If you’ve taken a gander at our recent, menswear-inspired lookbook – or have just glanced at the guys in your life these past couple of weeks – you may have noticed  a bounty of bristly faces. “What’s with all this precisely preened plumage poking around the upper perimeter of these Modsters’ mouths?” you may have asked yourself. Well, there’s no reason to keep a stiff upper lip about it anymore – we’re highlighting Movember!

Okay, I know what you’re going to ask next – “What’s Movember?” Well, the word itself is a playful portmanteau of ‘moustache’ and ‘November,’ but the concept behind this term is much more meaningful. The fact is, males all over the world, during the month of November, are growing this form of facial hair to bring awareness to men’s health issues, particularly prostate and testicular cancers.

From its humble beginnings as a concept kicked around by a few friends in an Adelaide, Australia pub back in 2003 to bring back the popularity of moustaches, Movember has since grown into an annual, global celebration of this tufted face trimming in order to raise money for cancer research. Men start November cleanly shaven, then simply let their stubble grow into the form of a ’stache for the next month, all the while acquiring donations from supportive sponsors. The moustache, then, has become a symbol of awareness, much like the pink ribbon has for breast cancer.

If you’d like give a shout out to your brothers, fathers, male friends, and others, but aren’t ’scruff enuff’ to grow your own, why not highlight men’s health issues with a handlebar moustache on your bag? On Monday, November 23rd, if your ModCloth order hits $100 or more, excluding the purchase of gift cards, you will receive for free with your shipment the handsome tote shown above!

In the meantime, discover more ways that you can help the cause by visiting the official Movember website.

• If you’ve looked at a calendar – or perhaps the terrified look on your coworker’s or classmate’s face – you know that today is Friday the 13th. The clinical term for fearing this day is paraskevidekatriaphobia. This word was coined in 1911 but not popularized until 1953. Not sure what your particular phobia is called? Try searching through this site.
• Mention the phrase, “Friday the 13th,” and many people think of the film franchise. This may then bring to mind a large, young man named Jason in a hockey mask stalking teenagers. But did you know that this trademark, masked version of the machete-wielding maniac didn’t show up until Part III of this horror series?
• If you’re like the other 17 to 21 million people in just the United States alone who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, you may be planning on staying in today. If so, here is a list of fun things you can do in or around your home to entertain yourself.
• Why is it considered an unlucky day? Well, in numerology, 12 is considered the number of completeness, making the number 13, then, an irregular transgressor. And, historically, Fridays have been associated with everything from stock market crashes to Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s also said that the superstition is derived from a Norse myth in which it was believed that a coven of thirteen witches met each Friday to plot dastardly deeds for the following week. You can read more about Friday the 13th and other interesting, superstitious trivia here.
• Today marks 2009’s third Friday the 13th. This triple occurrence happens only once every eleven years!
• Finally, if you know someone who’s feeling a little skittish today, why not cheer them up with a fun Friday the 13th electronic greeting card to wish them good luck!

Since arriving at ModCloth in June, I’ve been hopelessly devoted to featuring products we sell that are fit for a woman or a man. And now that those summer nights are fading in our memories, school is back in full swing for many of us, and we’re getting chills that are multiplyin’, I felt it appropriate to highlight the versatile Varsity Vogue Jackets. As we prove in this post, it doesn’t matter who you are – prep, jock, nerd, punk, dweeb, freak, metalhead, goth, greaser, or geek – you can letter in Unisex-y style whenever your outfit goes together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong with one of these jackets that comes in two different versions to suit your own alma mater, or just your mood on any particular day.

If you’re feeling bright and perky one morning, for example, and you’d like to reflect your vibrant personality with your clothing, the Varsity Vogue Jacket in Livermore High may be the one that you want. On Jenn, we’ve teamed this yellow and green version with the bright blue luster of the Dancehall Blues Pants to create a luminous look that’s sure to make her the envy of her peers. To keep it from getting gaudy, though, we’ve countered the peppy colors with the neutral greys of her loyal Best Friend Tank in Grey Day, Coming Full Circle Scarf, Epee Peep Toes, and, finally, the Unhinged by Fringe Bag that totes her notebooks.

