Fore warning this one is a rather long post!
A few weeks ago Nolcha Shows invited me to join them for NYFW in Manhattan at the Mercedes Benz Dealership. With everything I had going on between styled shoots, local events, styling clients, Kade’s First Birthday photos and party, the timing wasn’t exactly ideal. But…. there was NO WAY I was going to miss my first opportunity to attend New York Fashion Week! I’ve been dreaming of attending since ummm forever… probably early high school years! And finally, here it was, an invite to turn my dream into a reality. So, in true Kristi fashion I found a way to attend!
As for the planning… ha! I was a mess! With my long list of projects each day was a little different and certainly chaotic. Some days I would tackle one project at a time and then others days I was trying to chip away at the “to do’s” for all of them. The first step in solidifying my attendance was to find transportation. It had been awhile since I’ve been to NYC but when I used to go I would take the bus. I booked Gunther Bus Tours and up/back same day was only $55. I say only but at least to me that sounded like a great price! The bus {at 3 hours each way} is honestly a really easy and comfortable alternative to flying, driving or taking the train.
Next I wanted to secure a glam team to help me look beautiful for the day. Knowing I would be sitting on the bus for three hours and most likely fall asleep I didn’t want to have my hair and makeup set that morning only to probably mess it up on the ride. I contacted a few NYC local artists and was so thankful when Apoorva and Gloria both confirmed they were able to meet to me with me once I arrived in the city.
With hair and makeup secured, I was then on to finding a local photographer to work with during my visit. This is one of those small world moments. I reached out to Steve, a local NY fashion photographer to see if he might be up for a mini photo shoot between the shows I was attending. Steve got right back to me and ironically he was booked to photograph the Gemma Hoi fashion show which was the first show I was attending. I guess it was meant to be for our paths to cross… all the stars seemed to be aligning for my first NYFW trip. I was almost all set…. I just needed to figure out what I was going to wear and where I was going to meet the girls for hair and makeup.
I couldn’t believe I waited until the last minute to secure my outfit… what was I thinking? The weekend before my trip I ordered a bunch and I mean a bunch of different dresses and skirts that arrived just in time… literally the Friday… as in the 9th… as in two days before the show. I was cutting it CLOSE! Thankfully I loved a lot of the options but ultimately was torn between two so I did what any other fashion blogger would do… outfit change!
For my first look I went the Sara Roka SS18 Faye dress. Y’all probably know by now I have a thing for gingham among other things, like dresses with pockets and then add the pretty spring flowers and it was a yes, yes, yes to the dress for me! The gingham is a beautiful shade of tangerine which I happened to have the perfect Kate Spade pair of shoes that matched perfectly. I added gold accessories and this look was complete! The second dress I loved was this navy and white Tanya Taylor dress. Super cute, girly and a little sexy! For both dresses I was glad to have sleeves since it was going to be a cold rainy day. I was a tinge nervous about my shoe choice for this dress. I wanted to wear my SJP lady red heels … well because why not! I love a little Nauti red and navy combo! My jewelry look was a simple day time glam original Leesa bracelet from Baltimore’s own Rachel Mulherin and Kate Spade bow tie clutch. To help keep my hair, makeup, shoes and clothes dry I ordered this adorable clear umbrella {that would of course keep me dry but most importantly look cute in photos} from amazon.
So this brings me to Saturday… the 10th and I would be in NY the next day! After contacting several hotels and restaurants, I could NOT find a place to meet my beauty team. Short of booking a hotel room for the day I wasn’t sure what else to do. I texted Steve {photographer} to ask if he had any suggestions and he introduced me to Breaker. I had never heard of it but it turned out to be the coolest thing ever! On Breaker.com or the Breaker app you can rent spaces all over the NYC {and a handful of other cities} by the hour! I was able to book a space for $49/hour instead of having to book a hotel room for the day {which I almost did}. How it works is, you choose the area in which you are looking to rent space, specify what you need in the space and review the options. Once you select the space, enter the day and time and confirm Rental. They let you cancel up to two hours before your rental. Breaker suggests you down load the app which I did and you get a number code to the locked space a few minutes before your rental starts. I highly recommend Breaker… it was easy to book and they had a variety of options for every budget. The only downfall is that Breaker is currently offered in only a handful of major cities.
