the season for headbands

A headband is a very practical accessory. It is used by women to keep hair away from the face. Lewis Caroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' wore one, remember? Back in the 80s, Australian singer Olivia Newton-John popularized a variation called the sweatband in her 'Let's Get Physical' video. Today, headbands have become even more fashionable, thanks to trendy girls like Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl, and guys (!) like athlete David Beckham and pop idol Joe of the Jonas Brothers.

The Series 14 'Cute' Bearbrick (above, right) also wears a headband. It is a representation of 'Oden-Kun', a character from a 'picture-book-turned-anime-series' created by Lily Franky (a.k.a. Masaya Nakagawa, a Japanese illustrator, writer, actor, musician, and photographer).

Take note, however, that Oden-Kun's headband isn't really a fashion statement. It's supposed to be a strip of edible gourd, because Oden Kun is actually a 'Mochi-Iri-Kinchaku' (fried tofu skin stuffed with rice paste). In the anime series, Oden-Kun and his friends are different types of 'oden' (hotpot ingredients, above left) living in a village at the bottom of a bowl. They spend their days waiting for people to eat them. Sometimes life gets more exciting as they fight cancer cells inside human bellies. :-)

Meanwhile, in the world of fashion, Miuccia Prada created modern day warriors wearing studded leather headbands for Fall 2009 (left and below).

The theme? "Survival," she said. "And to survive, you have to be strong."

Because of the global economic crisis, life will be one tough fight for survival. Especially for luxury brands like Prada.

So everybody should gear up. I, myself, am already liking this fabulous warrior headband – oops! – how much do you think it will cost? LOL

'Oden' pic from myspace.com / Miuccia Prada quote and runway pics from menstyle.com

dr. romanelli's cure for the cold

Dr. Romanelli or Darren Romanelli can't cure the sick, but he can definitely offer anyone relief from the cold.

He designs and manufactures jackets – and I'm not just talking about ordinary jackets. I mean... lookit these customized bombers below! Aren't they hot?

The back details are something else. For me, they score an A+++ for form and function.


Tasteful color combinations are accented with striking hues!


The question is, of course, the price. I bet these are gonna cost you...

Dr. Romanelli's retail space cum gallery in Los Angeles called 181 Martel carries the wonderful products you find on his website. But you will also find DRx goods at selected stores around the globe (Paris, Geneva, Berlin, Melbourne, New York, Tokyo, Vancouver, Seoul, London, Sydney, Honolulu, Boston, San Francisco and Hong Kong).

A great deal of the stuff are collaborations with known brands such as Nike (jackets, sweaters, shoes), Looney Tunes (custom toys, streetwear), and Jaeger le Coultre timepieces (jackets with built-in custom wristwatches – which Madonna wears). Aside from designing street fashion, the University of Oregon graduate also creates marketing campaigns (Disney, Fox, Warner Brothers) and manages a LA rock band (Ima Robot).

With a list of credits like that, I bet Dr. Romanelli is always on 24-hour duty.

The newly-released Dr. Romanelli SF Be@rbrick is part of Series 14. Its design is adapted from the scrub suit costume that Romanelli designed for Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird.

(Jacket pics / info from dr.romanelli.com)