Many are doing the animalia jewelry approach these days, but a favorite of mine has consistently been a collection from Modekungen, an obscure Swedish retailer with an excellent online shop.

This is the Halsband Animal necklace; available in brass or silver finish.  The chain attached to both antlers, and is quite sizeable for a necklace, though not at all in Flava Flav territory.  The Halsband runs in at just over €44 (about $63 US), and is officially my new favorite necklace to wear with my larry woolen alpaca and leather necklace [similar necklace shot in recent ss11 editorial]

Boat shoes have been a hyper popular style for over a year, but what styles do we go for this year?! There are always the typical patent or matte colored leather styles, but those are dated at this point.  It’s all up to neutrals and multi colored pieces to pick up the slack this summer; these five pieces below are excellent choices that all happen to be quite affordable.

For the $70 – $80 mark, we have three pieces; Boutique 9′s Bronson, Sperry Top-Sider’s Bluefish and Sebago’s Spinnaker styles.  For a slight price increase, Frye’s Quincy neutral is a lovely choice, though [surprisingly] it’s Fluevog’s OBO that wins my tastes overall.

While everyone professes to loathe Kanye to save their own concept of self credibility, I have suspicions that many of them secretly love Kanye.  That being said, George Condo’s art makes for everything a scarf should be; bright, patterned and obtuse enough to not require wearing unfurled to appreciate as an accessory.

These are giant, delightful [albiet overpriced, though what do you expect] accessories, and quite limited in quantity.  I’m particularly fond of three; the Face, Ballerina and Power pieces, which I’d wear loud and proud (everyone already makes fun of me for being a Kanye fan anyway)

Would you dish out $303 US for one of these pieces, and wear it proudly?

Chelsea boots are the perfect androgynous go-to boot throughout the seasons. Chelseas are classic, and have been the go to boot for hip humans since the swingin’ 60s.  Hell, even Star Wars storm troopers even wore a Chelsea boot, only theirs was stained white to go with the rest of the outfit.

I love tall Chelseas for wearing over skinny jeans or trousers; they make legs look skinny, and streamline the leg with their tall boot shaft.  Taller Chelseas also have more of a military rather than civilian feel.  Aim high with YSL, Balmain, Frye’s Emmett, ASOS’ house pair (on sale at the moment) and Jeffrey Campbell’s stacked heel Area.  If black isn’t your thing, brown can be just as effective a statement maker.  Dolce & Gabbana has a distressed pair, while Mezlan’s polished version is more refined.

Shorter tends to be a dressier choice, unless you’re Topman’s creased pair; they’re perhaps a wee bit cheekier than one may want to take into your weekly meeting.  Both Barneys CO-OP and Prada’s pairs are delightfully polished pieces, and reasonably priced for the amount of wear you will beat out of them.

If you’re wondering what summer 2011′s top trend for men’s footwear is, look no further than the espadrille weave at the base of your favorite sneakers, loafers and chukkas.  They are easy to style; simply swap out your typical summer plimsolls with a pair of these, and you’re set and far more on trend.

For the sneaker set, Topman’s Mallorca pricing can’t be beat. River Island and Hudson’s both hover at quite a reasonable rate for those respective brands, though the detail orinented buyer will want the Filippa K design.

There are a number of espadrille loafers on the market, though steer clear of the tie dyed, hippie flavoured designs in favor of a piece like Kenneth Cole’s Par Dune Me.  Buy them a bit darker and you’ll also have a longer lasting wear as they’re getting soiled; think of how horrid a sky blue would be after sand and dirt scuffs!

Scarves are loved by all, and depending on their weave style they can cross from keeping you hot to making you cool.  Scarves can be draped and worn so many different ways; from a simple wrap around the neck to pinning across a top to feature the print more prominently, scarves are an excellent summer accessory.

From black and whites as Lick My Legs’ Blitzkreig Bop, Ralph Lauren’s graphic blocks and Lionara’s serene Enchanted Forest print you can have your colorblind friendly fix and wear it, too.

If a colorful accessory is more your thang, check out Philippe Roucou’s polaroid scarves, particularly the 4-B.  Vivienne Westwood’s Harlequin print is an excellent all over print, while YourEyesLie’s Blue Catla is a true standout and a favorite for all pet lovers.  After all, who wouldn’t love a giant kitteh face draped over your body?!

Colorblocking is a great way to bring summer feeling into your wardrobe; it’s easy to build upon your current pieces while not being too extreme.

Colorblocking can be simplistic like Matthew Williamson’s cardi or Marc Jacobs’ piping sneakers.  Accent your travels or beach wanderings with a simple duffle by Anchor, or accent your look with something a bit more daring as Topman’s tank.

Layer with denim or colored cord shorts, and some fun socks with your summer brogues.  Let summer begin!

For throwback fanatics from vintage lover to steampunkers everywhere, a good military inspired medallion brooch is a win to find on any day.   These pieces from Milius by Milan are in fact re-worked vintage; they are put together using pieces from watches and pins from the late 1800s to early 1900s.

