hello hello!
I’m pretty excited to share with you my first ever NYFW round up post. I have always viewed fashion week as this glamorous few days were you get to wear the most beautiful and outlandish outfits that you’d have no business wearing in your everyday life (dress for the job you want, right?!); but in reality it’s one of the most chaotic, rushed, and exhausting parts of the business. I have some RESPECT for a few girls I saw hustling their booties off to get from one place to the next, but also managed to do a full on photoshoot in between. #goals.
The good news for me was that since I didn’t have many meetings booked, I actually got to dip my toes in before I get to the point where I am doing the same thing. My type A personality is so glad.
Here are 5 Things I Learned at my first NYFW:
O N E – You don’t need a set schedule, but it’s very helpful to have a loose one.
This is more for those who are just getting into the fashion world. I’m sure as you start to have more and more commitments, a set schedule becomes a must; but for me, this type of schedule worked well. I had a few times confirmed, but pretty much dead space in between. This allowed some flexibility to be able to accept last minute plans and I am SO glad we had that option as we definitely took advantage. With the confirmed events, I was able to understand what part of town I’d be in; so I could plan any photoshoot locations around that.
T W O – Booking meetings/events by cold email/call is more work than you would think.
But. Really. It’s just like any business scenario, cold calling is never the most efficient way to book meetings, but it sometimes is your only option. You quite literally have to email a hundred or more brands/PR firms to get a response and it’s daunting. I won’t lie, I dropped the ball on this one. After working my full time job all day and blog content at night, I did not set aside the appropriate amount of time to book a bunch of meetings. If you want meetings, don’t make the same mistake! Plan some serious time for this.
A few things I did learn – you should do your best to create relationships with brands/PR BEFORE fashion week even comes into the equation. That way you can leverage those relationships when booking meeting for fashion week. Again, cold calling is just so. damn. hard. Why do that to yourself?
T H R E E – You’ll save a TON of time by staying in Lower Manhatten
While I really enjoyed the hotel we stayed at during our time in NYC (more on it below), the one thing that did get hard is how long it took to get from Midtown to Soho. Even taking an Uber, it would take about 30 mins. It’s definitely doable, but man was it easier when we were at my friend’s place in East Village.
F O U R – There is a “Spring Studios” and a “Spring Studio” and they are not next to each other.
You guys… I made this mistake and I’m super embarrassed to admit it! We had, what now was my favorite show, the Chiara Boni show and I had about 20 minutes to get there. I ended up at the wrong studio 5 minutes before show started and literally had to book it to the right Studio and made it by a minute or two (because they were delayed by 30 minutes). I mean, hey, we made it; so that’s all the counts, right? I’m still embarrassed…
F I V E – You may give up on taking the subway and that’s okay.
Even after living in NYC as a broke college kid for a full summer and using the subway everyday; I just didn’t have the mental capacity to take it on again during the freezing temps in February. We used the subway only twice during the 4 days we were there. It’s fine. I’m fine.
Where we stayed:
We were lucky enough to work with Hotel 48Lex in Midtown Manhattan. If you know me, I go places for the vibe. I know, sue me, but I really prefer to be somewhere that gives me good vibes over anything else and, honestly, Hotel 48Lex didn’t disappoint. Other than the fact that there’s some major construction going on in the “real” lobby (they set up their “fake” lobby in the hotel’s common area), I felt pretty at home. I would say my favorite part were the city views. Yes, you could probably get similar views in other areas, but some of the other comparable hotels I was looking at had half the size of windows or a tiny window in the corner with no view. This room had floor to ceiling windows the whole stretch. I choose this option.
CLICK HERE to visit Hotel 48Lex’s website or book a room.
side note: 80% of the photos taken are from my boo – @vivaluxphotography (www.vivaluxphotography.com)
They had complimentary breakfast and gourmet coffee made by a barista. My favorite thing they had was their chocolate croissant and cappuccino.
So onto the looks… Here’s a full photo diary including an outfit roundup (with links to shop all items):
For the airport, I always opt for comfortable (read: some sort of leggings or sweat pants). Since I was going to NYC, I felt an oversized hoodie paired with combat boots just made sense. I tend to dress for the vibe of the city that I’m visiting. Anyone else do that?
SHOP | jacket is sold out (similar, similar), hoodie, leggings, boots, large suitcase, small suitcase
The first thing we did when we arrived was take a walk around the neighborhood and head to grab some food. Again, wanted to be comfy, but also look put together, so I simply layered yet another hoodie with on my favorite boyfriend blazers from Zara. Yes, If you were wondering, I almost stole a couple of Taylor’s blazer to bring with me, but I already was packing basically my whole closet, so I thought better not start packing his too.
