PLAYGROUND SHOW DAY 2 - BRANDS AND INSTAGRAMS, WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO

Hi! 

Zooey had a few outfit changes today but this is what she wore first to walk the Playground Show! Some were saying that she was channeling Wayne's World. 

Top + Trucker Hat: Tiny Whales SS16

Denim: Gap Kids

Sneakers: AKID

Let's talk about brands with and Instagram.  As a millennial mom, I really pay attention to brand's with great social media.  While walking Playground today the first thing I asked brands were for their Instagram handles (if I couldn't find it myself). I wanted to understand through their feed, the concept of their brand.  Some had AMAZING feeds, and others not so much. Let me introduce some brands that I already knew from Instagram as well as brands I didn't, but ended up following! 

1. TINY WHALES: 

INSTAGRAM: @tiny_whales

FOLLOWING:  17.1K

As you can see, Tiny Whales carries basic T's with graphics, trucker hats, leggings and shorts for kids.  What sets them apart from the other T shirt brands tho? I personally think they do a great job branding on Instagram.  Their feed is clean, super fun and portrays what type of kid would wear their stuff..The 'cool kids'. Curating original content for Instagram is hard but they got it down. 

2. HUXBABY

INSTAGRAM: @huxbaby

FOLLOWING: 47K

I did not know of this brand before..but I walked by their booth a bunch of times and kept stopping. When I checked their Instagram I knew that this was one of those cool contemporary brands that keeps their feeds simple,minimal, yet inspiring. I immediately followed them and became obsessed! I found out that this brand is from Australia and everything is made from organic cotton (which is the big trend these days!). 

Also in their booth were these wooden toys called BABY BAAZARR that are made with sustainable wood and veggie dyes! Eco-friendly and organic is a must for millennial urban moms! If you check their Instagram (@babybaazarr), there is a little bit inconsistency and seems like a mix with the personal account of the designers.  I recommend that personal experiences should be separated from Brand Instagram feeds unless there is something related to the brand in the photo (for ex. product placement). I highly do not recommend posting photos from your vacation that do not have the same aesthetic as your brand.  

 SO CUTE THO!!!!

3. BABY BEAST

INSTAGRAM: @shopbabybeast

FOLLOWING:  6K

This brand is new and maintains a monochromatic Instagram Feed. I'm not a huge fan of monochrome Instagram feeds, BUT because Baby Beast is a brand designed with a monochromatic palette, the reason for this makes sense. They keep their feed clean and cool.  Their next collection is really cute and I love their basics. The material is SO SOFT. 

 

Zooey was down to try on their TUTU + T and this is what we got. 

Sunglasses: We Are Sons And Daughters

4. BODEGA INTERNATIONAL 

I chose 2 brands from this showroom to introduce below.

 POP-UP SHOP

INSTAGRAM: @popupshopnet

FOLLOWING: 16.4K 

They have mini bikinis with animal pictures!! 

MOI-KIDZ

INSTAGRAM: @moi_kidz

FOLLOWING: 13.4K

I hope after reading this post, brands will think harder about their brand concept and find creative ways to share them visually through Instagram. This is the most effective ways to promote your brand on a budget. Good and creative photos that can relate to your customer's lifestyle might also lead to them being PINNED on Pinterest too! But that's a whole other discussion. Mom's spend a lot of time on Instagram these days and posting their kids wearing cute clothes or searching for style inspiration.  Social Media is a crazy animal and it's not going to stop evolving, and neither should you or your brand.   

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PLAYGROUND SHOW DAY 1 - NEW BRAND DISCOVERIES

Day 1 of the Playground Show came and went. Thank goodness for my WEESTRUCTED coffee mug, and my portable charger!! My phone almost died twice! Isn't the Playground booklet SUPER cute! Whoever designed this is a genius!

 Hi Zooey!

 We started off walking around and I let Zooey take her own photos, but then she found the donuts..

 She licked most of the pink frosting off the top but then someone offered her a lollipop..

 Zooey's #OOTD

Dress: Marin + Morgan (who showed last season)

Bloomers: Ultraviolet Kids

Socks: Richer Poorer

Boots: Dr. Martens

Necklace: Modern Queen Kids

I met so many amazing brands today! Some that I already knew through Instagram and some that I didn't know before but really enjoyed learning about the history of their brand and how they started! How brands are made and the concept behind them really made a difference for me!  How important the brand's social media is even more important but I won't get into that now..hehe Let me introduce you to some of the brands that caught Zooey's eye, in no particular order.

1. BLEU COCO

Organic Only + Eco Friendly 

These rompers are SO CUTE!

I obsessed over these dresses! I learned that the Silk screen and prints are from India!

Their booth is really cute and I really recommend popping by.

2. Candy Pink Girls 

 Zooey was obsessed with this booth. I think it was the combination of the soft fleece fabric and the colorful sweets designs. This brand looks like one that you would find at specialty shops in Japan and I remember owning a few items in winter! 

 3. Kardashian Kids

Do I even need to say anything about this brand? The name and affiliation with the Kardashian family has already earned them 1 Million followers on Instagram! Tho watching #KUWTK is my guilty pleasure, I was excited to see that they launched a kids line. I haven't seen it around in stores anywhere and was happy to check out the items in person today. 

As you can see, the girl's clothes are very girly.

