SHOPPER
It's the Little Things in Life

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Fashion is nothing without the little tricks and trade secrets that ensure a perfected final look. Life's a little easier with products that, while small, carry big benefits.

Local entrepreneur Amanda Mitchell didn't care for the "bra strap peeking out from the tank top" look. Unimpressed with the solutions on the market, she invented her own way of concealing her underwear -- tiny adhesive butterflies that secure straps to the underside of clothing.

For men, Florida-based twins Jonathan and Joshua Boos created a set of collar stays that allow guys to adjust their collars' posture precisely with budge-proof aspirin-size magnets. Dreaded disco collar -- gone!

Thomas Pink's "New Age Traveller"shirt is the sort of thing worn by James Bond. Cut in wrinkle-free and stain-resistant fabric, it has secret pockets in the cuff and elsewhere specially designed for your passport, boarding pass and credit cards. When not in use, roll it into a diminutive accompanying pouch.

Germophobes who hate dipping a dirty finger into a gooey jar of lip balm can find relief in Prada's shielding balms, now in seven tints. The Lilliputian potions not only boast SPF and Vitamin E but come in "mono doses" individually sealed from light, air and bacteria. How hygienic.

Good things, small packages.

-- Cory Ohlendorf