TIRED of that boring white iPod? How about that bottom-of-the-line phone you got with your wireless plan? Maybe you should put some bling on that thing. You know, ice it with a little python skin, or dress it up with a Christian Dior antenna trinket.
"Pimped," "iced," "blinged out." Whatever you want to call them, decked-out gadgets -- as well as couture and luxury models -- are reaching ever-escalating heights of outrageousness. From Gucci iPod cases to emerald-laden Treos, they've gone far beyond the Swarovski crystal-encrusted cells made famous by status-obsessed starlets such as Paris Hilton. These days gadgetistas can select from limited-edition phones by fashion designers Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson, as well as luxury models made from rare Brazilian burlwood, stainless steel and 18-carat gold.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday September 05, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction
Decorated cellphones -- A caption with an article about cellphones in Thursday's Calendar Weekend said a custom tropical faceplate was done for a BlackBerry device. The device shown was a Treo 650.
"Especially with devices like cellphones, people use brands to express their own identity," said Ryan Block, 23, managing editor of the consumer electronics website Engadget.com. "In the '80s, maybe it was cars. In the '90s and 2000s, it's definitely which gadgets you have."
Cellphones top the list of techno things getting painted, crystallized, charmed and otherwise adorned or upgraded, but Treos, BlackBerrys, PlayStation Portables and iPods are also getting the treatment. In general, the more common or aesthetically challenged the technology, the more likely it will be customized, but there are exceptions. Customizer Carter Nichols has seen plenty of ultra-hip Motorola Razrs coming his way for cobra-skin and black-crystal coverage.
"You think it's so sleek and so cool, but to have crystals on a black Razr phone looks amazing," said Nichols, 34, co-founder of New York-based Modphone, which specializes in high-end, handcrafted gizmo modifications. In the six years that Nichols and his wife have been in business, they've covered laptops in stingray skin and flip phones in rabbit fur or even pearls.
"We find that most of our customers want to cover everything," including the brand, Nichols said. "They're sick of AT&T and Motorola. They just want it to be theirs."
That's how Helen Castillo felt after paying $139 to have her phone covered in crystals and topped with a fake-diamond antenna charm at the Glendale Galleria recently. She couldn't even remember what kind of phone she had. Nor did she care.
"As long as it looks cute," said Castillo, 35, who left her garden-variety clamshell phone at the Custom Cell Painting stall and returned one hour later to find it adorned in shimmering pink and lilac.
