Wearable clothing is the latest hype. What is it?

Heated Jackets, Glow in the dark Jackets, Music Playing Jackets, Walkie Talkie Jackets! How Bizzare.



• Heated jackets. The North Face Met 5 boasts built-in heaters, which run on a rechargeable battery. At medium power, it stays toasty for about five hours ($600, northface.com).

• Glow-in-the-dark jackets. The Marmot Phenomenon EL has battery-powered, electroluminescent light panels on the arms, shoulders and hood that light up at the turn of a switch, making the wearer visible from nearly a mile away. The jacket would assist rescuers and be helpful in reading maps ($750; marmot.com).

• Walkie-talkie jackets. Nike ACG's COMMJacket has a built-in speaker around the collar and a microphone for two-way, hands-free radio communication ($500; altrec.com).

• Music-playing jackets. Burton's Shield iPod Jacket has an iPod control system built into the sleeve allowing just a touch of the buttons to switch songs ($380; burton.com). Burton also has a similar jacket for women, the Burton 2L ($330).

Music is a big growth area for wearable technology. Also on store shelves is the Oakley Thump, sunglasses that have a built-in MP3 player. The glasses have tiny pivoting speakers attached to the sides, weigh just 2 ounces and can store up to 120 songs ($395-$495, depending on storage capacity; oakley.com).

You've got the power if you're wearing the new Solar SCOTTe-VEST, which has a removable solar panel to juice your electronics long after their batteries have died.

Designed for backcountry skiers, hikers and other outdoorsy types, the $425 jacket is the latest in "wearable technology," an emerging trend.

These things are a bit pricy but they are really geared for specific uses and not for the casual purchase.