Remember when it was cool to be white?

When the iPod first came out, the portable music player was a revolution against the gun-metal Walkman-look that had dominated since the 1980s.

The iPod's sleek white case was instantly recognizable, a musical blank slate to house your favorite Bhangra and banjo tunes.

In a world with too many choices, too many blogs, too many kinds of toothpaste, we clamored for the simplicity of the iPod. It was the plain glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut of the portable music world. Now everyone has one, and the white compact that was once as distinctive as a fingerprint is now as clichéd as a lower-back tattoo.

We don't want plain glazed doughnuts anymore. We want fuzzy pink coconut Top Pots.

We want an iDentifiable iPod.

And the fashion world has responded. Suddenly, iPod cases are everywhere, from Ballard to Paris, from ritzy 'n' glitzy to anime monsters. Local designers are stitching them together out of fuzz and florals. International designers are selling them at prices that can exceed the price of the iPod itself.

And if that's too rich for your blood, there's even a pattern so you can knit one yourself.

Let's say your iPod has no personality. Seattle's Doug Kwong Gordon designs iPod cozies based on cartoon critters he designed.

"I noticed that a lot of cases out there are kind of antiseptic," Gordon said. "The idea of little monsters safeguarding your iPod really appealed to me. I'm really into the cute stuff."

A month and a half ago, Gordon started selling Horatio (blue), Chauncy (yellow), and Baps (pink), all members of the iPod Cozy Cuties. He sews each one himself and sells them on his Web site, www.frostycream.com, for $17. Plastic Passion (121 N. 85th St., Seattle, 206-782-8655) also carries them.

Maybe you feel your iPod is too gloomy. Red Delicious sells pastel cases made out of fabrics such as "Happy" and "Bluesky" for $22 each at the Redmond and Ballard weekly markets, as well as on the Web site www.reddeliciousseattle.com.

Emma Marl, designer and co-owner, makes special ones as well.

"I did some as custom orders once for myself and people kept seeing it and asking if they could buy one," Marl said, so she added them to her line of handbags a few weeks ago.

If you don't want to be a slave to someone else's design, take the matter in your own hands, by knitting your very own iPod sock. Go online to find a pattern designed by Barbara Breiter: "iPod socks protect your iPod from scratches and insulate during cold weather. They're also a fun fashion statement! They are so quick and simple to knit from small amounts of leftover yarn."

Find the pattern at knitting.about.com; search for "iPod sock."

Yes, the regular Apple stores do carry utilitarian cases in nylon, plastic and leather. And that's where you can go buy an armband to hold your iPod at the gym. But the black neoprene case summons the image of elliptical cross trainer. It does not evoke jamskating silhouette dance queen.

After all, if you're dressed to bling, your ordinary iPod is going to ruin the ensemble. Don't worry, Juicy Couture designs a clinky metallic leather case, available from www.nordstrom.com for $58.

At eLuxury.com, you can find leather cases from Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton that cost almost as much as the iPod itself.

P. Diddy, meanwhile, has his own custom-made diamond-encrusted iPod. We can't all front like him. But we're definitely not stuck with basic white.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com