It’s been too long since I’ve published a blog post, but I have a good excuse. I’ve been crazy busy planning, attending and recovering from NYFW. New York Fashion Week was a major dream of mine and I still can’t believe I was able to attend for the second year in a row. I can’t wait to share all the details about NYFW 2019.
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Like most fashion loving women, I have dreamed about fashion week since I used to binge watch Sex and the City back in college. You know, before Netflix and the term “binge watching” were even a thing. Fashion Week tends to be an industry-only event and the majority of the runway shows are invitation only. I’m still smitten that this was my second year at NYFW and it was by far better than last year.
Click here to check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of my 2018 NYFW recap.
Fashion bloggers are actually considered big part of the fashion industry since we are the ones collaborating with brands, sharing trends and driving sales for our favorite items each season. The biggest questions I get when I tell people I’m going to fashion week are “do you have to pay for it?” and “how do you get invited to shows?”. Here’s the scoop.
Yes, I had to pay for my flight and hotel. Admittedly, I could have been more proactive trying to get a sponsored hotel collaboration, but life is busy and sometimes it is easier to just pay for it to be close to the action. However, the runway shows, events, a lot of the clothing and some of the meals were free. Also, like any other business person who goes to a conference for work, fashion week is considered a business expense for me. It’s just maybe the coolest conference ever!
As far as how I got into shows and events, some I was invited directly through brand contacts and PR firms that I’ve worked with in the past. Others I’m able to request an invite through an app called GPS Radar. It’s widely used by the fashion industry to send invites throughout the year. Even now, I’m receiving invites to shows and events at London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week. Maybe one day I’ll make it to those.
OK onto my recap of NYFW 2019:
Day 1
Travel outfit: Faux leather leggings, front tie shirt (similar), leopard sneakers (C/O Linea Paolo), rose gold suitcase, black carry-on, hat
Day one was full of excitement and a long cross country flight to New York. The good news is everything went according to plan and I didn’t run into any travel delays. That meant I had just enough time to check into my hotel, change as quick as possible and head out the door to attend two evening runway shows. We stayed at Hotel 32 32 in NoMad, which was a great location, but the hotel itself wasn’t really anything special. However, we did book a room that had an AMAZING private rooftop patio.
Tulle leopard skirt (C/O Chicwish), silk and lace cami, black heels, faux leather jacket, fringe bag, sequin earrings
My blogger friend Katie from The Wonder List met me at my hotel, we hailed a cab and headed over to Spring Studios in Tribeca. Spring Studios is where the majority of the official NYFW shows are held. It’s actually pretty rare to have a runway show start on time, which totally worked out in our favor on this particular night. We showed up and saw huge lines of people waiting to get in to see the show. Anyone who has been to fashion week before knows allllll about the lines.
The two shows I saw Thursday evening were Edgii and Afffair. The style from the Edgii show was, well, edgy. Funky and fun styles that 100% make a statement. I actually attended the Afffair runway show last year so I was excited to see their latest collection. The dresses were colorful, fun and flat out gorgeous.
Edgii 
Afffair 
After the shows, I was so excited to be able to meet up with one of my college friends for a drink who randomly was in NY for a concert. NYFW is full of fun, but sometimes it’s just the best to chat with a good old friend. Following our catch-up, I met up with my roommates for the weekend: Alison from All Things Alison and Emily Baranski. I did fashion week with Alison last year and was SO excited to do it again this year!
Day 2
All our cute silk pj’s are from More Sunday (C/O)
We woke up earlyyyyy (like 6 am early) in order to start getting ready. The morning came quick because of the time difference (my body definitely felt like it was 3am AZ time) and because we only got about 4-5 hours of sleep. Not enough if you ask me, but the excitement of the weekend carried me through.
We had a makeup artist and a hair stylist come to our hotel to make us look like we were well rested and had it all together (trust me, we didn’t). I threw on a cute snakeskin dress and white booties and headed out the door to get to a 9 am fashion show back at Spring Studios.
Snakeskin dress, white booties (C/O Linea Paolo), black bag, sparkly earrings
The Friday morning show was by far my favorite runway show of the weekend. Katie and I both had invites to the I Love Pretty show, which was run by People’s Revolution. Did anyone used to watch The Hills back in the day? Lauren and Whitney both worked for People’s Revolution for the owner of the PR company named Kelly Cutrone.
