I was woken up at an ungodly hour this morning, by Sonal asking me for help.
Ugggh. :P hahaha The following are the images that I wake up to every morning I’m home from Ann Arbor; my sister’s Beatles wall. So many bowl haircuts, so early in the day… it’s absolutely terrifying.
Then I had homework to do. :P And other reading, as you can see below. Medea and The Bacchae, for Classic Civilization: An Introduction to Ancient Greece, involved writing a small paper and turning it in. Surprisingly, I did it before it was due (a first, really). Read Tim Gunn’s A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style to prep for the meet&greet, and Calvin & Hobbes because they’re Calvin and Hobbes.
Anyway, left at 12.40 for the fashion show, got to Somerset at 12.50—the road was rife with asshole drives today—and disappointingly, no gift bags. :( If they had the gift bags, though, it would understandably defeat the purpose of this fashion show (to get us to buy stuff), and so instead, they had a look-list and a where-to-buy map set at each seat. Moleskine notebook in corner for my notes!
Hosting the Somerset Collection’s Fall Fashion Event were Leah Salak (Director of Marketing & Special Events at Liz Claiborne Inc.) and Tim Gunn (Creative Director of Liz Claiborne Inc. and Project Runway fame). The fashion show itself featured clothes from and was sponsored by Lucky Brand Jeans, Juicy Couture, kate spade new york, Mac & Jac, Kensie, Kensie Girl, DKNY Jeans, and Monet, all brands under Liz Claiborne Inc.
...you can see why they came then. Hahah =P
The runway show was nontraditional, in looking at how typical shows are, but since this was definitely more of a marketing ploy than an actual display of the coming season’s wares, the format was understandable. The two hosts sat adjacent to the runway, and provided a running commentary on the outfits and the brands from which the clothes were pulled from. They’ve definitely done this before—in this first outfit above, by kate spade, Tim Gunn calls her “the Elsa Schiaparelli of the 21st century,” the exact same statement he made… about two weeks ago in San Francisco at a similar showcase event.
That’s okay though. Recycling’s good. :) Here are some more shots; sorry for the heads in the photos. :P It was hard trying to balance note-taking and photographing; SHEI didn’t send me a photo person to accompany me, nor did Somerset ever get back about a press pass. :(
In one of the first looks, Salak decided to pull a girl from the audience and demonstrate how the addition of accessories can easily transform a look, pulling the cardigan, scarf and handbag from the professional model and draping them over the impromptu-demonstrator Laura. Sorry for the hair in the right shot; I’m only employed with a dinky 7.2 megapixel Canon that is so… three years ago. :P Saving up for a DSLR!
Luuuuuuurve the racerback!
Ten models, four rotations, and over forty looks as Salak and Gunn would occasionally “mix things up a bit” by switching pieces every so often; a few looks were presented side by side to show the audience the versatility of a certain garment (above).
Before you call PETA, it was all faux fur. The fake stuff. NOT REAL. Easy for the hair-squeamish. Happy animals. No chickens were genetically modified, chemically mutated, forcefully fed or harmed in the making of this garment. Please put down your tomatoes and your paintball guns. Thanks.
I think my illustrations and arrows point out quite nicely what I was thinking when this look came down. :) I <3 href="http://www.fannypak.com/">Fanny Pak!
Audience shot. As you can see, lots of people came out for Tim Gunn. :P
And lots of mixed patterns and prints. Always be very careful, and Gunn himself cautioned the audience and related vignettes of his own private interactions with the mirror when trying to coordinate his clothes.
Another obvious trend for the fashion conscious this season is, as shown above, the neutral/neon combo. Most of these dresses were part of the final looks referred to as the “Little Black Dress” finale, and that was undoubtedly my favorite part. :) I’m a sucker for dressing up (as Mr. Gunn noted later), and it was nice to see a quarter of the show emphasizing sartorial sophistication in the one garment that really is iconic for all women to own. The last dress though, below, was a bit of a let down, but very sparkly.
The clincher about the coat is that the lining features lipstick prints from all the employees in the kate spade new york New York office, so that was a cute little story. :)
After all the looks were shown, the models did one last walk down to display the LBDs one more time, adn Tim Gunn took over the stage, giving away a few raffle prizes (Project Runway Season 5 DVD, a signed copy of his A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style, and a talking bobblehead of himself!) and holding a short Q&A session that was much too short. =P But there's life.
Mr. Gunn answered questions ranging from being intimidated by other’s fashion styles (to emulate or to not emulate?), the value of education in the fashion industry, style snafus on Project Runway, busty fashions, and being a stylish child (the last one was quite amusing to watch as Gunn struggled to contain his perplexity at the youths interrogating him).
The first (public) portion ended with an invitation for all to attend a private reception on the South side of Somerset in the Lincoln/Mercury Green Design Showcase to meet Tim Gunn, be photographed, and receive a special gift (ooh la la!). Hence, a shot of the line. I don’t recall how long it took; my sister just got really mad because I kept babbling. :P There were a few makeup artists on site as well, for those who wished to wait in another line for a free touch-up and airbrush, but… being abandoned at Kohl’s two years ago on Black Friday to wait in line for four hours while my mother and my sister left the store has instilled me with the inability to quietly and patiently wait in line for extended periods of time, unless it is to meet a modern fashion icon such as Tim Gunn.
My mom took these pictures. She does not know how to use a camera. Or the DVD player… but she’s a software engineer. I don’t really understand her either sometimes.
Mr. Gunn caught offguard, lol. :) I got about 30 seconds to talk with him (omgihadtotalklikethisorelseiwouldhavelikenooootime), and asked him a quick question about his opinion on fashion bloggers’ impacts on the industry (“I love how fashion has become more accessible, I think it’s great people are more inclined to dress well now!”) and tell him that I had asked him a question in his TIME’s 10 Questions interview last year and how awesome that was one I saw it in the magazine. *squee*
Unfortunately, he was legally obliged not to sign anything, so all I came out with was this dinky picture, a set of holiday cards, memories, and a Godiva truffle (never mind that I had eaten two while waiting in line, and stared quite longingly for some Moet&Chandon for my parched throat. But I’m underage, attempting to be straight-edge, and my mother was present). I really dig the greeting cards though; I will post up pictures of those later.
My mom had been craving P.F. Chang’s sea bass for the last month, and we decided to just go there after the whole fashion hullabaloo and unwind. :) Some cam-whoring between my sister and I, but a nice lady offered to take a picture of the three of us having a girl’s night out, so you can see how awesome we look. :D (My sister would like to take this time to point out that she is wearing a kensie dress that she bought the day before at $15, versus the $118 normal retailing price, and that she adores the Macy’s sale rack and has a special “fashion eye.”)
I’m wearing, on the pictures in the left, a Buffalo by David Bitton mock turtleneck (from my mummy’s closet), an Express skirt, tights from Target, and Mudd suede ankle boots. On the right, I’ve got my DKNY camel coat and a Derek Lam purse (hardware = hard muscles! That bag is heavy).
Mmmm… food. :) And just to leave you with one last picture, here’s my fortune:
Believe it or not, our dinner finished at 5.20 in the evening. :P Instead of going home and sleeping off all the excitement from the afternoon’s festivities, we gals went off to shop some more. XD Fooled around with some Manolos and then bought a pair of Miu Miu sunglasses. :) A very satisfying day!
[At the beginning of the show, Salak mentioned that she herself had not slept in 24 hours, and that Gunn had been awake for 36. I was later informed that Mr. Gunn, in the morning, had spent quite a while on set in New York City shooting for the Sex and the City 2 movie, and had flown in right before the show began. Whew for them too!]
