These cool, strechy Wristlings^TM by Liz Revision aren’t just adorable wrist-adornment, they are also helping out a good cause. A portion of the proceeds are donated to Expanding Your Horizons, a nonprofit that holds conferences to nurture girls’ interest in science and math courses to encourage them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math. $6.

Available at Fractalspin.

Here’s a pair of earrings + gift card combo that I made with some leftover Swarovski crystal rhinestones I had.

Here’s a cute way to send a friend a handwritten note and a new pair of crystal earrings! This note card features a snowflake-decorated ribbon and label on the front attached with a blue brad. The ribbon conceals one pair of Swarovski crystal post earrings and the inside has a paper insert for note-writing. Each comes in a zip poly bag with a metallic silver envelope.

$12 on Etsy.

Got a guy on your gift list who’s got every gadget you can think of, and you’re not sure where to turn? Check out our suggestions for great geeky yet stylish gifts.

< Odin’s Rage Watch – $120.00
This futuristic watch has a novel way for displaying the time. You know how you’re expected to recall the position of numbers on a watch with a blank face? Well this watch operates on the same principle, but substitute a large inner dot for the hour hand position and a small outer dot for the minute hand position. Cool huh?

High Voltage Laptop Bag – $65.00 >
Watch yourself! Any guy who’s dreamed of having superpowers can indulge his fantasy just the slightest by suggesting that his mega gadget fascination has made him electrically charged himself. The army-green laptop bag has a padded laptop sleeve a roomy interior, and pockets under the flap to store a variety of other electron-pushing gear.

< Electronic Musician’s Emergency Adapters – $65.00
Even if the gift-recipient in question isn’t an electronic musician, he’ll be just as overjoyed to sift through this “first aid kit” and know he’ll be the hero when an audio emergency strikes. It has common audio adapters as well as ones used in professional audio situations, and there’s even an LED light to make following cables around in the dark much easier.

Duct Tape Hybrid BiFold Wallet – $25.00 >
Raw industrial style meets clean minimal design with a touch of futuristic aspiration in this wallet made from real duct tape. It’s made from a specially-designed duct tape that won’t lift, peel or get sticky like the normal stuff, so your man won’t have to worry about trying to delicately detach a fifty at the cashier while the line of impatient shoppers behind him grows.

More recommendations  over at the Fractalspin Blog: Best Geek Gifts for Guys 2007.

Those of us who combine geekery with personal style usually have a running list of people we admire, even if it’s not on a conscious level. In your opinion, who are the “role models” for Geek Chic? If there was a top ten list for geeky cool celebrities, who would be on it?

List your top picks on the Fractalspin blog:

Who are the most geek-chic girls?
Who are the most geek-chic guys?

Here’s some great gifty stuff for geek girls, chem-bots, and engineers that features earrings like floppy disks, cell phones, and microscopes. It’s a side project of the tech jewelry line, Zelle (mine): Gnerdy Jewelry.

I used Drupal to build the site, with a long list of modules like CCK, Contemplate, Captcha, and TinyMCE. The design elements may remind you of this very blog (shapes created from electronic schematic symbols.) Digg and share!

read more | digg story

Here’s a list I’ve compiled of the best websites, blogs, and forums:

Best geek, gadget, and gaming blogs & websites (click!)

he page will be updated constantly. If I’ve missed something worthwhile, drop me a note and let me know: Contact.

Gnerdy Jewelry (pronouced “nerdy jewelry”) brings us a line of earrings made from technological fetishes including obsolete computer media and mobile electronics. Take, for instance, floppy disks. While wearing actual floppy disks as earrings would be neat in concept, it’s actually really tacky in execution (see photo at left), especially hanging from the ears say, of anyone over the age of five.

Fear not, there is a more tasteful way to wear those floppies and not get a citation from the Fashion Police: cast-in-sterling Floppy Disk earrings ($40) from Fractalspin. Not only do they get a stylish upgrade by being cast in a precious metal and scaled significantly smaller, they come with the thoughtful addition of clear stoppers to prevent them from accidentally slipping out of your ear (and how many of us haven’t been crushed to discover only a single earring remaining at the end of a night on the town?).

