Leather

You look fat in that. Of course I'll be late. Your baby reminds me of Gollum's uncle. This is what the 2013 Subaru BRZ might say if it could talk. The all-new, rear-wheel-drive sports car starts at $26,265, and boy is it honest - perhaps more so than any other car on the market today, save for its mechanical twin, the Scion FR-S. The two were jointly developed by Subaru and Scion's parent company, Toyota, with both assembled by Subaru in Japan. The question about the BRZ is, can you handle the honesty?

Greyhound Express , a new premium bus service, rolled out Wednesday for routes that link Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and other California cities. The brand that turns 100 next year has tricked out Express buses with free Wi-Fi, power outlets, leather seats, three-point seat belts and extra legroom. Express customers get one more nice perk too: reserved seats. The service was launched 15 months ago in Chicago, expanded to the Northeast and now has begun in California.

Elisa Nepi knows, with every stitch and soft-leather skin she touches, that she and her family are holding tight to a fast-disappearing art. She and her father are among the few in this city who still hold the key to a family-run studio for leather craft. Every day, the two sit, with hammer or needle in hand, and pound out a living. Italy once was known for such handmade leather goods. Today, as Chinese imports flood the market and Chinese immigrants fill factories commissioned by Prada and other designer shops, the Nepis' small shop is a reminder of the back-alley enterprises that once thrived in Rome and Florence.

Rita Ryack spent several weeks tangling with Tom Cruise's leather pants. The costume designer for the upcoming 1980s musical "Rock of Ages" (opening June 15) was instrumental in Cruise's conversion into the fictional rock icon Stacee Jaxx, a self-involved guitar-playing idol in the vein of Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose. The coyote-fur jacket, the jewel-encrusted codpiece and the custom-made cowboy hat did wonders in transforming the normally strait-laced Cruise into a drug-addled performer with more in common with Mick Jagger than Ethan Hunt.

The "Made in Italy" label conjures images of little old men and women in aprons and spectacles, stooped over wooden tables, cutting leather and sewing by hand in workshops that dot the hills of Tuscany. It certainly doesn't make you picture Chinese immigrants toiling long hours in ramshackle, poorly illuminated sheds, and then sleeping in small rooms behind thin plywood right there in the factories.

Don't want to stumble through the sand on laser-cut platforms at a Malibu beach party? Rubber flip-flops too casual? Tkees, a collection of dressy leather sandals, are a beachy choice with an interesting slogan: Cosmetics for your feet. Tkees were introduced in 2009 as foundation-matching flip-flops for a barefoot effect. The basic "nude" colors range from the lightest Seashell to the darkest Mocha. Last summer, the brand expanded the makeup concept to include other cosmetic-inspired shades in different leathers such as patent for glosses, soft suede for creams, shimmery-finishes for eye shadows and matte leathers to match lipstick and eyeliners.

Echo Park's Clare Vivier is having a moment. L.A. designer Jasmin Shokrian just collaborated with her, the always-stylish Rashida Jones is a regular client and Target's Red Hot Shop website recently sold out 200 of her fold-over clutches in a matter of days. The ClareVivier handbag collection, produced entirely in L.A., is winning fans with a mix of Parisian flair and timeless design. Popular styles include La Tropézienne, an eco tanned Italian leather bag; a slouchy messenger tote made of unlined nubuck leather and soft metallic flat work totes.

Faux leather gift wrap Materials Brown paper grocery bag Kiwi shoe polish (brown was used for this project) Makeup sponge Rubber gloves Paper towels Scissors Gold metallic stamping ink (optional) Pinking shears (optional) Instructions 14Cut the bag along the back seam with a scissor, then cut out the bottom. This will leave you with a piece of paper about 14 inches by 37 inches.

When it comes to fine leather goods, Los Angeles might not have the manufacturing cachet of Florence, Italy, but here in our Venice, you can discover Illia, a leather sportswear collection for women, which opens its first signature boutique on Friday. Illia is designed and manufactured in downtown L.A. by partners John Murrough and Robbie Moray. Murrough, the lead designer, is a South African who came to Los Angeles in 1983 via London, where he learned leather-making techniques while working in retail for Manolo Blahnik.

Even in the most refined hands, leather possesses a slightly sinister side. But its animalistic and dangerous past life as the apparel of choice for bikers, punk rockers and strutting antiheroes is helping designers solve one of the most difficult design challenges of recent seasons: making classic, almost stale, silhouettes hip. Cut a prim A-line skirt in leather and, suddenly, it's gone from schoolgirl to bad girl, with the attitude of both. That skirt is poised to become the key element in L.

