70s Subway Map Dress: $249.90 from Nordstrom

New York city subway blogger Benjamin Kabak of Second Avenue Saga likes his old-school Vignelli subway maps: "In the annals of New York City subway history," he says, "nothing is more fetishized and analyzed than the Massimo Vignelli 1970s-era subway map. Over the last few years, I've written posts about Vignelli's signage, an update to the Vignelli map and the Vignelli-inspired KickMap. I also own a handful of Vignelli maps from various years."

What particularly excites Kabak is that the lauded 1970s map has morphed into high fashion as "a sweetly styled silk dress with a fitted bodice and full, pleated skirt," according to the Nordstrom web site, which is selling it for $249.90.

The designer of the dress, New Yorker Christian Francis Roth tells via email that it's part of his 2009 "Gangs of New York" collection, "inspired by Gossip Girl culture combined with the 1979 gang movie 'The Warriors.'" Roth says the dress is modeled after the subway map that appears in the opening sequence of the classic New York thug flick.