My Fashion-Filled Weekend

Since the last time i've posted i've had quite a few things going on. First, concerning the blog, I had hit 400 page views before my last post. Since then, i've somehow managed to jump up to 560 page views and i'm sure I will surpass 600 and get ever closer to the 1000 page view milestone. I know these are small potatoes but i'm still pretty excited. Email the link, tell your friends, repost to Facebook. I'd like to get as many readers as possible before I return to Missouri!

Secondly, I had my job interview at PinkBerry on Friday. It was very quick and apparently was just a pre-screening interview. They said they would call me this week if they wanted to set up a second interview. It's odd to me that slinging froyo requires more than one interview but I guess that's how it works here in NYC.

I also had the opportunity to work some in the DKNY store on Madison Ave. For those that don't know, this store is beautiful. It's got an upper and lower level and even has a cafe in the middle of the store. I didn't do a whole lot of exciting stuff--mainly just hung clothes on racks. But it was still a great opportunity to work closer with the merchandise and also watch how the associates sold and how clients purchased. This store is what is called a full-price store, verses a "company store" that has discounts and sales on a regular basis. So every garment I hung I, of course, looked at the price tag. It was kind of discouraging to hang up shirts that cost $400 while not getting paid but hopefully someday i'll be buying them, not hanging them. That's the goal anyway. While I was there the assistant manager said to help myself at the cafe and it was on her. I was looking forward to ordering a panini or sandwich but when I received the menu I saw that there was nothing but salads and smoothies. Makes sense considering that's what you would have to eat everyday to fit into most of the clothes! I got my salad, and it was delicious. Then I went home and got some pizza.

On Saturday I got to work Brooklyn Fashion Weekend. I was leery about this event as it is not major designers and could have been a huge flop. It exceeded my expectations, but still, I learned a lot about what NOT to do when it comes to organizing a fashion show. Still, it was definitely exciting. My job, as a volunteer, was mainly to make sure all of the fully dressed models were in their correct position in the lineup before going down the runway. This was stressful considering the designers didn't have their model lineup until minutes before showtime. I was running back and forth trying to find models but it ended up going just as planned.

The clothes were varied and interesting. There was a men's collection, a plus size collection, women's wear, and some very avant-garde pieces thrown into the mix. I saw a lot of sequins and gold. There was a lot of skin showing on some of the models (even after they were dressed) and plunging necklines paired with high stiletto heels. The menswear was almost what I would call "Urban Nautical" and each model was carrying a small leather bag that looked like an oversized wallet. Some of the girls had sunglasses that lit up neon and had one lens. I got to see the entire hair and makeup process from start to finish and assisted in the dressing of the models. There were half naked people running everywhere and, at times, I felt underdressed and under toned!

MTV was filming at the event for a show called World of Jenks. I actually love this show and watched the first season back home with my roommate on a pretty regular basis. The basis of the whole show is that this guy, Andrew Jenks, travels all over and will "live a day in someone else's shoes", so to speak. For the filming of the second season he's apparently living the life of someone in fashion (kind of like i'm doing) and so he was there at the show backstage as well. I realized it was Jenks and as I walked past him I said "I'm a huge fan of the show". He stopped and said "Thanks man, how are you?" and shook my hand. Later in the evening, a girl who I befriended backstage and I went and demanded a photo op. With my brain still high on all the fashion I decided the best pose would be a thumbs up and dork smile kind of look. As you can see from this TERRIBLE picture this is why I want to be behind the scenes in fashion, not in front of the camera. Let's just hope I don't look that stupid if I end up on MTV for season 2 ( I signed a release form!)

Towards the end of the show my supervisor let Alexis and I go out front and watch part of the last show. I was so glad because this was my first fashion show ever! It was so cool to watch it and be a part of it and I really hope that I have many more in my future.

 

 

 

 

That pretty much wraps up my weekend! Coming up this week I've got the Deadmau5 concert that I COULD NOT be more excited about. Details on that this weekend--but other than that i'm going to be free to keep exploring the city!