Travelers interested in participating in the TSA's expanded pre-check screening , which pre-approves some passengers to pass through checkpoints without removing shoes and belts - should click here  for information. The expanded program was announced Wednesday . . . . Hawaii hotel revenue rose 12.7% last year , according to a report by Hospitality Advisors LLC and Smith Travel Research. Occupancy was 73.4%, up from 70.7% in 2010. The average daily rate was about $189.62, up from $174.84 the previous year . . . . Nationwide, only New York City has higher room rates than Hawaii , Smith Travel Research says . . . . The 20th annual Zinfandel Festival takes place in Paso Robles March 16-18 , featuring wine from more than 50 vintners. For info or tickets, go to www.pasowine.com . . . . Northern California's Mendocino County hosts three Whale Festivals this March : Mendocino Village (March 3-4)

The "game of the century" might not have been the best game Saturday night. Louisiana State and Alabama lived up to the billing to the extent the volume was high and the scoring was low. It was a brutally battled contest pulled out by LSU, 9-6, on Drew Alleman's 25-yard field goal in overtime. The sold-out crowd of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, stunned in the end, could not have been more vocally prepared. "I don't think anybody could watch that game and say Alabama doesn't have a really good team," Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban said.

Newer isn't necessarily always better, even when it comes to football helmets. A study published online Friday in the Journal of Neurosurgery finds those vintage "leatherhead" helmets may protect as well as or better than modern ones when it comes to some typical helmet-on-helmet collisions that can lead to concussions. Let's pause for a disclaimer: The study authors don't advocate giving up today's polycarbonate helmets for those old leather-covered ones--the newer ones have resulted in a decrease in severe head and neck injuries.

The brown-leather journal is my passport to Sept. 11, 2001. When I hold it in my hands, images and memories are no further away than yesterday. I had no notebook with me when my husband and I dropped our children, 8 and 4, at school that morning. Then came news of the attacks at the World Trade Center, and my husband pulled the journal from his briefcase. He pressed it into my hand so I would have something to write on. Rereading it, I wonder why I wrote in blue ink for several pages and switched to black.

Jani Lane, the lead singer for Warrant, a popular 1980s metal band that often had hits with songs he penned, including "Cherry Pie" and "Heaven," has died. He was 47. Lane was found dead Thursday evening in a Woodland Hills hotel, said Sara Faden, a Los Angeles police officer. The cause of death was not known and an autopsy was scheduled. With his long blond hair and tight leather outfits, Lane embodied the excess of 1980s "hair metal" rock bands. After he joined Warrant in 1984, the band rose on the Sunset Strip circuit alongside kindred spirit Guns N' Roses and eventually signed with Columbia Records.

L.A.-based designer John Eshaya is in a rockin' mood. The former vice president of women's wear for Ron Herman launched his swanky-jeans-and-tees collection, Jet by John Eshaya, in 2008 and has added leather and glazed denim (which resembles leather) to his stable of slim-cut jeans for fall. Popular among trend-loving celebs including Nicole Richie, Heidi Klum and Kim Kardashian, the collection is already one of the sexiest denim lines in the stratosphere, specializing in skinny looks with just the right amount of rips, tears and vintage-inspired distressing.

I don't think I've ever heard from a more hypocritical group of people in my life than those interviewed for your Aug. 23 piece on vegans searching for leather-free autos. They don't intend to purchase leather seats because of cruelty to cows, yet they'll fill their car with plastic, petroleum-based products in the meantime. Have they ever thought about the environmental impact that mining all that biomass -- meaning, dead animals -- produces? Then they'll drive their cars, filled with another petroleum-based product, on six-lane-wide freeways that have decimated animal habitat.

On the edge was the right place to host a gathering of hip junior-wear designers, even if it was just the edge of a parking structure. "Spring Break on the Roof," sponsored by Nordstrom's Brass Plum and Rail departments, drew a few thousand gawkers to the top level of a South Coast Plaza parking high-rise Saturday. Three local bands--Texas Tunnel, Sweet Mary and Suburban Rhythm--played away the afternoon while 28 manufacturers showed their wares.

French luxury brand Longchamp will premiere its first West Coast boutique on Monday at Costa Mesa's South Coast Plaza, bringing its Le Pliage leather-trimmed nylon tote -- among other "it" handbags -- to Orange County shoppers. The 1,722-square-foot shop is an elegant study in wood, lacquer, glass and leather, and features a feminine enclave for the brand's growing ready-to-wear collection that "doesn't exist in any other U.S. store," said Stephanie Disegni, chief executive for Longchamp North America.

Sarah Palin's much-publicized "One Nation" bus tour got off to a chaotic and rumbling start Sunday in Washington, with no bus in sight and the potential presidential candidate only occasionally popping into view. The former Alaska governor, who has indicated she is still contemplating a run for the White House in 2012, showed up at a motorcycle rally for veterans in a Pentagon parking lot, clad in black leather, a black helmet and sunglasses. She arrived with her husband, Todd, and two of their three daughters in tow. "We're here to honor our vets," Palin told NBC News.