This was MY favorite piece. I heard Zooey is actually wearing the 18-24M size, but how Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums cute is it!!! I need this coat for Zooey, even tho it doesn't get warm enough in the winter in Southern Cali!

 4. WINKNIKS

 This booth was SUPER cute..and Sunglasses. We all know that Zooey loves Sunglasses. Unfortunately they only make sunglasses for ages 5 YR and up. (*sadface)

 The designs are so cute!

  And their booth was busy ALL DAY!

5. PONY GO ROUND

I have a personal connection with this brand because it's a brand from Japan. When you pass this booth the design is super fun and creative just like how you would imagine Kids Brands in Japan would be! There were very colorful prints and pattern matching. Zooey felt at home here. Can I just say that SURFBOARD is everything...

I'll be back at Playground Show again today with Zooey and helping her do their Instagram Takeover! 

Don't forget to follow! 

Follow them : PLAYGROUND SHOW

Follow ZOOEY

Follow ME

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WALKING THE PLAYGROUND SHOW AS AN OFFICIAL BLOGGER WITH #BABYZOOEY

It's that time of the season again where people from all over the world gather in Las Vegas to seek new trends and discover new brands!!  Since 2012, I've been coming to Magic Market Week every season as an official blogger for WWDMAGIC and last season, something amazing happened.  It marked the beginning of the PLAYGROUND SHOW- (the contemporary Kids Tradeshow) and I interviewed Melissa Joan Hart (Who follows me on twitter! EEK!).  Since having Zooey, I've had a passion for kids brands and knew deep down that I would have so much to contribute this show!  My ambition to do something more deeply with Mini Style Fashion paid off and I am excited to announce that Zooey and I are the official bloggers for THE PLAYGROUND SHOW. Could life get any sweeter!? I'm so excited for this season because Zooey will be more involved and my focus will be only on Kids Brands!!!   

Last season, there were donuts in the mornings. I think Zooey is looking forward to this.

I really look forward to meeting and connecting with designers!

I'm letting Zooey take her own photos this season so this is going to be exciting. Yes, she will be carrying her own camera and shooting stuff she likes and will be posting them on HER blog.  For those who don't know it's ZOOEY IN THE CITY!!

Yes, I will be with a stroller again this season (in case Zooey gets tired and wants to hide)

Zooey will be doing an Instagram Take Over on PLAYGROUND's INSTAGRAM so be sure to follow along for updates! We're so excited! Stay tuned!

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STYLE HAUS JAPAN - THANK YOU ❤️

Hi.. This is one of those really late night posts where I'm feeling a little nostalgic and missing Tokyo..So it's been about a year and a half now since we moved back to the states from Tokyo and I'm still trying to find my place here.  I'm starting to find it slowly tho and meeting a lot of wonderful friends along the way! While I'm not feeling as influential as I used to be in Tokyo, I was flattered to be featured on Style Haus in Japan recently and was reminded of all my accomplishments and amazing things that I've done in the past. Everything was challenged the moment I became a mother. Motherhood is hard. Raising a child is HARD. It might seem like I'm always doing fun things with Zooey but we only share the best moments on social media! I praise all those moms who have the time and energy to do super fun things with their kids and travel together as a family.  Balancing work, maintaining a healthy marriage and raising a child are a few of the hardest challenges that I've had to face in life but at the end of the day, looking at my daughter Zooey's face while she's sleeping fills my heart with so much love.. and I tell myself every night, as long as I try harder tomorrow, I'm not the worst mother in the world.  

I haven't been going out as often as I would like and will be focusing more on Zooey's blog from now.  I feel a little underwhelmed at the events here in LA and being that I used to love reporting about events, it's been disappointing to not be able to take great photos that are worthy of posting..The party scene here just hasn't been as interesting as the party/fashion scene in TOKYO. I think I'm just a hard critic tho because I've seen it ALL! I'm still up for attending the events tho so if you are a brand or PR company that needs some coverage, feel free to reach out to me and we'll go from there. On another note, Zooey and I will be going to PLAYGROUND in Las Vegas to cover the Kids Show! Please follow along with us on this adventure!

@maisassygirl & @zooeyinthecity

Anyhow, this feature on Style Haus is mostly in Japanese..so for those of you who can read Japanese here you go! There's a little bit about my history in English too. ❤️

Style Haus Japan x Maisassygirl

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MR. KATE #AHOTGLUEGUNMESS BOOK LAUNCH PARTY REPORT

Zooey and I stopped by the Mr. Kate #ahotgluegunmess Book Launch Party the other week at Space 15 Twenty. It was cute. 

Zooey got to choose a flower from Bloom That.

Amy was Djing.

Amy + Zooey

It started getting crowded when we got there..

So we grabbed some free ice cream from McConnell's. They didn't have Vanilla so Zooey didn't have any.. 

I didn't have enough hands to hold a drink so I didn't get to try these delicious looking Diabolo Sodas.

Zooey met Kate.

They talked about nails.

The line to buy her book got super long..

Then we found a photobooth inside Urban Outfitters! I was so shocked that Zooey understood about the props. You can see the photo here ... She didn't want to leave...

 but it was time to go home..

Zooey's #OOTD
Dress: Ode To Jeune
Satchel: Kate Spade for Baby Gap
Boots: Dr. Martens

More info: Mr. Kate

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