This past week I had the opportunity to attend New York Fashion Week as well as work at the Chictopia10 Summit. I can’t even begin to sort through everything I learned and experienced during my short one week stay in New York, but for the sake of all you uglies I’ll give it a whirl. The days leading up to my departure were filled with anxiety and that kind of nervous energy you get when you’re excited but… terrified? I had never been to New York before and with all the stories people tell you about the city it can seem pretty scary. Images of walking through empty streets alone at 2am (I don’t know why I was alone), getting mugged, DYING were trickling through my head and by the time we landed I had no idea what to expect. Turns out, New York isn’t nearly as scary of a place as I thought it would be. In fact, it really isn’t all that big either. Everything is accessible by subway and the city is fairly easy to navigate, even for the directionally challenged like me. Fashion week was an eye opening experience for me and since I didn’t really have any idea as to what I was getting myself into I thought I’d share with you guys a few things I’ve gathered from my stay.
*Disclaimer: This is just my personal experience so please take everything I say with a grain of salt. (I hope I used that expression correctly)
Don’t worry so much about what you’re wearing.
Honestly the kinds of outfits you see in the tents range from high fashion to street fashion to no fashion and of course, too much fashion.
Bring Snacks
THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT. On one of the nights after a long and grueling day my friend Seika and I didn’t have our first meal until 10:30pm. We were so exhausted we ate our entire meal in silence and probably paid the check 15 minutes after we ordered.
Business cards
This one I failed to do but you never know who you’ll meet waiting in a coffee shop after being rejected from Rebecca Taylor. I’m looking at you, girls from Chic Intuition!
Change of shoes
There was a turning point where I gave up on heels all together and just wore my Docs everywhere. For all you uglies who aren’t wimps like me a change of shoes is always a good idea
Presentations can be just as good as a fashion show
Don’t knock presentations. They’re not as high profile as the runway shows but if you really want to get up close and personal with the garments they’re a great way to go. Also, just a little note, if you’re not sitting in at least the first three rows good luck seeing anything below the models’ torsos.
Be fashionably late
All shows start about 30 minutes after the scheduled time.
Be NICE!
I think that kindness is probably the most underrated quality a person can have. I found that being nice and polite to the PR girls often got me decent seats and I was only standing at one or two of the shows I attended. On that note, don’t worry if you have a “standing” ticket, almost all shows will require seat fillers so just keep an eye out for the empty ones and make your way over once the PR girls give you the okay.
I hope you guys find these tidbits helpful and please leave any questions you might have in the comments!
xo Nancy
1st pic: Magalis Garcia presentation, I loved this model.
2nd pic: Anna Wintour and Virgina Smith; the best part of a fashion show is watching Anna and her team of Voguettes literally sprint out of the venue once a show is over.
3rd pic: Celebs!
4th pic: Long live McQueen! Outside the Alexander McQueen store.
