Here it is…
Yes, it’s fashion week. Goodbye RNC, hello spring 2009. BCBG Max Azria was the first major show in the Bryant Park tends. There were billowing monochromatic neutrals, draped in light as air fabrics that floated down the runways. Bright fuchsia, teal and orange were used as pops of color.
I’m partial to how relaxed and yet designed this look is. Easy to wear.
An early trend? One-pieces, which Azria called “jumpsuits.” Cute, right? Love the draping across the front. But would you wear one? Would you buy one at BCBG?

Now you can watch my interview with Ken Downing, fashion director of Neiman Marcus, about fall trends. We were standing on the runway moments before the Carmen Marc Valvo show.

Downing fits as much description as possible in our three-minute discussion.

Which collection did he love most from New York’s fashion week? Proenza Schouler (photos below). I did speak to him on the last day, however it was also before the Marc Jacobs show. Read Downing’s other faves here.

I loved this all-over pleated dress from Calvin Klein show. Strapless? Very fall 2008. Black and navy (a.k.a. night)? Also very fall 2008.

However all of the elegance of these minimalist clothes was harder to notice set to a soundtrack of scary echoing footsteps. The music did however, draw more attention to the model’s shoes, which were not really that loud. Intentional, perhaps, to draw attention to some pretty fabulous booties and T-strap platform sandals.

At the Spanx event, I met Morgan Fauth. She’s from Wayzata, went to Breck and then jumped to the East for Georgetown. Now, she works for Allison Brod P.R., which was helping with the event.

She’s wearing textured a BCBG top, a Theory skirt, and Spanx textured tights.

I bumped into Stacy London backstage at Rebecca Taylor. She said that it’s the only fashion show she could make it to…and that’s thanks to special permission from “What Not to Wear.”
It turned out she had just come from doing the voiceover for the episode that was partially taped at the Mall of America, where I’d first met her. She said–it’s a reeeeeeeally good episode.

Anyway, about Taylor’s collection, London said that she doesn’t think she gets her due as a designer, especially at her contemporary price point. In the interest of full disclosure, London used to style Taylor’s show years ago. Now see her below gabbing with Aisha Tyler and Carmen Electra in the front row.
“She has intuition about what women look good in and what women want to wear,” London said. I couldn’t agree more. London had picked out look #27 for herself–the lace dress with a peach slip. I agreed and also loved these florals in color and black and white. Everyone loved the super-sparkly gold runway. How could you not?

I escaped from a packed Alice + Olivia presentation to a Spanx event at the Bryant Park Hotel.

More on Spanx later, but I spied Lindsay Price of “Lipstick Jungle” at Alice + Olivia. At that point, I was just another face in the crowd. (See the photo…)
Then, she appeared at Spanx and we were amongst the few people in the spacious room. Soon, we were both sitting at a cosmetics’ station having custom lip glosses made for us. I told her how I had been lucky enough to sit next to her show’s costume designer Dan Lawson at Michael Kors. “I think they have the most fun with me…” she confessed. She meant when it comes to getting dressed. Having seen the show, I would agree with that.
I think the custom-lip gloss blenders from Prescriptives also had the most fun with Lindsay because without any instruction from me, they automatically mixed a hue almost identical to her berry concoction–with berry flavor fragrance to boot! While it’s not necessarily what I would have picked, I’m happy to share the cheery shade with Ms. Price. It’s also so perfectly sheer that it doesn’t matter. You can have a custom shade mixed at any Prescriptives’ an counter, where I may go to have one match the gorgeous red Lindsay was already wearing.