Fashion Week and the Pain That Follows

I am certainly no style.com, but I've managed to wrangle myself a couple of good invites for New York's Fashion Week, which kicked off last Thursday. Naturally, I forgot to bring my camera (not once, but twice), so I am being very 21st century and showing you the images I snapped with my Blackberry.

I took my roommate Georgia to the opening of FIT's Gothic: Dark Glamour, at the school. There was a lot of fun outfits (from both people in and out of the show), but Georgia brought up a decent point: What's the difference between a gothic look and an Eduardian look, besides spikes? I would love to actually have gothic defined - is it Bram Stoker inspired? Is it something one can purchase fully realized from a mall? How did these two looks combine?

We enjoyed drinking blood red cocktails, but the thing that really thrilled us was the history of fashion section, right off of the reception hall. Goth be damned - we got to see Chanel froom the 40s, YSL from the 50s, Dior from the 60s and Halston from the 70s. We almost lost our minds over a pair of McQueen thigh-high boots that were literally the most dramatic things I've seen, probably ever.




We headed uptown to the Gen Art Fresh Faces in Fashion at the Grand Ballroom. Somehow we got great seats and a pretty good giftbag (including a $200 gift certificate to get hair removed?!). But the show was lack luster at best. Eight designers showed, new faces that have generated some buzz, like Crhee and JF and Son, but nothing really impressed me. In Georgia's words, there were way too many shirts on the runway, and I know S/S isn't as thrilling as the colder weather, but khakis and boatshoes have never been revolutionary.

The one designer I really liked was Richard Ruiz. He actually had structured and feminine cuts, and had this weird geisha thing going with girls and umbrella's. He also was actually glamourous. Here are some horrible, Blackberry-esque shots.




On Friday, I headed west by myself to see the Form collection. They took a huge risk and had the show in the Skylounge of an apartment building, but because the day was textbook perfect, it ended up being gorgeous. You can see the images of the models against buildings and the blue sky. The collection had a lot of wavy, gauzy material blowing in the wind, a lot of wrapped layers, and a bathing suit that I literally could die for (Super deep V, pleasant amount of side-boob, delicate cream color...)





Afterwards, I headed to the tents to see Erin Fetherston, which was hellish. People were clawing and panicking, and I was so hot and sticky from the Form show, I left early to meet a coworker at the Academy of Art show. The Academy of Art, which features emerging designers much like Gen Art, had a pretty decent show. Yes, there was knitwear, but there were also some more experimental, edgier designs (like the geometric forms from Warot Subsrisunjai). You can see MUCH better photos here:


Tomorrow I brave Rodarte, Betsey Johnson, Max Azria and Vivienne Tam. I think. I left my schedule on the train. I'll remember to bring my camera this time...I swear.