I can't believe I'm still putting up pictures from New York which was, yes, last month. Slack!
This past Fashion Week happened to fall on Valentine's Day as well. Sadly, I was away from home but I did take the time out to partake in one of my favorite things... afternoon tea.
And just a quick education - Afternoon Tea is the tea where you have tiny sandwiches, scones and pastries while High Tea is served later and was/is more of the evening meal for the "common" folk. It is a common mistake but one that drives me crazy!
I knew that Bergdorf's had an Afternoon Tea service but had never been. When I found out they were doing a special service for Fashion Week, I had to go.
The view was lovely. I'll have to go back in Summer or Spring when all the trees are not so bare.
The service was lovely and the tea was very cute including sugar cookies in the shape of a shoe and pink pastries.
To tea I wore a dress from Anthropologie. It's black with an intricate black and yellow bodice and and a full yellow tulle underskirt.
I picked up a pair of bright yellow wrist-length gloves to match.
I paired the dress up with polka-dot stockings and my Aerosole silver buckle heels.
A girly outfit perfect for an indulgent girly afternoon at one of my favorite stores.
There was quite a huge crowd for the Christian Siriano Fall 2010 show but luckily I was able to snag an aisle seat and grab some shots of the show. Overall I felt a very late 1930s - early 1940s evening wear feel about the pieces with soft drapey, flowy gowns, large ruffles and languid bows which were combined with strong and sometimes excessive shoes.
Per the information provided, Christian was "inspired by 1960s Parisian women who dressed up every day." The shoes were inspired by 18th and 19th century French antique furniture with filigree detailing and clawfoot lion's paw foot tubs.
The ruffles were a very strong theme from the dresses down to the Cabriole evening shoe shown in black and royal blue satin.
I found the severe Gladiator boot to be a challenging pairing with the flowy dresses but they could be an interesting work boot.
The shoe styles had very modern shapes, especially this Cloven boot, with wedge heels. Surprising with the My Man Godfrey style dresses.
I will be interested to see how these metallic embellishments are translated, if at all, to the real world Payless stores. The materials used in this collection - gold and silver filigree, patent croc in wine and charcoal and brown and black patent python - can be go really wrong when less expensive materials are used. And we have seen how the Spring runway designs were toned down for the stores from this:
to this:
There has been a statement that a limited edition "direct-from-the-runway" capsule collection will be available in select store in early March. I think it would be great if they do bring the full runway style to consumers.
Well, sort of Fashion Week. I got in around 2pm and then unpacked and ran over to get my creds at the tents. I just missed the start of the Ports show (darn it!) but I did have time to come back and get cleaned up. It had been a late night and an early morning so it felt good to unpack and relax.
Oh, by the way I ended up sticking with the red hair, although a lighter shade.
I'm in a good location right near Grand Central just a few blocks from the tents.
It's a small room but pretty nice.
It doesn't look like it here but I packed probably way more than I could possibly need.
And these babies came with me. Where might they make an appearance???
Due to the snow, I came in a day late and was sad that I was going to miss Wendy B's sale but she had to move it because of the weather. So I was able to head to the Upper East Side to check out her showing.
I wore:
- Rosette cardigan from White House Black Market
- Tulle skirt dress from Target
- Aerosole black patent buckle pumps
I bought this cardigan specifically to wear with this dress and just love it. Especially the raw edge rosettes.
Because it's still pretty icy and slushy, the shoes I brought (besides the boots I'll be wearing most of the day time) are patent heels and these Aerosoles ones are about 8 years old and get worn constantly. I love them.
I paired the outfit up with this cute little clutch from Banana Republic. I don't really use a small clutch purse very often so I only have two. I like this to be simple, with unique materials or textures so that I can wear them dressy or with jeans. The creamy white and simple shape of this one adds to the versatility.
It was a nice turnout at the show. I didn't take a bunch of pictures - too busy chatting and admiring jewelry, but I think Wendy will have some up soon! I'll link to them asap.
Now off to bed because the weeks really gets cooking for me tomorrow.
I learned last year you don't have to dress up for the tents so, whew! But you know there's going to be those people that attempt to look "fashionable" rather than warm. So I'm going to play Fashion Week Bingo.
There's a few versions I found online here and here. Mine includes:
- Slipping on ice
- Pouting because shoes are ruined in the snow
- Broken heel
- Limping
- Drippy hair
- Inside out umbrella
- Fight over a taxi
- Hypothermia
Any other additions?
Maybe we can make a board and have prizes!!! FW swag anyone?
