Surviving NYFW 2018 – Recap + VLOG

Happy FRI-YAY! I am trying to do my very best to catch up on sleep (LOL) because I was going going going GOING all week long at Fashion Week. This year, I changed up how I scheduled my days which turned out to be SO. MUCH. BETTER. than trying to cramp 150,000 things into one day like I did in 2017. I made sure I left enough time in between each show/brand meeting to get to each place (because while 99% of things move quickly in NYC, traffic isn’t one of them), left time for lunch/snack breaks so I wasn’t hungry and dehydrated, and did my back a favor and brought my backpack for outfit changes instead of trying to find everything into my tote bag. It was a busy week – but it wasn’t as stressful as it could have been had I not planned accordingly. Unfortunately, the one thing I didn’t do was heed my own advice and bring a change of flats for one of my days…and I still haven’t regained feeling in one of my toes. #whoops ANYWAYS – let’s dive into this years NYFW recap!

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Surviving NYFW 2018 – Recap + VLOG

DAY ONE:

Flight to LGA

I absolutely hate flying, just a little FYI, and even more than that, I hate connecting flights. This flight was from STL -> ATL -> LGA, and as far as fights go, was fairly uneventful. Luckily, I didn’t have any delays and aside from a SUPER awful man sitting next to me on the flight from Atlanta to New York (read my twitter thread on him here), I got a window seat both flights and made it to NYC is one piece (god BLESS).

Oxford Fashion Show

Right away after getting to the airport, I went directly to the city to pick up Erica and we sent our bags with the driver back to my aunts house in Greenwich, CT (where we were staying for the week). We had the Oxford Fashion Show at 4pm sharp so we were BOOKING it to get from her hotel to the show at Pier 59 Studios. This show had a ton of sequins and neon which makes me SO EXCITED for spring.

Dinner w/ BFF

This was arguably one of my absolute favorite parts of the entire trip. My high school best friend lives in New Jersey so when I’m able to come up to New York, we do our very best to get together. We spent an AMAZING 3 hours eating at the cutest little dinner spot and catching up on everything that we haven’t talked about since I saw her in March. PRO TIP: if you end up going to Olio E Piu – their Margherita pizza is to DIE FOR. 10/10 do not skip this. They also have the world’s most beautiful lattes, so do with that what you will.

DAY TWO:

Nonie Fashion Show

This was one of my favorite shoes! Nonie is a designer that has worked super closely with Meghan Markle (hello, the ultimate princess story) and her designs were both beautiful AND wearable. They were sleek with lots of satin and plunging necklines, classic colors like red, white and black (with some pops of hot pink) and again a few pops of neon. I also met Amanda Fuller from OITNB while I was there – she was seated right in front of Erica & I!

Rainy Day Shoot + Lunch + The Sugar Factory

Unfortunately, most of our trip was spent in the rain. It was really drizzly and humid during the day on Sunday so we did our best to shoot in between showers. We grabbed lunch at a sweet little bring place following the Nonie show and shot right outside because there were ideal awnings we could stand under with the cameras. I loved the pictures we got at this location and it just seemed SO New York – but not touristy. We had avocado toast with poached eggs and it was absolutely DELICIOUS. The food was so fresh and the toast was fresh baked and my mouth is LITERALLY watering as I type. I may definitely buy into the “millennial” stereotype but avocado toast is delicious and you can’t tell me otherwise. We had such a big amount of time in between our shows this time that once our shoot was done, we felt the need to get some sugar in our system and stopped at the Sugar Factory down the street. They are known for all things sugar but especially their GIANT milkshakes. THIS IS A MUST VISIT!

Ruby Fang Show

I think this was probably my favorite show from the whole week. The first few dresses that came out in the line up were completely crystallized – they were COVERED in sparkling gemstones. I am STILL starry eyed over them. Ruby used classic silhouettes, and lots of blush pink, red and black. She also had some really amazing lace and fringe details on her designs. There were only a few pieces from this collection I didn’t fall in love with.

DAY THREE:

Grand Central Shoot

Since it was STILL raining, we had to get creative with our shoots this time around. We chose a few indoor locations, and the first on the list was Grand Central Station. It was perfect because we rode the train from Greenwich every day right into the station. It was tough getting the perfect shot with all the people around but we both ended up pretty pleased with the end results!

Lunch

We ate at the station because they had an AWESOME assortment of local restaurants. We had pizza at Prova Pizza Bar and dessert at The Magnolia Bakery. I know I already has pizza once this trip but I couldn’t pass it up. It was SO good. I chose the lemon bar at Magnolia’s and I will probably be thinking about this dessert for the rest of forever. That sounds dramatic but…..