Kelly was there working the runway show, running around and totally acting like the boss. Kind of a bossy boss in a super intimidating way, but she definitely knew what she was doing and was in control. My friend and I both had priority standing tickets, but lucked out with front row seats! I don’t think the excitement of sitting front row at NYFW will ever get old for me.
Like I said, this was by far my favorite runway show of the weekend. It was cool to see Kelly running the show, the fashion was beautiful and truly walking art, and the music during the show was amazing. We were even invited backstage after the show to see what goes on behind the scenes.
I Love Pretty 
Following the show, we headed back to the hotel to change (no one wears the same thing for very long during NYFW) and take a few pictures of all the cute outfits we packed for the weekend.
Katie’s Yellow dress, pearl bag, Alison’s blue floral skort set, Emily’s snakeskin pants, puff sleeve crop top, My leopard skirt, leather top, fur bag
We had plans to take the ferry out to Long Island so we could get shots of the Manhattan sky line, but the weather had other plans. We still got a ton of cute pictures, but it started dumping rain and we nixed the whole Long Island idea.
Faux leather skirt, puff sleeve top, fringe bag, black booties, sequin earrings, Burberry umbrella (similar)
We ended up grabbing a late lunch at a little cafe inside Grand Central Station (aka inside and DRY) and then heading back to change one more time for an evening runway show and late dinner.
Black sequin dress (similar), fringe bag, wedge bootie sneakers (C/O Linea Palo)
I had a lot of favorite outfits from NYFW, but this one is definitely towards the top of the charts. It was sparkly, fun, comfortable, edgy and something totally different than I could ever wear in my everyday mom life. I LOVED it and my feet were loving the fact I was able to rock the wedge sneakers for the night!
Kimimi 
The evening show was for the Kimimi resortwear line which included stunning cover ups and swimsuits with rainbow mermaid vibes. I’d totally rock that one piece on the left!
Following the Kimimi show, we grabbed a quick drink at the Ace hotel and then headed over to Oscar Wilde for a pretty amazing hosted dinner. The restaurant spoiled us with fun cocktails, DELICIOUS appetizers, steak and potatoes. I’m a Midwest girl so this meal was totally up my alley. The vibe in the restaurant is very grande, intricate, gorgeous and features NYC’s longest bar. Such an awesome spot for dinner if you are going to be in the city sometime soon.
Day 3
If I had to pick a favorite day, it would have to be Day 3. We started the day by getting our hair and makeup done again (trust me, I needed the help at this point). Once I had my glam on, I headed out the door for the Evereve event which was hosted with 7 for all Mankind.
I’ve been working with Evereve for a couple years now so I couldn’t have been more excited to attend their NYFW blogger event. I was able to meet brand contacts in person, mingle with old and new blogger friends, browse the awesome collection of 7 for all Mankind jeans, and take home a pair of distressed skinny jeans which were custom painted with stars on the back pocket.
Midi dress, faux leather vest, fringe bag, strappy sandals, leather bracelet, feather earrings, sunglasses
The thing about the Evereve event is that a ton of the big name fashion bloggers were there. By no means do I consider myself a big blogger, but it was pretty cool to attend an event with so many Insta-famous faces. Now if I’m being even more honest, none of them made an attempt to get to know anyone new and sat there and chatted in their own little circles. But whatever, I was still a kid in a candy shop and had a total blast!
leopard skirt (C/O Chicwish), leather top, fur bag, black booties, leather bracelet
Following the Evereve event I headed back to grab a quick bite to eat, change (big surprise) and off we went to attend a few more runway shows and events. First was Elf Sack, which featured a ton of really cool outwear, vibrant skirts and dresses with fun details.
Elf Sack 
Following the Elf Sack show, we headed over to the Maybelline House, which was a fun interactive makeup experience. Chandeliers were made of lipstick, clocks were made of foundation and we created our very own NYFW mini music video. We walked out with some makeup swag and had a lot of laughs.
We then went back to the hotel to drop off some stuff and change just one more time for the evening. Kind of obnoxious to keep changing, but that’s a big part of fashion week. Being perfectly dressed for the occasion.