I have a tendency to fall into crushes. A lot. Usually it is with a person, but I have to admit I am totally smitten with a place. And that place is the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park.
Maybe it's cliche but I don't care. I love it. I especially love sitting outside with one or two (or three) Kir Royales while nibbling on little snacks chatting with friends or even an old flame.
I want to spend another sunny few hours there on a warm early Fall afternoon. Who wants to join me?
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to to HauteLook and especially Amelia for hosting the bloggers lounge at Bryant Park Hotel during Fashion Week.
Not only does HauteLook carry amazing designer pieces for great prices, but they are also incredibly gracious people as well. I got to meet several members of their team when I went there and it was a real pleasure.
This place was a godsend. They had computers set up all over, food, drinks, vendors and, most importantly bathrooms and electricity!
I'm sometimes bad about eating when I travel it is was great to have a bit of fruit to keep myself from passing out.
I totally set up camp for a while because I had stupidly forgotten to charge my computer and it was dead dead dead!
They also had some other companies in like Susan from LushOasis perfumes. They were delicious.
And GoSmile had a table there too. I'd always wanted to try the treatment out and now I got too. Plus she plied us with samples of their other mouth-freshening flavors too. I am well stocked and will probably buy more.
And to all the lovely bloggers I met there too, I'm so glad we met. I hope you will say hello again on Twitter so I can link up with everyone!
One of the things I was interested in attending during Fashion Week as the new joint effort launching called Fashion Night Out.
Obviously taking advantage of Fashion Week mayhem and with a sort-of-obvious goal to boost sales, FNO was an opportunity to pop from store to store and see celebrities (not that I would recognize anyone) and be a part of all of the promos and general fun at a ton of stores.
I went to Bergdorf's first where it was packed on every floor. I did hit the shoe salon but didn't get anything. Sadly, the shoes I wanted were too big even in a 35! What the heck?!? But I did get to see these cute DJ boys...
I then went an got some macarons and some cupcakes. Stopped by Sephora where they had live models in the windows and were doing airbrushed make-up demonstrations and popped in to Saks.
I had headed out a bit late so I really didn't expect to see any of the designers or celebrities in person. Frankly I just wanted the deals! But while I was walking around the shoe floor, I did notice this very tall pretty woman and the fabulous shoes she was wearing (of course).
As I wandered over to the table where I see the same heeled sandals I realize they are Camilla Skovgaard shoes and when I turn around she and her pr team are talking to me and introducing themselves!
The shoes she was wearing and that I WISHED they had in my size too...
Camilla and her team were just lovely in person. They asked for a card and we talked about the styles a bit. I tried on three pairs including these very cool booties.
But in the end I ended up with these sandals with the cool discs around the ankle. They were out of my size in the other pairs I wanted. : (
I did have a $50 Saks gift card to use but I would have paid full price for these babies. They are so cool! I love her work so I can't wait to get more of them. Sadly Saks doesn't have them shown online yet but I should get them delivered soon where there will be a million more pictures taken.
Thanks Camilla and team for being so nice! It was a pleasure meeting you.
I don't think any of these are that major but here are some helpful little things I use when I've gone to NYC.
Getting from Airport to City -
Hopefully many of you know this but I saw first hand that some people did not... the guys you approach you at baggage claim offering to take you to the city for $50+ are not legal. The transit authority should be removing them but they still get in. You should only go to the taxi stand or the ground transportation counter. They can help you.
If you have plenty of time and don't mind getting a big squished and you want to save some money, have them set you up on the SuperShuttle. It's about $15 a person plus tip but plan on waiting anywhere from 15 - 60 minutes until the next shuttle comes. Also, once you are on the shuttle you will be dropping people off at their destinations and the order is picked by the driver. I've taken the taxi, SuperShuttle and a hired car in. The hired car is the way to go.
That sounds kind of fancy right? Well, it is generally a nice experience but it's not that much more than taking a cab. I've used Dial 7 a few times and think they are good. If you book in advance online you get a discount too. It will be somewhere in the range of $40. I took the SuperShuttle in this last trip and it took over 2 hours from when I landed to get to my hotel. If you have an early flight too and want a reliable pick-up, do the car.
In the City -
But when you are in the city, it is a different matter. I like to walk around and have become much more comfortable with the subway. And having an iPhone makes doing both of these so much easier.
The first think I do is use Google Maps to list all the places I might possibly want to go. This gives me a general idea of where things are located so I can group stuff together. I think put all of these places into my phone contact list. When I'm walking around I can tap the address in the contact info and it will show it on the map as well as show where I am. I can then see where I need to go without carrying around a paper map or guidebook. I could be texting or whatever.
