Photography by Madi Flournoy Henderson
I’m back from New York Fashion Week and settled back in at home. As much as I love attending fashion week, I love coming home to my sweet little family and our slower pace of life. Even when I think running around all of the time with our kiddos is a lot of work, nothing compares to the amount of “running” that I do while at fashion week. It is so fun yet so exhausting.
I’m going to be recapping several of my looks from fashion week and sharing more about my experiences while there. This was my second year attending and my experiences were very different this year than last. I’ll also be sharing some of the trends you can expect to see for Spring/Summer 2018.
Today, I’m going to be sharing a bit more about my travel look and what inspired me to wear this boyfriend blazer as well as how I personally prepped for fashion week.
Many don’t quite understand how much work goes into prepping for a few days in New York during one of the most important weeks in the fashion industry. This year I flew in on a Thursday evening and flew home early Sunday morning so I was literally in New York for a little over 48 hours. Prepping for 48 hours proved to be quite the job simply because I had soooo much to fit in within such a short period of time.
Preparing for fashion week usually starts a couple of months prior to fashion week, however this year, I started prepping just a few weeks before. Initially I wasn’t going to attend this year and then a few things lined up that made it clear that I needed to be there, even if it were just for a couple of days.
So here is how I prepped…
HOW I PREPARE for NEW YORK FASHION WEEK:
1) Before doing anything else, I decide on the dates that I will be attending and then I work on hotel and flight accommodations. This year, I stayed with Jessica Fay of Lipstick Heels and a Baby and Jami Ray of 30A Street Style at the DoubleTree by Hilton. I then booked my flight and I tend to always fly Southwest as they typically have the best rate…my ticket was only $325 this year, which was great considering I booked my flight about 3 weeks before the start of fashion week. I recommend booking a hotel and flight well in advance to avoid price increases. I was a bit behind this year but still lucked out with my rates!
2) I then review the schedule of events/shows and then made note of the shows I want to attend while there. After pulling my list of contacts from last year, I began sending out requests for show invitations about 3 weeks prior to the start of fashion week. As invitations came in, I loaded the information into a spreadsheet to help me track my schedule and plan accordingly. I also marked my calendar to send follow up emails to those that I requested invitations from. PR firms receive many requests so you have to make it a point to follow up to ensure that your request was not lost in the shuffle.
Not only do I send requests for shows/events but I also reach out to brands that I have an established relationship with and/or brands that I am looking to establish a relationship with and ask for a 1:1 brand meeting. This can be a meeting at their showroom, a coffee or lunch date, or even a meeting at their store. I place a lot of emphasis on brand meetings as I always enjoy meeting people face to face and getting to know the person be behind the email exchanges!
3) I review trends from the February shows to get another feel for what will be trending for the season…this season being Fall. This helps me decide what I want to wear and how best to plan my looks. Specifically trending for Fall 2017…boyfriend blazers, structured pant suits, wallpaper florals, velvet, satin dresses, tops & pants, red everything (especially red boots), metallics, military, wide leg pants, kimonos, 70’s inspired pieces, and mustard yellow. I planned many of my looks on these specific trends.
Once I’ve done my research, I start shopping. This year, I was a bit delayed with my shopping so I ended up buying most of my looks online. I shopped at Nasty Gal, Asos, Nordstrom, Dillards, Target, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, & H&M. Luckily I was able to find most of what I was looking for at some of my favorite retailers!
As I share my fashion week looks with you, you will see that I stayed on trend with those specific trends that I mentioned above. I also try and taylor my looks to the shows/events that I am going to. This isn’t always possible but if I’m going to an event with Banana Republic, I typically where a piece or two from Banana Republic.
4) One week prior, I finalize my schedule, confirm flight/hotel, send final follow up emails, have my clothes altered if necessary and of course get a spray tan, manicure/pedicure, etc. I also do any last minute shopping should I need any finishing touches for my looks.
There is a lot of preparation and planning that goes into attending fashion week but it is necessary to have a successful and enjoyable time while there. The more preparing you do, the more smoothly things will go!
For my travel look…I wanted to wear something comfortable yet on trend. So I chose this chic boyfriend blazer and paired it with one of my favorite pair of black distressed denim. I’ll be wearing this boyfriend blazer all Fall season long…I love the menswear inspired look with the comfort of something not too structured.
Stay tuned for more fashion week posts and if there is anything specific you want to know about, please leave a comment below.
As always, thanks so much for stopping by…have a great day!
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