Essie Backstage + Veronica Beard Show

Erica and I had the opportunity to hang out with Essie backstage at the Veronica Beard show and it was so much fun. It’s such an amazing experience to be able to see the chaos and excitement that is NYFW. They chose a nail color that was bold and unique – it was two coats of red and a skinny line of hot pink near the bottom of the nail. It was super subtle. The actual pieces from the collection were SO beautiful. There were neon yellows, sequins, pant suit and shoulder pads. Literally couldn’t be more excited about spring. 

 

DAY FOUR:

Alison Brod PR 

Day four was ALL about PR brand meetings. These are my favorite days when I visit in New York. First on the list was Alison Brod (they rep brands like Urban Decay, Huda Beauty and Garnier). I am good friends with Molly, one of their PR girls, and I saw her last at the St. Louis Urban Decay event so it was so fun to see her and catch up! They hooked me up with a fabulous blow out at their salon and then I got to shop the beauty closet. I have so many new products to share with you – so stay tuned!

BlueSky PR

BlueSky is so much fun to see every time I’m in the city, and they rep a lot of fun makeup and skincare brands like NIA and Physicians Formula. You all know my CRAZY love for Physicians Formula – and it’s not ending any time soon. I have a bunch of their new products as well, so reviews coming on that ASAP!

Tractenberg PR

This was a super fun influencer event that had a BUNCH of brand stations in attendance! John Frieda, PUR, Bare Minerals and Laneige were some of my favorites in the line up. They sent us some with TONS of awesome products, and I will be diving into that for reviews and adding to my pile for the DAY 100 GIVEAWAY coming up at the end of October. 

Dan Liu Show

This was the last show of the week for me, and it was so good. It started off with a dancer dressed as a samurai in a fox head (fashion week is weird) who did a whole choreographed dance down the runway. The pieces weren’t my favorite (they felt a little bit 20-something-needs-a-party-dress vs sophisticated fashion) but they definitely work for a certain audience. The main issue I had with this collection was that I couldn’t find a common thread or theme between the different pieces. 

DAY FIVE:

Blowout with Davine’s Hair Care (@ Ion Studios)

We kicked off our last day with a luxurious blow out at Ion Studio (courtesy of Davine’s Hair Care). I don’t think I’ve ever had a better head massage in my life. Not only did I leave with beautiful beachy curls (although they were short lived in the humidity), the stylist also offered to trim my bangs as a part of the blow out so I left with a pretty style AND a fresh bang trim. #BLESS

Lunch with Tula

This was a fabulous way to finish my trip to NYC. I love the brand Tula – they have fabulous skincare products for both men and women and their packaging is SPOT on. It’s got that soft touch feel and muted pastel colors so it looks gorgeous on countertops. They have some incredible launches coming up here in the near future that I am BEYOND excited for so I’ll be sure to share with you once those are live as well.

Delayed Flight Home

Buckle your seat belts because do I have a story for you. So, around 2:00pm, I got word that my 5:55pm flight was delayed by half an hour. I wasn’t too worried, because LGA is a pretty busy international airport. About an hour later, I received another message stating my flight was delayed again, this time not leaving for another hour after that. So I’m now an hour and a half behind. No big deal, but kind of annoying because I was so ready to be home. I get to the airport around 4pm (plenty of time before my flight) and walk back to my gate. There is a HUGE mass of people lined up at the customer service desk because 3 or 4 flights had already been delayed and then cancelled. The flight in front of mine at my gate was over 3 hours late, and still no word of a plane. I ended up sitting on the ground in a dirty corner trying to get some last minute work done and failing miserably. Eventually, when my plane was delated again (over 2 hours late now), I got up and went to get food for dinner. There was only one seat open at my gate so I went to sit down. I set my backpack down and then the smell hit me. The woman who was in the seat next to me then said, “I just threw up there”. I had set my backpack down in someone else’s vomit and then stepped in it. JOY. It was at that moment they announced my flight was boarding and I didn’t have time to go clean off my backpack. So I stood in line and got on the plane with the bottom of my bag dripping. Once on the flight, there were not one, not two, not even three but FOUR screaming babies and they let their presence be known for the duration of the flight. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to get off of a flight and run into my husband’s arms than that night. 

PS: I want to give a HUGE shoutout to Downeast Basics for dressing me for NYFW. They supplied all of my shoes and outfits for the trip so that I could look fashion week ready and I looked and felt amazing the entire time. Shop each piece I wore below:

Laser Cut Out Booties | Blush Booties |Embroidered Bell Sleeve Top | Mustard Collared Top | Black Geometric Bell Sleeved Dress | Soft Everyday Tee | #OOTD Necklace

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I had a fabulous five days-ish in NYC this year. I really do love this city, even if the traffic is HORRENDOUS (LOL). I am always SO incredibly inspired by the fashion at the shows and the influencers, celebrities and designers that attend them. There are upcoming trends, styles, colors, textures and so much more to look at and you get to feel like you are a part of a beautiful display of art. 

Have you ever been to NYFW? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below!