Fashion Accessories

Summer's the time for wearing baseball caps, but this season the soft hats with the long bills are no longer just for taking out to the ballgame. Baseball caps are everywhere, from the fashion runways of Milan to the streets of Los Angeles. Hollywood's beautiful people--including Janet Jackson, Madonna and Eddie Murphy--are wearing baseball caps as symbols of their street-wise chic.

Potter and home furnishings designer Jonathan Adler is bringing his signature brand of “happy chic” to the world of fashion, with a new line of men's and women's accessories landing now in his boutiques, including the ones in L.A. and Orange County. Colorful scarves, ties, hats, bags and belts, priced from $38 to $398, incorporate whimsical design motifs such as birds and Greek keys taken from his home accessories line and have the pimped-out preppy vibe of his interiors at the Parker Palm Springs Hotel and elsewhere.

In a run-down apartment complex, the head of a tiny nonprofit organization sews messenger bags, slick evening purses and trendy satchels bound for the United States. The products are more than fashion statements. They are a statement about how Mexico should handle its garbage. BIO, a 12-year-old environment advocacy group here, makes the slick and sturdy black bags from inner tubes taken out of damaged truck tires in Mexico City.

Amsterdam Girard, Electra cruiser bike designed by midcentury artist Alexander Girard Electra Bicycle Co., based in San Diego, introduces the Amsterdam Girard featuring midcentury graphics by Alexander Girard adorning a modernized Dutch city bike. Fenders and an enclosed chain case make it easier to run errands in an Alexander Wang dress. The Tree of Life retails for $749.99 and the Quatrefoil for $799 ($25 rebate for bikes priced over $399.99 if purchased before the end of the year)

The fake rose petals strewn across the tablecloth gave Milton Hobbs' booth a romantic aura. He stacked crystal-cut perfume flasks in a pyramid and set out pink candles tied with ribbon. The effect was almost sexy -- at least compared with the other booths at the International Christian Retail Show. Hobbs liked it. He needed a striking display to call attention to his most unusual product. "Christian perfume," he said. "It's a really, really new genre. We're the first!"

Nicola Trussardi, whose luxury fashion accessories made the firm that bears his name one of Italy's most popular designers, has died. Trussardi died Wednesday of injuries he sustained in a car accident Tuesday night on the outskirts of Milan. He was 56. News reports from Italy said police were investigating the crash. Police reportedly believe that Trussardi may have suffered a stroke or other debilitating health problem and lost control of his car.

A pit bull could communicate that you're a bully. A Chihuahua might mean you're chichi. A shar pei says preppy, possibly. Your canine, in fact, could say as much about you as your ZIP code, your coupe or the cut of your blazer. Dogs, you see, are the fashion accessory of the day. "It's almost impossible to have the right style without the right dogs," declares designer Isaac Mizrahi in the docudrama "Unzipped," after admiring Eartha Kitt's twin standard poodles.

Apit bull could communicate that you're a bully. A Chihuahua might mean you're chichi. A shar pei says preppy, possibly. Your canine, in fact, could say as much about you as your ZIP code, your coupe or the cut of your blazer. Dogs, you see, are the fashion accessory of the day. "It's almost impossible to have the right style without the right dogs," declares designer Isaac Mizrahi in the docudrama "Unzipped," after admiring Eartha Kitt's twin standard poodles.

Potter and home furnishings designer Jonathan Adler is bringing his signature brand of “happy chic” to the world of fashion, with a new line of men's and women's accessories landing now in his boutiques, including the ones in L.A. and Orange County. Colorful scarves, ties, hats, bags and belts, priced from $38 to $398, incorporate whimsical design motifs such as birds and Greek keys taken from his home accessories line and have the pimped-out preppy vibe of his interiors at the Parker Palm Springs Hotel and elsewhere.

