It was always bound to go there, but few likely expected it would be so blatant. I'm talking about the ongoing campaign against organized labor; for decades deeply rooted in American political culture, the crusade has been periodically amplified in popular culture as well, from 1954's "On the Waterfront" all the way to the Sopranos' depiction of mob-controlled unions (and sometimes pop culture and political culture have even fused). So it was only a matter of time before vilifying rank-and-file union members would be commodified into a consumer brand by a company looking for an edge in the high-end retail market.

That's where Kenneth Cole now comes in. The clothing designer has just launched a new crusade to tie his expensive clothing and shoes line to the elite's movement du jour: the fight to demonize public schoolteachers and their unions. In a billboard and Web-based campaign, Cole's foundation portrays the national debate over education as one that supposedly pits "Teachers' Rights vs. Students' Rights."

Continue Reading...

It’s true that Stillman’s characters often wear stereotypically preppy clothing. They can be found in madras plaids, blue blazers, Lacoste shirts and other clothes historically associated with our country’s most selective colleges and the private schools that prepare — hence “prep” — students for them. They mention Brooks Brothers and Sag Harbor in casual conversation. But prepdom, as I understand it, and as I learned it in my own prep school and college, is only partly about clothing. It is more properly understood as an orientation toward power.

Continue Reading...

Why the hoodie and why now? Do some clothes really suggest stronger criminal tendencies than others? The hoodie allows its wearer to hide under a little mobile shadow and enjoy a measure of anonymity. But if Martin had been shot in a pea coat with the collar popped, we wouldn't be debating the sinister implications of wide lapels.

The hoodie is not the most vilified garment in American history -- that can be gauged by the fact that no member of Congress has shown up to work in a burqa, along the lines of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush's hoodie stunt last Wednesday. In the past century, the lineup of suspicious clothing has included trench coats, jeans and stiletto heels. And they are all presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Continue Reading...

A push-up bra that gives you 2 cup sizes extra. Modeled by Andrej Pejic. A man. So imagine what it can do for a woman.

Andrej Pejic, a male model from Bosnia, is from my neck of the woods and is also known as "the prettiest boy in the world." In the fashion industry, where a small percentage of female models succeed, Andrej is widely accepted as one of the top supermodels by fashion and mainstream media (See covers below).

When you find out he is a man, does he become less beautiful? If so, does that challenge your thinking about beauty?

Continue Reading...

Jason Wu is the young, impeccably elegant designer whose career went into the stratosphere when high-profile Michelle Obama chose his dreamy, one-shouldered creation for her husband's inaugural ball in 2009. His preppy-with-an-edge ready-to-wear designs retail at high-end stores like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom for upward of a thousand bucks a pop. So from the moment Target – which has in the past done wildly successful collaborations with the likes of Alexander McQueen, Jean Paul Gaultier and Rodarte -- announced that it was teaming up with Wu for a February launch, the slavering began. And when Target released a preview teaser of zippy little navy and cream ensembles, we all pretty much knew: There would be blood.

Continue Reading...

Hey, guys — what’s going on? I am Ambercrombie & Fitch. I model for them at their store in the financial district in New York City, but I also do way, way more. I can find different sizes for you if you need it, but if not — hey, that’s cool. No pressure. I can also muss with clothing. Oh, and did I mention that I can shimmy? I can shimmy and gyrate and smell good doing it. I am Ambercrombie & Fitch.

You’re probably curious about a few things right now. One, is this idiot serious? I am. Two, what do I look like shirtless? Very cold. And, perhaps, three: How did this happen? How did a regular guy stumble into a job of emaciated youths and anonymous six-packs? How does one become a “model” for Ambercrombie & Fitch? One recent Tuesday afternoon, I was walking down upper Broadway trying to ignore the rain and avoid eye contact with every other street-bound soul when it happened. I was discovered. Yes, discovered.

“Hey! Hey!” a curly-haired 20-something I soon learned was named Vanessa shouted after me. “Hey. We just love your look.”

Continue Reading...

When slicked-back hair is associated with the likes of a corporate raider like Gekko -- Maureen Dowd wrote just last week that Republicans in New Hampshire were "painting Romney as a ruthless Gekko, complete with a 1980s-era slicked-back mane" -- it's safe to say the signals that it sends are negative. That's particularly the case in the current, Wall Street-wary climate. But where did the slicked-back style originate? What other cultural connotations does it command?

Continue Reading...

Indeed, in a world in which little girls are peddled crotchless thongs, push-up bras and Playboy bunny-themed accessories, Gymboree's controversial onesies declaring that baby boys are "Smart Like Dad" while girls are "Pretty Like Mommy" seem like pretty small potatoes. Yet when images of the outfits hit the Web, the outraged Moms Rising advocacy group created a petition noting "there's no option to purchase a Smart Like Mommy onesie for boys or girls." They urged Gymboree to "stop selling children’s clothing that promotes harmful gender stereotypes immediately."

Continue Reading...

The evening was a benefit for 826NYC and featured a collection of original and one-of-a-kind crime-fighting attire for superheroes created by various designers -- Opening Ceremony, Christian Joy, Renata Morales, Chromat Garments, Matt Singer, Complex Geometries, United Bamboo and others.

All proceeds from the evening went to benefit 826NYC, allowing them to continue to help students complete their homework, get into college, improve their writing skills, rediscover themselves as artists/authors/filmmakers/musicians, and collaborate with a community of volunteers who care about their success.

Continue Reading...

