Hello Hauteness

Big news Hauteness readers!  I’m very excited to announce that I am now contributing to the fabulous blog Pretty in Kate.

As the name probably gives away, this is a blog devoted to following the Duchess of Cambridge and her many outfits.  Not exactly a hard fit for me to throw in my two cents!  A princess + “get the look” posts = heaven for me!

So check out Pretty in Kate to get the latest on the former Miss Middleton’s fabulous style, along with other little tidbits we find out by stalking her every move.

P.S.  The blue Issa dress she wore in this picture for the engagement announcement is still my favorite piece she’s worn.

I am very excited to write this post because I have the pleasure of spotlighting my good friend Meredith Budwin and her fabulous jewelry line, Merah.  For years Meredith struggled with a nickel allergy that made it hard to find stylish, trendy earrings that did not irritate her skin.  I remember that she always wore the same pair of classic diamond studs because it was the only earring she could wear because the posts were solid gold.  Imagine if all of the earrings you wore had to be made of solid gold.  It would get a little expensive, right?

Well after some time spent researching the market for 100% nickel-free earrings and finding nothing, Mere made the brave decision to quit her job and open an affordable online boutique to cater to other stylish women with the same problem.  And this is how Merah was born.

All of Merah’s styles are on hypoallergenic earring hooks made from a metallic element that is 100% nickel-free without any impurities, similar to solid gold, but for a fraction of the price. Unlike other metals commonly used in “hypoallergenic” earrings, this element is commonly used in medical implants due to its nonreactive nature.  Pretty smart discovery on Meredith’s part if you ask me.  The feedback she’s received from customers has been overwhelming.

“The response to Merah has been incredible – countless women have shared their stories with us,” said Meredith. “Before Merah, some of our customers had simply stopped wearing earrings altogether while others opted to suffer through a few uncomfortable hours of wearing earrings for special occasions. I love being able to tell women with sensitive ears that there is a pain-free and affordable option now.”

In addition to the usual Merah baubles, I am also thrilled to announce that just last week Merah introduced a beyond fabulous designer collection featuring styles from none other than BonBon by Micah Yancey.  You can now choose from 13 one-of-a-kind BonBon designs with hypoallergenic hooks!  Love.  It.

So whether you’re an allergy sufferer or not, be sure to check out the chic styles at www.ShopMerah.com.  Merah offers up 45 styles ranging in price from $20 to $98 with free domestic shipping.  You can’t beat that!

Kudos to Meredith for making a company out of problem for which she couldn’t find a solution.  I’m very proud of her and of Merah!

Be sure to follow Merah on Facebook and Twitter for special discounts and announcements.

Three days after I landed in NYC I was invited to participate in a fashion show.  While I’m used to working behind the scenes at shows doing stylist or production work, this invitation came as a surprise because I was asked to model this time around.  As a size 8, this is not exactly the norm for me.

As it turns out, Katie Behnke, Creative Director of Elegantees, wanted me because of my curves.  Katie herself has more of the typical model physique, but she wants her designs to appeal to women who come in different packages.  As part of the charity fashion show she put on to benefit Freedom Forth on June 16th, Ms. Behnke brought together beautiful ladies of all shapes, colors and sizes to show off her fabulous designs.  I applaud her for this move not only because it allowed me to be a model for an evening, but also because it celebrates beauty in all forms.  The result was a fun fashion show featuring real women in flattering styles.  Well done Katie!

In addition to modeling the uber comfortable styles in the fashion show, Katie also asked me to participate in a photo shoot for the Elegantees website.  Honored and flattered, I accepted and now you can see me on their website showing off the Pamela and Lori styles.  May I just say, it’s totally surreal to see myself modeling.  Like, woah.

Doing my best model pose. What do you think?

So just what is Elegantees?  This is a stylish line of cotton jersey t-shirts that Katie launched in 2010 to feed two of her passions: fashion and philanthropy.  As the company grows and the initial start-up costs are recovered, eventually 100% of Elegantees’ dividends will go towards fighting sex and human trafficking.  In addition to this, Ms. Behnke is currently establishing relationships with factories in Peru and Nepal that are transforming communities by teaching sewing skills to those rescued from trafficking, therefore helping the fight against this horrible practice.

I recently sat down with the lovely (inside and out) Katie Behnke to hear more about her company and her mission to give back.

Where are you from?  What is your NYC story?

I’m a Midwestern girl from a farm in Iowa.  I always wanted to move to a big city, and after attending a local college I applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology and got in!  I moved to NYC in 2005, spent 3 years at FIT while taking on a series of internships and jobs before launching Elegantees in 2010.

What led you to start your own line?

