Tips for Conquering Fashion Week

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week begins this week. Sadly there is nothing I can do as far as Social Media Week colliding with it.  However, along with deciphering a subway map, I have also discovered ways to take Fashion Week the same way Kourtney and Kim have taken New York.  Although we all aspire to have a seat next to the runway like Anna Wintour, it is not always going to happen.  However, that doesn’t mean you can’t experience all of the fun and excitement that is Fashion Week.  The clothes are awesome and all, but in the end, everyone is really in it for the parties and free champagne.  Here are five rules to live by if you plan on conquering Fashion Week from the bottom up.

Rule #1 Show Off Your Dark Side: Though you may be tempted to splurge on a colorful couture outfit to stand out among the fashion community, there is really no need to do that.  In fact, I highly discourage it.  The idea is not to call attention to yourself, but to the clothes being displayed on the runway.  Neutral tones of black and grey are the way to go.  Now is the time to break out that signature little black dress you already have in your closet.

Rule #2 Don’t Cause a Champagne Crisis: Free champagne and organic cocktails are two of the many benefits of being invited to exclusive Fashion Week events.  Always drink responsibly.  In the event that you are done consuming alcohol for the night, yet still want to invoke an image of Fashion Week excess, sip diet ginger ale from your champagne flute and the night is all yours.

Rule #3 Blow is Never the Way to Go: 80s inspired styles belong on the runway, not up your nose.  Please enjoy a drug-free Fashion Week.

Rule #4 Beware of Creepy Old Men: Believe it or not, creepy old men that should be hitting up Match.com, run rampant at Fashion Week waiting for some model or onlooker to get wasted or become desperate.  Stay as far away as possible from these individuals.  Not only are they annoying, they are trouble.

Rule #5 Pretend to Know Everything & Everyone, Even if you Don’t: To act as if you know fashion, is to know fashion.  Throughout the course of Fashion Week, the people you meet will bring up names of designers, models, etc. that you have never heard of.  Never reveal your ignorance.  Superficial answers like “Yes, they are so inspiring” are completely sufficient.

Those Aspiring Don’t Have Cruel Intentions

Beware of the beautiful ones.  While some may say that I was seduced by the rich and powerful, I would say they were really more of an inspiration.  When one aspires to be a member of the New York City elite, it is easy to be mistaken for a gold digger or devilish debutante. However, an Aspiring Socialite is neither.  I suffer not from greed or deprivation, but from a more elusive “Diamond in the Rough” complex.

Aside from being Gossip Girl before the Gossip Girl, the popular 1999 film Cruel Intentions is the perfect example of why evil will never conquer high society.  For this reason, Cruel Intentions is required viewing for everyone who is on or aspires to the A-list.  As you probably already know, the film tells the story of fictional socialite Kathyn Merteuil played by Sarah Michelle Gellar who makes a bet with her stepbrother Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe) to seduce the new headmaster’s virginal daughter Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon.)  After much scheming, backstabbing, and driving around in a vintage Jaguar 1956 XK140 Roadster, Sebastian ends up dead, Kathryn is exposed for the sick girl she is, and Annette drives away alone in Sebastian’s convertible Jaguar.  So let this be a lesson to all of us that luxury and cruelty just don’t mix.  Don’t stab your friends in the back because you see an opportunity to make it to the top.  You will meet them again on the way down.  Plus, you should never wear fur.

After Party Flats are Flat Out Amazing

 

The first rule of New York City is “Never go barefoot.”  But, after a long night out on the town in a city that glorifies both tall buildings and 6-inch heels, you are going to want to do the unthinkable and walk the streets of Manhattan with shoes in hand.  Like most rules here in the Big Apple, the barefoot rule was meant to be broken.  While you might have begun the evening looking like a princess in $700 Louboutin heels, the higher the heel the more likely you are to end the night barefoot as a pauper.

The invention of After Party Flats may just have saved me and millions of other stylish socialites from an incurable foot disease.  The concept is both simple and stylish making them a total socialite staple. All you do is fold up an adorable pair of ballet flats that coordinate with the night’s outfit and slip them in your bag.  When you can no longer handle the agony of your killer heels, pull the switch.  Just remember to find a safe place to store those fabulous Louboutins.  Your newly found comfort is bound to result in a much longer evening in the city that never sleeps.  So get yourself a pair of after party flats because even socialites can’t afford to sell their sole.

 

Kinder Aggugini for Macy’s Preview

Rising London-based fashion designer, Kinder Aggugini who previously designed for houses such as Versace, John Galliano, and Vivienne Westwood, will be designing a line exclusively for the Macy’s Impulse Department set to hit stores in February 2011.  Thanks to my blogger status, I was invited to preview this exciting collaboration at the Gramercy Park Hotel, which in and of itself is a gothic work of art.  Kinder’s unique style is seen in his use of expert tailoring combined with a punk rock edge.  His newest collection has a touch of Chanel with edgy rocker undertones.

Going along with the rocker theme, socialite, Alexandra Richards, daughter of famed Rolling Stones guitarist, Keith Richards, DJ-ed for the preview event in which Kinder himself flew in from London to make a personal appearance. In order to cater to the aspiring, most of the line will be in the price range of $40-$140 with a few items going for up to $300. Along with the rock sensibility, Kinder’s designs have an ultra feminine quality with brightly colored aspects and Kimono inspired styles.  We can’t all be the children of rock stars like Alexandra Richards, but every Aspiring Socialite could use a little edge.

Social Media Socialites: FourSquare Goes Vogue

An entrepreneur is just a socialite with a job. Along with genius business ventures, entrepreneurs have given birth to a new breed of socialites that are made and not born. Self-made that is. Dot.Com Millionaires are out in favor of tech entrepreneurs such as myself. As revealed in Guest of a Guest, FourSquare Co-founders Dennis Crowley (fellow Syracuse University Alum) and Naveen Selvadurai along with Twitter co-founder Evan Williams were seen looking very GQ on the pages of Italian Vogue. Congratulations boys!  I started this blog nearly a year ago because I too plan on tweeting, updating, and checking in my way into socialite fame. However, my endless path to stardom (i.e. magazine covers, book deals, reality shows, etc.) has not been without irony. Instead of maxing out my credit cards on priceless couture at Saks and Bloomingdales like any other Aspiring Socialite, I have found myself spending it all on servers and web development.  I guess that is the price of being a Fashion Tech Entreprenette. Welcome to the Socialite Media Age!   TTYL!