Hasta La Gadget!

Whoever said fashion and couture must be made from expensive and exotic textiles obviously haven’t laid their eyes on Subway’s newest creative marketing strategy: Project Subway. It spoofs the fashion designer reality TV show, Project Runway, and tasked contestants to come up with the best and most creative fashion designs using Subway sandwich wrappers, napkins and other packaging as their materials.

Four designers competed, and designer Danilo Gabrielli emerged victorious. It reportedly took Danilo 14 hours, spread over two weeks, to create the two Subway couture dresses that he submitted for the competition.

The campaign was launched by Subway in an attempt to encourage people to try one of their sandwiches during their September “SUBtember” footlong promotion. The cool part? Project Subway was actually a part of New York Fashion Week.

[BuzzFeed via That’s Nerdalicious via Bit Rebels]

I must confess something. One of the reasons I work for myself is so I never have to wear a tie to work again. Even if ties can be hip, I just can’t stand having that noose tied around my neck all day. But if I’m ever forced to wear one at a fancy dinner or meeting, I choose these.

What’s cool about these Star Wars-inspired skinny ties is that they’re really quite stylish. Some of the ties offer subtle embellishments of R2-D2 or C-3PO, while others replace polkadots with the Death Star, the Imperial seal, and an exploding Alderaan. I also like the little stormtroopers hidden in the Madras plaid.

Perhaps the most obviously geeky design is the black tie with Darth Vader on it. This tie means business. Wear it the next time you have serious negotiating to do, and the other party will relent immediately for fear you will use the Force Choke on them.

There’s no word on when you’ll be able to purchase these ties stateside, but they’re already available in Japan from Kotobukiya for ¥5,040 (~$51 USD) each. I only have one question: why no TIE fighter? That seems like an obvious choice.

People really seem to go crazy for the Settlers of Catan game. It is a fun game, but how big of a fan are you? Are you willing to wear socks with hexagonal land tiles printed all over them?

Well, if that makes you happy, that is a thing now. In partnership with the creators of Settlers of Catan, Betabrand has created socks designed to look like the board game. They are appropriately called “Socks of Catan.”

Pre-order them now from Betabrand for $14(USD) and they will ship this October. You don’t even have to trade in any sheep cards to get them.

[via Laughing Squid]

Ryan Gosling’s a good actor. That and the fact that he looks better than average means he’s got legions of women and even men swooning over him. Ryan’s also has a huge presence on the Internet. He was the subject of a meme recently – remember the Ryan Gosling won’t eat his cereal meme?

Then there was the Chrome extension called “Hey Girl”, which basically replaces every image on a web page with one of Ryan Gosling when it’s installed. Back in the real world, Ryan is still as popular as ever. Why, he’s even inspired some people to create earrings featuring his mug with his trademark smirk on them.

The Ryan Gosling stud earrings are available from Fred Flare for $16(USD). They’re relatively simple, so if you’re not willing to fork over the cash, then I’m sure you can make your own easily.

[via Incredible Things via LikeCool via Oh Gizmo!]

Over the years Batman’s suit has ranged from a form-fitting nylon leotard to lightweight carbon composites. But if Batman dwelled in medieval times, I bet he’d have worn something like this.

This scalemaille armor Batsuit was handmade by Creations by Christopher. The body is made from almost 27,000 individual stainless steel rings, 4,500 large anodized aluminum scales, and another 3,000 small ones.

The armor weighs in at about 60 pounds, and includes not only the upper body, breastplate, pauldron and backplate, but it comes with a pair of matching Bat-bracers, and a cuisse to protect your lower body. The suit is rounded out with a fabric cape and boots, as well as a helmet with bat-like knife-ears – though Christopher didn’t make the helmet himself.

The whole getup was custom-made for a web series called Legends: The Dark Knight, and is now available for sale up on Etsy. Unless you’re Bruce Wayne, you’ll need to save up a few paychecks for this suit though – as it’s going for $9500(USD). Also, you need to be 6-feet-tall, weigh about 190 pounds, and have a 32″ waist. Though if you can afford another $1000 or so, Christopher will custom make one to your size.