SICKA THAN AVERAGE

State of Nirvana

The late Kurt Cobain was often pictured wearing various Converse styles: Jack Purcells, One Stars and Chuck Taylor All Stars were all essential parts of his look (along with the long, stringy hair, oversized, striped sweaters, etc.) So it's fitting that the celebrated sneaker line would pay him homage by debuting a new collection of sneakers featuring scribbles and notes from his personal notebooks.

The collection, which debuted this month, includes all three shoe styles in white or black, each distressed to attain the grunge look Nirvana brought to the mainstream (meaning that worn-in, frayed look). Each is available in either a solid color design (with, of course, discolored or soiled-looking sections of fabric) or, if you prefer flashier designers, you can opt for the versions featuring notebook scribbles or hand-written lyrics. Cobain's signature is embroidered on each shoe's outer, making these a true colelctor's item.

My favorites are probably the white lo-top All Star kicks with the all-over illustrations in black-- there's a really intimate feel to the scribbles, which include an illustrated electric guitar, a baby floating above outstretched hands (it looks like he's crowd surfing), music sheet notes, and more. I also love the subtle design details: the note on the side of the shoe that reads "Return If Found" followed by Cobain's signature and the frayed black thread on the shoe's tongue really make these feel like they tell a story. Die-hard Nirvana fans will also appreciate the lyrics version, which is designed to look like a page torn out of a composition notebook (thus the white lines over the black fabric). Oh, and, in case you were asking yourself, the above pictured shoe features the lyrics to "Lithium." Guess Converse wants us to come as we are.

Converse All Star Lo-top Cobain Doodles, $44.99; Converse All Star Hi-Top Lithium Lyrics, $49.99. Available at Journeys.com

In Living Color

Sure, it may be a stereotype (and it may ruffle your feathers or make your blood boil, depending on your sensibilities) but truth is most Latinas do love bright colors. Frankly, I'm one to celebrate that fact. Yes, I do like to wear bold, electric (and sometimes slightly blinding) blues, pinks, reds and greens, and darn it, my wardrobe is fly! I figure whatever anybody says, at least I'm adding a bit of color to the universe. Think about how boring life would be if we were all stuck inside navy blue skirt suits, beige cardigans, and white button-down blouses!! You ain't gonna stop traffic if you're dressed like a constipated matriarch, a'ight? Yep, mi gente, we do add some sazón to the world -- and that's a beautiful thing. It should be no wonder, then, that some of the most exciting pieces hitting stores this season are coming from the workshops of Latino designers.

One of these trailblazers is Claudia E, a native of Guayaquil, Ecuador, who studied Fashion Design at the Miami International University and continued her fashion education in Italy. For Claudia E, color and texture are two of the most essential elements of a successful garment. Wanting to accentuate the inherent softness of the female form, she tends to favor fabrics that feel like a second skin (silk, jersey, etc.). And, while she's always incorporated a flash of color into her collections (her Fall 2007 line included a paper bag-style, strapless yellow-and-silver bubble dress, a one-shoulder Grecian-style dress in a shimmering aqua tone, and even a strapless, bubblegum-pink frock), she's really let go of any inhibitions in '08. In her recent designs, Claudia is making great use of vibrant and unique prints that double as wearable canvases.

Her Fall 2008 collection incorporates silk fuchsia blouses, sapphire sheaths, and printed dresses boasting unexpected color combinations. Among my favorite pieces are the Lucia Dress, with its kimono-style sleeves, waist-accentuating belt tie, and sophisticated blue, plum, black and aqua color scheme, and the Fiorella Dress, a flirty shift dress in an Art Deco-flavored cream, red and purple print. Now THIS is what I call traffic-stopping apparel.

Claudia E Lucia Dress, $88; Claudia E Fiorella Dress, $78. Visit ClaudiaE.com for more information.

Fat Cap Camp

Today, Kid Robot unveiled its Fat Cap 2 series, which features artwork from Bubble Fetishist, Argentine art troop DOMA, graff artist Sket One, and French graffiti artist Tilt (I actually saw him paint a mural in the Bronx with my dawg T-Kid a few years ago, and homeboy's got some serious skills). There are 17 characters in total, each standing at 3 inches tall. I'm of course partial to the butterfly-covered one, but the sinister part of me always loves some of the more grizzly, blood hungry suckers, like the Herman Munster lookalike with the bloody saw, and the Lucha Libre style dude, who is carrying something like the captive bolt pistol (that device that looked like an air pump) Javier Bardem's character used to murder folks in No Country For Old Men. Gotta love it.

