THE WORD ON WHAT’S HIP AND WHAT’S HYPE

Rock Around the Clock

Time can’t stand still to the tune of “Love Me Tender.” A pocket watch bearing the King’s mug plays the ’56 ballad when opened ($70). Bob Reiss of Valdawn Inc., known for its collector timepieces, expects consumer response to surpass that of store buyers at J.C. Penney and other stores. And Graceland required two licenses: one for the face, another for the song. Why a pocket watch? “They’re back in vogue. They’re already a hit in Canada and Japan,” Reiss says.

Lip Stains

Brides have enough to worry about without hassling with fading lipstick. Fran Wilson’s MoodMatcher promises to stay on for 12 hours. “Just put it on before the ceremony, and it will stay on through the big day,” says spokeswoman Natalie Meyerowitz. “Women today don’t have the time to keep touching up.” Spiked with Vitamin E and aloe vera, it keeps lips moist for under $3.

New Kicks

These boots were made for . . . climbing up telephone poles. But the terminally hip worldwide are tossing aside their Dr. Martens and slipping on a pair of pole climbers from Na Na’s, the biggest wholesaler of DMs. Shoes sell for $104; eight-inch boot, $120; knee-highs, $160. Supply isn’t meeting demand, says co-owner Lynn Tyler, leading to a slew of imitators. “At a (shoe) show in Paris recently there was some cheap copy already there.” But the Santa Monica-based company went to a Pennsylvania factory that’s made the industrial footwear for 80 years. Find them in crazy horse brown, solid black and a flowered leather imported from England. “It’s a good solid work boot,” Tyler adds. And looking cool is serious business.

Shave the Earth

Care about the planet? Take note: Some chemically made shaving cream pressurized into steel cans with ozone-depleting hydrocarbons are neither good for your skin nor landfills. Al Oligino realized this, so he began selling an old fashioned idea--ceramic shaving mugs ($7.50), brushes ($13.50) and vegetable glycerin soap ($1.35 a cake). A year of success with his Green Earth Products in Laguna Beach has encouraged him to take it mainstream. “I think most people that go into environmental stores already know this is the alternative,” he notes.