue and white.

The biggest concern with color-change jeans is how the color-changing properties might highlight certain assets you might not necessarily want to bring attention to. You might remember Hypercolor shirts, a fashion fright that boomed in the early 1990s. They had a special way of showing off just how steamy your armpits were. However, Naked & Famous is trying to reassure us by saying, "Don't worry, the jeans change colors all over and not just in your 'happy areas.'"… Read more

Buying men's suits online sounds risky, but a few fit geeks think they can get the right fit better than anyone else.

Two cousins with Las Vegas fashion industry ties, Mo Melwani and Vishaal Melwani, have teamed up with former space geek Raj Sareen to launch Sareen's new tech fit algorithm. Their site sells men's business wear and are aiming for the customers who don't like to shop, so a better fit means less returns and more repeat business. The technology, powered by Sareen's startup Styku, helps consumers find their correct clothing size online with … 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

Before too long, techy women may just print out that little black dress instead of buying it at a store.

Don't believe me? Take a look at some of the 3D-printed gems strolling down the catwalk at the Paris Fashion Show this week. Dutch designer Iris van Herpen's haute couture show Voltage tapped the prowess of 3D-printing companies Stratasys and Materialise to create two pieces that look out of this world.… Read more

At CES in Las Vegas last week, everyone was talking about how dry it was and how much moisturizer they needed. The Consumer Electronics Association should consider issuing each attendee a pair of Wrangler's new Denim Spa jeans for next year's show.

The jeans come with the tagline, "The soothing touch of nature, now available in jeans." Three different models will be available. One is infused with aloe vera and another with olive extract. The third, called "Smooth Legs," contains caffeine, retinol, and algae extract. These ingredients are enclosed in micro-capsules and embedded in the fiber of the jeans. When you squeeze into them, the capsules burst and rub their precious cargo into your skin.

While the aloe vera and olive jeans are designed to just moisturize, Wrangler claims the "Smooth Legs" jeans will help fight cellulite. These should go great with one of Pepsi's fat-blocking sodas.… Read more

Before there was Pinterest, there was Polyvore.

The commerce site, which lets users curate and share virtual fashion and beauty collections, released some new numbers today, boasting a record year for revenue and user growth.

The site, which is about three years older than Pinterest, said today that it has 20 million users, roughly five million shy of Pinterest's last reported user base. But, while Pinterest was making headlines gaining users at lightning speed this year, Polyvore been bolstering its brand among the fashionistas and, the company said today, pulling in big retail dollars.

Polyvore users create visual collections, … Read more

Regardless of my clothing brand preference, I can't help but get when excited major players in fashion tease a future filled with techy clothes that change color or size with a flick of the wrist.

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Polo shirt in 2013, Lacoste collaborated with ad agency Mnstr on a video that envisions a future in which the high-end shirts contain some extraordinary technology. … Read more

Welcome to the library. Would you rather read the book "50 Shades of Grey" or the article "The production of fibers and films from solubilized hagfish slime thread proteins?" Good choice! Here's your hagfish reading.

For defensive purposes, hagfish produce a slime full of protein threads. Draw it out into a thread, and you have the potential for an incredibly strong fabric that isn't made from petroleum like popular existing synthetics. … Read more