“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.” -Rachel Zoe
Last Fall, one of my biggest dreams came true! And no I am not talking about singing on stage with each of the Spice Girls because that’s been high on my list since I was a pimply teenager….and yes I have struggled with acne my entire life so let’s not sugar coat it people, even hormonal 30 somethings (GASP) still deal with it!!! After a year of blogging I decided to take the plunge and attend my very first New York Fashion Week. I’ll be honest I was pretty scared, I had been to New York several times for work, but I was always in a group often with my head down shuffling along to the various meetings.
This time it was all me, I would have to navigate the city by myself, book shows by my self, attend showroom visits by myself, schedule and meet a new photographer by myself…..are you seeing the common thread? BY MYSELF. That phrase terrified me. If you have a bit of unsettlement here…so did I!! Not to mention, I was rooming with 3 complete strangers. These strangers were actually other mom bloggers, but none of whom I had met IRL (in real life). All of this new uncertainty gave me a bit of anxiety, so much so that I didn’t book my ticket until 2 days before I was supposed to leave! Insert an irritated husband who had to care for of 3 little girls; cart them to and from school, dance, soccer, gymnastics, violin, piano, you name it all while I was living my best life in the big apple. Luckily, with a bit of persuasion Justin was as supportive as one could hope for in sending me off. Ladies find yourself a supportive man, one who’s your biggest cheerleader, who helps make your dreams come true. Marriage can be exhausting if you’re always competing. Deep down I’ve known that Justin has always supported me and my crazy dreams even since the first day we met 20 some odd years ago. I am forever thankful for his constant love and belief in me because most days I don’t even believe in myself. Taking 3 days off of Mom Life is no easy feat, there are a lot of ducks that need to be in a row in order for a mom to check out of her life for 3 days, I’m sure many of you mommas can relate! So with my vogue and 3 suitcases in hand, off I went to New York Fashion Week!
New York Fashion Week -Day 1
After a canceled flight, several delays, and a pitted out shirt I finally made it to New York. One of the smartest things I decided to do was room with a few other girls. A.) this was much cheaper on my bank account and B.) it made my trip so much more enjoyable to go to shows and dinners with other girls so that I did’t feel so alone….New York City is a big ol’ city after all. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a girls girl through and through and I hate being alone (unless my kids are around, in that case LEAVE ME ALONE). Honestly though, I would much rather hang out with friends any day of the week! Through Instagram I met 3 incredibly genuine Christian bloggers from Arkansas, Emily Young (@emilyyoung78), Jennifer Maune (@jennifermaune) and Sabra Hensley (@sabra.hensley). I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone here agreeing to room with strangers, but I had been friends with one of the girls for a year and a half “online” so they were not total strangers…..right? Kidding! Not everyone can or should be trusted friends!!!
The first day of New York Fashion Week, we hit 2 Runway shows and then I had scheduled a showroom visit to view the new spring line of Aliza J. Often the runway shows are super avant-garde and over the top, not neccesarily something you and I might wear on the street. The shows I was getting into were smaller designers, not names many of us have heard of. The real dreamy shows like Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Jason Wu these are all shows that not many people get to attend unless they have a pocket the size of the Pacific Ocean or major connections, it’s the cold hard truth. Every day is so jam packed during New York Fashion Week, you will be super tired so make the best of it. Try and make as many appointments as you can, but don’t stress if you miss one. Many of the shows aren’t near one another and you can’t be two places at once. Most importantly remember you are there to have FUN!.
We decided to skip the traffic and our last show of the day and instead meet up with a bunch of Houston bloggers at a Rooftop Party. It was just nice to relax (by relax I mean put on a higher heel no joke) and get to know other girls who do this crazy blogging thing like we do. Soon after we headed off to a mediocre dinner (sad but true) because we did not have reservations and everywhere had at least an hour and a half wait so we settled for whatever the heck we could get into. Once we had full bellies and a few glasses of vino, it was off to bed!