What's great about it is it downloads all the information to your phone so even when you are underground or without a signal you can still see the lines. It shows the lines on the map and all the stops by line. Very handy.
Desparte times call for desparate measures. You'll never know when you made need this...
I also love the Yelp app for checking out places to eat that I pass by when I am walking around. That's how I decided to eat at Q2 Thai on this last tirp. Good reviews and good food.
Airfare -
I wish I had time to do this... I remembered at the last minute that I could have used my Delta points to book my flight. I was worried they wouldn't transfer in time so I didn't but that would have saved me some money. Even if you don't have enough points for a ticket, sometimes it's cheaper to buy the points you need to make up the difference than it is to buy a ticket.
Hotel -
Priceline can be your friend and can be a total pain in the butt. Enough said. I wanted to only pay a certain amout and Priceline wasn't finding it for me. In the end I was looking at packages on Travelocity and then ended up going to the hotels shown in the package website and getting a deal they had going independently. I traded off amenities and location, yeah, but I hit my price in a very busy time in the city, so that was good.
However, I'm pretty sure I like Midtown best.
Just for Fun -
I've also decided that I'm always going to wear something stand-out-ish for the trip. This past trip I wore my Ann D. boots and received a lot of positive responses. People like to connect and this humanizes the process. Travel can be such a pain why not have a little fun if you can.
What the hell happened to me? This may take a while so grab a seat.
That last you hear from me was Tuesday and I tell you that I got my Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week creds and that I'm going. I'm going for 6 nights/7 days and then you don't hear from me again except for sporadic Twitter messages that I'm there.
That is very bad blogger behavior from me and against the whole point, right???
Well, I actually came home early. Instead of staying until Tuesday morning I flew back Saturday. Why on earth would I do that, especially when I love going to New York, I have lots of friends who live there and would be in town, there are a million things going on, not the least of which is Fashion Week and all the related events?
There were a number of reasons. A major reason was I had some work issues that needed to be attended to. I felt that I was not being effective in taking care of those and I was not maximizing my time in NY. I was distracted and probably distracting. Almost the whole day on Friday I was in my hotel room and not out and about. It was a little emotionally draining trying to do both and I got to a point where felt it would make more sense mentally and financially to come back home on Saturday.
I also have to explain the type of person I am. I am NOT good at the short-range, spontaneous plan. I am the type of long range planner where I think about things I might possibly need for a trip nine months away that I haven't even booked yet. Deciding on Sunday night that I was going to go on a major week-long trip, especially to something as logistically overwhelming as NYFW, two days later is really not something I thrive on. Frankly, I was a bit of a wreck even before I left because I didn't feel I had everything prepared to allow me to go away.
But the great thing is that I felt I learned a lot, made some connections, met even more new great people and will be in a 100% better position to do this again next season. Which I totally plan on doing.
There are a million posts out there about getting your creds and the process (StyleIT's are very helpful), I thought a newbie/out-of-towner's thoughts might help if you are considering giving it a try.
Registration: There is a fee for registering. I'm not sure if it varies but I paid $65. With all the work these folks go through, I'm not surprised. I applied using the online registration the day that it opened but didn't get my creds approval until just two weeks before the show. And, if you don't get approved, give them a call or email back. There have been human errors made so a polite question may help clear things up.
Shows: Once you get your approvals, you will also soon get a list of the designers showing in the tents. Start contacting them. I sent out an email to almost everyone one on the list. You will get some "sorry, no room" responses and some standing room approvals and possibly even some seat assignments. This could all change at the actual show. If there is one you want to go to and you don't have an assignment, try for standing room. It can't hurt. You are not going to get press ready images but that's okay. You are there for the experience. That said, be prepared to stand a lot but also don't think you have to see everything. Prioritize and don't exhaust yourself.
Events: There are a million other events going on around the city. Keep your eyes open. Ask around. When you connect with people see what they know about or are going to. Not everyone is showing in the main tents.