$6.95 each; Visit KidRobot.com

Sexcapade

If you're like most females, you've got the countdown to the Sex and the City: The Movie up-and-poppin' but before you start calling Moviefone and logging on to Fandango for those precious movie tix, you may want to catch up on everything Carrie and company have encountered through the years. You don't want to miss a Manolo Blahnik step in the movie, do you? So revisit all the bad dates (Charlotte's bad kisser guy, Miranda's overeater, Samantha's funky spunk dude), kooky fashion trends (remember the hat Carrie wore when she had the scrunchie fight with Berger?), friendly spats (remember how mad Charlotte got when Samantha slept with her big bro?), hideous break-ups (post-it note, anyone?), and posh eateries and clubs.

In December, HBO finally released the complete series on DVD and if you didn't cop it then, there's no time like the present. The hefty DVD series is packaged in an encyclopedia-sized case that almost looks like a journal (clever, given that Carrie's a writer), bound in pink suede and featuring a sketch of the New York City skyline.

As an ode to the most abso-fuckin-lutely fabulous (exclamation point!) series, here are a few of my all-time favorite eps (just in case you want to fast-forward to them!):

Season One: "The Baby Shower"
The scene where all four gals load up into a car, only to look at each other and ask "who's driving?," is classic New Yorker style (hey, we cab it and train it). And Miranda's joke about understanding the witch in Hansel & Gretel is straight-up genius.

Season Two: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
Samantha at a Yankee's game comparing a half-inch portion of her hot dog to her man's penis? Too friggin' funny.

Season Two: "The Man, the Myth, The Viagra"
Since I'm a sappy gal, I always get misty-eyed over this ep, where the perennially cynical Miranda finally gets a flash of romanticism after meeting (and sleeping with) adorable bartender Steve. Oh, and Samantha's mini affair with the pruny old man? Hysterical.

Season Two: "La Douleur Exquise!"
This ep probably poses one of the most interesting questions asked in the show: when are we crossing the line between having faith in a troubled love affair and moving into sheer masochistic territory? The last scene kills me: something about Carrie sitting in the window sill, looking out into the street with the gloomy music playing in the background just pulls at my heart strings...

Season Three: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Charlotte finally tests drives Trey's equipment the night before her lavish wedding, only to discover that his ship is at zero mast. Meanwhile, Carrie confesses her "Big" mistake to Aiden and breaks the rugged, loveable man's heart.. Damn, damn, damn..

Season Four: "All That Glitters.."
Charlotte and Trey pose as "the perfect couple" even as Trey prepares to move out...Makes you wonder what lies beneath every "happy couple" photo you've ever seen..

Season Four: "Change of A Dress"
Newly engaged to Aiden, Carrie wonders why she isn't dazzled about the prospect of walking down the aisle. After trying on some hideous wedding gowns with a seriously pregnant Miranda, Carrie discovers she might just be allergic to marriage..

Season Six: "The Ick Factor"
Miranda is the anti-bridezilla when it comes to her wedding with Steve while, in an unexpected twist, Samantha discovers she has breast cancer.

Season Six: "An American Girl in Paris (Parts One AND Two)"
From Carrie's lavish dresses in Paris to her disillusionment over Petrovski's self-centered attitude and her run-in with Big, the story line comes full circle. And that's not all. With Charlotte and Harry finally getting their baby, Samantha acknowledging her love for Smith, and Miranda tenderly caring after her senile mother-in-law, the series finale was moving, funny, sad, poignant, clever, hopeful and dazzling.

Phew! So those are some of my faves... What are yours?

Now available for $109.99. Visit Amazon.com

Bulletproof (Well, More Like Cyber Theft Proof) Wallets

Whether you have a wad of crisp Benjamins or a few crumpled dollar bills to your name, there's no reason why your wallet should look like it's been tumbled through the dryer, bludgeoned by the Demon Barber of Fletcher Street and stomped on by that hideous Cloverfiled creature. Besides, you can't have a fly purse and then whip out a ripped canvas wallet stained with coffee and covered in dirt. That's like wearing chunky white socks with Jimmy Choo shoes. Kena Kai, an edgy lifestyle company based in Los Angeles, can give us a lesson or two on staying organized -- and doing so with swagger. Their e-commerce site is packed with prime Italian leather goodies: everything from iPod cases (which include a practical "cord management" compartment that ensures your earbud headphones won't get tangled up) to ID holders (yes, the kind you loop around your neck to get past security in your office building) and computer sleeves.

