In my life...

Intermission

A show at FW literally lasts 15 minutes.  After Herve Leger, we had 45 minutes to kill and 2 good things happened.

1.  The bar opened up and I was pleased to find out that all of the drinks were FREE!  Chambord was a sponsor so I indulged in a (free) French Martini.  Drinks are SO expensive in NYC that an open bar feels like winning a prize.

2.  The only celebrity that I was looking for was Julia Allison.  She is more of an internet celebrity who has a blog on Tumblr that I have been reading for awhile.  I acutally went on her website to research Fashion Week since she has been covering it for the past few years.  She amazingly came right up to the counter I was standing at.  Alexis and I were just leaving with our escort for show #2 and there she was.  I knew she was a nice person from reading her blog so I asked her if I could have a picture.  She was completely friendly and seemed genuinely flattered when I called myelf a fan.  She even offerend to get us seats at the DVF show (which we already had).  We talked for few minutes and then I went to find my seat at our 2nd show. I think this sighting was meant to be. 

Herve Leger

Finally, it is time for our first show.  Let me tell you a little bit about the check-in process at Fashsion Week.  This is where the madness comes in.  There are several places to get checked in which I think is determined by the type of ticket.  We were told twice to “come back in 15 minutes” to the station which is filled with people running around and tons of girls working their connections to get last minute seats.  It feels like the show will start any minute so I decide to stand right in front of the escort guy and wait until he helps me. He is busy talking on his headset and seats at least 2 other people before he even looks at me. Finally, we are escorted into another room, past security and long lines.  Once inside, we have to push through tons of people and are shown to are seats in the last row labeled “Sponsor”.  I don’t feel bad about this at all since there are 4 or 5 rows of people standing behind us that will not get seats.  On our chair is a black folder with the Herve Leger logo on it and a list of the models and their looks.

So, Herve Leger is best known for the “bandage dress”. A super tight dress with woven fabric that looks like a bandage.  I loved the collection and could totally see myself in these dresses if I was a celebrity.  The dress were mostly in neutral colors and metalics with lots of gray, which I loved!  I mean, can’t you see me wearing something like one of these?

(Yes, I realize that this dress is shown twice but it is my favorite!)

Here is a shot of the front row.  I couldn’t see anyone from my seat but heard that Sophia Bush was there.  Before the show, there was a flurry of cameras in their area but I had to look up who the celebs were when I got home. 

Pictured is: Leigh Lezark, Melissa George, Jessica Szohr (Gossip Girl), Sophia Bush and Alison Brie (Mad Men and Community)

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010 - So long Bryant Park

This FW said so-long to Bryant Park because this is the last year it will happen at the tents.  Next year, the event will take place in Lincoln Center.  Because this may be my only Fashion Week appearance, I was glad to attend this notable show.

Fashion Week is crazy mayhem.  Tons of people and cameras, people trying to get into shows, crowds of people working and ridiculous dressers trying to get their pictures taken.  We were escorted to FW by Jeff, the marketing director for Rowenta to the Mercedes Benz Lounge.  It was actually very easy to get in to this area with almost no one checking tickets or passes.  I found out that this is NOT where the celebs hang out, they get to go backstage or somewhere else and I think they are let into the shows first.

The Fashion Week lounge feels like a trade show.  Lots of people milling around, booths advertising their products and media types everywhere.  I was completely intimidated about the whole thing until I got there and realized that I didn’t stand out and some people weren’t even dressed up at all.  Also, you can see that some people are working and look exhausted and hungry.  Here are some pics of the Lounge before the first show.

Valentine’s Dinner

Well, we actually tried to get a breakfast/brunch reservation and everything was booked so we figured that dinner would be impossible.  So, we took Alexis to a Valentine’s Eve dinner in the Meatpacking District for our fancy, romantic meal.  We could only get a 10:00pm reservation at Fig and Olive, which made us feel Euro and nostalgic.

This place had a good vibe with loud, fun music playing all through dinner.  I really liked the crostini bar and their yummy drinks.  Alexis and I shared a seafood sampler entree and Jake had rotisserie chicken.  The dessert (chocolate souffle cake) was delightful especially when complimented by a glass of Port to share.  We finished dinner around 12:45am and called it a night.

NYC Day #2

After the makeover, it was time for some serious shopping.  We jumped on the Subway and met Alexis in SoHo for shopping madness.  Because it was Saturday, the stores were packed and overwhelming.  Luckily I found a dress at Armani Exchange, who totally had a DJ and loud techno music…normal.

After a few hours, we needed to warm up and kill a couple of hours for our dinner reservation.  We went into the cutest wine bar which remains my favorite place in New York.  For $15, we ordered this cheese plate. It featured 5 cheeses and the server even brought us extra bread.  For New York, this felt like an absloute bargain!

The 8th Street Wine Cellar is a little basement bar with a great menu and atmosphere.  I most definetely recommend it for anyone visiting NYC.

Makeover - Before and After

One of the best parts of the Fashion Week prize was a fabulous NY makeover at the Liz Russell salon.  I went in with no expectations and just let the 4 girls do their thing.  The owner, Liz, did my color.  My favorite line of the day was when she said, “If you would have asked me for highlights, I wouldn’t have given them to you.”  Apparently, I shouldn’t have highlights.  All in all, I wouldn’t have minded something a teency more dramatic but still enjoyed the experience.

Night Out in NYC

Jake and I couldn’t wait to meet up with our great friend Alexis.  I had visited her last year in New York but Jake and Alexis had not reunited since 2002.  Jake and Alexis were actually friends in Barcelona first.  They went to Spanish class, drank cafe con leche, and ate bocadillos every morning.  After a quick dinner at Virgil’s BBQ, we met Alexis at Lilies, an Irish bar near Union Square.  We sipped on Stella’s and caught up in the packed and lively bar.

Last time I was in NY with Toby, we spent our first night in a private karaoke bar until 4am.  Alexis LOVES karaoke so we naturally ended up the Karaoke Cave a few blocks away.

Next, to really relive NYC 2K9, we went dancing at La Caverna, or as I like to call it, the Cavern Club.  I don’t think Jake realized we were taking him dancing but he obliged to the wonderful hip hop hits.

Before we knew it, we had hit up 3 different neighborhoods, shared a late-night falafel and it was 4:00am.