Ode to New York Fashion Week

Just hearing the phrase Fashion Week, or thinking about Fashion Week usually gives me butterflies in my stomach. It reminds me of the fateful day my editor at BAZAAR, Clair, handed me a ticket to the Betsey Johnson show at the Tents. How the woman with the headset and the pen almost wouldn't let me in. And it reminds me of that final, ecstasy filled moment when the lights went down and the catwalk began to glow. A pure stream of energy and newness poured out of backstage in the form of clothes and music. A small eternity rested within those few moments that were my first New York fashion show. 

There's also the memories of week-stopping presentations: YSL's new look a few years back,

YSL's "New Look"

Lanvin-- in almost any season-- and the serious craft and vision of the girls of Rodarte and Ghesqiere at Balenciaga. The moments when the world first saw a Gladiator trend, Prada's Fairy Bag, or the loose, cool chic of rosettes at 3.1 Phillip Lim.

Balenciaga's Gladiators

Above, Rosettes at 3.1 Phillip Lim

Below, Prada's painted Fairy Bag

And this year's Fall Presentations don't disappoint me in the slightest, slightest. Maybe what people are calling recession-wear is more of my style to begin with... Some of us live life in a permanent recession if you know what I mean! Hi/Low dressing did not come out of nowhere and designers didn't begin to embrace the mass market for no reason. 

That being said, before my overall dissertation, I've got one more thing to make clear to all future fashionistas and fashionistas alike: Black is never, never, never out of style, and it therefore, can not "come back". Black is always all over the runways. Every Fall at, least. 

Fall Collections to follow.

My First Fashion Editorial

Once upon a time, my good friend Amanda Byelich and I almost started a magazine called Stripped. It was going to be huge, but it never got off the ground. (Something to do with someone stealing a state-funded grant... yeah.) Though we don't get a chance to catch up too much anymore, we're both working on our second degrees, and I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before we hook back up and get the mag moving. 

Anyway,  here's our Thoreau-inspired hippie chic. Styled by me with clothes from my and Amanda's mom's closet, and directed (to perfection) by Amanda, with the beautiful model Eugenie. It was a terribly fun day, even though it was hard work, and the photos came out wonderful. So here, for the first time, years later, they will finally be published. 

Enjoy!

(All photos in this post were taken by me.)

(Here, and always, click on any picture to enlarge.)

Ed Note: During the shoot I snapped a shot (I'm no photographer) of my Co-Editor Amanda directing our model Eugenie. Personal friends of mine observed, and I might agree, that she stole the show. Thanks for being you, Amanda.