Everybody knows you're not supposed to get a tan anymore. So what's the point of lying out on the beach, if you're just going to wear SPF 800 sunscreen? Well, if you're sporting designer Andrew Schneider's solar bikini, you can at least be charging your iPod while you nurse your pale yet cancer-free flesh.
The bikini is covered in photovoltaic film strips terminating in a USB connector. You can get five volts out of it, which is standard maximum voltage for a USB, which means you can plug in your phone or your music player, or your external keyboard if you're into cyborg cosplay. And best: You can actually go swimming in this thing, as long as you UNPLUG EVERYTHING FIRST (and don't plug back in until you're totally dry).
The suit costs about $200, which is actually not that outrageous for custom swimwear, and Schneider -- who may not know the difference between the words "couture" { Haute couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking"; pronounced: [ot kutyʁ], English pronunciation: /ˌoʊt kuːˈtʊər/) refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Couture is a common abbreviation of haute couture and refers to the same thing in spirit.
It originally referred to Englishman Charles Frederick Worth's work, produced in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century.[2] In modern France, haute couture is a "protected name" that can be used only by firms that meet certain well-defined standards. However, the term is also used loosely to describe all high-fashion custom-fitted clothing, whether it is produced in Paris or in other fashion capitals such as Milan, London, New York and Tokyo. }
and "coterie," { French * a small group who associate with each other frequenly; from old French meaning peasent assoication }
though he is clearly otherwise a genius -- is taking orders at his site Solar Coterie. In the works: A dude version that chills your beer for you, hopefully in an attached cup holder that looks like this.
