Gears for Girls ...& Their Guys

By Laura Medina

 Usually around this gift-giving or gift-greedy season, the majority of fashion profilers (whether they be editors, bloggers, vloggers, and/or editors, ect...) focus on clothes or pertaining to the female market, jewelry, cosmetics, skincare (some dude fashionista writers do focus on this too, especially in the skin-chapping winter and summer), and even way more clothes.

Don't worry...you'll get plenty of those in the next few days.

This fashion-follows-function scribe is in the mood for anything that can carry and transport all those goodies from point A to point B and beyond..;and car shopping and buying is at its prime right now for the holidays.

Besides, the holidays are always the excuse for anything ornate, outlandish, and expensive.

Remember, it is the thought that counts and what can be more thought full than giving the girl or the guy of your dreams the car, motorcycle, or/and the surf board of their dreams.

Other than a house or a condo, this a compilation of fashion-forward cars and gears that are equally functionally-forward.

In this new slew of eco/smart cars, car designers or car engineers are mindful of the city-oriented creatives or yuppies who love the quick and close access of "just on my steps" bistros, gourmet groceries, and boutiques but they still need something to tool around the city and haul all their stuff...say like fashion and accessories designers.

Here are some, but not all, car that are equally eco-conscious as they are fashion-conscious...

 

Smart Car ForTwo, aka "Smart Car" commissioned the edgy, trendy Jeremy Scott to design a Smart Car that he, himself, would like to drive.

From what started as a sketch, it took eight months, working with the Smart Design Division at the Mercedes-Benz Cars Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad, California,. to turn that sketch into a show-stopping Smart Car previewing two nights before the Los Angeles Car Show.  He turned the staid fiberglass tail lights into wings that light up red every time you brake. 

 

For Jeremy Scott, working on the Smart Car, gave him the chance to do what he, as a fashion designer, always wanted to do to a car as fashion designer, to make it whimsical, unique, fantastical,...sexy.

 The chance to be the one of the few fashion designers to design a Smart Car was very exciting for him.

 He can see himself and his friends driving the car.  For Jeremy, electricity mobility is the wave of the future.

No wonder, they tagged this car as "Smart Forjeremy."  It is based on the current production version of the all-electric Smart Fourtwo ED. A similar commercial version will be launched in April 2013; production will be by demand and will retail around $24,000.

 

"It was not just a case of creating a showcar, but rather of creating a near-series study with the potential for licensing it for road use," said head of Mercedes-Benz and Smart designer Gorden Wagener.

Described by Wagener as a "veritable fireball of creativity," Scott's idea, said the designer, was "to make something that would be a fetish design object."

Jeremy Scott designed the exterior like clothes but he designed the interior like a posh handbag.

  

The exterior is coated in bright white paint against which the chrome-plated signature Smart Tridion structure gleams. The wheel rims, also chrome, are shaped like propellers giving a further sense of flight. Scott said he wanted the chrome to be super shiny. "Being a fashion person, I like to look at myself a lot," he quipped on stage.

The interior emulates a "luxurious handbag" as described by Scott and features white Nappa leather in a diamond-shaped stitching, which covers the instrument panel, seats and door trim. The interior is highlighted with a U-shaped steering wheel that gives the feel of sitting in a pilot's chair.

Annette Winkler, head of Smart, added to the announcement: "I really look forward to cruising the city in this item of haute couture."

The Smart ForJeremy Smart Car is reflective of the trend of the environmentally-aware car.  The "green" car is tossing away its granola image and maturing into something sexy and luxurious for the stylish and sexy consumer who can propel this next generation of car forward into this new century, think of this an evolution from the functional but monotone and boxy Ford Model-T ( as long it is in black) into a shark-fin Cadillac (in an array of shocking pastels) or the literally racy Corvette.

 

 

At Luxury Review, this lifestyle convention show was reserved for the sexiest of luxury cars and choppers.

This trend of "green cars" maturing into sex appeal and luxury continues into the Fisker Karma Car, one of the very few of the eco-minded cars merging the sex appeal of upscale sport cars with the heart and soul of green cars.

The Fisker is the first true electric luxury vehicle with extended range, 403 horsepower, a 300 mile/483 km extended range and 100 MPG/160 km achievable. The driver can choose between plug-in or fill-up, switch between Stealth Mode or fuel-assisted Sport Mode with a simple shift of the paddle.  This is great when you're out on the open road and there is no electric plug and you can save gas within the city.

