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Blame it on MySpace. On Facebook or YouTube. These oh-so- popular social-networking sites have changed us all by issuing a societal decree: Your life isn't real unless you bare it for all to see. And all this new technology has led to a staggering amount of transparency among us.

Now the concept has snaked its way into fashion. How else are we to explain the proliferation of all things invisible this spring?

Citing inspiration from the zippered plastic bags used for carry-on liquids on planes, designers including Karl Lagerfeld and Oscar de la Renta have crafted handbags from see-through polyvinyl chloride (PVC to you and me). Of course, for decades department stores have required employees to schlep their stuff in clear purses--but that's to discourage internal theft, hardly a positive story line to parade down the runway.

Also striking in their clarity: Accessories made from clear acrylic (trademarked under such familiar names as Lucite and Plexiglas) abound this spring. A revival of a mod '60s sensibility for see-me '07, they're luxury products for a new class -- one that has no need for a silly thing like personal privacy.


-- Cory Ohlendorf, The Washington Post

1
Coach tote
$498, available in May at Coach stores or Coach.com.
2
Toy watch
$150, at fine department stores and Toywatchusa.com.
3
Lucite bangles by Isaac Manevitz for Ben-Amun
$55 to $110, at Ben-amun.com.
4
"Lance" glasses by Oliver Peoples
$260, available at area Blink Optical stores.
5
Lucite bangles by Isaac Manevitz for Ben-Amun
$55 to $110, at Ben-amun.com.
6
Stuart Weitzman's "Seeall" silver and lucite wedge sandal
$298, at Stuartweitzman.com.
7
Chanel "nude" bag
$895, available at Chanel boutiques or by calling 800-550-0005

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PHOTO: Julia Ewan for The Washington Post

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