Yes, my first day of NYFW is being broken into separate posts. It was a 20 hour day, beginning bright and early by waking up at 5am to get ready and be at Milk Studios for 7am to volunteer for the Independant Fashion Bloggers Conference. I’d attended last year as a guest and was excited to be a part of the behind the scenes this year.
I arrive, immediately followed by fellow friend’s and NYC Fashion Bloggers Yanil, Monroe, Tessa, and Ashley. There isn’t much for us to do at first so we mingle and chug down our coffees,as we chat about the biggest thing in the room.
That “biggest thing in the room” is Marina, the living doll who texts’ as the woman for Missoni for Target. She’s all over NYFW and totally stylish!
By 8am it’s time to start preparing check in for the arriving guests and as soon as I get the chance I have KMS California do a quick number on my hair. My sweet hairdresser was a tattooed dude in a plaid shirt and yellow bow tie, so obviously we bonded as he put some soft waves into my hair that eventually proved solid as they lasted into the night.
As the room starting filling up with bloggers, old and new and from all parts of the world, I began seeing old friend’s as well as making new ones. People LOVED my DIY studded jeans! They proved to be a great conversation starter with said new acquaintances. I was also wearing my Jessica Simpson boots, which I now pretty much live in, along with a wet seal tank an Champion sports bra. I also carried my life’s supply in a matching gifted satchel from Francesca’s Collection, which can be found here.
The panels for the conference were alright, in my opinion. I felt the topics were very geared to newer bloggers (reiterating the importance of Twitter and other social media outlets to gain traffic, being yourself, approaching brands) though I can’t say I didn’t learn anything new and worthwhile.
Personally, I especially loved the panel about balancing business and blogging. As many of my followers know, I’m a jack of all trades here in the fashion industry. It was brought up to keep your professional life outside of blogging from being represented too prominently in your blog, even if you work in fashion. I also was inspired by Coco Rocha’s stance on being a good person and role model to help brand herself as an individual.
In the last panel, topicked around the evolution of fashion media, a major point that kept arising was the importance of staying true to yourself as a person more than as a brand. As is human nature, people change and style’s may mature or alter. Mary HK Choi, of MTV Style, noted that that’s okay to represent in your blog, as it is yours. I associated with this point because, readers as you know, I’m a woman of constant change and versatility. One day I’ll be in a floral dress looking wholesome, the next I’m back in my combat boots. I hope you guys enjoy my versatility and ever changing self (and hair).
I was honored to get the opportunity to interview the speakers from this panel for the IFB website. Ari Seth Cohen, though baffled by the questions and being put on the spot, was a wonderful speaker with great experience and words of wisdom to share. My favorite person to interview was Mr Mickey, editor of PaperMag. As a Williamsburg resident I’ve been familiar with the “hipster” popular magazine and all it stands for, but Mickey is a better representation of what the magazine stands for; fierce, fun, outspokenness, and being fearless. I loved that his favorite part about the convention was the diversity, a favorite factor of my own. You meet so many diverse people from, in his own words, “people of color, people with tattoos, and girls with blue hair!”
Moving onto my next point; apparently my spontaneous hair change was spot on with a current trend, or maybe just a coincidence. Nubia of IFB had dip dyed tresses, Hannah of The Fashion Hash had one side/streak of dipped blue, and Kimberly of Can I Get a What What had teal and purple mixed in with her blonde and black layered look. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think we’re onto something here!
Well, this concludes my IFB post. Stay tuned and follow for part 2 and 3 of my NYFW Day 1!