Planning your dates: NYFW goes for a full week. This year it was Thursday to Thursday. And if you go the whole week you are going to be near dead by Friday and through the weekend so be realistic with what you want to do and see and how much time you can take off, especially if you are from out of town like me, and how much you can afford to spend on travel, taxis, subway, food, etc. I wanted to get there on the day before so I could pick up my creds and get settled before the shows started on Thursday (oh, yeah and all the deals and events at Fashion's Night Out) but I also wanted to stay for the IFB Soiree on Monday night. That is probably my biggest regret for having to leave early. *sad face*
Planning your location: Because I booked so last minute and was trying to be very frugal, I ended up staying in the upper west side. The positives were the rate (sort of deal for NYC at this time of year) and that I was 2 blocks from the subway which had an express right to Time's Square. The negative, I was 50 blocks from the tents. I tried to limit myself to cabs at night when I was coming back late but it was pretty removed. For me it's Midtown all the way. I will book my hotel earlier next time and be prepared for the cost... unless I sleep on Wendy Brandes' floor with Henry and Gigi(it's going to happen someday Mr.B, so be prepared!).
Creds: I tried to get in around mid-day on Wednesday to get my creds and press bag voucher (there are limited numbers of these). By the time I got out of the airport, checked into my hotel and down there it was almost 4pm. In the end, this was better because I heard there were long lines early on with several hours wait. I waited about 5 min and got right in and out... I also got a press bag voucher so all was well.
The Tents: They are pretty much just that - big tents, filled with sponsoring companies booths and lots of people waiting for the next show to start. There are not a lot of places to sit inside. Be prepared to stand around for while and carry all your stuff. I had my purse, mini computer, camera bag, my flats, and by the end of the first day a very large bag of presents from Haute Look (more on that soon) which can weigh on you. Plus, when I left at the tents I could not get a cab and was about to cry because my back was killing me.
Clothes and Packing: This is where my organizational freak flag starts to fly. I made about 10 lists of what I was going to wear and pack and then I made lists of what bag I was packing them in. I have a problem, what do you want from me? The big issue, as I've said before, is that I don't like to check stuff, especially shoes and jewelry and make-up. So that means I have to carry on almost all shoes, computer, purse, the "good" camera and lenses, jewelry, and make-up. The other issue was the weather. I had tons of little outfits planned and then the weather switched to having lower temps and rain. In the end I did pretty well - I got all my clothes which were a good 14 outfits, toiletries, and a pair of shoes into a single pilot case. I wore my raincoat which I ended up needing and even had room to fit in some of the goodies I brought back.
But that leads me to a big learning about what to wear to these shows. Frankly, whatever you want. There were, of course, lots of girls in black dresses and killer shoes. Many of them looked liked they were falling out of the front of their shoes (ick!) and some people seemed pretty uncomfortable walking and standing around on the concrete and cobblestones by the end of the day. I wore heels but they were Aerosoles and fairly low.
Bring or wear flats if you can and, unless your ego depends on you getting photographed, don't worry about wearing something crazy or uncomfortable or designer. People are not going to throw tomatoes at you no matter what you wear. It's far better to look decent or professional and be able to walk at the end of the day than to wear shoes you can't stand up in. That said, it's still fun to people watch because the range of clothes is so great. You'll see really lovely outfits like these...
And the shows, well the shows are fun and crazy. Remember, you may have a camera, but you really don't want to be on the photographer riser.
Coverage: Why do you want to go to Fashion Week and what are you going to cover and say. I've seen a lot of complaining from some people about how if they didn't have a seat assigned it wasn't worth going in. Maybe I'm not jaded enough but I think that's kind of crazy and spoiled to say. Having a seat is great to be sure but I don't think most independent sites are going to get better images than the major pubs. It makes more sense to me to go, enjoy the experience and give a perspective. I know Style and Vogue and Elle are going to talk about the fabrics, the cuts, the influences. I planned on talking about my favorite pieces, the shoes and how I might adapt pieces into my life if I could.
These are some shots from the Ports 1961 show. I was lucky enough to get a seat at the show because this was PACKED!
The show itself was not very long but it was an interesting experience for me. Everyone was very respectful when it started and you could see the designs pretty well, even from my seat up top.
I'm sorry I'm missing more of the shows because I think the rest of the week will be great.
But the shows are only part of the experience. Then there are the parties and the people...
I was able to attend the Fashion 2.0 party put on by Yuliat Style Coalition on Wednesday night. It was filled with lovely people (hello, @skyle!).
Thursday was Fashion Night Out, which gets its own post and Friday night, right before my departure I had a fabulous time with Wendy and a ton of other lovely blogger ladies at the francis studio and then an amazing dinner.
I'm not even going to try and recap this becauseWendy and Jennine already did a much better job including amazing photos. Suffice it to say, however, I want a bunch of pieces from the Spring line.
I was so sad to go the next day that when I went to a party at my neighbor's that night I had to wear the flag dress from the francis Spring 2009 collection.
I've still got a ton to write related to this so more to follow....