Click through the following slide show for a short preview of the hundreds of fashion-related items from Taylor's personal collection that are set to be auctioned by Christie's this winter (and take note: before they go on sale, standout pieces from the collection will tour the world; an exhibition will hit Los Angeles in October, and New York at the beginning of December). Among other things, you'll see a surprisingly simple yellow chiffon wedding dress; an embroidered robe that Taylor wore to Grace Kelly's 1969 "Scorpio Ball;" and an eye-catching Versace jacket -- worn by Taylor to two AIDS benefits -- that features the face of its photogenic owner herself.

For full details of the Christie's collection (which also includes Taylor's jewelry and other personal items), including tour and sale dates, click here.

Continue Reading...

Besides the fact that the slogan doesn't really make much sense -- not that we want girls to use their looks instead of their heads, but shouldn't they woo peers and not siblings? -- the predictable flap illustrates a larger truth. If you're trying to make money by getting people to plaster ridiculous sayings across their chests, it's better to go surreal or silly than stereotypical.

Continue Reading...

2. Cancellation of the day: Sorry, Kate Gosselin, your money train is at an end, as TLC has just canceled " Kate Plus 8."  Don't worry, I'm sure you will find other ways to exploit your children for cash ... maybe have the younger ones try out for "Toddlers & Tiaras"?

Continue Reading...

If you've had enough of the depressing news for the week, feast those things in your ocular cavities on these 10 pop culture stories that we've culled from the Internet and beyond! (But mostly the Internet.) They aren't here to make you feel OK again, but maybe they'll take your mind off the fact that the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

Continue Reading...

It's for sale in Utah for $400K, meaning that someone put that much time and energy into creating a life-size model of a cartoon home, only to put it right back on the market. And in this economy? Feh, forget about it.

2. Celebrity defense of the day: Kanye West, as explained by Justin Bieber:

"He’s not really an asshole like everyone makes him out to be. I mean, he can, he can do bad things, but he’s really generally a good guy."

"He can make bad decisions, you know, as well as everyone can," he added, "but generally I think he is a good guy."

Now you have Justin Bieber's word: Kanye is not an asshole; he just makes bad decisions. Like acting like an asshole.

Continue Reading...

2. Even more Sheen of the day: Charlie Sheen's post "Two and a Half Men" show has been revealed as a TV version of the movie "Anger Management."  You remember, that movie with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson? Oh, you don't? Well, we're sure this will work out fine, anyway.

Continue Reading...

London's venerable retail emporium is known throughout the world as a bastion of British propriety. It even has a dress code for visitors that implores them to make sure "all clothing is clean and presentable and that the appropriate footwear is worn while in the store. Refrain from wearing clothing which may reveal intimate parts of the body, or which portrays offensive pictures or writing." In other words, if you'd like to see the that famed food hall, leave your "MOUSTACHE RIDES: $1" shirt at home. The store is, naturally, even stricter with its staff – the full two-page "ladies" dress code tells workers in every department to wear "Full makeup at all time: base, blusher, full eyes (not too heavy), lipstick, lip liner and gloss are worn at all time and maintained discreetly (please take into account the store display lighting which has a 'washing out' effect)." It's a good thing I don't work at Harrods, because I don't even know what constitutes "full eyes," or how to wear three kinds of lip products "discreetly."

Continue Reading...

 "Natural Beauty" answers that burning question once and for all, "What would you look like if you put on a year's worth of makeup all at once?"

2. "District 9" ... with robots

Kibwe Tavares' short film "Robots of Brixton" imagines a world where sentient machines are given inhuman treatment by humans. An interesting memorial to the 1981 Brixton riots.

3. Joey Chestnuts, official winner of Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest

For the fifth year in a row, Joey "Jaws" Chestnuts won Nathan's annual hot dog-scarfing contest in Coney Island. 

Continue Reading...

The sweet keepsake, which I've saved in an Ikea box, along with childhood photos, feels thoroughly modern to me. It looks like something a young, proud -- and dare I say -- hip couple might order from an Etsy vendor. But to family and friends at the time, the memento reflected my parents' sensibilities. When I came onto the scene in 1978, all squishy and pink -- their second daughter -- my mother and father were already running a well-established million-dollar children's clothing business. 



My parents invented the concept of what today we fondly call the "ironic kid's T-shirt." You can thank them for those silk-screened onesies with despondent statements like "Unemployed."

Continue Reading...

just like to come here, my checks are on a wierd sahcedule so bear with, per paypal plus my paypal account has had wierd stuff happen eg salaries and theft, so im very persnickity about it, but if i really like it youll get paid , my cpa hates the word"etsy: " but theres vendors on here i adore nd i al;ways discover new inspiring stuff.

Continue Reading...

Pejic's androgynous allure has made him a sensation in the world of haute couture, lending credence, one might ruefully speculate, to that widespread, nagging suspicion that designers really are just making clothes for skinny boys. But the fact that he's a boy who looks like a hot blonde has a disquieting effect on some.

When he appeared in makeup and curlers -- and no shirt -- on Dossier magazine's cover, Barnes & Noble moved quickly to wrap him up in an opaque cover, because, as B&N explained, "the model is young and it could be deemed as a naked female." Forget for a moment the ongoing cultural insanity of deeming female nipples somehow unsuitable for newsstands, while, as Jezebel points out, the racks are lousy with male chestiness. Pejic's image was ordered covered up because it might be "deemed" female. And apparently the risk of confusing someone is not one worth taking.

Continue Reading...