"Necessity is the mother of invention," Plato observed. He could have been writing about the $8.9 billion U.S. baby products industry.
With warmer weather upon us, more of us men are trending it like Beckham -- trimming down our shaggy manes to close-cropped action-figure haircuts -- only to realize our maintenance involves biweekly sprints to Supercuts, or the risk of nicking our own noggins with barber-grade clippers.
Q. I'm in my early 50s and have been married to a wonderful woman for more than 25 years. I've only loved one other woman in my life -- a girl I dated briefly the summer I was 19. One day she abruptly dumped me. That was 30 years ago. Three years ago, that '70s girl popped into my head. Now I can't stop thinking about her. Is it a midlife crisis where you think about an old flame?
"It's the vodka nights that really get me into trouble," says Kelly Krause, with a sigh. "I once woke up and I had spent $700."
Prom season is here, and we're nosy -- we want to see what you wore to prom! Send a JPEG color photo from your prom celebrations, along with description of your outfit (including approximate cost and where you bought it). We'll print some of the photos in an upcoming Style section.
Rachel Sutherland writes about fashion and shopping for The Charlotte Observer. You can reach her at (704) 358-5440 or e-mail style@charlotteobserver.com.
Cannie Shapiro is back. In "Certain Girls," we are reintroduced to the real, witty heroine of Weiner's 2001 smash "Good in Bed" and find that she's a different person than she once was.