It’s been a dream of mine since I was little and at my last job as a Production Manager I gained a lot of the knowledge I needed to start my own company.  Once I learned more about human and sex trafficking in a World Affairs class at FIT, I promised myself that if I ever started a company I would bring awareness to this issue.  I’m excited to say that I kept this promise and am currently working on establishing relationships with manufacturers that give back to their communities and help fight sex trafficking.  It’s my hope that the Spring 2012 collection will be produced exclusively by these factories.

What is the target market for Elegantees?

The majority of our customers are in their 20s and 30s that want to be fashionable but don’t want to work hard at it.  Elegantees are all about effortless and affordable style.

Do you have a signature piece/style that you will always carry?

It’s still a little too early to designate a signature piece, but I will always design styles that drape and are accented with trends.

Do you have a favorite style?

I’d have to say that the Lacy tee is my favorite.  It accentuates my shoulders and has nice sleeve detailing.

What is your favorite piece in your own closet?

I love my high-waisted boys uniform pants that I bought at a thrift shop.  I actually wore them at the fashion show.  They fit my proportions perfectly.  I just love wearing them!

Katie, wearing her fav pants, at the fashion show alongside her boyfriend Israel

Do you have any upcoming projects/events that you want to share with Hello Hauteness readers?

We’re having a fashion show in Dubuque, Iowa on August 14^th to benefit the Nepali Rescue Project.  I’m also excited to announce that I’m partnering with Whitney Fields, Austin, Texas based Stella & Dot Stylist, to design a line that will be photographed and featured in a fashion show in Austin hopefully around February of next year.

Where do you like to shop?

I actually love to go to the 5^th floor of Bergdorf’s in Manhattan not so much to shop but to snap pictures of items that inspire me for my own line.  I don’t shop too much because I know I can make anything I see in the stores, but I must admit that jewelry is my weakness.  I’m a huge fan of Prima Donna (5^th & 37^th), Forever 21, and if I could afford it, I’d get Stella and Dot often.

Who is your favorite fashion icon, male or female?

Jeanette Scott Thwing of jseverydayfashion.com. I love how she is so down-to-earth and inspires a lot of American women to dress with ease and affordability.

Are you a coffee or tea drinker?

I’m a hot tea drinker all the way!  I’m all about flavored teas.

Are you a flip-flops or heels girl?

Heels.  But, since I’m a New Yorker, I need to walk a lot and go for the shorter ones then. They can be comfortable yet sassy at the same time.  Plus, they just look and feel more special.

Are you a Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda or Samantha?

My friends tell me I’m a Charlotte…maybe because I seem to be the purest of our bunch.  I would definitely say that my style is more Carrie though.

Ladies, if you’re looking for comfortable yet stylish t-shirts, I can honestly say that Elegantees is the way to go.  You will not only be supporting a young entrepreneur, you’ll be supporting the bigger mission of raising awareness of human and sex trafficking.

Living in New York City definitely has it’s perks…and I’m experiencing it firsthand.  Last week my best friend Jenni urgently messaged me because she heard that the new season of Project Runway was filming a public runway show in Battery Park and all you had to do was RSVP to attend.  Of course, I immediately jumped on this news and was SUPER excited at the prospect of going…but even as I typed the email to RSVP I didn’t expect to actually get a response.  Well, I was wrong.

Last Friday I woke up bright and early (even earlier than Rich, who had work) to head downtown and wait anxiously for the show to start.  The email I received from the PR reps said you could bring friends, so naturally I invited my new friend Katie Behnke of Elegantees to join me for this exciting experience.  We arrived at the show site by 8am amidst mist, fog and rain.  I was worried that the show would not take place due to the inclement weather, but the stage was going up and a crowd of 20-30 people was already congregating so all was still on.

Aside from the gray skies, this was a fabulous setup for an outdoor runway show.  The Hudson River with gorgeous boats and yachts provided the backdrop for the stage.  Opposite the stage were the buildings of downtown Manhattan and the greenery of Battery Park.  The thing that struck me most about this experience was how accessible it was.  There were temporary barricades around the immediate stage area, allowing just enough room for the judges’ chairs on one side and space for the designers on the other side, but aside from that we could walk right up to watch the show.

Another thing that surprised me was the amount of people that actually showed up to watch.  Back in Austin, you say “free public show to be aired on a popular television show” and EVERYONE shows up.  Not so in this case.  I assumed that fewer peeps would show up once I saw the rain outside, but I was still worried that I wouldn’t have a good view because I wasn’t showing up at 5am.  Once again, I was wrong.  Katie and I were able to stand towards the back, on an elevated ledge, with only a small crowd in front of us, and got a GREAT view of the runway.  We were actually pinching ourselves at how easy it was.