I, on the other hand, chose to take an edgier, more dramatic approach to my look. With the Varsity Jacket in Scottsdale High combined with slim, black trousers and a plain white V-neck tee, I’ve created an outfit as slick as greased lighting. Finishing the ensemble are a pair of sleek, grey, sharkskin loafers that tie together the stark contrasts of the white and black garments, a class ring, and a rebelliously big-buckled belt.

Which one of these unisex jackets suits your style or clique?

Honestly, Diane, I didn’t know what my inspiration for this week’s Unisex-y post was going to be. All I knew is that I wanted to feature the Shaman Necklace, a piece of neckwear that I own, adore, and already personally wrote about in its description.  On the day of the shoot, though,  someone suggested that we take the photo outside, which is something I’ve never done with this series.  When I viewed the resulting photo, it looked very woodsy and saturated with warm colors. Then, like the code of a dream being broken, it hit me that Sarah and I, with our folksy ensembles and our beaded, Native American-inspired necklaces, look like we could be denizens of the fictional town in the mystical, early-1990s television show, Twin Peaks! Much like David Lynch (the creator of the show) does in his work,  I must have collaborated with my subconscious to create an installment of Unisex-y that simultaneously taps into the shared eeriness of the impending Halloween holiday and the TV series, and into my love for this particular filmmaker’s work.

After firewalking with me over to this small, sylvan patch in our office’s parking lot (is that a Douglas fir behind us?), Sarah struck a darn good pose in the outfit we put together for her. With the Shaman Necklace being our foundation, we laid first lumber with the snuggly, faux fur-lined, hooded, and taupe grey Polar Bear Hug Dress, then put her in some sturdy new shoes, the Zeitgeist Booties, which feature a treaded sole perfect for a walk under the sycamore trees. Her legs were kept warm in the cool, damp air by the Tights for Every Occasion in Ski Lodge (any relation to the White Lodge?), and our picnic of cherry pie and strong coffee was packed in her Amy Bag, which marvelously mimics, like a mynah bird, the various colors of beads in the necklace. For the finale, we tied the twisted Per-suede-sion Headband around her tresses.

For myself, I put together – what is now apparent to me  – my best Ed Hurley meets Tommy “Hawk” Hill outfit with my Shaman Necklace combined with my grey, pinstriped, button-up shirt, a black vest, slim blue trousers, and cowboy boots.

In closing, Diane, the owls may not always be what they seem when it comes to fashion, if you catch my meaning. That is to say, some ModCloth items that are meant for a woman can also be worn by a man. If  any further evidence comes in, please leave a comment below.

I stumbled upon Orchid Grey this morning after clicking on a Wardrobe Remix image on Flickr of the stylish woman behind this blog in a grey outfit featuring leopard print tights. That photo inspired me to visit her blog where I found a bevvy of beautifully pieced together outfits, all very pretty but with a hint of rock ‘n roll edge to them. It was difficult to choose just one picture to feature, but after noticing that she named the above ensemble “Velvet Elvis,” I knew it to be the winner.

What do I love about this particular outfit? Where to I begin? Let me start by saying that I like how she’s taken the ordinarily very casual combination of jeans and a T-shirt and polished it up with a very svelte, black velvet blazer. Not to mention that the jeans themselves are very sleek and chic, and that black with blue happens to be my favorite color combo! Then, to brighten up the look a little, she’s wrapped a purple-dotted scarf around her neck. Finishing the outfit is a stately pair of black heels.

If I were to try to recreate a similar outfit and didn’t have an amazing black velvet blazer at my disposal, I think I’d pair blue skinnies with the Captain of Cool coat for a slick look with a refined edge. What do you think?

I can’t begin to express how impressed I am that the stylish woman behind Living La Vida Rita was able to combine so many seemingly disparate elements into one stunningly adorable look! She’s managed to create a punky outfit that’s also totally office-appropriate by piecing together a skirt and a top with wildly different prints, then polishing those with a perfectly tailored blazer. And then the real kicker? Her amazing, studded, strappy sandals (a closeup of which she provides on her blog)!

Maybe you could pull off a similar, funky-formal look with something like the Glass Ceiling Blazer. What do you think?

The stylish woman behind the blog  Style is Style wore this recently to the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle, and I have to say that it’s a really rockin’ ensemble! She’s taken a very chic, mostly black outfit – with a very on-trend, military-inspired jacket – and given it a double wallop of color with sky blue tights and a sunny yellow scarf. Putting yellow and black together seems like a risky move, but she totally pulls it off with aplomb. Finishing her look are her slouchy, calf-high boots, which kick the outfit up to eleven!

