My Not So Glamorous First Day Ever at New York Fashion Week
In the spirit of heading back to New York Fashion Week today, I wanted to share the story of my first day ever at NYFW which was 1 year ago. Last year, one of my very close friends and fabulous blogger babe, Janet of Fashion-a-holic, brought me with her as her photographer. Going to fashion week had been a dream of mine since I was a little girl so you can imagine how excited I was! In fact, I was completely freaking out. I ended up flying out flying out a day ahead of Janet so my first day ever at Fashion week, I was clueless and alone.
I took a 6am flight in order to have a full day in New York which meant a 3am wake up call. Once I landed in New York, I headed straight to my hotel but my room wan’t ready since it was only 9am. So….the tiny lobby bathroom it was. I whipped open my suitcase, which filled the entire walkway, in try ways, I freshened up for a packed day. I left my bags at the hotel and headed to my first stop which was Kobi Halperin’s gorgeous showroom. After looking at the map, I realized it was only half a mile away, so I decided to stretch my legs and walk….in 90 degree heat. At the showroom, I pulled pieces for Janet and I to wear during that week. I also changed out of my Levi’s and Iron Maiden t-shirt into one of Kobi’s exquisite dresses. Being the extremely generous people that they are, I left Kobi’s showroom with 3 hanging bags stuffed to the brim with his gorgeous clothing.
The bags were so heavy, I could barely carry them. I got out of the building and there was, of course, no cab in site so I started walking. I walked about a block and a half before a yellow cab raced around the corner. I quickly realized I had no free hand to wave him down. As I quickly looked around to see if anyone was around (note..NYC streets are always packed), I realized my only option was an embarrassing one. At the top of my lungs I yelled “TAXI” and to my pleasant surprise, he came screeching to a halt. I swear, it felt like a scene in a movie. I couldn't believe that worked!
He helped me load the bulging hanging bags into the car. I literally ran into the hotel, dropped off the bags and ran back out to make it to my first fashion show. I jumped in another cab and finally had a second to catch my breath…I also had a second to wipe the sweat from my face and armpits with the Starbucks napkins I fortunately had stashed in my purse. Glamorous, right?!
I successfully made it to 3 shows on day 1 in between chasing cabs down in my heels and dripping sweat in the process. The plan for the evening was a fashion week party and meeting up with one of my closest college friends. I got to the party, awkwardly wandered around by myself for about 15 minutes and decided I had done all I could handle alone at NYFW that day.
I called an Uber to go meet my college friend. Uber said I was only 15 minutes from her. Fast forward 45 minutes later and I finally arrived. Keep in mind it was 10pm Friday night and I hadn’t eaten since my 6am airport breakfast. We decided to jump in a cab and head to Williamsburg from the East Village…after 2 blocks, exhaustion set in and I looked at my friend, grabbed her hand, told her I was sorry and loved her but that I was going back to my hotel.
I hopped in my millionth cab of the day and wearily dragged my sorry ass back to my hotel in midtown. Only took me about 5 minutes on my phone to order up $60 of Thai food for delivery to my room. I ended my first day of fashion week sitting on my hotel bed, with a towel on my head, watching The Princess Diaries, feasting on Thai food. It wasn’t exactly how I had imagined it but one things for sure…I’ll never forget my first day ever at New York Fashion week. Follow along on Instagram for this year’s excitement!!!
xx Ali