Another made-obsolete-by-technological-progress icon that gets the jewelry treatment is calculators, in the form of Silver Calculator Earrings ($30). Kraftwerk expressed their love for the mathematical gadget that replaced the slide rule in “Pocket Calculator”, and now you can express your admiration in the same way but through your adornments. In an especially math-club touch, the display of each of the calculators shows the first few digits of pi (3.14159).

And the device that’s responsible for the downfall of the pocket calculator is likely the modern cell phone. Since most phones these days incorporate a calculator application, there’s no need to stash a mini calculator in your purse or bag for those restaurant-check-division emergencies. Celebrate the advancement of communication technology by wearing these super-miniature Cell Phone Earrings ($45). While these are far smaller than the tiniest cellphones on the mass market, and quite close to your eardrums, the only thing they share with their functioning cousins is that they open and close like a real flip phone. And they’ll even stay in whatever position you set them in so you can wear them both open, closed, or in totally different positions, and they’ll set you back far less than buying two iPhones.

While the cell phone earrings are quite tiny, they’re still visible to the naked eye, unlike many of the micro-elements studied in the sciences, like examining the solder joints on a circuit board, studying the functions of neurons, and watching the cell-replication of aquatic specimens. And if your daily grind involves happily doing any of those things, you might as well express your ingrained love of science with Microscope Earrings ($22).

Ties and Father’s Day seem to be intrinsically connected, but why settle for getting dad a fugly one that matches all the other fugly ones he owns? Help his style quotient increase and get him one of these super trendy designer ties from Cyberoptix, a Detroit-based design studio who makes some really wicked ties. These over here are based on the Synth-E, one of the very first portable synthesizers that fit in a suitcase and was battery powered, forging the way for the modern laptop musicians of today. It’d be a perfect gift for an electronic musician, or a retro-synth enthusiast. They come in a staggering array of color combinations, and you can choose from either a synthetic microfiber or silk. And, if you’ll notice, the favicon for the Cyberoptix is a red Speak-N-Spell with horns, which makes them even more cooler in my book.

Here’s my list of places I’d recommend to go shopping in Chicago, and I’m a 29-year-old electronic musician / DJ / nerd / biz-geek with no kids who visits clubs and bars on a regular basis. I’ve left off a few places that I occasionally stop into but wouldn’t recommend wholeheartedly (Urban Outfitters & Crossroads on Milwaukee, and The Alley at Belmont & Halsted, for instance. While I can sometimes find an interesting pair of shoes at The Alley, for the most part it caters to suburban teens [ala Hot Topic] and Fetish-ists / Goths / Punks and Rockabillies. *yawn*) Here are some photos of me in clothes I’ve bought from the following places: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Wicker Park: Milwaukee Ave.

G-Star Raw (Women / Men)
1525 N. Milwaukee Ave.
“The New Diesel” and my new favorite store (when I can afford it), it has crazy streetwear that will definitely get you noticed. The jeans are pretty expensive but just OK–they don’t have the distinctiveness of their other pieces.
BRANDS: G-Star Raw only

Una Mae’s Freak Boutique (Women / Men)
1422 N. Milwaukee Ave.
“Eccentric” is a good word for this place. There’s quite a bit of vintage and / or “reconstituted” vintage, there are a great deal of local designers represented, but there are also new pieces in the mix. There were a lot knitted goods when I was there, and many of their pieces seem to have ta handmade quality about them.
BRANDS: Gentle Fawn, Syrup, Dollhouse, Epoch, Steady, Dragonfly, Autoura, Dying Orchid, Mary Larkin

