“What is she wearing?” whispered a friend of mine at dinner, as we stared at the woman across the restaurant wearing a backless shirt and black bra. It’s not that it was an unattractive ensemble, but it did seem a little inappropriate mid-February, especially since the weatherman had predicted the snowpocalyse of Storm Nemo was to hit New York in a matter of hours. I barely glanced over and then shrugged my shoulders. “It’s fashion week. She’s probably here for a show.” I said in an insouciant manner, as if I were a local, utterly indifferent to how people dressed. I was actually in town for the Roger Smith Cookbook Conference, but the truth of the matter was that I was a bit excited about the fact that my trip to New York coincided with the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Had I had realized this coincidence ahead of time, I would have tried to pull some press strings and get into some shows but instead I decided to see if I could just sneak into a show or two.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one with those ideas, as Lincoln Center where the main runway was set up, was crawling with photographers and fashion bloggers, all taking photos of people walking up to the heavily secure entryway. In fact, half the time the fashion bloggers looked just as good as the people attending the show and it seemed that the fun fashion show was happening on the outside not inside. I stuck around for 15 minutes, took a few photos, then left, not wanting to be too much of a cliché with my big camera and my “Hey look over here for a picture” which isn’t really my scene. Also, it was crazy cold outside.
Thankfully though, a childhood friend of mine, who I had reconnected via Facebook many months before, was in the “industry” and at the last minute she was able to get me into a showcase at Milk Studios where I was able to get up and personal with the contemporary urban fashion of Rochambeau and the festive color block designs from Argentine born Lucio Castro. It was fantastic to hang out with her after all these years and get a sneak peak into her world and it also helped that I was surrounded by beautiful people dressed in beautiful clothes. Now that’s a win-win situation.
Good says
I often think, if I had to go to fashion weeks for work purposes, I would wear something like a hooded onesie, the biggest knitted cardigan on eath, a medium backpack with my tisane-filled tumbler, snacks and maybe cute makeup&sunglasses. Seriously, how can one really concentrate on the designs and concepts in ridicolously unconfortable outfits and incredible temperatures, lets face it, running from one show to another all the time is fisically challenging. Same with filmfestivals. If you don’t take care of yourself you’ll end up sick after the week. Well I do! 😀 but the world is filled with passionate professional overdressers, respect to them!!
Belinda @zomppa says
What a great experience – miss being in NYC during that time. So much for my fantasies of being the next Project Runway star.
Alyssa @ Kitchen Cures says
This is such a cool post! Thanks for posting, it’s really interesting to see such up close and personal photos.
a farmer in the dell says
What an awesome experience. Love the photos!