Sorry for being radio silent the past two weeks, but I have the best excuse. Rich and I officially moved to the Upper West Side on July 1st! After spending a few weeks living on Staten Island, it was Rich, me, and a U-Haul filled with all of our earthly possessions off to Manhattan.
Since we moved on a Friday it was just the two of us moving into our 4th floor walk up apartment, but at least we didn’t have to move furniture because it was delivered to us a few days later. Word to the wise though, if you are moving anywhere in the city that doesn’t have an elevator, hire movers! Carrying boxes up three flights of stairs in the middle of summer is a bit tougher than Rich and I anticipated. Nough said.
But, after a week plus of settling in, we’re finally here! May I just say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new hood! It’s so cute and charming that I feel like I’m walking around in a movie when I come and go everyday. We’re a block and a half away from the gym, two blocks from Central Park and three blocks from the nearest subway stop. Not to mention that we have every market and clothing store known to man within a few blocks of us. Life is good!
I don’t have apartment pics to share just yet because we don’t have curtains, rugs or wall decor. I can’t show you guys the apartment without it being properly accessorized afterall.
In the meantime, I walked around the hood and snapped a few pics so that you all could share in my delight of the Upper West Side.
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!
As I mentioned in my Resort 2012 post, wide leg pants are officially in. Get ready to see more voluminous, high-waisted styles in the stores this Fall. I know I know, it seems like as soon as you jumped on the skinny jean bandwagon they were “out”. Well, you’re not alone. I’m right there with you. I don’t care what they say, I’m keeping my leggings for now. They’re way too comfy and make me feel as if I’m channeling Audrey Hepburn (which is never a bad thing).
So how to wear this new trend. Wide or flared leg pants are like any other style, you gotta find the fit that’s right for you. For example, I have rather robust hips so I know better than to wear a pant that falls straight from the hip. It only magnifies the wideness and is completely unflattering. Don’t get me wrong, I actually love this pant style, but I can’t do the extreme wide leg pants. I have to stick with more of a curvy flared style.
The key thing to remember when wearing this trend is to pair it with a more fitted top. If you have a slim, boyish figure there is more room to wear something blousey because it will actually add volume to your shape where you don’t naturally have it. For the rest of us, it’s best to keep it fitted on top and save the extra fabric for the bottom half of the body to keep the overall look as slimming as possible.
Here are some examples of the trend from the Fall 2011 ready to wear runway shows. (Images via Style.com)
Rachel Zoe
Ralph Lauren
Elie Tahari
Chloe
Gucci
As always, this latest trend is only a repeat from fashion cycles of the past. Katherine Hepburn looked feminine and masculine all at once in her draped trousers of the 40’s and 50’s while Farah Fawcett rocked the look during her heyday in the 70’s. Today everyone from Jessica Biel to Annalynne McCord is rockin’ the look…and soon you will be too.
I started off my time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art meandering through the Greek and Roman galleries and I have to say that they took my breath away. I’ve always been intrigued by the era in which the Greek and Romans lived (history nerd much?), but I’m especially in love with the draped fashions of the time. I’ve always loved draped styles on women and those styles originated in this era. Being able to view the exquisite marble and stone figures from the Greek and Roman times firsthand was such a study in design for me. Every woman wants to look and feel like a goddess and each of these figures looked every bit the goddess.
I remember when I was a fashion student I looked forward to my draping class more than any other course I took because we literally got to take a piece of fabric and let it fall on a form naturally, creating a pattern from that natural drape. I’m a huge proponent of letting fabric do what it wants to and fall where it wants to, so I will always be a student of draping. This is exactly what the Greek and Romans based their fashions off of. It’s so simple yet creates such a striking look, even on a statue.
Interestingly, I found myself being reminded of recent runway fashions as I made my way through the galleries. It just goes to show that fashion is a cycle and everything comes back into style…and some fashions just never go out of style. I think the Greek and Romans created some of the most timeless styles of all the ages. I even found dresses from the 2012 Resort shows to prove my point.
Greek or Roman statue at the Met
Lanvin Resort 2012
Stone facade from the Met
Vionnet Resort 2012
Marble statue in the atrium of the Met
Lanvin Resort 2012
Considering the consistency in these looks, I took it upon myself to research past runway fashions that took their cue from the Greeks and Romans.
Charles Worth circa 1921
Jean Harlow circa early 1930's
Mary McFadden circa 1970's
Halston circa 1970s- the late designer with Bianca Jagger in one of his draped designs
A Halston design from the Spring 2011 collection
Ralph Lauren Spring 2004 RTW
Vera Wang Fall 2006 RTW
Monique Lhuillier Fall 2011 RTW
Amazing how these gowns mirror each other, right?! Just goes to show, don’t make fun of what your parents wore back in the day because you could be wearing it in 5 years!
Of course, I would never be embarrassed by any of the above looks. They’re timeless, classic pieces that have an effortless style about them you can never go wrong with.
