What is the 411? What has everybody been up to? What is the hot gossip? Tell me everything: My name is Erica, and I'm a Marshinista

Def:

n. a fashionista and compulsive buyer of Marshalls merchandise

I attended the Fabulous Found Fashion Tour in Boston yesterday. For those of you who have never heard of it, it was one of the stops on Marshall’s six-city tour in the U.S. The purpose of the tour is to showcase great designer fashion that customers can purchase at a Marshalls location at a much lower price than at a department store. The event included a fashion show, a virtual dressing room, and a game called “Name that Price.”

The Virtual Dressing Room was a unique way to display fabulous finds and great savings at Marshalls. The user gets to select a top, bottoms, a dress, a pair of shoes, and either a hat or a handbag. At the end, the screen displays how much money was saved on each item in comparison to at a department store, as well as the overall amount of savings. They awarded everyone who participated in the Virtual Dressing Room with a five-dollar gift card for posting their picture on either Twitter or Facebook.

Now you can all laugh at my virtual outfit!!

I saved $218!! Designer brands, for MUCH less.

“Name That Price” was a game they offered the crowd to participate in...it was very interactive and exciting! They picked different merchandise (shoes, handbags, wallets, sunglasses, etc) and displayed them on a table with a label including only the designer and the retail price. Whoever was closest to guessing the Marshall’s price for the particular item won a prize. I was lucky enough to win this FABULOUS Michael Kors wallet. Guess working for the company is a giant plus!

(if you're wondering... the correct price was $39.99!)

The last and most exciting part of the event was the Fashion Show! They had eight different looks made up of all Marshalls merchandise.

From the Fashion show, I was able to learn several different on trend items for the season!

1. “Fifty Shades of Purple”

Purple is HUGE this season—all different shades of it. This season mixing purples such as eggplant, burgundy, mauve, plum, and violet are all very on trend!

The model is wearing 4 different shades of purple in one outfit!

2. Animal Prints

We have been seeing animal print a lot in previous seasons, but this season is all about SNAKESKIN. Whether it’s a clutch, a pair of paints, a blouse, a skirt, a pair of shoes, whatever it may be… this print is currently very trendy.

The model is wearing a snakeskin pencil skirt.

3. Life in Technicolor

Neon/Bright colors are very in right now. However, if you don’t think you can pull off a pair of neon pants or a florescent shirt, try colorful accessories or shoes! Dress up a plain outfit with a splash of color by wearing neon earrings or brightly colored pumps! There’s no such thing as black and white this season, have fun with it! Life is art, live yours in COLOR!

Model is wearing bright yellow pants.

4. Dare to Jean

Jean-on-Jean is very stylish right now! Washed out denim shirts and a pair of darker designer jeans make the perfect outfit day or night. Amy Levin, founder of College Fashinista and one of the hosts at the event, wore a button-up denim shirt, dark denim jeans, and a white shirt underneath. The whole "You're-not-allowed-to-wear-white-after-Labor-Day-and-I'm-90-years-old" saying doesn't exist anymore--well atleast not this season... "Winter White" is currently happening. To knock the outfit out of the park she added some watermelon florescent pumps (as mentioned in number 3).

5. That’s so CLUTCH

Large, flat, colorful, and textured clutches are a must have this season! It’s the perfect way to complete an outfit! Accessories are KEY statement pieces... and the clutches this season do NOT disappoint!