On the Runway: Spacewear Meant to Dazzle, Even in Zero Gravity

From The New York Times:

Zero gravity can really mess up your look. Blood rushes to the head and puffs up the face. Hair floats like seaweed in a current. Luckily for those of us with normal bodies, Star Trek tights never did take off as spacewear. But while the shorts and T-shirts favored by modern shuttle astronauts might be comfortable, they are hardly inspired, and unlikely to appeal to those who will be able to afford space tourism.

Help is on the way.

On the grounds that you have the right to look as stylish in heaven as on earth, the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and Rocketplane Ltd., a space tourism company in Oklahoma, are sponsoring a space fashion contest for clothes that look good in zero gravity. The best designs will appear in a fashion show in Tokyo this fall. "I hope 'fashion in space' makes everybody happy," said Eri Matsui, a Tokyo fashion designer who presides over the Hyper Space Couture Design Contest. The deadline for submissions in the form of sketches is Aug. 15.

More here.