Wearables at Maker Faire NYC

Maker Faire is that giant science fair you dreamed of as a child.  The sprawling festival of crafts, DIY, science and geekery took place at the New York Hall of Science this past weekend.  Wearable tech had a major presence at New York Fashion week and many of the original concepts got their start from places like Maker Faire.

iLuminate is a dance troupe whose signature look is the light up costumes the performers wear

onstage.  Guests could try on helmets and shoes tricked out with the glowing El-wires stitched to the base pieces.  A few cast members were on hand to demonstrate the effect in close-up.

Ezgi Ucar is a graduate student at Parsons School of Design in technology.  Her focus is on multi-sensory experience design.  Her necklace and jewelry pieces double as a musical instrument.  The contrast "beads" are actually keys for different musical notes.  For someone like me who loves to play with her accessories, being able to play my favorite tune with my idle fingers could be a blessing (or curse) to whoever gets to stand next to me on the subway...

Do you want to be a mermaid? Pearlie Mae took mermaid culture to new heights with her beautiful hand-crafted costumes.  She created molds for different sized scales and hand-poured the glitter rich silicone individually.  The end result is as close to a real mermaid tail as can exist in our realm.  The tails are functional and Pearlie Mae goes swimming in them.