Another Level (Women / Men)
1420 N Milwaukee
Back in the early-to-mid 90s this was a place on the South side where you would get tickets for raves, and while you were there, pick up phat pants, t-shirts and vinyl. They’ve since expanded to a number of locations out in the suburbs, but the music culture overlap is still there–albeit at this point it’s of the shiny-shirted mainstream, likely-lame variety. Still, the clothes are pretty trendy and most of them are definitely for wearing out to clubs.
BRANDS: Ben Sherman, Skinny Minnie, Headline, Glamhead, Monarchy, 1921, Affliction, Edward Dada, Pathway, Bleeding Star, Chii, Nexo, Aqua VI, Sinful, Drifter, One Life

I’m never shopping at Another Level again. Check out the review I wrote on Yelp.

Belmont Army (Women / Men)
1318 N Milwaukee Ave.
Downstairs you’ll find real army surplus, but upstairs is where it’s at. Everything is trendy, unique, and pricey, but it has one of the most unique clothing collections in the city
BRANDS: Kitchen Orange, Spiewalk, Ben Sherman, Triple 5 Soul, Onitsuka Tiger, Fornaria, Tsubo, Saucony, Diesel, Converse, Paul Frank, Miss Sixty

Futurgarb (Women / Men)
1359 N. Milwaukee Ave.
This tiny boutique has some funky excellently urban-trendy clothes, and their clearance rack has some real finds. Sunglasses at around 15-20 bucks are of-the moment.
BRANDS: Groggy, Caffeine, 7 Diamonds, e-division, Industry, Groggy, Ezekiel, Split, Stussy, Gentle Fawn, Billabong, Tank Farm, Zinc, Love Nico, Chrome Industries, Dollhouse, Drifter, Buffalo, RZST

Wicker Park: North Ave

City Soles (Women / Men)
1566 N Damen Ave
City Soles sells trendier, more casual and affordable styles while it’s roommate, Niche sells seriously upscale yet funky footware
BRANDS: Fornarina, Puma, Tsubo, Cydwoq, Yin, Jeffery Campbell, Ted Baker, Kenneth Cole

Untitled (Women / Men)
1941 W North Ave
Another former rave-era outfitter, this one has gone the way of trendy and pricey, but there are still cool pieces about. These days it reminds me of walking around in East Village in New York. The men’s section is definitely bigger, but there are more women’s shoes. Saturdays they bring in a DJ to spin while you shop..
BRANDS: Triple 5 Soul, Diesel, Fornarina, Gravis, Nooka, 555 DSL, Fresh Jive, J. Lindeberg, Adidas, Paul Frank, Penguin, Puma, Ben Sherman, Modern Amusement, Fred Perry, True Religion, Gsus

TK Men (Men)
1909 W. North Ave
They have free beer on tap in the back of this super trendy men’s boutique. It’s all incredibly pricey, but outstandingly original. You’ll see lots of trendy suits and blazers in the front and as you move back you’ll see more of the casual collection.
BRANDS: 9 Lives, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bacco Bucci, Cadillac Hammer, Buddhist Punk, Cashlords, Edward Dada, J. Lindeberg, King Baby, Loser, Love Nico, Mezlan, Super Real, Uppercut

Akira Shoes (Women)
1849 W North Avenue
Fabulously trendy yet affordable, when you find a shoe you love in your size, buy it right away or you’ll be out of luck when the next person in your size snags the same pair. Akira also has its own line, which is quite cheap although not very sturdy.
BRANDS: BCBG, Diesel, Oh-Deer, Jessica Simpson, Chinese Laundry, Nicole, Puma

Akira Men (Men)
1922 W North Ave.
Many excellent t-shirts can be found here, the men’s version of Akira for Women.
BRANDS: Heavy Rotation, Puma, English Laundry, Le Tigre, Hummel, Ben Sherman,
Black Hearts Brigade, Blend, Blue Law, Brooklyn Industries, Brown Sound, Buffalo, Caffeine,
Capital Mercury Apparel, Dekker, Division E, Dragonfly, Drifter, Hard 8, Hendrix, Joseph Alexander, Junkfood, Live Mechanics, Modextil, Hendrix, Monarchy, New Leaf, Parasuco, Pathway, Paul Frank, Polo, Print House Inc., Roar, RVCA, Spray Graphics

