​3 Fashion Trends I Saw in Las Vegas this week #MAGIC #WINN #Stitch

3 Fashion Trends I Saw in Las Vegas this week  @ #Magic # Winn # lvcc #stitch

1. Men in womens wedge type short boots. Oh yes. This was everywhere. Nothing else to say but they pulled it off well.
2. Long thin jewelry with barely visible charms. These wispy little things were in 90% of the jewelry displays. Booths almost seemed see-through with this inventory of barely noticeable items. And they weren't inexpensive. I took a pass. Although, most of the sales people couldn't be bothered to look up from their phones anyways.
3. There were a few bold souls who brought out my favorites, as in pearls. One did some unique bead work to go with her pearls on leather for cuffs. Some took pearls and added strings of chain or intermingled beads and gems.  I might try that. I also saw suede instead of leather and it was nice too.

Not everything was awesome at #Magic & #WINN

We walked and we walked and we walked-- 9.72 miles on Monday after flying in from Denver. Our son lives there so we stopped in on our way from Maryland over the weekend for his birthday. But that meant a 3 am wake up Denver time. Went to bed at like 8 o'clock the first night in Vegas.  Is that even allowed in Vegas?  We walked another 7.94 miles Tuesday. Gotta get new shoes now. Boo hoo. But the event shuttles were awesome, stocked with ice cold water and running every 15 minutes, so we hardly had to wait.  And the lunch at #WINN was great too!

Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere though.  One booth was so bold as to request a $2500 opening order before they let us see their goods and frowned upon us for not knowing who they were.  Probably was very nice.  I'll never know.  Or Care.  Other cool "name brands" required an appointment to get in behind the walls so we didn't learn much about their Spring 2017 fashion offerings. Worst of all, there were the eye cream people who followed you down the aisle like you were prey. Maybe I'll wear my running shoes next trip.

Old Friends
One reason to attend is catching up with great friends from around the country.  We share ideas and worries.  We plan our escapes at the next show and introduce each other to people who can bring something to the group.  I did get to see (some of) my girls at Bali Queen. We do several shows together throughout the year. Love these ladies.  

Oh, and I ran into some fellow Surf Expo Orlando veterans from Bead Relief only to find out I missed my Surf Expo rep by a day. She had to go do "paperwork for that pesky little show" coming up.  I'll see them all in three weeks at the September Orlando Surf Expo. It opens September 8-10, 2016.  I am in booth #4130 right across from the Boutique Lounge.  

New Finds
I rarely do this but I picked up some items from a girl who travels to Haiti and hires local Haitians to assemble her designs. A noble thing I think. I got some cow horn hoop earrings that I might just keep for myself. Their colors and texture are sure to get noticed. They had hand rolled and painted clay beads for bracelets that I bought along with some antiqued gold which will be for earrings. I don't do gold but these were interesting. I will take them to a few outdoor shows and post on my retail site, Kurbaga Artisans. It felt good to throw her some support and you should too. Hit up Beljoy Haiti on Facebook.

Best of all was the time spent with my husband, John. He is my roadie, a voice of reason and great at carrying all the stuff one collects at these things.

Enjoy!!

Jackie