Check out any of Orange County's black-tie dinners and balls, and you'll see women wearing eye-popping emeralds and dazzling diamonds. But unless you bring a jeweler's loop and peer closely at your fellow guests' glittering rings and pendants, you'll never know which jewelry is fake. "There's a lot of cut glass in Orange County," says the manager of an upscale jewelry store. Her tone suggests women might as well go to a ball wearing plastic rings from a gum-ball machine.

Her fingers ran over the smooth red buttons with flecks of gold and the wavy sea-green buttons and the black buttons with ridges that made them look like miniature fans. Yoshini Kondo admired them all -- buttons sewn in lots of 12 on yellowing cards, buttons in every color and size, buttons in Bakelite, casein, ceramic, shell, wood, even silk thread. But did she need old buttons in her life?

AFTER THE Dow's plunge this month, it's safe to say many people aren't rushing out to buy the season's latest "it" bags. Even for those who've got the cash, that $2,000 might do better in the bank than hanging from a shoulder. And yet, it's only natural to want a new fall carry-all after years of buying back-to-school backpacks and filling them with shiny school supplies. If you can afford to usher in the season with a leather satchel or oversized tote from Valentino or Prada, live it up.

FIRST came nail polish, then acrylic press-ons. Next? How about shrink-wrap color? Though it's still largely under the radar, Minx, a 2- to 4-millimeter-thick film that's cut to fit the nail and affixed with a heat-activated adhesive, has been winning converts -- and celebrity fans -- since it was introduced two years ago. Beyonce has worn Minx to award shows and red carpet events, and other high-profile fans include Blake Lively, Lisa Marie Presley and her daughter Riley Keough.

WASHINGTON -- Arianne Callender never considered herself a designer handbag kind of girl. Her wallet forbade such frivolous longings. But this holiday season, Callender, 33, will be toting a quilted leather Chanel pouchette that retails for about $400. She'll also be decked out in pearl Lori Bonn earrings and a sterling silver pendant necklace by Elle -- all rented online for a few dollars each day, with no one the wiser.

MENTION aviator sunglasses and "Top Gun" may be the first thing that comes to mind. But a close second should be Ray-Ban, the company that originated the style 70 years ago. Modeled after military-issue goggles, aviators were developed for pilots who needed anti-glare glasses. They became popular with civilians in the late 1960s and early 1970s, only to be eclipsed by the Ray-Ban Wayfarer in the 1980s. In Hollywood, aviators never strayed too far from the spotlight.

An evening bag may not actually hold much more than a valet ticket, some Listerine strips and a Razr phone, but without one, getting dressed up just wouldn't be the same. They can add extra sparkle or an unexpected dash of color to a simple dress, or breathe new life into an otherwise tired old frock. But with the prices of accessories soaring, evening clutches can cost more than you paid for the dress, forcing you to use the same bag every time you go to a formal affair.

The movie and fashion industries should stop glamorizing smoking, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. It urged them to "stop being used as vehicles of death and disease." The U.N. body, trying to realize a global anti-tobacco treaty, called on the film industry to avoid presenting smoking in a favorable light and on the fashion industry not to use cigarettes as fashion accessories.

The two fashion accessories undeniably necessary for spending any time outdoors at the Getty are big hats and even bigger sunglasses because, frankly, 73,750,000 pounds of marble make for the world's largest tanning bed. It's bright up there--be prepared. * Be ready to walk. A lot. The center is big--110 acres.

IT was inevitable that the 1980s revival would bring back fashion's love affair with chains. Remember those fabulous Vogue spreads with Cindy Crawford weighted down in layers of Chanel chain necklaces? Now, labels as diverse as preppy J. Crew and ladylike Prada are chaining up oversized bags, dainty ballet flats and simple T-shirts.

Feathers are fluttering everywhere this season, alighting on Miuccia Prada coats and Alexander McQueen cocktail dresses, defining the bodices of Sari Gueron gowns and peeking out from under Marc Jacobs hemlines. New York accessories designer Colette Malouf is pulling inspiration from the sky too, fashioning headbands and barrettes with feathers for a chic 1920s feel. "Feathers are like what hair is to a woman," Malouf says. "They add softness, movement and shine."