Tulle crochet dress (C/O Chicwish and available in 4 colors), faux leather jacket, leopard open toe booties, leather bracelet , rose gold leather earrings, my favorite red lipstick
The show we attended was the 7pm Oxford Fashion Studio show at Pier 59, which showcased designs from Eitan Broude, Born Haan Haan, MICAS, Cassia Yuan, Beneath the Bark Jewelry and Lontessa. These shows were fun because they last a little longer due to more designers and we got to see a bunch of different styles all in one show.
Lontessa 
Born 
Cassia Yuan
Following the show, we were starving and stuffed our faces with pasta from Carmine’s in NYC. We totally forgot to take a picture at dinner, but we did go walk around iconic Times Square after dinner. We stopped and did some shopping at 11:30pm since the stores don’t close until 2 am, and then took a rickshaw back to our hotel. The rickshaw was probably 3x the price of a taxi, but it was SO MUCH FUN and such a cool way to see the city at night.
Day 4
On Sunday morning, we were able to sleep in a little more than the rest of the weekend since we had nothing scheduled before noon. After getting ourselves together, we were treated to brunch at 1803 NYC in Tribeca. The restaurant features New Orleans cuisine with an eclectic interior and the cutest sidewalk patio for outdoor dining. Such a cool vibe all around.
Cheetah skirt (C/O Chicwish), high top wedge bootie sneakers , Happy graphic t-shirt, fringe bag, denim jacket
Our weather couldn’t have been more perfect that morning so we opted to sit on the patio for our meal. I had fresh squeezed orange juice with a southern skillet and we ordered french toast for the table. It was seriously delicious and the skillet came with housemade tortilla chips. Somehow I found a way to turn my breakfast into nachos, which is 100% up my alley. Definitely give 1803 a try for lunch or brunch! I’m sure dinner is amazing, too.
Following lunch, we headed over to Willow and Clay for a showroom visit. This was my first ever showroom visit, which was such a cool experience. The brand had a representative who told us all about their upcoming collections, talked through the look book, the background behind the brand and their future rebranding (they will drop the Clay and just be “Willow” starting in 2020). They were even gracious enough to gift us all a few pieces from the current fall and holiday collections. I fell in LOVE with this teal faux fur jacket, coming soon in December.
After the showroom visit, we jetted over to the West Village for the Gorjana event, which was being hosted by Alison. We sipped wine, ate snacks and most importantly, shopped the amazing jewelry line by Gorjana. The brand is opening a store in Scottsdale very soon and I couldn’t be more excited!!
The West Village is one of my favorite areas in Manhattan with cute tree lined streets, big brownstones and it has more of a neighborhood feel than the big city. I have zero plans to move to NYC, but I feel like it is one of the most liveable neighborhoods in the city.
Red leopard dress (exact sold out but similar here and here), black booties, fringe bag, Gorjana super star necklace purchased at the event
Following the event, I said my goodbyes to my blogger friends and headed back to Hotel 23 23 to grab my stuff and switch hotels for the night. I was invited to a Sunday evening runway show, but I decided to skip it because I had a special visitor coming into town to see me. My husband!! The way the dates worked out, he had to be in NYC on Monday morning and I was originally going to leave Sunday night. However, we decided to extend my trip one more night so we could have a little date night in the city.
We stayed at the Mondrian on Sunday night, which was much nicer than where I was the past three nights. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him I didn’t care but nothing fancy! At this point I was totally over dresses and heels. I promptly changed into jeans, a sweater I was just gifted that afternoon at Willow and Clay, and some leopard sneakers. We grabbed dinner on a random rooftop and then met a few of his coworkers for a drink. Such a fun way to end fashion week.
Oatmeal side snap sweater (C/O Willow and Clay), distressed skinny jeans (C/O Evereve and 7 for all Mankind), leopard sneakers, fringe bag, my new favorite pink panama hat
I flew home the next morning and jumped right back into #momlife which is nowhere near as glamorous. Overall, it was such a surreal, fun, crazy, busy, exhausting, and amazing weekend. I can’t wait to do it again in the future.
What questions do you have about NYFW? Let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer!
