A little fashion for our male readers – designer Keanan Duffy’s Bowie line for Target provides affordable stylish basics. Inspired by David Bowie, this collection offers skinny ties, vests and tight pants in muted colors, which can all be found in one place at reasonable cost.

If you haven’t stepped foot into a Target in months, this might be a good reason to do so. Or you can throw caution to the wind and shop online, instead – the web store presents the outfits in flash video format, so you can actually see how they look in motion on live humans, which is helpful. I really like some of these looks but menswear never fits me properly without significant alteration. The Bowie collection is at Target for a limited time only so if you dig it, hurry!

We must never forget where we come from, peeps. Never! When I went to Russia last summer and saw this shawl, I knew it was destiny.

Now, a little language lesson for all. What you see me wearing below is a shawl. A shawl is called “shahl” in Russian. It is not called a “babushka”. A babushka, in fact, is a little old lady or grandmother. While these are often spotted wearing shawls on their heads they are not shawls themselves. Next time you see a shawl, you will KNOW.

And of course, even shadow-ninjas need familiars, particularly portable ones.

What will you wear in space? It may sound unrealistic now, but consider this for a moment anyhow. Will you be trapped in the classic mattress of a suit with a fishbowl for a helmet, or something a little more flattering? Instead of stiff bulky padding would you prefer a space suit which allows to explore weightlessness to its full potential?

At one endlessly fascinating end of the space-wear spectrum is the function-oriented second skin BioSuit envisioned by Professor Dava J. Newman at MIT. Intended for actual extravehicular cosmic exposure, it’s sleek, beautifully functional, and structurally sophisticated, providing pressure and elasticity. And there’s a backpack!

Dava is involved with a remarkable amount of research on topics ranging from human performance in outer space to “Powered Assistive Walking Devices” for use by the handicapped on Earth. Admiration. Awe.

Left: Lucy from Dracula. Right: Ruff by Junya Watanabe.

Ruffs! Why are they so intoxicatingly awesome? It’s just a ruffle of fabric on a drawstring, but whenever I see one, it still evokes an instant Pavlovian response. A ruff turns a person into a character: a creature that’s decadent, aristocratic, maybe even a little tragic. I marvel at ruffs the way I marvel at lush cake icing and delicate origami, and while there’s something very sensuous about the wrapping, ruffs also make people look very strong, armored, untouchable.

“Virginqueen” photo shoot by Viona.

In celebration of my tender relationship with ruffs, I present to you my favorite manifestations of these sumptuous adornments in fashion, photography, music and film. The list is by no means complete, so please feel free to chime with your own ruff finds! One of the images and some of the links below may not be SFW, but most are. The Romp through Ruffs begins with the work of photographer Tina Cassati:

Perhaps you have wondered what secret agent Yoon looks like. It’s also possible you’ve spent long clammy nights in your bedsacks tormented by questions about the mystery man behind the lens. Today your dreams come true as the tables turn with me as the photographer while Yoon does his thing. Now a word from our model.

“Hello all you fine people. Drew Yoon here. Firstly, apologies, all you fervent fans of teh Zoetica. We’re digressing from your regularly scheduled blue bombshell for a spicy kimchi break. Unlike the consistently dapper Zoetica, I’m often rather shabby-looking in my obey beanie, t-shirt and generic jeans. However, on occasion, a brother needs to look fly for the ladies, am I right?

With the much-appreciated feedback we’ve been getting for What’s Zo Wearing?, and so many wonderfully inspired and inspiring creatures out there, we’ve decided to occasionally present our favorites; créme de la créme so to speak. Here we’ll be asking about personal style philosophy, shopping habits and views on fashion in general.

I first came across Princess Coldheart a.k.a. Princest on MySpace a few years ago and immediately fell in love with her look. Appreciation of drama, big hair,and big shoes is a sure way to my heart, but there’s far more to her than meets the eye. Spend some time reading her painstakingly written LJ entires and you’ll see a well-versed, intelligent and delicate person. She’s not afraid to present herself as dramatically as she pleases, while still being fascinated by the world around her and that’s where the real inspiration lies. You can find her here and here.

“I generally try to be unique, vibrant and individualistic when it comes to the way that I look and dress and how I style my hair and do my make up. Frankly, my style has gotten much simpler and more stripped down over time (as compared to how intricate, elaborate and altogether impractical my predominantly all-black outfits and overall look used to be).

Last week there no one believed me about PayLess, but here’s more proof! On occasion they just have decent stuff. Not too often but it does happen – at least one pair of actually decent shoes.Check the website if you don’t want the often tedious experience of actually walking into one of these places, but I wouldn’t recommend buying anything here without trying it on. So if you find something you like on the site, call up your local stores and ask them to set aside the pair/size you need. This way you’re in and out in 15 minutes, tops. Then you have more time to do things. Like dye your incredibly overgrown roots, for instance!

Since we’re on the topic of consumerism, I’d like to extend my thanks to VonLivid for pointing us in the direction of AND_i jewelry by Austrian artist Andreas Eberharter. These subtle, quiet pieces are part exoskeletons of large robotic bugs and part those ardent trips to the hardware store for accessories in preparation for the next industrial disco outing.

While we’re waiting for the launch of the shop, check out some of my favorites after the jump, and browse the AND_i galleries for more of Andreas’ work. Turn on speakers for an appropriately crunchy soundtrack to your window shopping experience, brought to you by Viennese locals Afterwax.

To be more creative is to get closer to childhood.
-Sarah Moon

“Impressionist photographer” Sarah Moon has spent her entire career dancing down the high-wire tension line strung between fine-art and fashion photography. To my knowledge, she has yet to falter or repeat herself.

Her phantasmagoric vision, though often imitated, would be impossible to duplicate. Most anyone with the time and resources can become a darkroom wizard, and Moon certainly is, using capricious techniques like sepia coloring on matte paper, toned silver gelatin printing, solarization, monochrome Polaroid pack, etc. Much of the trendy work made through these means can seem a bit stale or derivative, lacking a certain sense of playfulness, don’t you think? The mischievous gut level allegory found in Moon’s most memorable compositions sets her apart.

Take a stroll through her dreamy fairy tale world beyond the cut.

One day a forklift rode along and said “What do i see?
A girl and dog (or tiny cow?) who want to play with me?”

This girl and dog were pleased as well, the weary travelers.
They came from planets far away by long and dangerous trails.

It was indeed a glorious day for new friends are so few!
When you’re a forklift and you’re green, then cherish them you do.