SHOP | hoodie, blazer is sold out (similar), leather leggings, boots
Next look was actually the next day. It was pretty rainy out, but we still made the effort to leave early and grab some coffee at a cute little coffee shop in soho – Happy Bones. It was a little chilly and I also wanted to protect my hair, so layered turtle necks and a hat it was. We snapped a few pics as we headed to the location of where we wanted to shoot next.
SHOP | sweater, turtle neck, pants are sold out (similar), boots, hat
Okay, this was my fav look, can you tell (I couldn’t narrow down the photos)?! It felt very me, but also a little different than my norm. I’ve been seeing so many looks with layered turtle necks lately and I obviously jumped on board. I also saw quite a few bucket hats being worn around the city, but that’s for another day… (side note – I’m already trying to convert my friends on this bucket hat trend. I still have yet to try it out myself!). NYC is the best place for outfit inspo, I swear it will get you out of a style rut in 2.5 seconds.
SHOP | turtle neck, button down, pants sold out (similar, similar), boots sold out (similar, similar)
For this mixed plaid suit combo and the next look below, I got to shoot with a photographer that I’ve been following for quite some time through Instagram (hey Beckley!). I’ve been looking for a good matching suit set for some time now, and HM just had so many options when I stopped by before my trip, so I figured why not!
To elevate the basic matching suit set trend, I add yet again the turtle neck and threw on another blazer on top. I honestly love love love this combo and will probably wear a similar situation again in my near future. The key here is to have a fitted blazer buttoned and then an oversized blazer unbuttoned. They should compliment each other in print and color. I can’t get enough.
SHOP| fitted plaid blazer was sold out online (similar), plaid pants, oversized plaid blazer is sold out (similar), turtle neck, boots – (use code Wist10 for 10% off Jessica Buurman)
Second favorite look of the weekend (duh). I got this sleeveless turtleneck sweater dress for Christmas and I saved it for NYFW. I’m telling you, find something original and you can style it so many ways and look much more interesting than a basic styled outfit. This sweater dress, in my opinion, is unusual. At first I struggled with how to style it – it’s sleeveless, but long, but has a turtle neck – how the hell am I suppose to wear this in winter or in summer?!
I went a little against the norm and paired it with a linen (yes, linen) button down shirt (yes, shirt). Since it was a shirt, the side of it actually would have shown a little too much; except that I pinned it in just the right place to make sure it was high enough to be interesting, closed enough to be covered, but also not noticeable that I just pinned my shirt closed. It’s tough work, ya feel? I’ll have to do a full post on all my styling hacks with pins, fashion tape, rubber bands, etc. They work and they look great. (if you want this post, let me know!).
Anyway – I loved this whole combo just as much as the snake skin button down I wore earlier in this post. The best part about this sweater is I already have so many other ways I want to style this thing. I’m telling you, you should get yourself one ASAP.
SHOP | sweater dress (use code Wist10 for 10% off Jessica Buurman), button down shirt is sold out (similar), over the knee boots, clutch
Chiara Boni show – my first and favorite show from the weekend (and also the only one I got content for.. of course!).
Dinner at Hotel 48LEX lobby restaurant – Lexington Brass. Delish steaks, wine, and truffle fries… with a side of a couple full on making out at the bar (yes, this happened). I won’t lie, I’m still dreaming about those fries.
One of our final shoots in Soho, it was FREEZING and I’m a baby, so layer it up – but make it fashun. I knew I wanted to go a little crazy with my layers for at least one look. I wanted to style this houndstooth pencil skirt, but wanted to keep it “styled” and “street,” so I balanced it with a relaxed sweatshirt and puffer coat. I love how the full look came together and will definitely be doing more of the eclectic layering look more this year. It’s a tough look to pull off, but finding the right combo is key.
SHOP | teddy coat (use code Wist10 for 10% off Jessica Buurman), puffer jacket is sold out (similar, similar), sweatshirt sold out (similar), turtle neck, skirt, boots
Okay BYE new york! Had to make one last pit stop at the flatiron, because you know, basic. I had a quick brunch with my Aunt and Uncle in the area before we headed to the airport, so I took the opportunity to stop by. Atlanta has a similar building, built by the same architect in our downtown, so it only made sense to pay a little tribute to the original, right?
SHOP | coat, sweater, denim, boots are sold out (similar, similar)
All in all, the weekend was amazing and I was so grateful to have met some amazing women and spent some time with my boo (@vivaluxphotography). I will definitely be returning in September and stepping up my game with outfits, since as I mentioned before – you literally wear whatever you want – what.a.dream. Until next time…
xo
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