NEW YORK FASHION WEEK RECAP

Hi guys! Happy Tuesday! I have been home exactly one week and two days from New York and I am STILL not over the amazingness that I experienced. If you read my previous post, you know I was truly ecstatic to attend my first fashion week and it blew away all my expectations.

From the moment I landed in NYC, the energy was just beyond! I have so much love for that city and it never seems to disappoint with its fabulousness. I checked into the Langham Place late on Wednesday night and could barely get any sleep that night because I was just so excited and anxious to see what the following days held. Every day there ended up being crazy busy and a total blur, but in the most cool and vibrant way. I won’t detail every minute, but I will highlight the events and moments that will forever stick with me.

I started my trip by attending an open house with Shopbop and I wore this amazing metallic silver midi dress from Alice and Olivia (from their site of course). They just relaunched their website and had an amazing setup to celebrate that (I wish I had taken more pics, but I was just in awe and forgot to! This was the case with really everything, even the shows. I know next time to be better about it!) I got to chat with some of the girls who work with Shopbop and to see the newest, most fab pieces that are out for Fall. They have SO much good online right now! I was dying and of course wanted it all.

I then jetted back to the hotel to grab some looks to shoot with a local photographer. I only mention this because I have to tell you how funny shooting looks in NYC is!! So here I always pack up my car with all my goodies and then just change in there. This used to seem so annoying to me, but really it is quite amazing. In NYC no one has cars and therefore you have to CARRY it all with you and change in random restrooms. Now it may seem like I am being dramatic, but each outfit requires it’s own shoes, bag, earrings, sunnies etc., so carrying all of that around is a dang workout! I survived and the pics actually are some of my all time faves.

I barely had time to breathe, but had to run back to the hotel to change again for the Ulla Johnson show. I didn’t get a picture of this look (again, I know now to make sure to get pics of every look/moment etc!) but I wore this amazing one shouldered blue dress. Ok, so this was my first show. I knew it would make me excited, but I did not expect to feel the emotions I did. It took place at one of the Piers, so it was in this huge open space that had gorgeous views. It was bright, airy and just magical! The minute the music started and the first mdel came out (in this most amazing, whimsical piece), I felt the tears coming on. It was the weirdest thing, I just felt so emotional!! The entire collection was colorful and angelic! The shows only last 10 minutes, but it honestly was the most amazing 10 minutes of my life. I can’t really explain it other than you HAVE to experience it if you can!

That night I had dinner with one of my blogger friends from Orange County at the Nomo Soho. It’s so funny because we typically always eat dinner around 7:30pm here, but in NYC we ate at 8:30/9 every night! We ate that night at the Nomo Kitchen which is super chic and the food was so good.

On Friday, I attended a rooftop party with the Rewardstyle team and got to visit the Liketoknow.it wall (they have been doing a traveling wall series in various cities. I took pics at the LA one, so it was fun to see the NY version) I wore this super gorg and fun Nicholas maxi (LOVE the tiers!) and my fave Iro leather jacket (I got this jacket three years ago and still wear it nonstop. SO worth the price tag as a black leather moto is a timeless piece). I only had an hour there, as I had to uber back to the hotel really quick to get ready for the Milly show.

The Milly show was more of a viewing/presentation, but still so super cool and inspiring. It took place in Soho in a pop up shop space. With a viewing, the models are just standing around in the looks (vs walking down a runway). It was neat and it enabled me to mingle with other bloggers and fashionistas who I know from Instagram. I got to meet a few girls who I have been following for awhile, so that was super fun.

I ubered back to the hotel, changed into this fun Rebecca Taylor black dress to grab cocktails at the Edition with some blogger girls. From there, I ubered again to dinner with a bunch of other blogger girls (who I had met in Dallas at the Rewardstyle conference) at Mercer Kitchen (which is always so yum!) We finished the night at Beauty & Essex (which was so fun!!)

