Fashion Week Basics

Before I arrived on Sunday in New York, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week always seemed to be a fabulous event that I was dying to attend, but it was mysterious and I had no clue how it all worked. Now that I have had an opportunity to figure a few things out, I thought I would give you all a peek at the inner workings of this crazy thing called Fashion Week (or at least what I know so far!).

First step to getting into the tents at Bryant Park (as a blogger) is applying for media credentials. Having credentials allows you access to the tents at any time and to all the extras that are inside those doors (the AOL media lounge, the Tresemme hair salon, Maybelline make-up booths, Ecco Domani-sponsored cocktail hours, etc...). An amazing place to be, especially for the people watching, but the place you really want to be is sitting down at the actual shows.

Shows during Fashion Week take place at the tents at Bryant Park in either The Promenade (see photo above), The Salon, or The Tent. However, presentations and smaller shows also take place this week at off-site at locations like Union Square Ballroom, Milk Studios, etc...so a little advice here - wear comfortable shoes because you will be trekking all over the place. Shows start at 9am and go until 9pm, so some days you are on your feet (because it is also ridiculously crowded here which means no chairs) for 12 hours, again ladies comfortable shoes are key. Now, you might know where the show is, but actually getting into the shows is an entirely different animal.

Although you may have credentials, you still need a personalized invitation from the designer's pr team to get into the actual show. If you are a blogger, like Alice and me, you may be invited for standing room only, but if you are a celeb, a buyer, an editor, a friend of the designer, etc....you will have a seating assignment for the show. If you have seating, which I have been fortunate enough to have for Badgley Mischka and the Fashion Fund show, you are whisked into the tent, given a program (and possibly a goodie bag), and seated before the show begins. If you are standing room, you wait in line until the show is about to begin, at which point it is like a cattle stampede as bloggers race to the best standing location.

No matter how you make it through the doors, once you are in the door and seated or standing, the show begins...about 30 minutes after the scheduled start time living up to the expression fashionalby late, and it is an incredible 10 minutes of watching interesting, beautiful, artistic, and wearable clothes go down the runway on gorgeous models strutting to a designer-selected soundtrack.

Nevermind what I said earlier, this experience is totally worth standing in line and running around for 12 hours in 5 inch heels.