But their wallets are the crown jewels. Whether you favor a long, enevelope-style wallet with a magnetic button closure or a square, zippered style, Kena Kai has something for you. Embossed ostrich skin, lizard skin, and crocodile skin styles are available in bold colors like orange, blueberry, eggplant, gold and turquoise.

One of their most convenient offerings is the DataSafe Travel Series Set, which comes with a leather wallet (featuring an exterior coin compartment, up to 14 credit card slots, a full-length cash pocket, two full-length pockets for receipts or miscellaneous paperwork, and a pen-holding loop) and a passport holder (which has such clever features as a secure pocket for your passport, a slot tailor-made for your boarding pass, and seven credit card slots). The set is available in a green or blue (both colors are pictured above).

And, get this: these Kena Kai products feature a patent-pending, exclusive DataSafe Technology which uses multiple layers (up to 21 for the wallet and 9 for the passport holder) of radio-frequency shielding material to protect your personal info against wireless identity theft. As you probably know, Big Brother is monitoring our every move these days and embedding our personal information on licenses, passports, credit cards and, well, everything (how long before we have microchips embedded in our brains? Geesh!). And, while it's nuts, it's a reality -- as is the fact that all this data can be retrieved by nerdy hackers/thieves with relative ease, making it a breeze for them to assume your identity and mess up your credit line. And trust: you don't wanna end up with your credit being so crappy that you can only get a gig dressing like a pirate at Red Lobster with an eyepatch and fake parrot on your shoulder (ever seen that Free Credit Report commercial?!) So you better be safe before you end up really, really sorry. Invest in some Kena Kai gear 'cause like the Wu said, you gotta protect ya neck.

Kena Kai Embossed Italian Leather Passport Wallet in Blue Croc, $119; Kena Kai DataSafe Italian Leather Croc Embosed Wallet in Green, $149. Visit KenaKai.com

When Life Throws You Lemons...

At the core of L'Occitane's limited edition Citrus Verbena collection is a trifecta of yummy ingredients: Verbena extract from Corsica, natural lemon oils and grapefruit extract (from Italy, no less). As a bit of background, Verbena is a small shrub with purple and blue flowers that's commonly found along the Mediterranean Sea and is dutifully cultivated in Provence. Apparently, in Roman mythology, the plant wa believed to mend wounded hearts and rekindle ebbing loves -- which basically means these magical concoctions might be your good luck elixirs, yielding a memorable summer fling (or maybe even love).

To obtain Verbena's essential oils, L'Occitane has turned to leading plant producer and distiller Albrecht von Keyserlingk, who has organically grown Verbena plants in the island of Corsica. Harvested from May to July, the plants were then dried out and soaked in alcohol to yield the line's core lemon-scented, revitalizing extract.

Aside from the potent Verbena extract, grapefruit and lemon oils add a crisp, clean scent that's soothing and refreshing (particularly during these sticky, muggy summer days), without overhelming your senses (it's a much creamier, full-bodied scent that your typical lemon-scented products, so you don't have to worry about smelling like Ajax dishwashing liquid or Mr. Clean detergent). Plus, lemon and grapefruit are both believed to detoxify and purify the skin, working blemish-zapping wonders on oily skin types. Their zesty scents also help to soothe fatigue (so stop drinking all that Red Bull and coffee, and just try out some of these delicious products).

Among the line's offerings are the Citrus Verbena Fizzy Bath Salts, which quickly dissolve in water to give you a soak that doubles as super-powered aromatherapy; the Citrus Verbena Sorbet Body Cream, which literally smells like an ice cream shop treat and cools your body down, making the sorbet reference all the more fitting; and the energizing Citrus Verbena Intense Eau de Toilette.

Citrus Verbena Fizzy Bath Salts, $22.50; Citrus Verbena Sorbet Body Cream, $32; 0.7 fl. oz. Citrus Verbena Intense Eau de Toilette, $17. Visit Usa.Loccitane.com

Pop Princess

If you've walked through a Sephora store, you've doubtless seen a section dedicated to POP cosmetics, a quirky line of girly-girl lipsticks and eyeshadows that would make any future prom queen or Elle Woods wannabe squeal in excitement. Not only are the color palettes used youthfully bold, but the products' packaging features quirky designs that transport you back to junior high (flowers, stars and rhinestones are among the most popular embellishments). They almost look like those fake pastic make-up sets you fiddled with as a precocious little girl. Remember those? Remember how your mom thought she was appeasing you (and how you were still secretly ticked off 'cause you wanted to finger paint all over your face and these were strictly for pretend purposes)? THAT's what POP cosmetics remind me off.

