Jellies by Steven

Clearly Big in Japan: Steven's Jellys rides a wave of popularity for Spring.

When a shoe starts to sell out and all the delivery addresses map to Tokyo, we know the Harajuku kids have formed a trend. The genius of Takeshita Dori is that nascent trends are seized upon, tinkered with and sent up exuberantly. And what blooms like the fair cherry blossom on Honshu inevitably grows back to us Westerners. Such are Jellys.

Perhaps the best thing to happen to salt and oil since the salad, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is the clear industrial plastic that made the leap from bypass kits and Home Depot window sashes to popular footwear in the '80s. That was some time ago, but in the sine wave of fashion hots and nots, 2010 looks to be the peak amplitude of a resurgence.

We can prove it. We're sure you recall this simple wave equation:

where A is the peak amplitude of the Jellys trend (i.e., Spring 2010),
x is the level of our desire,
t is the time it takes to sell out (soon) and
K and b are constants representing market saturation and arbitrary price reduction initiatives (e.g., discounts).

We know: "Duh, obviously!" Thus it's a mathematical proof that Jellys will be a hit this spring. Steven's clear flat (above) is joined by Nina's soon-to-be posted glitzy PVC slipper among others as spring progresses.

But what, you ask, is the motivation behind the math? Like all things '80s, the decade we hated the first time around has been making a steady comeback. (Just look at the return of the structured shoulder.) But there's also a wonderfully simple sense of play that come across in Jellys. They are cute and fun and bright and cheerful and we're all for that.

As the Harajuku girls can tell you the focus is on fun and playful. Dress these with skinny jeans and a casual tee you picked up from the thrift store or Threadless. Camp and kitsch encouraged, just keep it put-together and styled. Big, white, asymmetrical rocks on the toes add to the summery playfulness of this sandal and the floral footbed even more so. The stones make it easy to accessorize with the natural jewelry trend (big necklaces in stone, wood, beads). The show-all transparency simply begs for a proper pedi. (Don't deny Jellys their pedi.)

You can do the math or follow the trends, but take it from us: Jellys are a fresh start to the year. Their cheerful, casual look is fun, slightly insouciant and fresh. That's a look that will add up to some great outfits this spring.