Ever since I was very young, I dreamed of attending/showing/hovering for New York Fashion Week. It seemed to me to be fashion’s culmination of style every 6 months. If you were there, invited to shows, then you were important. It was something to aspire to attend, because it was a 7 day exclusive celebration of sartorial style.
Even when I lived in NYC and worked as a buyer, I never got sick of the hustle of attending extremely late shows all over Manhattan, the 5x a day outfit changes, and the occasional fashion photographer shot (lets be honest, the 2 or 3 times I was photographed were like the highlight of my year. One of those was by the late great Bill Cunningham!).
But last year, I truthfully had the worst time ever. Because of the influx of bloggers (like me!) it is almost impossible to get into shows, so now it’s all about attending these fashion week ‘parties’ instead. Companies like Rewardstyle, ShopStyle, Lulu’s etc. have these massive parties that are basically aimed at bloggers’ specifically, to showcase brands, products and services that they want us to promote. On one hand, it’s definitely still fun to be invited to events and given free stuff. On the other hand, it’s not about fashion or the coming season at all! Instead, I spent most of last year at Zara buying crap so that I could impress my blogger friends with my outfit (trust me, I realize the irony in this), then paying a photographer (whom I love) to take a bunch of “NYFW” photos for me. I came home with bags of stuff that I never used, an empty wallet, and crushed dreams of never really attending NYFW the right way.
So this year I’m doing NYFW differently. Here’s why:
- I haven’t been to New York since last year. This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing the Big Apple since I was maybe 8 years old. I feel like it’s a part of me, and I miss the city. So, I have a lot of other stuff to do, people to see, streets to roam, matcha to drink, that doesn’t involve NYFW.
- Mr. R is coming with me! This is actually groundbreaking because I’ve attended alone for the past 2 years and even though I go to a party here and there, I come home to an empty room and often eat pizza alone. (this is actually symbolic of most of my years in NYC however). This year I want to go to our favorite restaurants, see friends, and enjoy NY together.
- I don’t have a photographer booked. Obviously, Mr. R can take pictures of me if I need some. I don’t need to make a huge hubbub about going to New York just because it’s at the same time as NYFW… it’s just like any other trip! The sooner I realize that, the sooner I won’t be disappointed.
- I never emailed any PR companies to attend shows. Last year, I spent the better part of August emailing as many brands and PR companies I could to attend shows, sending my media kit, stats, etc. But guess what? I only got one invite out of it. Instead, I got a ton of responses saying “we have not started our RSVP list yet” or “our RSVP list is already filled”. Very frustrating, but I get it. So why waste my time this year?
- I want to show Marina off! This is pretty obvious… but I have a lot of friends in New York and I want them to all get a chance to meet Marina. Plus, it’s not going to be easy bopping all over New York when I have nap times, breastfeeding and subway elevators to navigate. Basically, the number one priority should be for Marina to meet my friends, and if I happen to look cute/fashionable and attend a party at the same time, well then that’s the best I can ask for!
Anyway, I hope you all can appreciate my concerted effort to change my expectations of my upcoming trip. I’ve realized in recent years that sometimes all I need to have a good time is a mindset change, and that is what I’m hoping to achieve in my trip this year. That way, if I do get invited to a show last minute, I will be more than thrilled to attend!