These would look fabulous clustered in groups of 3! demiCouture favorites include the feather brooch pin, pendant brooch pin and kilt pin brooch.

That gives us DIYers some hope as well; that means if you can put yourself up to the task of creation, you have a hope of being able to imitate the Milius designs.  While they won’t match up on quality, at least they would be able to be created on a taut budget.

Thanks to Pamela Love’s accessory collections, the macabre world of animal skull adornments is now mainstream jewelryland.  Since we don’t all have a Pamela Love sized budget (or Gisele Ganne for that matter), we’ve got a few the lower spending mortals can acquire.

We’ll start with Urban Outfitters’ brass ring; quite cheap at $18, though you get what you pay for in terms of metal used – those with a metal allergy will want to pass this by as it’s officially labeled as ‘mixed’.  Alexander McQueen’s silver covered brass piece is truly the happy middle of the group; it’s the full designer deal at under $300, not too bad for a piece from such a covetable design house.

Then we have the big spender babies! Pamela Love’s Raven skull is pure silver, which accounts for a chunk of the large jump in pricing.  For the golden girls (or boys, let’s be fair), Gisele Ganne’s Divorse ring is just the thing to show off some bank in a creative way.  It’s bird skull also has a small sprig of flowers, so  you get a little something extra from the design standpoint for that two grand.

Ever since I was introduced to Palmer & Sons some years ago, I have been in constant marvel of their handmade goods.  This father and son duo are based in Gastown, Vancouver and produce some of the most exquisite leather products I’ve ever seen through my travels, much less locally.

I am the owner of a Palmer & Sons leather suitcase in cognac(I largely use it as a laptop bag, though it also transforms into a backpack), and there is not a day that I wear it publicly that does not include a declaration of love from a stranger concerning it!

The product I’m newly obsessed with is their cross body iPad bag; easily used either for your hip technology or as a beautiful day to day accessory.  The bag is $330, and is made with incredibly thick and durable 10 oz leather, available in four colors.

These pieces are a sight for sore eyes when they’re just made, but transform into an entirely more impressive spectacle after they’ve been worn, especially in the elements.

Palmer & Sons is Vancouver’s best secret, though they really deserve to be taken into the spotlight.

Cut outs, slashes, rips.. they’re all in the trend train of SS11 and after all, what better way to stay cool in summertime than to have a bunch of holes in your clothing!

Cut out footwear is at the forefront of the trend, with Ksubi’s Dusty and Jeffrey Campbell’s Slashed take on their design.  For a more feminine touch, Minimarket’s cut out lace up would be ideal for little dresses, shorts and rompers.

Clothing ranges between the more refined proper cuts as shown in Prose IV’s button up to Ann-Sofie Back x Cheap Monday’s destroyed pullover; they’re going to be torn or properly cut and surged.  It all depends on your style; are you a rebel rouser or a classic down for mind expansion?

Backpacks are no longer only for the students or the incredibly causal (which are usually one and the same).  Leather backpacks of summer 2011 are like shoppers with back straps; many are minimalistic, some are indivdualistic, and all are very comfortable and convenient.

If you go for modern minimalism, Youareagirl’s style is my favorite.  It’s less sporty than Gear3′s shiny finished piece, and is less than 50% of the Gear3 piece’s cost.  For a hybrid of sport and style, Alexander Wang is a fantastic example of such style, and his new Marti backpack is no exception.  For those with a sense of humor, Jeremy Scott’s biker jacket backpack is the pick for you; it’s a bit satirical, and quite unique.

You don’t have to be one of those folks that lug around masses of stuff all around to enjoy the new backpack; treat it like a bag, only one that’s on your back instead of in your hand or across your body.

Menswear boots for the masses are typically causal or overtly proper. What’s to love about Pskaufman’s designs is that they are easily one foot in each pool; they are traditional brogue and zipper boots, marred with stains and paint to provide a beat in appearance.

Going through the website isn’t ideal; it is not designed as a proper ecommerce site, though the footwear makes it worthwhile time spent.  Favorites are the Interchange Work Chelsea in its worn out glory, as well as the Interchange Wingtip and Interchange Front Zip boots for their neon accents [all boots found here].

All footwear is made with full grain leathers, Goodyear welted construction with a recycled LightTread™ tire outsole on the outer and lined with leather and padded with memory foam (!) on the inside.

These are some serious boots, people! I’m really loving the Interchange Wingtip; boy or gals could pull that off during a neon friendly summer! Oh, I nearly forgot to mention this is the same man that designed the Nana x OC x Chloë Sevigny chelseas demiCouture featured back in December..check it, if you haven’t.

Stockist info: Madison at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, CA, Dungarees in Calabasas, CA,  Rogan in NYC and Johnny Sole in Porland, OR

Doc Martens boots have been the forefront favorite of the style savvy for many recent seasons, especially last summer with their release of floral 8 eyes and the like.  Don’t get too comfortable yet, DM’s boots have officially been usurped by one of their own family – the time of the creeper has come.