But don't get it twisted -- these aren't for kids' play. Take POP's new Lip Lust lipstick line. Featuring four colors (naughty red, dewy toffee, flirty fuchsia and petal pink), these lipsticks are packed with Vitamin E to nourish dry lips, and Hyaluronic Acid, which functions as a lip plumper by sealing moisture into your lips (it gives you a nice Angelina Jolie-esque pout sans the scary tingling, burning feeling associated with most lip plumpers). And while they look astonishingly (and maybe even off-puttingly) bright, once you apply the lipsticks, you'll see much softer, dewy hues that complement and enhance your natural lip color. The flirty fuchsia (pictured above), then, won't make you look like you just finished eating a bag of cherry Jolly Ranchers; instead, it will make your lips look rosy and juicy. Of course, if you want to go the Legally Blonde route, you can apply a few coats until you've reached the desired effect, but I'm guessing you like to keep it a bit more subdued...

$16; Visit Sephora.com

Burn, Baby, Burn!

Like Tina said, it's burn, baby, burn, Disco Inferno time. Just check out the new Disco Freestyle Hi-Tops from Reebok. Now, I first saw the Disco Freestyles in the black colorway, and I instantly loved the day-glo colored ribbed edges along the back of the uppers -- the colors just remind me of strobe lights (which I suppose is the intended effect!) But when I saw this gold pair, I was just floored -- for one, there aren't enough gold kicks out there in my opinion. Think about it -- if you rock gold jewelry (or "fun gold" a.k.a. faux gold), then a pair of gold kicks will always complement your outfit. Besides, if a gold hue is done right, it will look luxurious and elegant in a way that no other color can. These also have bright colors along the ankles, but the colors are a bit more muted in this version (the bright pink becomes more of a mauve-ish color, the electric green turns into a seafoam green, etc.), and the pink laces just bring the whole thing home. Sneakers this summer are going to be brighter than a Kanye video, so kick off the season with these lovelies.

$69.99; Visit ProStarShoes.com

Serve It Up

You probably know about the Finnish textile company Marimekko, which specializes in geometric prints in bold hues (not quite as in-your-face as Pucci's designs, but they have their very own retro flavor). Well, what you may not know is that Marimekko has found clever ways to expand its reign, but they're doing so in an organic fashion, with everything referencing their fabrics. Take these serving trays. Each tray is made of plywood and measures 17" x 13", but here's the fascinating part: each tray is created directly from the fabric on which its design is based -- as a matter of fact, the fabric is pressed into the plywood so as to preserve the integrity of the original design.

These are two of my favorites, the Palma Serving Tray with its watercolor-meets-kaleidoscope floral print, and the Bottna Serving Tray with its Art Deco-flavored leaf print in bold green, black and white hues. In true Marimekko form, these are so dope, Kanye'd be trying to hoard them like he did his Murakami placemat at the Brooklyn Museum's annual gala earlier this year.

Marimekko Palma Serving Tray, $42, Marimekko Bottna Serving Tray, $35. Visit FinnishGifts.com

This Little Piggy Went to the Market...

Before you take those little piggies out to the market, make sure they're ready to be exposed. You wouldn't want them to end up crying all the way home, would ya? Truth is, as the temperature keeps rising, every woman is ready to wiggle her toes within the comfort of some Grecian sandals, boardwalk-ready wedges or mambo-flavored strappy sandals. But even if your shoes look like they belong in the MOMA, if your feet are crusty, your toenails cracked and overgrown, and you've got more corns than a box of Kellogg's Corn Pops, well, the joke's on you. So don't expose those feet until they've been handled.

The best way to start is with Miss Oops's Pedicure in A Bottle, which simultaneously exfoliates and hydrates your feet thanks to a combination of peppermint, lavender, sunflower seed oil, lemon extract, avocado oil, tea tee oil, shea butter and salicylic acid (for those whose beaus have foot fetishes, I might add that the lotion leaves your feet smelling like mint drops). Best of all, this isn't one of those trick-you-into-buying-18-products gimmicks. The instructions don't advise that you buy a matching foot soak, super-powered night cream, cuticle oil and loofah. Nah, this is a full-service deal. Matter of fact, the instructions keep it simple: "Aply daily until you can no longer sand furniture with your feet." That's what I call getting to the point!

$18; Visit MissOops.com

Miss Oops