Ogle: Minimale Animale

Freshly coming off my vacation glow, I'm already thinking about where to next.

MIAMI.  

My brain keeps coming back to Miami (maybe because of the Ultra Music thingy going on down there?).  Is Miami my usual scene?  No way.  Not at all.  It's not even that cold in New York so it's not like I'm desperate for warmth either.  Well, you can't fight with what your gut tells you (or you shouldn't anyway), so I guess I should start to think about a weekend jaunt to Miami, right?

Well, if you've been to Miami, then you know the number of hot bodes there are just ridiculous.  After a winter of busting my own ass in the gym, I finally feel worthy of rocking an amazing and weird bikini.

There are tons of weird bikinis out there, but I want something that is a little weird and with a pinch of skanky.  Don't judge me for wanting both.  I think that fits the aesthetic that one would find in South Beach.

Enter MINIMALE ANIMALE.  The perfect union of scandal and eyeball-catching weird... they take me back to the early 90s.

I first saw the brand in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue of 2012-

Whoa, right??  Well, looking into the brand more, it's really cool indie swimsuit brand from LA.  Look here for more:

The Claudia Schiffer.

The Blondie.

The Cindy Crawford.

Something that this brand also opens up to the swimsuit styling world is swimsuit LAYERING.  In the Sports Illustrated issue, it looks like they have put a crop top over the Cindy Crawford.  

I would never think to wear anything over a swimsuit (or anything under it for that matter), but they offer a suit that's completely mesh that I could see layering over a strapless bikini (for security AND fashion purposes) and jumping into the ocean for some body wave riding.  If you want to invest in one of these cool suits, they're available right now on Revolve Clothing.

Obsess: Are you for Scuba? YES.

I read/browse/drool over tons of blogs a day and one that I really love is Into the Gloss written by Emily Weiss (yes! from The Hills!).  Her blog has awesome coverage of the fashion industry- namely its beauty trends and influencers.  Beyond that, her site is really well designed and the photography on it is enough to keep me sucked in for hours.  The other day when I was catching up on her blog posts, I saw this picture from her trip to Jamaica:

I love this Lisa Marie Fernandez suit for a couple reasons.  1) It's a one piece which is out of my usual comfort zone.  My dad always told me that going of outside your confort zone meant pushing oneself forward in life.  It meant progress.  I'll take his advice and apply it here.  Thanks, Dad!  2) IT'S SO SCUBA!  While I've kind of been afraid of this trend, I think I'm going to fully embrace it this spring.  It's so sleek and polished.

Lisa Marie Fernandez has a bunch of amazing swimwear that can double up as regular streetwear.  Here are some of my favorites:

This is like the one that Emily is sporting above but it's just straight black.  I would love to rock this with a plush Manoush mini and some Giuseppe Zanotti strappy heels.

I love this white structured suit.  Also very wearable as a top!  How about paired with a sexy maxi skirt from Mason by Michelle Mason and some chunky sandals by See by Chloe.

I also discovered this Lisa Marie Fernandez skirt on the Outnet.  How awesome would this look with a crispy white shirt from Equipment and some tough booties like these Alexander Wang ones. UGH DYING. SO GOOD.

Even Alexander Wang is into the trend!  Some pieces from his 2012 Resort line are totally SCUBA!  Like this one:

Loving this trend as much as I am??  Well I did find one Ownable piece from ShopNastyGal:

This might be a tough trend to pull off, but I think it's so fresh.  I love it!  Maybe one of these pieces- scuba or not- will find it's way into my closet!