As profiled in the most recent , NYC designer Daniel Casarella has created an eerie, offbeat line of retro-futuristic tees, jewelry and accessories. Called "Barking Irons" (19th-century speak for "guns"), Casarella's line draws upon the rough-and-tumble history of New York City in the 19th century -- a history, Casarella believes, glossed over by present-day feelgood "I <heart> New York" campaigns (think Leonardo Dicaprio's Streets of New York rather than Ryan Adams "New York, New York") -- to create items that are simultaneously unique, unsettling and just plain expensive.

Casarella's current line includes a $189 hoody-cardigan hybrid called a "Bowery Hoody". An homage to the once-violent and now-chic neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, Casarella's Bowery Hoody allows you instant, pay-to-play, pre-Gilded Age streetcred.