Sooooooo .. I’ve been wanting to write this fashion related post for the longest but have had no time to do so until recently. A month ago, I took part in some of the festivities for New York Fashion Week a.k.a NYFW. I figured I live in NYC so I should just check out some local events because “Hey … Why Not?”
I like to consider myself a resident tourist. Plus I’m obsessed with fashion blogs … Yeap … The girl who prefers to live in her baggy graphic shirts, sweatpants and sneaks is obsessed with fashion blogs. Because you know what, I clean up pretty nicely when I choose too … But the truth is that most of the time … I choose NOT to. Annnnnd that’s why this blog will always be an everything blog and NEVER soley a fashion blog. Unless people want to send me free clothes … Then I might reconsider the direction of said blog ;)
Ok so let’s set the scene … It was a snowy week in NYC… Mr. Nemo had decided to stop by and I assumed that the Lulu’s event I signed up for would be cancelled. Nope. NYFW stops for NO ONE. So I put my pretty face on and braved the black ice as I made my way to the event in Mid-Town.
I arrived to the Lulu’s Event an hour fashionably late… Because I mean … That’s what you do right? Wrong! The place was packed with fashion bloggers and random people taking advantage of freebies by the time I got there. So what’s a girl to do? She gets a free Lulu’s Style Sessions bag and goes from table to table grabbing a sample of all the free stuff before it all runs out. And she did good ya’ll. She did realllll good with getting the freebies :)
Did I mention I went to the event by myself? And of course everyone was bunned up with friends so there she was … This girl that looked alot like me standing in the corner with a bag full of freebies feeling like a social misfit… But lo and behold … she found a BAR! That was serving COMPLIMENTARY drinks!
The Blue Bombshell became her salvation… Because after 3 drinks she was feeling like a G and ready to give the dreaded networking a try. She ended up meeting a couple of cool people, winning a $15 giftcard for Lulu’s and even had a Miss Jessie’s representative ask her to pose with their giftbag.
And pose she did… With drink #4 in hand ;)
{I don’t know when it happened but yes, this blogger switched over to third person for some reason lol}
And then her number got called to go up to the Lulu’s Style Studios clothing racks upstairs where she got to leave with a free piece of clothing. She picked three dresses to take to the dressing room to try on. But the dressing room was a hot mess. It was a 3 board panel propped up against the wall and there was no room whatsoever to change. So instead of actually trying on clothes, she took some obligatory pics of herself that go from pretty to pretty darn jacked up … Compliments to drinks 1,2,3 & 4 finally sinking in.
She doesn’t know how people take selfies with their hands looking all nice. Because her hand was seriously channeling THE CLAW. She ends up picking a cute crochet dress with a see through top because she figures it would look great as a beach cover up … Or as a piece of lingerie for when times get rough in her love life ;)
And then as she is leaving the event, she realizes that she hasn’t taken a picture of her full outfit!
So she enlists Mr. Big and Burly Bouncer at the door to take a picture of her. At this point you can tell the Asian side of her is starting to come out. But she wasn’t so far gone that she had enough sense to hail a cab to take her back to Grand Central instead of walking the 10 blocks over. She ends up grabbing a two chicken kabobs with bread drizzled in barbecue sauce and bottle of water from a street vendor to sober up on the train ride home.
The next day… She.wake.up.in.the.morning.feeling.like.P. Diddy… Not. More like how Diddy felt after J.Lo left him. But was super stoked to go through all the free shizz she got :)
The second event Setarra went to during NYFW was the Karen Millen event. Why? Because Aimee Song from Song Of Style was hosting the event and Setarra is a huge fan of hers. Ahem. Groupie’ would be a more appropriate word. Off she went to SOHO and what do you know… There was ANOTHER bar serving free drinks!!!
So you know your girl got herself a drink … or two and walked around the store checking out some of the digs. Mind you, she had never heard of Karen Millen before but she really liked what she saw. She was even tempted to commit theft and snatch up that tiffany blue trench coat…
But luckily the lady of the hour walked in and thoughts of thievery fell to the wayside. The minute Aimee walked in the door, people started crowding around her for conversation and pictures. That’s when I started feeling like a little person. (I guess we’re back in first person now?) Here is this supercool chick with over 500,000 Instagram followers and I seriously feel important enough to expect her to take a pic with me? To make myself feel cooler? HAIL YEA! And yes, I judge her “celebrity” based on how many people follow her on Instagram.
I’m so glad I didn’t punk out and leave the store because when I finally got my chance to meet with Aimee, she was so sweet and and fun. We actually talked about stuff… What I did for a living, If she was enjoying the cold weather in NYC, and how she felt really grateful to have people like me show up to events like this to see her. A surprisingly humble conversation that made me like her even more.
And then we took pictures together… Focus on Aimee, not me. She’s just too gorgeous for her own damn good. Me … More like a humpty dump that sat on a wall. When I showed Charles the pictures, he said “Why do you have so much clothes on?” My response “I was going for the layered look?” And failed horribly lol.
I ended up instagramming my pics from the night and the next day, I received a notification that Aimee and her sister, Dani, liked my pic! Aimee even said I was cute! Which totally made my day until Charles one upped her by surprising me at my job for Valentine’s day :) Maybe I’m not a humpty dump after all… Correction: I’m a CUTE humpty dump ;)
So what did I learn from my experience at New York Fashion Week?
– No Matter The Weather Conditions, Wear Heels.
I went to both events in flat boots because of the weather and cuz I’m practical like that. But the majority of the girls that came out to the events were rocking their elevated footwear. Serious dedication to fashion ya’ll … Serious.
– Go To As Many Events As You Can Even If You Aren’t A Fashionista.
I mean … If I had known about all the free drinks I would’ve definitely gone to ALOT more events. And plus all the free stuff I got! Totally worth the awkward “I’m by myself” moments.
– If You Can, Bring a Friend.
It’s just more fun to attend a fashion event with a buddy. Period.
– Get Business Cards If You’re A Blogger.
At both the events, I saw people swapping business cards. It made me feel like the kid who didn’t get picked to play kickball during lunch. Definitly something I’m thinking about getting done. But first… The blog must become a “dot.com.”
– Be Prepared To Get Checked Out. HARD.
Let’s face it. You’re obviously attending a fashion event where the focus is clothes. People are gonna check out what you’re wearing. I got the “up/down” once over a couple times which made me think I should’ve put more effort into my outfits. But whatev … At least I can say that NOBODY looked like me from what I was wearing lol.
– Drink Water Between Each Drink.
I may have glorified the drinking part above a little bit just for shits and giggles. But on a serious note. Yes, I had four drinks at the Lulu’s event but in between each drink, I also had a cup of water. Sooo while I was definitely feeling buzzy and super goofy, I was still very much aware of my surroundings. Especially when roaming around a big city by yourself as a female …You just CAN’T afford be a naive ditz. The feminist in me says “It’s unfair that I should worry about these things when Men don’t.” But the girl who was raised by a father that works in law enforcement is very much aware that “This is the world we live in and approaching it from a realistic mindset is what keeps you alive and out of trouble.” Whenever I go out alone, I have mase in my purse and a pen in each jacket pocket. Yea … I said it … A Pen In Each Pocket. Think what you want.
#bruceleeondatass
THE END. Sorry … I know this post was long.
xo, Setarra
Linking Up With:
