Monday- Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

It was a little more difficult for me to get out of bed Monday morning for two reasons: 1. It was Valentine's Day, which always causes way to much unnecessary drama and 2. It was my last day of fashion week before flying back to Dallas the following morning. After a coffee date at Pulino's, I rushed off to the Lincoln Center for the 11 am Carlos Miele show. Although I am not a very patient person, I started to realize that I was actually starting to like the process of waiting in line before a show. Standing behind the roped off entrance for up to 45 minutes only builds up the anticipation for what's inside and as an added bonus there is great people watching. For example, while waiting outside of the theater I saw crushed velvet burgundy hiking boots, a sequined hat with a tulle polka-dot bow that could easily compete in size with my Louis Vuitton Galliera GM, and about a dozen to die-for furs. When we were finally seated inside of Carlos Miele, I took in the room around me. It was smaller than a few of the shows I had attended previously but I liked the feel, it was more intimate. I wrote down a few of the signature looks and colors: fox fur, jumpsuits, duchesse hoods, braided details, velvet, colors of note: cream, green, blue, orange, gold. After Carlos Miele made his appearance and the show was over, the Vie team and I walked over to the Mabelline booth where I interviewed one of Mabelline's product ambassadors, a recent Harvard grad named Lauren Jackson. Lauren talked about how Mabelline did the make-up for the Carlos Miele show, focusing on nude accents with a little bit of bronze and natural looking brows. The make-up was a perfect complement to the collections bright colors and textures.

In between shows I stood outside the Lincoln Center with the slew of photographers who are always found just outside doors, snapping away at people coming and going from the shows. When someone with a really great outfit walks out they get their 5 seconds of fame, photographers gathered around them like paparazzi. I wanted to photograph one guy in particular who I noticed stood outside the center every day in different "buffalo bill" types of outfits. While taking his photograph, I talked to him for a while learned that he attends fashion week every year, decked out in the signature furs and southwestern jewelry he has spent years collecting. I asked him where he got his python spandex leggings and he casually pointed to the Lincoln Center and said, "one of those guys in there made them," before walking off. After my "buffalo bill" encounter I went back into the Lincoln Center to see Sachin + Babi. Instead of a typical runway style presentation, the show took place in the Box. The Box is basically a room where models stand against the wall on pedestal's to be photographed and "viewed"- (ironically similar to a museum where the models are basically the canvas and the "artwork" is the clothes). I loved the simplicity of the collection made up of nudes, blacks and greys with the exception of one red dress and a few other bright colors here and there. All in all it was a great last day at fashion week, I could've stayed around longer but I had to get back to the hotel to freshen up for a girls only anti-Valentine's day dinner at the rooftop of the Gramercy Park Hotel.