I had to have the iPhone. I stood in line and talked with other customers abut Apple conspiracy theories, and waited, and admired my vintage Manolo heels I haggled for online at Ebay, and waited, and chewed gum, and waited, and text messaged, and waited until I finally got inside. But when I walked out of Cingular (cough) I mean AT&T with my iPhone, I didn’t feel special.

You see, usually when I buy ridiculously high priced gadgets, the guilt quickly leaves when I hit the office, a family function, or a party and someone says “OMG, where’d you get that?” or “That must have cost a fortune”. But this time everyone had a phone like mine… my nightmare had come true… everyone had an iPhone! As the resident Gadget Hound at The Tastemaker Diares, and in life, my number one fashion rule is to stand out with my gadgets. I’m not a trend fanatic, I’m more of a classic, like Jackie O meets couture. My gadgets, however, are usually over the top, Kimora Lee Simmons, f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s.

So how do you stand out from the crowd? You pimp out your iPhone! Here are ways to stand out with yours.

Add Some Color

At ColorWare you can customize your iPhone the way you want it. Change the iPhone, the rim of the iPhone, the SIM card holder, the earphones, and the docking station to make a fashion statement all your own. To customize all of the above you’ll probably spend about about $250. Basic customizations range from $20 to $150.

Be Yourself

Visit Skinit and add your own picture and colors to your iPhone for $39. This is a picture of the first (and last) fish I caught on an abandoned high rise off the Mississippi River. (I say last because my fiancé will never take me again. Maybe because of the three hour shopping trip the day before to get the perfect fishing attire… complete with fishing boots, a green cargo jacket, a fishing t-shirt, Baby Phat Jeans, and a pink pole. Maybe because of the pink Barbie tackle box I insisted on carrying…which held my lip gloss, cell phone, and a fingernail file. Or maybe it was the horror screams that had him running to kill an attacker, which turned out to be a bug…not my proudest moment). Anyway, Skinit has some awesome skins that allow you to join a cause, be political, or just be yourself.

Be Luxurious

Okay this is a dream, because even if I had a million dollars I wouldn’t by a $20,000 iPhone. But a girl can wish can’t she? Below is a stainless steel iPhone encrusted with white diamonds, did I mention it was $20,000? But if you feel like splurging like a regular human being in this economy, you can purchase a $255.00 iPhone chain case. Both of these are by the over the top designer Amosu. Visit the website for more outlandishly luxurious phones as well as pictures of celebrities who love them.

As always feel free to contact me by commenting below on more ways to customize your iPhone, for some general tips on pimping out your gadgets, or to tell me how you stand out in the iPhone crowd.

Happy Shopping…