New York Fashion Week – Day 2
Shows started bright and early the next morning and we had 4 women sharing 1 bathroom….yes I said 1!!!! Luckily, all of us girls are pretty laid back so this didn’t pose too much of an issue. We hit 3 shows at Pier 51 studios. It’s a lovely space to catch some great runway material and sip champagne by the pier. Soon after I had arranged a shoot with a local photographer named Angelene, she is the sweetest young woman and I truly believe has a very bright future ahead of her. She rolled with the punches and let all 4 of us ladies shoot several looks each. This is way more hectic and time consuming than you might think. What do you do when you need a wardrobe change in the middle of Times Square? Bring a pop up tent and get right down to business, honestly it worked like a charm and makes for one heck of a great experience. Blogging might look fancy, but the majority of the behind the scenes is anything but! I can’t tell you the amount of times poor Justin has felt like a fool laying on the ground to get that one shot, or me sliding down a rock wall bruising my entire behind, true story. Dinner that evening was yet another subpar impromptu meal, but really it’s the company and comradery that you remember. One of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting up with new and old friends. I was thrilled to meet up with my Nashville girl Ashley from (Beausandashley) and end the night watching a Blackberry Smoke rock concert. If you don’t follow her yet, you must. She’s a beautiful person inside and out!
If there’s one major part that I have learned from blogging it’s that I am a team player. You will meet a lot of people who do not have your best interest at heart and they can often be hard to spot. But, you will also have the opportunity to meet some great ones that will change your life forever.
New York Fashion Week Timeline
- Two months prior get your Media Kit ready…I did not have one of these and had to google it sad, but true. I found a great template on Pinterest for $15 that I tailored to my business using my logo etc, it worked like a charm and saved me a lot of money.
- One month out start thinking about a hotel and and think about booking your flight. Reach out to any other bloggers and try and get a few of you to go together. You can pitch hotels for a comped stay if your following is big enough and in exchange offer to post about the hotel. Share ideas and contacts, THIS IS KEY. If you help someone out today they are likely to help you out tomorrow. Pay it forward girls!!!
- Two to Three weeks before send out all of your pitches to PR companies and brands. I recommend sending and applying for at least 60 shows or meetings. Many will say no and I mean a lot, but don’t get discouraged because you will get some yes’s I promise, they just might not come until right before you go. Now is also a great time to get a few dinner reservations in the books so you aren’t eating on the fly like I did.
- Dream big, still reach out to the big company’s too, you just never know what might happen. I have even heard that if you have the time and stand outside of some of the huge shows they occasionally let a few people in if they have the room and you work it! #youbetterwerk
- Overbook shows, this way you have a lot to choose from. It can be hard to make it to all of them seeing as the city is large and traffic takes forever going back and forth.
- Make a master schedule and keep in in your bag so you have all the times and addresses readily available.
- Many of these shows will invite you back next year once you are in their database.
**Two websites that I used to help me apply to shows are GPS Radar and Modem Online. These are your best friend when it comes to Fashion Week. Be sure to visit Fashion Week Online as it has the entire NYFW schedule laid to for you.
New York Fashion Week Helpful Tips
-Take cabs, many Uber’s canceled me. If you can manage the subway that the cheapest and fastest.
-Bring an extra phone charger, yours or your friends will run out I promise!
-Make dinner reservations ahead of time, we did not do this and every meal ended up being imromtptu and just mediocre!
-Bring a camera and extra battery
-Book a photographer ahead of time! I wasn’t going to splurge on this, but it was 100% worth every penny. My sweet friend Ashley (Beasandashley) found her on Instagram and shared her contact information with me (see what I meant about friends helping friends, love this). Having a photographer let me be more at ease and relax, I wasn’t so stressed about constantly getting a great shot all hours of the day because I knew that I would have the opportunity to get it later and with a much better camera than I have.
-I stayed near Times Square, but I really like the charm and hipster vibe in Soho much better so I’d suggest looking for a hotel there instead.
-Be sure to visit the Brooklyn Bridge and Top of the Rock to get a few staple NY pics.
I hope this “How To” New York Fashion Week guide is helpful for any of you Soon To-Be bloggers or maybe gives a little push to those of you who just want to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Really my leap of faith came down to this one feeling that I kept having, “I feared going, but I feared NOT going even more.” Which is so true about life, we constantly fear the unknown, but really we should have trust that sometimes there are greater things planned for us than we could have ever imagined for ourselves. So take the jump, I promise the fall won’t kill you, it might instead inspire you.
-SHOP MY NEW YORK FASHION WEEK LOOKS-
