Check it out! As if American Apparel wasn't affordable enough, now they're offering their Operation Freedom supermega blow out sale - $10 off $80, $20 off $100, and $30 off $150.

The offer is still good through July 10, 2008 in the US online store only. Log onto the American Apparel website to get the discount codes needed for purchase.

We'll see you there!

Last month, we told you guys about an underwear company who was making heat-sensitive underwear -- meaning they change colors when friction occurs due to a special dye they've been treated with. Yeah, you can draw your own conclusions.

Now we want to shed light on another brand who's aiming to show its love for 90s favorite, Hypercolor, in a less freaky way.

Trends: We understand them, we sometimes despise them, we've tried a few out, and lost a friend or two in the process of finding our signature style. So, we fault no one who felt compelled to walk around in head-to-toe acid washed denim outfits, way too much blush, and big hair back in the 80s.

It was really, really cool -- at the time.

In fact, we imagine when people first laid eyes upon the new "hi-tech" and "chemically enhanced" special jeans it was similar to our reaction when first saw Kate Moss frolicking around London in a peculiar-looking pair of stove pipes: initially shocked, but ultimately wanted to get a pair before any of our friends caught on.

Dov Charney's genius in the perverted arts and sciences has long been the subject of rigorous debate and legal actions. Well, last Friday's LA Pride festivities brought with it another opportunity for American Apparel's CEO to showcase his rare talent at coaxing free advertising out of America's sex-crazed twenty-somethings.

American Apparel's LA store hosted a party that included the first inaugural 'LA Pride Underwear Contest,' where the winner could appear in an American Apparel underwear ad for free, and receive a gift package -- get it? For clothing that for the most part isn't all that sexy, American Apparel certainly manages to get the most mileage out of their soft-core porn marketing ideas. Sleazy, yes -- but we still kinda wish we could have been at the party. The flier is what really gets us -- click here to see the full flier. NSFW.

[via Gawker]

If you've ever wondered who's behind the racy ads and the supposedly hyper-sexual corporate culture over at American Apparel, his name is Dov Charney -- and he was just named the fashion industry's Retailer of the Year. He may not be the most conservative CEO in the fashion business, but his brand has totally benefited from combining well-made t-shirts with a really provocative, openly sexual kind of style of marketing.
His libertarian views on dating co-workers and exploring porn themes in his advertising have given him reputation for being a major perv -- as this freakin' hilarious video points out. Yet, American Apparel's sexy and controversial image is pretty much the one big piece of marketing genius that keeps them from being another Hanes. The uber-liberal corporate image, pro-labor business policies, and titilating ads are exactly what draws in the young, fashiony, hipster types. You've got to hand it to him, few people have made such a reputable business off of soft-core porn.

[via Jezebel]

The guys at American Apparel may consider Woody Allen their spiritual leader, but apparently they didn't read up on his teachings regarding celebrity endorsements, or copyright infringement. Woody's legal team filed a lawsuit yesterday against the clothing company, seeking damages in excess of $10 million for using an unlicensed image of the filmmaker in some of their billboard advertisements. The billboards went up last May in New York and LA, where they were on display for about a week before they got pulled. In the gospel according to Woody: you use an image from one of his films without permission, you get served.

Lately I've been noticing a new V-neck cut and -- surprising as it to for me to say this -- I'm not sure that I like the look. Apparently, the cooler you are, the deeper you V-neck is cut -- I saw a lot of this last week at SXSW. And while I totally understand and applaud the move to make the V-neck a sexier look for women, I'm equally and oppositely annoyed by the deep cut for men.

Whether or not women think chest hair is sexy is their own business, but out in public, the chest hair thing is not becoming. It's just not. That's why dudes wear shirts in the first place. I'm a huge fan of the old school V-neck, it fits more comfortably and gives you some more ventilation -- it's great. But is anybody really excited about the chest hair look coming back?

For guys, this new cut kind just looks proportionally out of whack to me -- like someone grabbed you by the shirt collar and stretched it out while giving you a serious tongue-lashing. If you're a male t-shirt investor, I'd hold off on the deep V for a while and see if it catches on. You never know, maybe the U-neck will be the next big thing. Then, there you'd be with a dorky super deep V-neck. That would suck.

Today, WWD reports Uniqlo -- the Japanese version of American Apparel -- has enlisted Alexander Wang, Tim Hamilton, Loden Dager, and Juliana Jabur to design capsule collections for the brand's Young Designer's Invitation Project -- which supports new talent.

Uniqlo will release each designer's collection in the upcoming months with Jabur's pieces set to drop first at the end of this month, followed by Alexander Wang's color-block dresses and Loden Dager's menswear separates in May.

Each collection will consist of eight looks ranging in prices from $29 to $79.

Can anybody say awesome?

I'm all for affordable fashion -- especially when Alexander Wang is involved. I wonder if his muse/best friend/ stylist Erin Wasson helped create any of the pieces?

Either way, it's going to be amazing.

You probably thought that you left nylon windbreakers behind forever the day you quit your high school tennis team -- but you were wrong. At least that's what American Apparel thinks, and so does Men.Style.Com. Apparently, high tech synthetic fabrics are making a big showing in a lot of spring collections.