There is one feature that makes it luxury, the really cool lumber seat adjustment for those who had tummy-tuck surgery.  Imagine seating in a plush authentic leather driver's seat, driving off to your doctor's appointment or trainer's session, and your lower back and seat are gently nestled by a cushioned lumber support system, adjusted by a simple flip from the car's seat control systems.

The car seat controls also move the seat vertically up and down, slide forward and back then tilt back and forth for maximized comfort...aahhhhh.

They polished the rescued, sunken, and fallen wood into a choice of shiny wood panelings for the Command Center dashboard.

The exterior sound speakers emit a sound to warn approaching pedestrians and traffic on a congested street.

The Fisker Karma's lightweight aluminum frame, coated in water-based Diamond Dust glass flake paint, with load-leveling shock absorbers deliver sport car suspension, lightweight materials, nimble handling and responsive driving dynamics, resulting into flat corners, neutral handling response, and uniform tire footprint pressure distribution.

The Fisker proves that being "green" doesn't have to be good for you but it can also "taste" good for your senses.

 It isn't all about cars for urbane girls and guys.

Some dream about that sexy motorcycle that charges and purrs as you whizz around in and out of town.

Brittny Gastineau poses with the Ducati Monster, a stripped-down but muscled-up motorcycle that can be customized beyond reason.

This isn't no wimpy moped for kids.  It's a motorcycle for sexy, mature women and men.

 

Oh...admit it, now is the time for sweet parents to buy their teenagers or college-kids their first car.

They're going to buy the Fisker for themselves but the Ford C-Max is the starter car for the high school and college students.

Whatever it lacks in a fashionable appearance, it makes up in "green cred" backed up by, no less, than Stella McCartney.

Before Ford sponsored the C-Max's holiday debut party at Stella McCartney's Beverly Hills boutique last week, they gifted Ms. McCartney, their first hybrid car, to see her reactions and thoughts on this new green car.

She test drove it, delivering samples across town, shopping for fabric swatches, and running errands.  She gave her seal of approval to let Ford throw the debut party at her Beverly Hills boutique to formally announce the Ford C-Max.

The seats cushioning is made of  soybean-oil foam, while plastic bottles are recycled and used in for the cloth seats and denim jeans are recycled for use as in sound-deadening. 

Since it's Winter,  the 2013 C-MAX Hybrid and the C-MAX Energi heated mirrors and heated leather-trimmed front seats sure come in handy, making those winter mornings a little easier.

 

 

Now, that everybody is seriously shopping for sport, the keyless, touch-control rear lift gate for the trunk comes in handy when you're carrying and lifting big, bulky packages and gifts.  Come again, this is a great feature for busy caters and frazzled wanna-be caters.

The new foot-Activated Liftgate is incredibly easy to use. With the available Intelligent Access key in your pocket or purse, just place your foot under the bumper and the power liftgate will automatically open, providing easy access to the cargo area. This is especially helpful when your arms are full.

Basically, just tap or tap in frustration under the bump then the trunk door pops open without your wrestling then dropping your keys.

Great for those moving into boarding schools, dorms, and that first apartment.

Since the Ford C-Max is a "starter car," you can save your novice driver or the parallel-parking challenged from busting the bumper or scratching the car with the C-Max's Available Active Park Assist.  It uses ultrasonic sensors. Once activated, your C-MAX can virtually parallel park itself with little input from you. The C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi also offer available forward and reverse sensing systems, which beep the closer you get to an object.

If you're going to college because you actually want to live the laid-back East Coast Beach lifestyle and hit the waves but you're in the East Coast and the waves are weak and cold, so you're bored out of your mind...

Well, as for the cold, you have to put on a wet suit.  As for the waves, Wave Jet is the answer to your prayers to Santa Claus.

Invented then developed by longboard icon, Steven Walden with Cory Lopez and Garrett McNamara, the WaveJet is a surfboard with an interchangeable motor that drives you forward as you slice through the water without wishing for a wave to push you.

When there are waves, you can turn off the motor, flip it out then replace it with a non-motorized lid to change it into a normal surfboard.

When the holiday afternoons turn doldrums, you hit the waves and the burn the calories on the WaveJet.

This is the wish list for those yearning for something functional yet fashionable but oh so fun.