trendspotting: slip-on sneakers

It's no news that sneakers have become an essential form of footwear for the fashion set. Street style snaps from the past year reveal tastemakers pairing lace-up trainers with leather leggings, tailored trousers and even feminine dresses. While I've been a fan of the look from the get-go, Nikes and New Balances are just not my jam. I'm no gym rat and frankly, throwing on a pair of running shoes feels unnatural.

Now skater shoes, those are a different story. Having grown up ogling over my local skater boys and making countless attempts at nailing an ollie, Vans have always held a special place in my heart. Needless to say, when I started spying this slip-on style on the feet of various show-goers and fashion bloggers, I immediate dug out my enlarged pink-and-white checkerboard Vans (swag from my Teen Vogue days) from the back of my closet. My collection has since grown to three pairs, including the quilted tie-dyes from the Isabel Marant x H&M collection and this winter appropriate black pony pair by Steve Madden. Here are just a few (and by a few I mean 15!) images that have inspired and perpetuated this obsession.

[photos from style.com, ascot friday, fashion grunge, harper's bazaar, sincerely jules, 

style caster, sarastrand.no, style seeker, and lelook.eu. rest are unknown.]

If you're lucky enough to wear a size 8, these by Superga x The Row are on super sale at Neiman's. I'm also pretty into this holographic pair from Joshua Sanders. They totally take me back to my Spice Girl-obsessed elementary school days. The next on my radar are these and these from the upcoming Peter Pilotto for Target collection, out February 9th. And for only $29.99? HOLD. ME. BACK!

Peace, Love and Neon,
Marisa

trendspotting: the ear party

When I saw that the Man Repeller's Leandra Medine put a hoop in her cartilage last year, I immediately thought: this is bound to become a thing. Flash forward to five weeks ago when jewelry designer Pamela Love posted the following photo on Instagram:

Turns out, my premonition served me right. Forget arm parties and neck parties, EAR PARTIES ARE THE FUTURE. This new piercing assortment is less 90s grunge and more of a jewelry-lover's hodge-podge of cute little studs and hoops.

While it's too bad I chickened out in the piercing chair this summer, the perfect accessory has exploded just in time to accommodate my lust for a decked out ear: the ear cuff! And so, here is how I've been decorating myself as of late:

[studs by house of blombos, ear cuff deconstructed from this f21 earring]

No additional piercings necessary!

For those of you with more guts than me, stick to delicate and severely cool earrings. No barbells, no gauges, no rhinestone Hello Kitty studs from Hot Topic. You got it? The goal is to keep the party minimal and feminine. Do incorporate a dainty chain earring like these in rose gold or a barely-there bar earring. Also, this adorable ear cuff is bound to be an ear party staple.

 

[photos from pinterest and fashion's piercing guru, j colby smith]

I don't think I'll be making a trip back to the piercing parlor anytime soon, but Gaia Repossi, feel free to send one of these drool-worthy ear cuffs my way.

Ear party on, Wayne!

Peace, Love and Neon,
Marisa

UPDATE:

Just came across these excellent bits of piercing advice by J Colby Smith featured on Matches Fashion. He recommends investing in beautiful, fine metal earrings and mixing metals carefully (he prefers sticking to one color). If you're interested in having this master pierce you up and help you select your perfect ear party, you can find him at New York Adorned in the East Village. Check out more examples of his work here.

charm & chain chronicals: fall trend newsletters

Lately, much of my extra-curricular attention has been focused on my freelance work at Charm & Chain where I have been helping the lovely ladies there develop topics for newsletters, among many other fun tasks. I posted this Tropical Trend newsletter back in July and we have continued to develop more on-point trend newsletters since then. My favorite e-mail blast, which actually linked to a blog post I wrote for the site, is the Jewel-Spotting story above. In the post, I pulled some of my favorite street style images from this past NYFW that featured amazing, on-trend jewelry and paired the images with similar pieces available for purchase at Charm & Chain.

In other news, I recently began blogging for one of my favorite shopping sites, global e-commerce destination, L-atitude. My first post for them on different ways to tie a scarf ran this weekend, and I am am still so excited! Check it out here.

Stay tuned for some fresh TNTP content coming very soon!

Peace, Love and Neon,

Marisa

trendspotting: beetle prints

Taking my last post on beetle wing-inspired iridescence one step further, it seems that these creepy crawlies have served as design inspiration this fall beyond just a color story. Prints depicting the insects appeared in a surprising number of collections. I'm not sure what it is about them--perhaps it's their surrealistic quality (another Fall '13 trend) or maybe designers suddenly realized that they make for an intriguing, kitschy print. Whatever the case, I am down.

Though the Lanvin ensemble above was the only beetle-covered look to walk their runway last March (other bugs appeared in jewelry-form throughout the show), the print packed a powerful punch and has proven to be an editor favorite.

 

The collection with the most extreme case of beetle infestation was, by far, Tory Burch. The designer developed not one but two prints--teal scarabs and a museum-worthy array of species in blues and greens--that were featured on everything from silk tops and scarves to small leather goods and even an iPhone case. Jeweled beetles embellished sweaters, smoking slippers and a tasseled evening bag, and appeared in jewelry form, as well.

 

McQ Alexander McQueen produced a creepier take on the print, which has appeared on body con dresses (like the one above) and the line's signature lightweight scarves just in time for Halloween.

              

Madewell is also on board the trend with this vintage-inspired silk scarf. And how funky is this satin Marco Bologna bomber jacket?

The bugs even made a cameo Kenzo's quirky Fall '13 ad campaign! 

So tell me, are you down with Beetle Mania?

Peace, Love and Neon,

Marisa