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eVest also e-Vest,
Scott eVest® noun
[C] / 'The eVest is more than
just a pocket-happy jacket. The trick to the garment is that it actually
anticipates your needs for gear stowage, offering a perfect pocket for
each device as you acquire it.' If you're the sort of person who can't quite manage a walk in the countryside without access to the gadgets of the noughties, or if you regularly worry about whether you can accommodate a mobile phone, MP3 player and PDA into your not-so-capacious coat pockets, then the eVest could be just the thing for you! In the late nineties, as the world became increasingly preoccupied with the capacity for mobile computing and concepts such as wireless connectivity, Scott Jordan, a Chicago lawyer turned technical entrepreneur, invented the eVest, a jacket designed specifically for the digital age. The eVest is a light-weight, usually sleeveless, waterproof jacket made of cotton and nylon. As well as incorporating pockets (usually eight or more!) for the storage of electronic devices, it uniquely features a system of fabric 'channels' which allow the wearer to route wires from devices such as earphones through the pockets. This means that portable devices such as MP3 players, radios, etc. can be stored in the pockets with any wiring fully concealed and emerging up in the collar area. Even the pockets themselves are designed with the gadgetry in mind, some incorporating 'pockets in pockets', a design feature patented as PIP®, which allow the wearer to store two or more devices within one pocket without them bumping against each other. Large rear pockets even allow the wearer to carry laptops and portable keyboards! This whole concept of a garment which allows the wearer to send an e-mail, talk on the phone, snap a picture, listen to music, etc., all with their hands free, has been described by the catch phrase Personal Area Network (abbreviated to PAN), a play on earlier terms such as Local Area Network (LAN). On this basis, the eVest has been marketed as a useful addition to the wardrobe of anyone living in an area which requires hands-free access to electronic devices whilst driving. Allegedly, the eVest has also proved popular with undercover law enforcement officers in the US, such as members of the CIA and FBI. This all sounds very 'James Bond' and rather more the domain of the technosexual than the followers of popular fashion, and indeed so far it seems that the eVest has proved rather less popular with women than with men, only being available in colours such as black and khaki and featuring a rather 'masculine' cut. If this doesn't put female readers off, then they should be aware that the eVest currently retails at around $160, which might seem a bit pricey for something with little aesthetic value from a feminine point of view. The eVest has been very successful in the US however, in 2004 the manufacturers announcing the launch of the solar eVest, a jacket featuring solar panels which allow users to re-charge USB compatible devices while 'on the go'! The price of the solar eVest might even make the technosexual draw breath however, currently retailing at around $625. In 2001, eVest inventor Scott Jordan predicted that: 'Within two years, a substantial portion of all upper-body wear clothing will have some form of the technology-enabled clothing system in it.' Current web evidence seems to suggest that he was thinking along the right lines, with terms such as e-clothes and wired wardrobe now used in reference to a range of garments all aimed at facilitating the portability of small electronic devices. Children and young adults represent a significant market for such products. For instance in 2004 the clothing company GapKids started selling the hoodio, a hooded fleece jacket retailing at around $68 with an FM-radio control panel sewn onto one sleeve and removable speakers tucked inside the hood. Similar innovations include an iPod-ready coat, made by Burton, and sunglasses which double as an MP3 player, made by Oakley. A recent neologism used in related contexts is the term smart clothing. Though sometimes used to describe products like the eVest or hoodio, smart clothing encompasses a more generic concept of items of clothing which incorporate some kind of 'intelligent' electronic feature in their fabric. Examples include a line of underwear, recently developed by electronics company Philips, which contains tiny electronic devices monitoring heart rates, insulin levels, body temperature etc. If one of these measurements seems awry, the possibility of a heart attack, fit etc. is identified and your pants or bra effectively call an ambulance! Another example is the joy dress, launched by Italian designer Alexandra Fede. Using a system of tiny sensors and a programmable microchip in the fabric, the joy dress massages women as they wear it. The German company Infineon Technologies have launched what they refer to as a thermogenerator, a device embedded in fabric which measures differences between body temperature and the temperature of the garment, so that if you feel too warm or too cold, your shirt will automatically be able to cure your discomfort. A number of other companies are working on scent-emitting textiles, which can be used to counteract odours by releasing perfume, or combat mosquitoes by emitting insect-repellent. The possibilities of smart clothing seem endless! It's not just the technological entrepreneurs that have made an impact on this century's fashion vocabulary, however. Here are a few fashion innovations that have made it onto the catwalk and into the English lexicon during the last few years:
For more information about new and topical words and phrases, read Kerry's Word of the Week articles on the MED Resource Site. |
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