Akira (Women)
1837 W North Ave
Incredibly trendy with pieces at all price levels, although the super cheap ones will probably only last as long as they are in style. They also have a loyalty card program to encourage you to feed your addiction.
BRANDS: Kitchen Orange, Gentle Fawn, Paul Frank, Akira, 213 Industry, 949, B-B-Dakota, BCBG Girls, Ben Sherman, Burn N Violet, Dolce Vita, Free People, Gentle Fawn, Hazel, Jedidah Clothing, Junkfood, Kenzie, Le Tigre, Made U Look, Monarchy, Spray Graphics,

Bucktown: Damen Ave

p.45 (Women)
1643 North Damen Avenue
Stocking up and coming local designers, this small boutique has clothes you likely won’t find any where else in the city.
BRANDS: Development, Phillip Lim, Beaumenay Joannet, Bing Bang, Chip&Pepper

HIM / HER (Women / Men) [CLOSING as of 5/29/2007]
1653 N Damen Ave
A teeny litle boutique that’s stylish and has free beer and Playboys for perusal.
BRANDS: J. Lindeberg, Diesel, Raw-7, Rock & Republic, Ed Hardy, 7 Diamonds, Serfontaine, English Laundry

Ukrainian Village / West Division St

Casa de Soul (Women | Men)
This teeny shop has modern soul as its inspiration, along with funky accessories, purses, jewelry, and clothing. There’s often a mildly rasta theme that’s often seen on accessories or in colors choices.
BRANDS: DDP, Shmack, Rockers Worldwide, Caffeine, Petro Jeans, LTB jeans, Klozhorse, Hussy Jr, Vintage red, Blu Law, Rzst, Dubwise, Ubiquity, Soul Rebel, Sudaca, English Laundry, The People Have Spoken, Drifter, Sworn Virgins, Soca, Sweet and Toxic, Anna Fong, Ori by Cyndi Chan, Heroine chic, Hussy Jr, BB Dakota, Double Zero, Miss Me, Catch A Fire (By Cedalla Marley), Petro Jeans, LTb Jeans (By Little Big), Bartak Denim, Split

Steelo (Women) [CLOSED]
1850 West Division Street
BRANDS: Pink Studio, Pajar, Baci, Detny, Poetic License, Mizmooz, On Your Feet

Penelope’s
BRANDS: APC, April/May, Anzevino & Florence, Built by Wendy, Charlotte Ronson, Spiewalk, We Clothing, Wrangler 47, Xgla

Espace
1205 N Milwaukee Ave
I have yet to browse the racks here but it looks cool.

Thr3ee
1632 W Division St
Pick a t-shirt or a hoodie, then flip through one of the design books to apply your decoration of choice.

Koi8 [CLOSED] 1927 W. Chicago Ave
Lots of graphic-designer tshirts–very funky and trendy and not too spendy.

Lakeview: Belmont and Halsted

Ragstock (Women / Men)
812 W Belmont Ave
This small midwestern chain has piles and piles of affordable clothes, hand-picked vintage & thrift, and all kinds of costumes and accessories. There is a smaller store over on Milwaukee i Wicker Park but this one is far superior.
BRANDS: various

Pink Frog (Women)
905 W Belmont Ave
This is a great little spot for cheap sexy heels & boots as well as funky casual shoes. Right now since flats are in they have two racks devoted to all sorts of variations on the theme, from skull-n-bones printed modified Chuck Taylor-esque snearker/flats to more traditional choices you could wear to work.
BRANDS: Rocket Dog, Soda, Chinese Laundry

DSW (Women / Men)
3131 N Clark Street
If you didn’t find anything at Pink Frog, head around the corner to this chain featuring last season’s shoes (thousands of them!) at a steep discount.