fashion travel

Bloggers, Bellinis, and Apparel… OH MY!

Today’s post was sponsored by The Blog Societies and AmericasMart. As always, all opinions are my own. 

Whew friends, what a whirlwind! I was selected by The Blog Societies to attend the AmericasMart Apparel Market in Atlanta and it was SO MUCH FUN! I had been to the apparel market once before when I attended a fashion show for a brand, but with that being a different market, it was on a completely different scale. This time it consisted of 14 floors of everything you could possibly imagine; apparel, accessories, and more!

Most people that attend market are buyers so they can decide what to carry in their stores. But we were there to scope out the latest trends, speak on a blogger panel, and network with brands. The other bloggers in attendance were Megan, Alicia, Alice, Jessica, and Cathy! I’m mildly obsessed with all of them but more on that later!

So let’s recap everything from the beginning!

I arrived late Wednesday night and checked into the hotel… and my room was on the 54th floor. It was a crazy cool view! I was so tired from traveling so I called it an early night and headed to bed to get some rest before a full day of events.

Conveniently enough, our hotel was attached to the AmericasMart so we met in the lobby and headed on a tour. After the tour we had our first fashion show called the Daily Strut which was a show for shoes! Most of the floors consist of samples so buyers can decide what they want to carry in their stores, but 3 of the floors were available for Cash and Carry. Meaning anyone could shop and buy! So we found the craziest jewelry store; I think there were literally millions of aisles and I am not even exaggerating. It was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen! And they were wholesale prices so they were super super cheap. Couldn’t pass these prices up people…

Next we headed to lunch in a showroom and had a chat about some of the brands the showroom carried. The owners of the showroom were amazing and they made all of the food they were serving. My mouth is literally watering thinking about the pesto tortellini OMG so good. And pecan squares #backinthesouthbaby. But yeah, I wanted all of these clothes. These are from Dex Clothing, a Canadian brand and their price points were amazing. Something I could actually afford and wear. Which is always a plus!

We also had a chance to meet Kaeli Smith who designs all of the clothing herself. Like literally, paints the prints! She also does custom orders for boutiques which I think is super cool and she is just so so talented. Love the one she’s holding!

Next we had a little downtime before our next event so I went back to the hotel room to try and take a nap but that of course didn’t happen. But it was wonderful to lay down and relax in a giant comfy bed.. alone!

The girls and I ran outside to snap a few pics before heading to the fashion show. Which included an open bar happy hour beforehand. Wayyyy ooooo! The fashion show was amazing and I seriously wanted to buy everything the models were showcasing. I have to say, these were a few of my favorites though:

Our last event of the night was dinner at 5Church and it was amazing! I had some wonderful Riesling with Mushroom Risotto and a side of fries. Heaven in my mouth! We had so much fun and I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time.

The next morning kicked off with the main event… Bloggers and Bellinis! We were panelists and talked about fashion blogging, blogging in general, social media, and more. I was super nervous when we first started but then it felt so natural. Things like that are super easy when you eat, sleep, and breathe the topic at hand. And I wasn’t mad about a 10 am Bellini 🙂

After the panel we headed to another showroom for lunch and were able to preview some more spring collections from designers, my favorite being Zac Posen. Not that I could afford a single one of these but a girl can dream, right?!

When it comes to trends spotted at the market, I loved all of the yellow and lavender pieces (and surprisingly, red!). They were everywhere! I also loved the overly feminine pieces; florals, collars, pleated skirts, ruffles, and more.

As a blogger, heading to AmericasMart was super beneficial. Seeing the trends before they hit the stores next spring gives us an idea of what type of content to plan on featuring. I was also able to make connections and network with other brands, which opens the door for future opportunities or collaborations.

Meeting with brands in showrooms also helped me visualize how stores decide what lines and pieces to carry. The reps from each brand were pulling different pieces and putting lines together so they could help the buyers decide what would work for their customers and what wouldn’t. Such a cool concept to see it all unfolding behind the scenes!

 

We did a little more shopping after lunch and then headed to the airport.. time to get back to reality!

It was such an amazing experience and getting to meet Jessica, Cathy, Megan, Alice, and Alicia was amazing. Crazy how you click right away with other bloggers because they just get you. And your need to take 900 photos 🙂

 

So tell me! Which of these pieces are you loving?! Are you excited for spring yet?!

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