Just sat down at Anna Sui and via the program realize this is my first show with major models! Karen, Sasha, Freja, Agyness, Daria! Oh my!

Just left Milly and want to wear every piece of the collection now! Cannot wait for fall!

Dresses and Downtown at Badgley Mischka

James Mischka and Mark Badgley opened the Badgley Mischka Fall 2010 RTW show on Tuesday with almost twenty gorgeous evening gowns. It was a gorgeous runway show of high-wattage glitter and red-carpet glamour, and it didn't hurt that I was able to watch the show from the second row! Apparently inspired by the cosmos, the collection was full of bedazzled gowns, save for a jumpsuit here or there, that would make any of their celeb followers shine during awards season. A few of my favorites which I hope make a red carpet appearance soon:


While twenty looks may have been enough for some designers, Badgley and Mischka took the opportunity to also show their secondary line Mark & James. So as an encore to twenty gorgeous gowns came thirty five contemporary looks that seemed inspired by the chic downtown New York woman. The Mark & James line, which was pre-dominantly in sliver and black, still has the sparkle we saw in the gowns (and in every collection at Fashion Week this year!), but instead of bedazzled gowns there were silver liquid leggings, sateen blazers, and heavy metal accessories.

Minimalism at Matthew Ames

The Matthew Ames Fall 2010 RTW show yesterday at Milk was full of simplistic silhouettes crafted in gorgeous leathers, silks, wool, and crepes. Challenging himself to create a wardrobe of "interchangeable pieces," Matthew Ames took classic shapes—jackets, pants, shirts—and "really stripped them down and cleansed them." I don't usually gravitate toward a minimalistic overall look, but the jackets and skirts were incredibly gorgeous, especially the leather skirts and shorts in pastel shades (pictured above), and adding tailored pieces like this would up the chic quotient in any closet.

Personally, I found this show to be full of beautifully tailored pieces, but the simple silhouettes combined with the minimalistic environment, music, and styling unfortunately made the collection seem a little empty instead of allowing the beautiful streamlined pieces to really shine.

Carine too! All going into Narciso

OMG and Grace and Virginia Smith! Best moment ever!

It's official my life is complete. I was just within six inches of both Anna Wintour and Anna Dello Russo. I basically shared air with fashion legends
Update: ADR above leaving the tents in leather thigh-high boots, a gorgeous coat belted with a sparkly belt, and the Louis Vuitton headband ears......so chic!

Fur everywhere at Thuy! Muffs, sleeves, and collars - oh my! Fantastic show full of color and prints. Pictures and write-up to follow. Heading into Tibi now!

A vogue-ette day for this FB&F girl! I'm standing next to Lauren Davis at the Christian Cota presentation

A Little Whimsy at Lorick

Sunday's Lorick presentation was beautiful, styled to perfection, completely wearable, and I am coveting every single piece. Abigail Lorick, who is the real designer behind Gossip Girl's fictional Eleanor Waldorf, and who we love here at FB&F designed a gorgeous Fall 2010 collection full of adorable clothing and whimsical details. Romantically draped dresses, printed skirts and blouses, tweed coats and jackets were styled with items that any FB&F girl can find in her price range to update her look.

The key to mimicing the Lorick look is to keep your overall outift classic, ladylike, and graceful but add details (glitter tights, feather headpieces, booties, brightly colored leather opera length gloves) and interesting color combinations (pops of color like kelly green mixed with black and white) to keep the look interesting and fresh.

Just rubbed elbows with my major girl crush! Meredith Melling-Burke aka MMB

Waiting for Max Azria to begin! Celebs sightings - annalyne mccord, in a new outfit and the beautiful Maggie Rizer

Ladies Who Lunch in Lela Rose

The Lela Rose Fall 2010 RTW show was a beautiful take on ladylike cocktail attire (which we would typically expect from Lela) that ladies who lunch, or anyone craving a polished look, could put on and look put together and fashion forward at the same time.

