5 stylish wearables you'll actually want to wear

Form is gaining on function when it comes to wearable tech devices—at least that's what it seems, judging from the news at CES 2015. While the first smart watches and activity trackers were undoubtedly geeky, good old-fashioned fashion is making its way into this electronics category. After all, if it's a wearable, you should really want to wear it!

—Carol Mangis

The new Swarovski Shine collection not only tracks your activity—you can also wear it to a dinner party with no shame. Misfit teamed up with the cut-crystal company Swarovski to bring the bling along with the tech, in the form of two new Shine devices—one clear, one solar-powered violet, each covered with a single faceted crystal—and nine generously bedazzled accessories. Just pop the Shine into whichever you're in the mood to wear. Like their predecessor, the new Shine devices track your movement and sleep patterns, and sync wirelessly with a mobile app to keep track of the data they collect. Accessories run from $70 to $150. Three introductory sets include two accessories each and range from $170 to $250. You can preorder at misfit.com.

Want more on wearables? Check our smart watch reviews.

Maybe you don't want to be instantly identified as a geek. Withings understands. The company's new Activité Pop activity tracker has the look of a traditional analog watch, but smart features lurk inside. Even better, it's relatively affordable, at $150 (the original Activité goes for $450). On the Pop's face are two hand dials: one to show the time, and the other to let the wearer know how far she's come along in her daily activity goals; the Pop also tracks sleep quality and has a wake-up alarm. The company says the Pop can automatically recognize and tracks swimming and running. It's available now at bestbuy.com.

At the Living in Digital Times FashionWare runway show, we saw some cool concepts for wearables, but the sleek XOO Belt is one of the more practical ideas: It holds up your pants and charges your phone! It's rated at 2100 mAH, enough to charge an iPhone 6 and then some, says the company. With its nice, simple design, you'd never know it's got that kind of technology built in. It's available to preorder now; two styles are available, at $125 and $155.

Martian has been a force in the smart watch world for several years now, but it's upping the fashion ante in a new partnership with Guess. These prototypes of the new watches, which incorporate Martian's Voice Command feature, are indeed some very good-looking wrist-wearables—and another sign that design is being recognized as the important force in getting people to actually wear these cutting-edge tech devices.

OK, maybe not everyone would want to wear Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht's Robotic Spider Dress (which is powered by the Intel Edison Module); it's a little intimidating, not to mention rather form-fitting! But there's no question that it's pretty fabulous, especially when the spider legs spike up to protect the wearer in response to someone approaching too quickly. We predict you'll see lots of similar designs at Prom 2050 (on Mars).

Click on the image above to find all of Consumer Reports' coverage from CES 2015.