If you want to achieve a similar look, try pairing any number of our military-inspired jackets, like the Captain of Cool Jacket, with a flowy frock to create a balanced look that’s both edgy and feminine.

I’ve never volunteered to create an Outfit of the Week, given the obvious limitations of ModCloth items I can assemble to put together a look for myself. But then, someone said to me, “Why don’t you just style someone else?” What a brilliant idea! At that point, images of ModCloth items popping up next to each other like a Polyvore style board began to saturate my mind, and I couldn’t help but notice that the key garment in all of these hypothetical combinations was the Albuquerque Coat. Then, knowing how much she covets this coat and how amazing she would look in it, I asked for the assistance of one of ModCloth’s Vendor Relations Specialists, Bobbi, in modeling my outfit.

Considering my fanaticism for the wild west, and the fact that it’s named after a city in the  state of New Mexico, the Albuquerque Coat only seemed the natural pedestal upon which to build a beautiful, folksy, boho-western ensemble. To start off, I selected The Sandy Romper for its solid blue-chambray color that I knew would provide a cool contrast to both the warmth and the busy design of the coat. I then accessorized with a collection of cowgirl-inspired pieces like the Buffalo Jill Belt that lassos Bobbi’s waist in for a sensational shape, the Pocket Cassidy Necklace that holds her gold, the Stagecoach Purse that stows her loot and other essentials, and the Spread Your Wings Headband that helps keep her tresses from getting tangled in the desert winds. Finishing the look is the odd piece out – the Miami-Date Wedges. While not western, per se, their sea green color accents the green in the coat, and their striped heel reminds me of a striated mesa.

I’d like to start off this installment of Unisex-y by posing a question: Is there really anything more unisex than rock and roll (I mean, heck, there’s even this little rock band from Australia  you may have heard of, called AC/DC)? Proving particularly pivotal to this posit is 80’s glam metal. With the way the male artists of this genre crossed gender lines by teasing their long hair, lining their lips and lids with make-up, and sporting wildly-colored spandex pants, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a competitor in epicene style. I thought, then, that the suitably titled Kickstart My Heart Jacket in Crue would make for a great feature item this time around, considering that you can fashion it for girls, girls, girls or for smokin’ style in the boys’ room.

We weren’t lookin’ for nothin’ but a good time when we styled Jen, so we decided to take a little trip to the wild side with her ensemble. Her Kickstart My Heart Jacket in Crue performs as the leader of this grouping, but it’s backed up harmoniously by the chic, black Street Art Tee with its crisscrossing, white slash designs. The metallic-looking Arular Leggings shine in the spotlight with their flashy riffs, and her Full Throttle Heels in Lucy really kick out the jams. Finally, we added a pyrotechnic pop of color to this otherwise neutral palette with the purple Twisted Sister Scarf, then shaded her eyes from the paparazzi’s cameras with the snakeskin-printed Wild Wayfarers.

For myself, I decided to play the Kickstart My Heart Jacket in Crue down a notch to power ballad level to show how one might create a more subdued look with this piece of outerwear. When rushing out of home sweet home to get to band practice in a pair of black trousers and cowboy boots, it’s far from the same ol’ style situation when you throw on this grey bomber over a plain white tee. Wrap a scarf around your neck and accessorize your eyes with a pair of aviators, and you’ve got a simple, yet savvy, outfit you can feel good about!

Come on, all you rock and rollers, let us know what you think! Do you have any thoughts on the Unisex-y series that you’d like to share? Got any unisex styles you’d like to send our way? Without you, there’s no change!

Need a fabulous disguise for Halloween? Why not consider crafting your costume from one of the eleven vintage items that we’re launching tomorrow, Wednesday, October 7? Every hour, on the hour, from 10am to 8pm, another wicked one-of-a- kind garment will appear on the site to put a spell on your fright night fashions. In these pieces, you’ll be able to transform yourself into anything from a terrified bride of a monster to an electrifying, 80s wedding singer!

We don’t mean to make you bat your eyelashes, but – jeeper creepers! -  October 31 sure is sneaking up fast, so there’s no time for lurking in the shadows! If you need items to brew up a boo-dacious outfit for Halloween, be sure to place your orders by October 22.