With the exception of a seemingly liquid gold jumpsuit, Rose showed mostly skirts paired with blouses and assymetrical dresses, but we were pleasantly suprised with the variety of prints and textures with which they were crafted. Heavy tweed jackets, brocade, futuristic-looking prints, etc...gave these polished pieces an interesting edge for Fall 2010.

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.

Celeb sightings at Badgley - Annalyne McCord from 90210, Christina Hendricks from Mad Men, Betthany and Kelly from Real Housewives of New York (didn't speak to each other so guess there is still some drama there), Olivia Palermo sitting next to Joe Zee!

Update: Erin from The City later joined Oliva and the crew from Elle, but Joe sat between the two unfriendly co-workers (see photo below - sorry for the grainy quality, but I forgot my camera today so all photos are from my iPhone)

Off to Badgley Mischka and then I promise to sit down and fill you in on all things fashion week so far

Standing in line at first show together - Lela Rose. Details to follow!

FB&F at NYFW

Possibly the most exciting thing that has ever happened to the FB&F bloggers has happened.....we are headed to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York! Alice and I are thrilled that we will be able to see the shows first hand and report back to all of our readers on the best, the worst, trends to look for in 2010, who walked the most runways, and more. Let us know if you have any specific questions about the shows, designers, or Fashion Week in general, and we will do our best detective work to get you the answers!

The first show up today for Alice is Ports 1961 at 3pm, and you can watch the show right along with us at Vogue.com. We will be checking in and updating you all as the week goes on, so make sure to check back with FB&F for all the NYFW scoop!

Choo Sale

Major sale at Jimmy Choo!! The launch of the new Jimmy Choo 24:7 line means that many of the old Jimmy Choo styles are now on sale for 50% off! If you want to know how I know about it read below, but if you just want to find the fabulous new pair of shoes you deserve - at a fraction of the price - visit the Jimmy Choo site or store closest to you (since not everything is on the site) now.

How do I know about it? I arrived in Boston on Friday, and was fortunate enough to be called in for a Monday morning job interview. Great news except for one thing....the only shoes I brought on my road trip from Chicago were my Hunter galoshes and my trusty Cole Haan flats - both comfortable, but neither interview appropriate. So Sunday night I rushed around trying to find a pair of black heels and feared that I would have to max out my credit card on a pair of $698 Louboutins (the only shoes in my size at the department store closest to my new apartment) when I saw a Jimmy Choo storefront out of the corner of my eye. I figured if I was going to spend this crazy amount of money (or my rent money basically) on shoes I should at least look at all my options before taking the plunge. However, luck was on my side because I walked in and since they are trying to move last year's styles to make room for the new 24:7 line almost everything was 50% off!! It took all of my restraint to just pick up the gorgeous black heels I needed (for $250 on sale from $498) and leave the other styles behind. A second visit may just be in my near future, and I hope a first visit is in yours!

Designer/Brand Spotlight: Eryn Brinie

Eyrn Brinie, according to their website, is a brand that "exemplifies European chic combined with New York's youthful spirit and modern sensibility." I agree with that description and love a new brand that provides me with a whimsical, elegant take on simple pieces that fit into my current wardrobe and freshen up my embarassingly repetitive cycle of outfits.

The best part is that this contemporary women's wear brand offers clothing at a price point that's comfortable for FB&F girls. Think $30 for blouses, $50 for dresses, $100 for blazers and jackets, etc... making Eryn Brinie like a Korean take on Zara or Topshop.

There is an Eryn Brinie store in Soho (have any of our readers been and seen the clothing in person? If so please comment and let us know!), but for those of us not in NY we can shop Eryn Brinie online without ridiculous shipping costs making it (sssh don't tell anyone I said this) almost a little better than Topshop or Zara.

At the moment I am obsessed with the following pieces I found on the website:

From top: Lisa Jacket (I love this one because it has tan leather patches on the elbows!) $109; Oversized Cropped Cozy $69; Garcon Blouse $29