I have a utilikilt and I love it. Why do I wear a skirt? Well, in no particular order...

1) It's comfortable. I have a vastly increased range of motion- I never realized just how binding trousers really were until I wore a kilt.

2) Chics dig it. Yes, it's true, I've had a lot of compliments on it. Sure, there are a few who think it's awkward, but there are also many who think slacks are awkward. It's up to you. I've also had many people tell me they weren't huge fans of utilikilts until they saw mine, and suddenly "got" it- wearing it correctly (on the hips- not sagging, and not up around your nipples like a trad. kilt) helps a lot.

3) They're fucking indestructible! And they have those amazing cargo pockets.

4) As a guy, my clothing options are severely limited. There is a plethora of creative and unique clothing for women, but as a guy it's very difficult to find robust, manly-looking clothing in a non-traditional cut. Utilikilts fit the bill nicely.

Sure, I don't wear my kilt every day- I live in the Bay Area, it's COLD these days! I will also readily admit that I wear something beneath it- the it's a light twill and prone to blowing around in the wind. But hey, they're comfortable, they've got style, and they sure as hell ain't trousers!

Wow, that looks really pretty. But can you imagine cleaning that thing?

I, for one, think this is great. I have severe hay fever, and it wasn't until I moved to the clean air of the Bay Area that my system cleared up enough for me to chop onions. Before that, they'd trigger an unstoppable flood of brine from my oculars, which often went on for 20 or 30 minutes after I got out of the kitchen.

I dunno, man. The concept is kinda cool, but doesn't wearing reproductions of 30 and 40 year old avant garde shirts kinda make them... well, not avant garde anymore?
And doesn't it defeat the purpose to pay $40 for a haute couture "PUNK" t-shirt? Especially since punk has traditionally prided its self on breaking with the old, on pushing boundaries, and on do-it-yourself clothing?
Nifty idea, but I'm not certain where bohemianism ends and capitalism begins in this little scheme.

Points to Beryllium!

I've known far to many chemists than to put anything past them.

Having been raised as a homeschooler, I think it's important to point that homeschooling has nothing to do with this idiocy. This is all the fundies.

My first thought was "only in Japan..."

My second thought was "no, that's not true; that could happen here in the US too..."

My third though "...and the Phelps Klan would be running it."

Aw, hell no! I'm all in favor of people mix-and-matching subcultures, but this is outrageous. Skateboarding has always been an outlaw sport, and as such was -and is- popular among children, students, urban populations and people who need to entertain themselves on the cheap. Skateboarding is a sport that has long fostered innovation, skate culture-focused small-business entrepreneurship and a strictly utilitarian culture. Taking that sport and exploiting it to make high-priced fashion furniture is an affront to skateboards and skateboarding culture.

Gah. I might be a yuppie, but at least try I keep it real! If I wanted a skateboard deck chair, you can bet your ass I'd make my own, from used decks.

Didymos- in my opinion, the difference between this scandal and your supermarket analogy is a matter of scale. People have to eat, this is a given. In the US, the availability of food is pretty damn good, so by and large people don't die of starvation. Thus, the choice of Whole Foods versus the local soup kitchen is a matter of a few dollars of luxury that you may or may not have.

In the case of burn victims versus cosmetic surgery, the difference is much, much bigger. While a lot of cosmetic surgery is reconstructive, penis enlargements and laugh line erasure don't tend to fit into that. Rather, we're looking at the gap between vanity and burn victims- people who live in terrible pain and are at risk for disfigurement, infection and death.

So you're right- in a market economy sense, what's happening here is no different than selling your carrots to Whole Foods. But on a humane level, I think you have to admit that getting inferior carrots is not as big a deal as lying on an air cushion bed, doped out of your mind on morphine so you can stop screaming, hoping that you'll be able to go out into public again some day.

Takuan-

Calvin FTW!

Both my father and I grew up in rural San Diego County. It seems that one of the people on the hill we both grew up on had a problem with someone backing into his mail box on a weekly basis, and destroying the mail box.
Eventually, the box owner got fed up, borrowed a bobcat tractor and dug a large but shallow hole in front of the box. He then flipped a harrow upside down and buried it so the spikes stuck up.
It seems the driver of the pickup backed up as usual, put a harrow spike through the oil pan, another into the gas tank, and hung the bottom of his transmission up on a third, got out of the truck and walked away. They towed the truck a few days later.

RobotFoggy,

I'd say that in addition to Mark's points, a major difference is medium and representation. The Batgirl gloves were a knitting pattern to reproduce an existing and accepted cultural icon in knitting- which is a very separate subculture from comic book fans. It's primarily a knitting directive, with a nod to comic book fandom.
The shoes, on the other hand, are a rip- they're the same thing, in the same style, and possibly even passed off as original work (don't know- haven't read the article- don't care enough about fashion/knitting to read it:P).
So no, I think that while neither of them are entirely original, one deals in good faith and one deals in plagiarism.

I swear, there is nothing in the conceptual realm of possibility that's so tasteless that people won't flock to it.

Dude, that's awesome! Makers, vigilante justice, daleks and water guns all in one!

Ah, yes, the saltwater crocodile... one of the notoriously dangers animals of the world, right up there with lions, rhinos, cape water buffaloes, drunken and armed rednecks, and those funny little blue octopuses that can kill you in three seconds flat.

Oh, come on! It's not like you were personally screwed by these guys! Sure, anyone can f*** up occasionally- it's not that hard. A little boning up on the legal system could have gone a long way, though. I predict heads will bow in shame and careers will fall flat.

Damnit, Foofer, you beat me to it! ;)

But honestly, it's great to see a picture of the four people who run one of my favorite blogs! Maybe some day I'll actually get my act together enough to make it to some event and meet you guys in person.

I love how the "bandits" look like stereotyped middle-eastern terrorists, complete with grenades and turbans.

As Calvin put it so well... "never criticize a man with a razord". Seems this can also be applied to women with guns and unstable temperaments.

It's a damn haircut you freaks!

G. Park-

Oh wait, it's all made up by celibate weirdos in strange costumes. I almost forgot for a second.

You mean gamers? Gamers came up with this?

(sorry, couldn't resist...)

My horror at polluting the wilderness with plastic is distinctly tempered by the utter hilarity of this. Good job!

Now THIS is classy!

Nanuq- yes,it would. It's the same density.

Mark- nice one! Fake gold, just in time for St. Patrick's Day! And this stuff won't vanish the next morning.

That's it, man! They got Steve Irwin, and now they've tasted blood and want more!

This is awesome.

Oh, ye gods, I want one! I want one so bad!

Takuan- dead on, man, I was thinking the exact same thing! Only the broken glass and bloodstains don't fit.