Trend-setters across the pond are bringing back the sporty look of lightweight fabrics, and the shiny, colorful world of nylon along with it. I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical here. We all had some sweet windbreakers in the mid 90s that we were crazy about -- but when you look back at those pictures, are you not a little embarrassed? Is 90's nostalgia already upon us?

Pulling off the synthetic look is extremely simple. You're probably OK as long as you stick to one color, maybe two -- as long as one's a trim. American Apparel has the right idea here, bright yellow wouldn't be my first choice, but it still looks classic. I'd steer clear of any graphics or prints, especially flag patterns.

Buy
[via SeeJackShop]

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I came across this super sexy line of romantic t-shirts and one of a kind deconstructed vintage camis called Every Little Counts.

Los Angeles based designer Amy Snider creates this exclusive line of women's tops from her cozy hilltop apartment with the help of her husband, who she refers to as her "Master Screen-Printer". (How romantic indeed!)

Amy also creates some very snazzy reusable shopping bags, a perfect gift for your eco-minded boy or girl who's trying to go green instead of pink this V-day. And even better, everything in her shop is under $40!

[via IndieShopping]

The funny thing about the ex-bad guy is that he was never really a bad person, it's just that his uniform was just the wrong color. He spent a long time trying to forget his days as a torturer interrogator, but sometimes it all comes rushing back. On the island, his hippie hair makes him seem harmless, but don't be fooled -- he can snap you neck with both hands tied behind his back. Literally.

The ex-bad guy lucked out in the crash and found an assortment of tank tops somewhere in the wreckage. He likes the muscle shirt not only because it shows off his fighting physique, but there are no stupid sleeves to get in the way during a life or death situation. As for trousers, this guy was made for cargo pants -- the only pants that offer enough pockets for an ex-Republican Guard officer.

Sayid is a gadget freak and his knowledge of electronics makes him indispensable to the outfit. He's not really a Sharper Image guy, he's more of the Radio Shack type. He's the type that gets excited over things like a nice set of Craftsman tools or a really sharp knife. His motto is: just in case.

Buy Sayid's tank top

Pick your favorite Lostie

Let's be real: leggings, whether you like them or not, have been back for awhile -- making a triumphant return from the 80s and invading celeb fashion for at least a year. Some high profile fashionistas (ahem, Lindsay Lohan) love leggings so much, they occasionally mistake them for pants (though I assure you, they are not).

So whatever -- these trends come and go all the time. I'm not a huge fan of absurdly tight clothing, but some women pull them off. I am surprised, however, to see the resurgence of shiny leggings. This is a look reserved for tough-looking, hairy biker women in bad 80s movies.

Or so I thought. Kendall Herbst from New York Magazine recently tested a pair of shiny leggings out on the streets on Manhattan, and apparently she likes them. "For one, the latex sheen makes my legs look slim and sexy, like they'd been squeezed out of a black-oil-paint tube." Which, apparently, is a good thing.

I'm not convinced. Fashionistas, what do we think?

With Halloween just 'round the corner, it's only natural to have costume ideas running through the brain. However, it's not okay for companies to play off costumes as "real" clothes. I'm lookin' at you, American Apparel! How dare you try to sell these jester stockings as pantyhose. Innocent hipsters will walk around with two-toned legs and an unhealthy amount of spandex and it will be all your fault.

As if the sight of people wearing gold lamé pants wasn't bad enough, right? American Apparel's two color pantyhose comes in four exponentially horrifying color combinations: black and crème, teal and asphalt, purple and forest, and -- everyone's favorite -- fluorescent yellow and coral.

Here's a fun fashion tip: if you want to guarantee a punch to the face during a night out on the town, wear some of those aforementioned gold lamé pants over these new two color leggings. Granted, you may suffer from a tacky overload before anyone even makes it close enough to give you a knuckle supper.

Students are lucky. They might not know it at the time, but come graduation, they'll probably end up like the rest of us -- bitterly reflecting on the erstwhile days of freedom and reduced-price museum admissions.

Lucky brats. If only they knew how good they have it!

As if I needed any more reason to resent them (I live in a college town, by the way), now student get a 15% discount at American Apparel with a valid school ID. All you have to do is enter your school name and identification number for verification, and AA will send you a special promo code via email to apply at check-out time. There are a few catches, however. The first is that you can only get the discount through the online store, and the second is that the window of opportunity closes on September 24.

So go ahead, Annie Wu, get your shop on, you lucky co-ed!

For some reason American Apparel makes me love to love it almost as much as I love to hate it. It works this way: as soon as I convince myself that the California clothing company has irreversibly offended the fashion gods with its latest terry cloth romper, lo and behold, something amazing -- an homage to the fashion gods, really -- shows up as well. The proverbial spoonful of sugar this time around is AA's Melange Jersey Sleeveless Funnel Neck Shift Dress, which happens to be so Nancy Sinatra I can hardly stand it. But the kicker is that this dress is better than anything Nancy Sinatra ever wore -- cotton-poly blend, bold modern color, A-line skirt and best of all, it's only $34!

Oh American Apparel, when you're good, you're SO good. I'll just leave it at that.