The creeps below are some of my very favorites; suede, pony hair, velvet, printed fabric, leather – so many different styles to chameleon.  Spring is a’comin, so get on your brights like the pink Hi Suede and the silver Koram Flash, prints as the floral Tapestry and excellent pony hair Leopardo or perhaps a crop of my most favorite fall boot, the wild card velvet.

Wear these as you would with your favorite brogues, jazz shoes, ballet slippers – just swap these DM creeps in wherever you would wear your favorite flats.

Remember Down In Albion, way back in 2005? It was Pete Doherty’s heyday, and featured a delightful little ditty entitled “Fuck Forever” that ended up being the most popular track Babyshambles produced.

Tom Binns may have been a fan, or is just really jaded about the afterlife.  Regardless, he has created a set of oval dog tags emblazoned with ‘fuck forever’.  Rather eloquent, wouldn’t you say?

This piece is found within the NotJewelleryjewelry collection, and rolls at $93 US per necklace.  Not bad for flipping off eternity, right!

I thought I’d seen it all with the Burberry spiked arm trench, but no – this is a completely different level of insanity/awesome.

Feast your watering eyeballs on this baby; the studded leather bike jacket, complete with nearly all over metal additions for a super sick look.  I actually had a bit of disbelieving blink eye when I saw this; we’re more used to Balmain delivering this type of punch than a more traditionally inclined Burberry, but nobody will be caught complaining about this!

It may be nearly $6k US, but hell.. this is one damn intense piece of clothing that will last you till your grand kids think biker chic is cool.  Now to pick my jaw up off the floor.

As the digital print trend really begins to take off, we’ve been given an eyeful of styles that we want but can’t necessarily afford (Christopher Kane, anyone?).  For that, I’ve put together a little list of digitally printed tanks and tees available from UK retailer Your Eyes Lie; they’re taking off, and the pieces are worth it.

A friend of mine just acquired the monkey tee, [which now appears to be sold out] and it looks fantastic with the all over print.  My favorites are the space themed pieces; the Red Nebula tank and tee, Inner Galaxy tank and Galaxy tee.  Close runners up are the nature themed bits; the Digital Light oversized tee (love the cut), Thanksiceland and Deathmountains tees.

There are tons more of digitally printed pieces (accessories as well) within the YEL online store; check out the full repertoire of goods before they sell out.

March and April showers are an unfortunate side effect of winter’s transition into spring for many areas, and therefore we need to have the basics covered (literally and figuratively) for when the more hopeful drizzling takes over from the gloomy day to day damp monotony.

You’re going to need three things to ensure that your 2011 transition is a happy and [ideally] dry one, all of which we’ll get into detail with examples for both ladies and gents.  Let’s do eeet!

Okay, so everyone needs a rad rain slicker, and the weirder the better.  Instead of your typical gabardine cotton weave, try something that’s full on leather, or a mix of the two.  Since leathers aren’t typically the warmest, we must save them until after the main blast of winter is over – in other words, really soon.  I am in love with Comme des Garçons’ Perfecto jacket (which really is) for the ladies, and this dark brown Burberry leather trench for the boys.  Bonus: the Burberry piece is 30% off!

Sometimes a rain jacket just ain’t enough, so we arm ourselves with our favorite brolly.  I’ve had a super compact style I found randomly at a drugstore which I paid entirely too much for, but it’s always been there due to it’s fold up design.  Consider how you will transport your umbrella, because that will prevent you from losing it.  Those with wandering minds and idle hands (such as myself) should have something that can fit into your bag, though sharper brains out there can handle the full size styles like Modcloth’s Raindrops on Railways or Barney’s house brand’s printed pieces.

Last of all is the truly essential rain boot.  For milder temperatures, I recommend a cropped boot.  Not only does a shorter rain boot show off a little more leg, but you can also wear fun tights and colorful leggings that you’ll actually be able to see more of.  Check out the old faithful pick of Hunter’s metallic Thurloe or basic color versions that are roughly $50 cheaper.  For men, you can’t beat Rokin’s leather Legion rain boot; they’re beautiful, waterproof and on sale for $158 (from $315).

The reign of skull rings continues from 2011, and the six adornments below are excellent examples of designs and price variation.  Topshop and Dorothy Perkins’ high street versions are fashioned from some of the earlier 2010 McQueen pieces.

For a more minimalistic look, McQueen’s Twin, Enamel and Zoe + Morgan pieces.  Vivienne Westwood’s gaping skull ring is a beautiful, fresh design. After all, who wouldn’t want to put their finger through a golden mandible?

I can’t say I like Jimmy Choo‘s womens collection, but Tamara Mellon has created some damn sleek men’s shoes for their debut.  These are some of the most amazing Chelsea boots and loafers I’ve seen; check out the collection preview photos below.