Here we are Sunday!!! I arrived in NYC around 10:20 in the morning, met Apoorva and Gloria at the rented space for hair and makeup. To that point everything was going smoothly when all of a sudden I check the time and WOAH…. I gotta go! I think we were talking too much… lol. I was planning on getting ready in the rented space but I ended up having to fly out of the building and grab an uber. My uber driver was great! I told him I needed to change in the car and he flipped the mirror around so he couldn’t see. Although, over the years I have perfected getting dressed in the car so either way I would have been covered up.
I have to admit I was quite impressed with thoughtful packing for the day. There was no way I was going to be able to carry around tons of items so I had to be mindful on what to bring. The night before I prepacked so that my thoughtful packing would hopefully make my day easier. For example… I carried one large tote where I was able to pack my shoes and clutches in duster bags so they didn’t get wet or messed up from touching wet items, I wore thin workout clothes so they would fold up small in my bag, I put my jewelry for each look in the accompanying clutch and I brought small plastic grocery bags for anything that was really wet or if I wasn’t able to pack as nicely heading home.
By the time we were pulling up to the Mercedes Benz dealership, I was practically jumping out of the uber with excitement! As I entered the dealership the Nolcha team greeted me and signed me in for the event. They had a few vendors displaying items and a variety of photo op areas to check out before the show. Since I was running late I really only got a chance to give them a glance. I rushed to my seat snapping as many pictures as I could along the way!
I couldn’t help but feel a little Sexy in the City vibe. The only thing I was missing was my girl gang! The first show I was previewing was the Gemma Hoi collection. She was all about the denim married a funky combat aesthetic, asymmetrical lines, fringe, grommets and pops of crisp dress whites! The show was quick! I know fashion shows aren’t typically long built I felt like I blinked and it was over. I could have watched the show another 20 times and still missed so many of the details in her pieces. Thank goodness I still had a few other shows in the afternoon.
Steve and I met up after he finished shooting the show…. the same show I was seeing… such a small world!! At this point the rain was mild so we quickly snapped a few photos inside and made our way out to the streets of New York! On our way out we bumped into Gemma, where I had a chance to make a quick introduction, congratulate her on the show and snap a quick picture!
After twirling in the rain a bit it was time for my outfit change to be ready for the next show. Luckily the 4pm show was at the same location, the Manhattan Mercedes Benz, so I was able to change in their bathroom as opposed to a vehicle! I had a little bit of time before the next show so I snacked on a pop-tart {first meal of the day} and mingled with other fashion show guests. The next show was a good bit longer because of three designers were showcasing. Lavanya Coodly, Seven Crash and Stevenson University. Another small world moment… Stevenson University is a Maryland University located just outside of Baltimore AND I just got asked to speak to their fashion & merchandising class a few weeks later {on my birthday to be exact}. The first designer, Lavanya Coodly showcased some exquisite gowns and men’s fashion. The second designer, Seven Crash was out of this world… literally. Their extremely cool designs seemed to be inspired by astronaut suits, construction sitesm and The Matrix movie. And, then the third was Stevenson University where they had 9 students each showcase one of their original designs. {After previewing the student’s designs I was even more excited to be a guest speaker to one of their classes.} After the show I chatted with a few others, took my final few photos and headed back to Times Square where I would be catching my bus back home. On the ride home I couldn’t help myself from reliving the day over in my head. I was completely inspired by the day and reminded how much I enjoy NYC. Right then on the bus I added to my years “to do” list a few more visits to New York City!
HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE MY NYFW EXPERIENCE ONE TO REMEMBER!
SARA ROKA designer // SJM photography // APOORVA RAO hair // ENDLESS GLO makeup
