Excuse me, I think your LBD is ringing

(CuteCircuit)

Women are continually on the hunt for the perfect LBD (little black dress) and when finally found are often left wondering how to accessorize their smartphone in accordance with it. Enter the M-Dress, the "Mobile Phone Dress."

The London-based wearable technology fashion company CuteCircuit describes its latest creation as a silk jersey dress with soft circuitry and gesture recognition software so you can wear your LBD and not miss a call.

"When the dress rings, the simple gesture of bringing your hand to the ear will allow the sensor to open the call and when done talking the gesture of releasing the hand downwards will close the call," explains CuteCircuit.com.

On August 19, the tech blog Gizmodo added, "Wearable electronics are nothing new, but not looking like a complete idiot in the process is novel. The M-dress isn't perfect, but it might be the first time you can wear your phone without being laughed out of the room."

"There's no screen and no other interface of any kind, so you won't know who's calling. What's more, you don't have a way to dial out, so you can only pre-program a single number. We suggest you make that number the operator, who can patch you through to any number you like. Then you'll just need to make sure you keep your cell phone with you so you have all your contact info," recommends PopSci, an online companion to the publication Popular Science.

The M-Dress is not yet on the market but to learn more about how it works with your SIM card, visit: http://www.cutecircuit.com/products/mdress

Additionally your clothing in the future may also be able to power your iPhone, laptop and other devices, researchers at the University of Southampton's? School of Electronics and Computer Science? (ECS) are developing "rapid printing processes and active printed inks to create an energy harvesting film in textiles," according to ScienceDaily, a research news site.

The goal is to generate "electrical power from the way people move and then applying an energy harvesting film to the clothes they wear or the materials they have around them," said Steve Beeby, an advanced research fellow in the Systems Design Group at ECS.

"We will generate useful levels of power which will be harvested through the films in the textiles. The two big challenges in smart textiles are supplying power and surviving washing."

The project led by Beeby to develop the new energized fabrics is set to begin in October and continue until 2015.