Project Runway fashion show stage at the beginning of the morning.

The PR decal going up on the stage backdrop.

About 30-45 minutes before the show started the panel of judges, Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and guest judge Kim Kardashian, came out to wave at the crowd and talk to the press.  They all wore figure-hugging black (surprise surprise) and looked just as fabulous in person as on the show.  Heidi Klum was radiant, smiling the entire time and gliding around in her killer 6″ heels.  I. Want. To. Be. Her.

Nina Garcia, Michael Kors and Heidi Klum greeting the press

Kim Kardashian arriving (sorry this shot is grainy, I took it with my phone)

The hair and makeup peeps hanging out backstage.

The designers arriving backstage.

Heidi Klum greeting the designers before the start of the show.

Fast forward another hour or so once the hair & makeup, designers, and models arrived, and it was showtime!  Heidi came out and greeted the crowd and designers.  Katie and I concluded that this had to be the first show, or at least one of the first shows, because there were so many designers still present.  Not to mention, we’re all getting a sneak preview of the season before it actually airs.  They couldn’t give away who had already been cut from the competition.  Heidi prefaced the show by saying that the designers worked in teams of two to create a larger than life look with only a $500 budget.

SPOILER ALERT:  If you are a fan of Project Runway and don’t want to see the designs from this challenge until the show airs, DO NOT watch this fabulous video Katie put together.  Otherwise, press play to watch the highlight of our morning, the runway show.

I don’t want to critique the show in too much detail so as to keep it a surprise for those who want to wait for it to air, but I will say that I’m very excited to see what this year’s designers will bring to the table.  From what I could tell, Season 9 has more male designers than I remember seeing in the past, plus this crop of peeps looked to be more mature.  It was hard to tell from a distance, but I didn’t see any super young individuals in the block of designers sitting next to the runway.

Once the show started, it was an unexpected surprise to see acrobats, not models, strut onto the runway on none other than stilts!  The larger than life theme appeared to expand beyond just the designs and into the runway presentation.  They’re really stepping it up this season!  An outdoor, public show consisting of non-models on stilts is definitely something new for Project Runway and I was impressed.

As far as the designs go, it was interesting to see them in person just to be able to judge how polished and professional the pieces looked.  As a former design student, I have a great appreciation for what these designers have to do in a short amount of time.  Naturally I was anxious to see how finished the final product looked in person.  All in all the pieces looked runway ready in terms of professionalism.  As far as marketability, I would say that the designs started off less wearable (more costume-like) and as the show went on the styles grew more and more marketable.  For those of you that watched the video, the last design was my favorite.  It met my three criteria: the look from head to toe was polished, professional and marketable.

Katie and I were amazed by the models, who managed to look graceful while walking on stilts in voluminous, larger than life garments.  Plus, the girls had to walk the runway several times to ensure that the cameras had multiple shots of each garment in order to allow for editing for the show.  I’m doing good to walk in flats most of the time so watching these ladies strut their stuff on stilts was tres impressive.

Once the show was over Heidi and Tim Gunn (yay!) came out to thank everyone for coming and pose with all of the models.  After that, the morning’s festivities appeared to be complete and everyone went their own way.  But, before we left we had the pleasure of seeing Tim Gunn shake hands, take pictures and converse with several people from the crowd.  He was so friendly and genuine!  It made me love him even more!  Katie and I were going to get a pic with him but unfortunately he had to leave just as we got to him.  All the same, I was very impressed with him and am an even bigger fan after this experience.

Me and the beautiful Katie Behnke at the show

So that was my morning in Battery Park with Project Runway.  Thank you to Jenni for helping me get there, Katie for being my fabulous date and creating the preview video, and Project Runway for giving us fans an opportunity to be a part of the show.  It was truly exciting to be out there and is definitely one of the highlights of my year so far.

Don’t forget to tune into the 9th season of Project Runway on Lifetime beginning July 28th!

Back in February I was excited to see the launch of Anthropologie’s bridal line BHLDN and I’ve been checking in on it regularly ever since.  I’ve always been a huge fan of all things wedding-related and I love seeing well-established brands dip their toe in the bridal pool.

While I was not shocked at all to see Anthro take a walk down the aisle, their recent announcement of the opening of their first bridal boutique was a pleasant surprise.  What truly makes it interesting for me is that the location of this flagship store will be in none other than Houston, Texas, where I worked for Anthropologie a few years back.

This latest venture is set to open August 18th.  Too bad it’s not a month earlier…I’ll be in Houston in mid-July and would have loved to tour the boutique.  H-town ladies, if you happen to check it out post 8/18 let me know what you think. My curiosity is peaked!