Clothing

For the longest time, John Gregory had a denim dilemma. Gregory favors ultra-low-slung, dangerously tight, rock-glam jeans, but most men's brands are just too baggy or look too blah for the self-described "skinny dude." So at the suggestion of his wife, Brandie, the 32-year-old musician tried on a pair of women's jeans. He now regularly dons women's size-12 denims because, he says, such brands as Seven and Lucky work wonders on his lanky 6-foot physique.

Mercedes Adilia Rodriguez's wishes were precise and meaningful: Her casket would be closed during her funeral, and she refused to be buried in the chilly earth of a Southern California cemetery. Instead, following tradition, she would be interred above ground in her hometown in Nicaragua. But in the days after her death, family members say they were summoned to Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuaries in Whittier and told the funeral home had made a mistake. She had been confused with someone else.

Step into Jack Denny's office at World Jungle Clothing Co. in Costa Mesa, and you'll feel like you've entered another world--that of a 1970s-era college dorm. There's an old Jimi Hendrix poster on the wall, a remnant of a brown-and-white South Pacific tapa cloth tacked over a window and an eye-popping orange velour easy chair, rescued from a thrift store, in the corner. Denny even looks like a college kid; on this day he's sporting baggy corduroy pants and a '70s-style shirt. And when you ask him what he loves about his job, he sounds like a kid: "It's the surfing," he says.

When I discovered I was pregnant with our second child, I pulled out the storage bin containing the maternity clothes from my first pregnancy and was instantly depressed. After nine months of wearing a Diane von Furstenberg maternity wrap dress and Lilly Pulitzer maternity shift in heavy rotation — and I mean heavy in every sense — I couldn't face another pregnancy in these same few outfits. But at $300 for designer maternity dresses I would wear another half a year at most, I wasn't prepared to splurge on an entirely new pregnancy wardrobe.

On any given day, in downtown lofts, Santa Monica ateliers and dozens of studios across Los Angeles, dressing rooms are filled with men and women who are slipping into suits, dresses and jeans that fit as if they were made just for them — because they were. They are donning custom-made wedding gowns, dress shirts, even entire wardrobes. Whether they were propelled there by the frustrations of poorly fitting commercial clothes or by a sense of style that isn't part of the trend du jour, they've discovered the rewards of made-to-order clothing.

Leisure wear is looking awfully work-like these days. Consider Carhartt Inc., which has been outfitting plumbers, delivery people and farmers in shirts, jackets and bib overalls for 104 years. The family-owned company unexpectedly found itself on fashion's cutting edge two years ago when a small circle of rap singers took to wearing Carhartt jackets and overalls on stage.

Happy Hour had drawn too quickly to a close, and my wife and I were wandering through Wailea Shopping Village, arguing over whether it was the Big Dipper or the Little Dipper up there among the thousands of stars in the Maui sky, when suddenly I saw something in a store window that took my breath away: It was the shirt Montgomery Clift wore in "From Here to Eternity." I rushed into Sgt. Leisure's Cabana just as Ann Rinker was about to shut down for the night. "A replica, of course," she said.

For eight years she has kept her wedding gown neatly folded in a worn and faded blue box. "I was saving it for my daughter," she says, "but now that I'm getting divorced . . . . " The woman has come to 2nd Look, a consignment store in Tustin's old town that specializes in bridal attire, to see if she can sell the dress she no longer cherishes. Bobbi Lane, owner of the boutique, has grown accustomed to stories of wedding bell blues or bliss.

By the numbers it just doesn't seem right. Nearly 65% of American women are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and of those, more than 35% are obese. Yet most designer collections end at size 10. And on hundreds of high-fashion runways at international fashion weeks this month and last, ultra-slim models were wearing trendsetting designs that will never be manufactured in sizes to fit most American women. In a time when retailers are struggling to turn a profit, the disconnect between fashion and reality is a puzzle.

Tossed off a flatbed truck, a 100-pound bale of used panties and bras, worn socks, DKNY suits and Michael Jordan jerseys lands with a thud amid a jostling swarm of shoppers. Okech Anorue slits the plastic wrap on the refrigerator-size bundle he bought for $95 and dives in. There's bound to be a gem in there -- like the faded leather bomber jacket once worn by Tiffany of Costa Mesa High School. That piece now hangs on the premium rack in his 5-foot-by-5-foot stall with a $25 price tag.

