MY NYFW Experience

Hi friends! I am back from another fabulous, energizing and fun NYFW experience and currently am experiencing all the feels. Before I get into that, here’s a quick recap of my trip.

NYFW outfits

I arrived late Thursday night after the longest travel day ever, so I went straight to be in my cozy hotel room (I always stay at the Langham in midtown. I know, all other bloggers stay in SoHO, but if you haven’t figured out already, I am not like all other bloggers! The rooms are super spacious for New York and the closets are ginormous (which is really all that is important). Plus it’s super nice to be away from the scene!)) I unpacked, got organized and snuggled into bed.

My trip really began on Friday when I stopped by the Rewardstyle Headquarters. They decked out this fab rooftop with the cutest decor, had lots of yummy treats and a DJ spinning. I got to catch up with with my RS fam, to see some of my blogger faves and to meet some new ones I had never met before. It was a great kickoff to the weekend!

From there I headed straight to the Milly show. Ok, we have to rewind a minute on this. About a month before the show, Milly emailed me saying she wanted to dress me for her show…..YOU GUYS, this was such a major moment for me! I have worn Milly since I was in high school, so I was truly in awe and shock at this news. What an honor to wear something she felt I would look good in and just to recieve something directly from her. She sent this amazing purple and black leopard print slip dress that I am in LOVE with. I mean in LOVE! ts so fun and so fab. I paired with a simple heel and my Iro leather jacket. You could totally do sneakers or a mini boot with it too.

The show was incredible. Tons of color and lots of fabulous flowy, wearable dresses. What I loved most about the show was the vibe! Milly herself is a total free spirit and so happy (if you dont follow her on Instagram, you should! She is so fun), and the show really emulated that. It was carefree, fun and just full of life.

I left there feeling oh so inspired and headed straight to some brand meetings. I had two successful discussions with some brands I love and then I headed back to my hotel to change and meet Colby (who was flying in from Chicago). Last year I did this trip solo and it was totally fun and fine, but the whole time I was running around NY I kept wishing Colby was there to experience it all with me. New York is such a special place to us as we got engaged in Central Park and we both have always loved it so much. I had to convince him to tag along as he totally saw it as a “work” trip for me, but I am so so glad I did and he ended up having the best time.

We did Stanton Social that night and I wore this amazing little velvet embroidered mini, studded belt and fun Marc Fisher ankle boots (on sale and so comfy). If you haven’t been to Stanton Social before it’s such a yummy spot and the vibe is SO fun. Get the ahi tacos and mac + cheese for sure!

Saturday started WAY early, but for a good reason as the Self Portrait show was at 10am. I did a re-wear for this (so unlike me I know!!) I just felt like instead of buying a new dress, why not restyle one I already have. I did this pink mini and I wore it with my colorful leopard Golden Goose sneakers and this favorite Smythe blazer. It was so fun to switch it up and be a little more downtown chic than uptown cool!

The show was everything I expected and more. A bit whimsical, super badass and just all around cool. The pieces were way less structured than previous years. Billowy maxis and unexpected prints. And lots of color! Obviously a big trend as Milly hit that note too. Seeing some major bloggers like Mary from Happilygrey, Danielle from Weworewhat, Aimee Song from Songofstyle and Olivia Palermo was super cool for me as I adore them all!

But more major than that was the REAL style, the real fashionistas. This is something that I talked about last year and it was 100% a thing this year too. I find the ones that I am most inspired by and who have the most fab sense of style are the magazine editors, the boutique owners, the buyers, the random people on the street outside the shows. It’s hard to explain unless you go, but to me, those were the people I found myself staring at and being in awe of. Like how did they decide to put that look together and make it look soo effortless and cool??!! I love that part of NYFW SO much. I wanted to stand outside the shows and just people watch for days!

