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Form, function, funky

by Suzanne Kammlott

We know: it hurt to turn that calendar to September, and if you're in school, it hurt even more. Goodbye, flip-flops, tanning butter, and endless sunny afternoons; hello, 8 a.m. classes and nights hunched over a notebook. But it'll be a little less painful if you choose study accessories that reflect the real you.

You extreme-ists who spent the summer bungee jumping and parasailing, for example, may feel more at home back on campus if you sport a high-performance laptop bag or fanny pack loaded with extraneous zippers, clasps, clips, buckles, straps, pockets, and pulleys. Available at Urban Outfitters, these carryalls almost look capable of climbing the Himalayas or paddling the Amazon on their own. And you returning party animals who've forgotten how to wake up before the evening news can rise and (sort of) shine if you hit Brookline News & Pipes for a sober black alarm clock that looks all business -- until the doors burst open with a trio of mini-musicians jamming to "When the Saints Come Marching In." It's like Mardi Gras every morning, only without the beads, king cakes, or (we hope) perpetual drunkenness.

If attending class means tearing yourself away from the worldwide rave scene, visit the new Art Store in the Landmark Center and "roll" into the semester with notebooks and memo pads from the Tranz Collection, with their acid-colored milky-plastic covers and brain-blasting flap-lock system. Add a mouse pad and calculator in one from the Milano Series, also in tasty candy colors, and you're guaranteed to be the smartest club kid in the dorm.

Quirky liberal-arts types will groove on pens from Copley Flair adorned with Japan's pre-eminent cartoon icons, Hello Kitty and Badtz Maru -- not to mention a TV-themed lunch box and out-of-this-world tin pencil sharpeners in robot and spaceship styles, all available at Flyrabbit and perfect for studying the '50s. And for those in the front row who think God is in the numbers, ultra-urban black-mesh desk accessories from Bob Slate will promote a desk as tidy as your mind.

Stores mentioned in this article:

* The Art Store, 401 Park Drive, Boston, (617) 247-3322

* Bob Slate Stationer, 128 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 547-1230

* Brookline News & Pipes, 313 Harvard Street, Brookline, (617)

* Copley Flair, 297 Harvard Street, Brookline, (617) 232-7870, 566-9634

* Flyrabbit, 155 Harvard Avenue, Allston, (617) 782-1313

* Urban Outfitters, 361 Newbury Street, Boston, (617)236-0088