Dear Mom: It's always been impossible to buy you a gift for Mother's Day or any other occasion, because there's so little you ever wanted or needed, and how many flannel nightgowns can any woman use? There must be half a dozen stores within 10 miles of your house where you set records for returning gifts from family members. And so we switched to flowers, which even the Queen of Returns can't give back. I hope they've arrived by now. But here's a little something extra.

Americans spend upward of 30 hours a month staring at their computer screens, shopping and browsing and seeking. We relish the efficiency, the expanse of information, the anonymity and the freedom. But we are social creatures and as such, can't seem to stop gathering in various online communities to share music or photos of fabulous dinners or handbags. We come together when rumors circle over a Kim Kardashian-Kanye West courtship or the replacement for John Galliano is announced at Dior.

A lot has been made of organic cotton and other eco-friendly fabrics made from Tencel, hemp and bamboo as fashion rides the mega-trend of environmentalism. But recycled clothes purchased at thrift and consignment stores, as well as upcycled items reworked from out-of-date castoffs, may be an even greener choice. Almost half of the climate impact of clothing occurs before it reaches consumers. It was this idea I embraced when I hired a wardrobe consultant for a desperately needed eco fashion makeover.

In the not-too-distant future, your smartphone may be able to help you see through walls, cardboard boxes, paper and even clothing. Scientists from the University of Texas at Dallas have designed an imaging chip that measures invisible terahertz light waves that is small enough to fit on a smartphone and inexpensive enough that normal people could actually afford to buy one. Terahertz waves can be detected through opaque surfaces such as...

Patagonia Inc., the clothing retailer known for its use of organic cotton, is now training its Earth-friendly eye on food. Specifically, jerky made from wild salmon. The Ventura-based outdoor apparel-maker has begun selling three flavors of its Patagonia Provisions line online and in its more than 50 retail stores. Per founder Yvon Chouinard's operational mantra of sustainable living, Patagonia said it's trying to move the seafood industry away from practices such as overfishing and heavy commercial farming that it claims have depleted wild salmon stocks.

I may not be a fashionista, but I wear clothes as often as the next person — I'm wearing some right now as a matter of fact. And stung into curiosity by that withering monologue about the cerulean blue sweater in "The Devil Wears Prada," I am interested in how certain styles wind up dominating major commercial outlets like Macy's, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue. What I am not interested in is another reality program in which a carefully selected group of poignantly back-storied and teary-eyed "up 'n comers" attempt to leapfrog the traditional rigors of their craft to win a competition guaranteeing them a contract.

When I discovered I was pregnant with our second child, I pulled out the storage bin containing the maternity clothes from my first pregnancy and was instantly depressed. After nine months of wearing a Diane von Furstenberg maternity wrap dress and Lilly Pulitzer maternity shift in heavy rotation — and I mean heavy in every sense — I couldn't face another pregnancy in these same few outfits. But at $300 for designer maternity dresses I would wear another half a year at most, I wasn't prepared to splurge on an entirely new pregnancy wardrobe.

Just because you've reached--or passed--that "certain age" doesn't mean you have to abandon the fashion style you've acquired over the years. But it might mean that you will want certain conveniences, styling details and fabrics to enhance your appearance, better match your more relaxed lifestyle and make getting dressed easier. The problem, as many women know, is finding these clothes.

Budget-conscious fashionistas queued up early at Target for a crack at a new clothing line created by upscale designer Jason Wu, part of the discounter's latest effort to attract shoppers with cheap chic. By 7:45 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, more than 100 people were waiting outside the Target store in West Hollywood, many wearing sweatpants, stifling yawns and clutching cups of coffee. "This is insane. I'm totally shocked," said Jennifer McNamara, 23, of West Hollywood while eyeing her competition in line.

The style stakes are heating up this red carpet season, and at the SAG Awards on Sunday night, it was the risks that paid off. The sea of sameness we saw at the Golden Globes gave way to major individualized fashion statements. Emma Stone's dress -- by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen -- was a total knockout because of its "exploding lace" bustier, as the fashion house describes it; and the fresh, mid-calf length, all the better to showcase a killer pair of peep-toe shoes.