It's individual yet it's the one thing everyone has to have. It's casual yet it's perfect for a night out. It's simple yet it's richly embellished.
What is this schizzy fashion of the hour? It's a T-shirt or tank decked out with rhinestones, glitter, crystals or jeweled studs and an identifier such as "Rodeo Girls" or "Sassy" or "Princess."
Madonna
"They definitely sell. They're cute, and on top of that, all the stars wear them. In Newport Beach that counts, definitely," said Lindsay Jackson, manager of The Queen Bee boutique in Newport Beach, Calif., who once sold 13 of the T-shirts in one hour.
Among the celebrities sighted wearing the T-shirts are Madonna in a video for her latest album, "Music" (she's wearing one that says "Golden Tiger Records"); actress Deborah Messing on a recent episode of "Will and Grace" (hers says "Miss Kitty"); and Christina Aguilera on the cover of Rolling Stone (she's "Supergirl").
"Bottom line, it's the novelty. It's denim-friendly. It's great for evening with a pair of leather pants," said Ginny Wong, a sales rep for Green, a company that makes the fancy T's. "It's dress it up, dress it down."
Wong said the trend evolved from the recent rock T-shirt craze, which made use of "vintage" rock T-shirts for bands like Kiss, Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses.
Enterprising retailers and designers bought old concert T-shirts, and re-cut and decorated them for an original look.
The craze got a boost when Lara Flynn Boyle turned up in a studded Bob Seger T-shirt and black tuxedo at the Golden Globes ceremony last year. The vintage T's fetched as much as several hundred dollars each.
Compared with them, the new shirts seem relatively nostalgia- and irony-free. They're also relatively less expensive, and come in a range of prices and styles, including three-quarter-length sleeves, short sleeves and tanks.
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