I had to be up super early for the Self Portrait show on Saturday (which I was not upset about because I had been looking forward to it most!) I wore this fab fab fab teal green high neck dress from their Fall collection. I arrived to the venue early and was literally the first person in line (haha such a nerd!) The scene outside the shows was probably my second favorite part of the experience (after the actual shows of course). The fashion was INSANE. These girls (not bloggers but real fashion people (which I don’t mean meanly, it’s just fact!) were so inspiring with the most fashion forward outfits. I probably looked like such a dork to them in my simple Self Portrait dress and Alexandre Birman (trendy) shoes! I was in awe of their looks and just so so inspired! That’s SO real fashion to me by the way. People who put together pieces that you would never think would look good together, but they do and it looks fab. Their confidence was inspiring too- they all just ROCKED their outfits. I could go on and on, but you should go follow @thestyleograph on instagram if you want to see more of what I am talking about.

Ok, so back to the show…it was so RAD. First of all, I had a front row seat and was a hands distance from so many fun celebrities and fashion people that I adore. The show started and the girls walked around the entire venue so you got to see all the pieces super up close and from all angles, which I loved. The collection had a great deal of black and white, which is always chic and then some more colorful whimsy pieces too. There was one flowy yellow maxi that I died over as well as some super fun star embellished minis. When the show ended and everyone raced out, their were photographers pushing people (people as in dorks like me!) to get shots of all the fashionistas coming out. It was insane and so cool to see as they would just strutted along the sidewalk like they were models.

I had lunch that day with my Rewardstyle rep (who I adore!!) and then ubered over to Soho to meet two NY bloggers who I have followed since day one. It was so refreshing and cool to meet so them as they are both just real, laid back and cool (more about that later). That night was the Liketoknow.it annual rooftop party. I wore this silver lace maxi (that I am obsessed with!! The sheer bottom and uneven hemline are SO fun) and my Iro leather jacket (again!) Before the party, Lydia (of @lydia.webb) took some pics together by the Flatiron building which was so fun! The party was a blast, but so so packed! There was literally probably about 300 bloggers in this fairly small space. We were starved by the end, so we walked down the street to Dos Caminos (yummy Mexican!)

And those were the highlights of my trip!! I think I slept about 4 hours every night, so it took me all of last week to come back to life. I LOVED every minute and 100% cannot wait to go back next year! Some things I would do differently: I will for sure stay in Soho next year as my hotel (which was amazing and perfect, but sadly just not the right location) was in midtown and I feel like I spent half of my trip in an Uber. I would much rather be able to spend that time doing NY things that I didnt have a minute for! I will book out photo shoots for each day so that I have pics of all my outfits. I am so sad I dont have my Ulla Johnson look or my Milly presentation look documented! And last, I would stay one extra day to shop, go to Central Park, eat at Barneys and do all the NY things that make me smile!

Some observations. I attended alone and am SO glad I did. I 100% went for the fashion and was so surprised by many of the other bloggers went just for the pictures and parties. I get it, that part is so fun, but the actual shows to me are what makes it AMAZING and so cool. I am already brainstorming and planning how I can get to go to more shows next year! With that, I was also so surprised by some of the other bloggers attitudes and demeanors. Let me preface that by saying I know I am a newer blogger, so I dont have the tenure that some do, but in general kindness is universal and being too cool is just so high school to me! 70% of the girls I met and hung out with were fab and SO fun, but there was definitely a crowd that went out of their way to show that I (and other smaller bloggers) were not as cool as them and should know it. SO interesting to me, but also so typical of girls. Like any human, it’s always tough to not take things personally and over analyze situations like that, but at the same time, I again went for the fashion and wasn’t too worried about being cool. I just wish that all bloggers would realize that we are all just fashion lovers sharing our passion and that we are all so different (so enough with the cattiness and competition!) and there is room for everyone. Plus they were once smaller bloggers too! I guess I just see it as we are in the same industry, we are women and we should happily support each other!

Here are all the pieces I wore:

All in all it was LIFE CHANGING couple of days that left me feeling beyond inspired and grateful and excited and just happy! How cool to see all the pieces of collections in real life before they hit the stores next Spring?! And how cool to see real real fashion people wearing the most innovative and cool looks?! And how totally fabulous to be in NYC, the city that literally never sleeps?! I am still not over it all and just cant wait to go again next year!

Hope you all have a fab day today!!

xo, Caro