After the Self Portrait show, I went back to the hotel, quickly changed into this FAB Ulla Johnson midi and Colby + I ubered over to The Plaza Hotel to grab lunch. If you didnt already know, there is a Food Hall in the basement of the hotel and its so fun! They have various little stations that serve everything from lobster rolls to sushi to ramen noodles to delicious mini doughnuts. Colby got a pastrami sandwich (he thought that would be so NY of him lol. He loved it!) and I did some insanely good fish tacos.

We left there with intentions of going into Central Park to visit our engagement site, but it started to poor down rain! Ugh, if you know me you know I don’t do rain!! Plus, I had on these fab Manolo Blahnik hangisi slides that are silk which is not ok, so instead we ran into Bergdorf’s and shopped around a bit. We grabbed an afternoon coffee at Starbucks and people watched (I mean what is more fun than that in NY?!!) before we had to go change for our night out.

I changed into this fun fun fun dramatic shoulder gold studded mini and simple heels for the LIKEtoKNOW.it rooftop party at the Bowery Hotel. I am legit obsessed with this dress!! Its comfy and sassy all in one which I love. The event was so fab- the Rewardstyle events team always kills it!! The venue was cool and it was so fun to introduce Colby to some of my favorite blogger friends and to my Rewardstyle rep and fam. I feel so lucky to work with such an innovative and rad company. They are always pushing me to do better and more, which I need and appreciate! I sadly was my typical self and was so into socializing that I didnt take many pictures or videos. I am really the worst at that- I am such a talker and just forget to document things!! We had plans that night to dinner at Catch, but instead ended up staying till past the end of the party (again always talking) and grabbing some Ray’s pizza on the way home (Colby was very excited about this! It was good, but after all the hype, I was left thinking I have had better pizza in CA before!)

On Sunday, I chose to forgo the fashion madness and just enjoy the day with Colby. You see, NYC is SO far for us, so I just wanted to really enjoy it this time around. I wore this fab leopard print L’Agence maxi dress and this oversized denim jacket for our daytime adventures. We lunched at our favorite Fred’s (inside Barney’s. The Palm Beach salad is my heaven!! Colby always gets the pizza), shopped around the store for awhile and then headed to meet my Rewardstyle rep at the Top of the Standard for drinks. Have you ever been there? I can’t believe in all my NY trips I had never! It’s amazing!! 360 degree views of the city. You can see everything! Plus it’s indoors which was key since it was STILL raining. I wore this Iro jacket and these new JBrand velvet skinnies that I grabbed earlier in the day at Barneys (because I was legit freezing!)

After a fun catch up, we headed to our allllll time favorite Nobu (the one on the Upper East Side) to celebrate Colby’s bday early. We ordered a bottle of Veuve, toasted to life and ate everything in sight! We are obsessed with their spicy edadmame, their crunchy spicy tuna and their yellowtail tacos. All Nobus have their own versions of those dishes, but this location does them the BEST. SO good.

So that was our trip! I went to only the fashion week things I wanted to this year as I promised myself last year I would focus more on having fun and enjoying the city. The two shows I decided to go to meant alot to me and left me feeling super inspired. I skipped out on some parties as I did those last year and just felt I didnt gain anything from them. I love love meeting other bloggers and hanging with them, but at the end of the day being able to play in the city with my hubby is way more fun and important! Plus to be honest, the whole blogger scene can be a bit intimidating and overwhelming. I got to hang out with the ones I love, which was so fun. At the end of the day, I went because I LOVE fashion and I am so glad I did!

NYC is such a magical place and I am so so grateful to have another fashion week under my belt. I think it really challenges me to take more risks in my fashion choices and to be more confident in who I am. Seeing all those real fashionistas rock their outfits 100% confidently is what it is all about it and I need to mirror that. What is more cool than confidence?!!! Nothing. I am ready to take on Fall with a little more fun attitude and definitely a less self critical one! And also, I am SO glad Colby joined me this year. We had the best time and it was such a great getaway from our norm!

All the pieces I wore while I was in NYC

xo, Caro