It started with a myspace picture. As shallow as it may seem, having a pretty or professional looking myspace picture is a great way to draw people in— beauty is a magnet. That’s how I found Laura Dawson, and once I clicked on the little picture I was transported to a profile chock full of pretty and visually interesting garments from coats to shorts.

NY based designer, Laura Dawson, would describe her clothes as “avant garde” which is usually the term I like to save for my kooky, yet amazing, high school art teacher who wore two completely different cowboy boots on a regular basis (she also had Jim Morrison sleep on her floor for a month, but thats a different story). Dawson’s clothes are cutting edge yet timeless. No matter how trends change, it would be completely acceptable to wear her asymmetrical Una Wool Coat’ any time it started to get a bit nippy.

Ms. Dawson’s ‘Una Coat’ is brilliant and maybe even a bit avant garde, but I wouldn’t quite put the ‘Flame Hoodie and ‘Bubble Shorts’ in the avant garde pile. Though, its fair to say, everyone does need a pair of fun shorts (which also come in black for more basic purposes) and a warm hoodie or ten— proving not only can Laura Dawson do fun and unconventional but she can also satisfy your basic needs. Its almost mind-boggling to imagine something being avant garde and classic at the same time, but Dawson does an amazing job creating garments that seem to fit the bill.

For more information on Laura Dawson visit lauradawson.com or myspace.com/lauradawsondesign and visit the Laura Dawson online boutique to see what other fab clothes are available for purchase.

Not a fan of bright color combos and crazy patterns, avert your eyes and make sure you never fall for the nu rave trend. I for one am oddly attracted to bright colors and things that are so wrong, they’re right. That is the basis of clothing brand Naked Ape. According to them, they are just a bunch of people who come together “for the love of making stuff and having fun together”, but just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I find their “stuff” to be so much more.

Very rarely do you feel a bond with a garment unless you had something to do with its creation, and even then its questionable. However, the shear wrongness (is that a word?) of the eclectic patterns on the clothing made me swoon in a way I hadn’t in quite a while. Their pieces are urban yet nu rave, comfortable yet chic.

My favorite pieces include:

• The ‘Forynja Dress’, 265.0 € SOLDOUT- I rarely like dresses with hoods, but the loose fit of the dress works well with the drappy hood.
• The ‘Ponies Hoodie’, 110.0 € – Its My Little Pony gone nu rave, what more is there to say?
• The ‘Heartbreaker’ t-shirt, 40.0 € – Who can resist half-naked rockers in leopard pants? I know I can’t!
• The ‘Ponies & Yetis Snood’, 55.0 € – It’s winter and we all need a good hood-scarf. Except my idea of a snood is something like a hair-net, who knew! Oh, and its MLP meets the ever illusive yeti, come on…

The only thing to bring me down from this fashion high was finding out Naked Ape is based in Iceland, and realizing the USD/EUR exchange rate is crazy (1€ is about $1.50 USD).

For more information on Naked Ape visit their website: http://dontbenaked.com/.

Currently, they’re selling t-shirts and hoodies, you know the standard start-up indie line gear. The difference between all t-shirts is whats on them, or not on them for that matter. The art and graphics on the tees and hoodies are really unique and in the case of the ‘Storms’ t-shirt a bit finger-painty mixed with splash of Jackson Pollock (if he went minimalist). Many of the items are very limited, as in they only have 75 of them, so impulsive buyers have the advantage.

As for the record label aspect of Snakes & Suits, they are taking a new-age approach to putting out music. They are releasing all albums via FREE mp3 downloads. They are starting by re-releasing the out-of-print Gatsbys American Dream EP, In The Land Of Lost Monsters. Included in the download is not only 7 great songs from GAD, but the album cover, and a little message from guitarist, Bobby Darling.

You can shop Snakes & Suits on their webstore, download the Gatsbys American Dream EP in their myspace. Above all make sure to “smile big and keep your hearts over money!”

For more information on Gatsbys American Dream, visit their website or myspace.

To be honest, I considered buying a similar hoodie from the guys section a while ago, since there wasn’t a skull collection for women, but now Jay-Z has caught on (a little late maybe, but caught on none the less).

The hoodie is 3/4 sleeves, tunic length, and reversible. The green side is a large dot printed skull, which wouldn’t be my personal favorite side, but may appeal to some. The hood if you actually want to use the hood to keep out weather it does have drawstrings, but I always end up ripping them out.

We Wanna Know: What trends will you be wearing that might make some fashionista’s might wag their finger at you?

The other day I was driving to this super far mall with my siblings. It was a really nice day, and we had the windows down and were blaring the radio. (I know, so obnoxious.) Blythe and I are obsessed with Amy Winehouse. The obsession is pretty much because she laughs in the face of her problems, but I digress. “Rehab” came on the radio and we realized Jay-Z was in the background, so we turned it up louder. Apparently, he did a remix to Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”. It was sort of amazing, and my siblings and I started talking about how much we respect Jay-Z. He doesn’t pigeon hole himself into solely being a rapper or even to solely represent black culture. We all decided if one of our children ever told us they wanted to be like 50 Cent we’d flip, but if they said they wanted to be like Jay-Z we’d totally be okay with it.

Since I’ve officially decided I really respect Jay-Z, I went on Rocawear.com to see what clothes I liked. Even though my style is not typically “urban”, I think there is a way to wear any of clothing line no matter the style and make it you. I figured jeans are always a good place to start with anyones wardrobe. I found a super cute pair of capri’s called the Roc Bling Capri. Ever since I saw SJP in her Bitten capri’s I’ve swooned over every pair of jean capris I’ve seen. I then decided to find a great top to go with the capris. I found two tops, and couldn’t make a desicion as to which I like better. The first is called the Thermal Roc Top and is super casual. I like the fun all over print, and its a hoodie. That pretty much covers all the bases of my perfect henley type top. The other top is a spagetti strap tank that can be dressed up or down. Its called the Dry Sun Tunic Top. I love the braided straps, and right now I’m totally obsessed with anything that has an empire waist. The fact that it also comes in teal with a white, brown and teal braid makes me even more stoked. To finish the look off I needed to find accessories. So I snooped some more and eventually laid eyes on super hot white peep-toe pumps and a pair of rad sunglasses. The best part of either outfit is I would feel completely comfortable wearing them.

I found this great online clothing store called Chica Boom. They currently have a few different lines. One is a pirate themed line, which makes me want to go pillage or something. There is the most stylin’ heart hoodie. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day. (Who needs a valentine when you have a cute hoodie?) Chica Boom also has an amazingly cute cheetah print hoodie on sale. Even Seventeen agrees this is a store to keep an eye on. Some of their clothing as been seen in the August 2006 and February 2007 issues.