back home.

whoa. I am back from New York! There is much to tell. First off, I apologize for the shotty pictures (and the lack of interesting ones). I didn't make many pictures because besides going to the show, we didn't end up doing that much exciting after the first day. I'll get to that in a minute. We arrived Saturday afternoon and spent the day walking around our hotel and ended up seeing the American Beauty exhibit at the FIT museum. It was so amazing seeing all those gowns in person and it got us in the mood for a week of buying. Then we had a wonderful dinner at Resto, a Belgian restaurant that is known for it's mussels and frites. I absolutely LOVE mussels, and this was THE place to go because we each got a pail of them all to ourselves with a side of frites. Yum. After dinner we headed to the Ace Hotel and as soon as I walked into the front doors I knew we had made a good decision. Incredible taxidermy (check), great drinks (check), Opening Ceremony store attached (double check), awesome decor and friendly folks (check).

We woke up the next morning bright and early and headed to show all day and ended up staying in for pizza (greasy NYC style-awesome) and planned on going to some fun places the next two evenings. Unfortunately that's when my trips turns south. We had dinner the next night at this cute restaurant near our hotel before going out and within 4 hours I had the WORST food poisoning. I ended up staying in our hotel bathroom all night, barely making it to the show the next day, by then I was so exhausted and still feeling gross we didn't make it out again. Boo. It was such a bummer.

Coterie was a success! The show was gigantic, but I thought it was well organized and we managed to pick up a few new lines. Here are some of the fall trends that I saw consistently throughout the show:

-Khaki pants :a lot of the denim lines were really pushing these. Most of them we're a straight to skinny leg.

-Cargo pants :again, a lot of these were on a skinny or even legging body. Not sure how I felt about them...

- Strong shoulders : everywhere! From a basic tank to a sweater, I saw a ton of shoulder pads; ruched shoulders, or slightly pointed ones.The sweater above is from a line called Mcginn which I fell in love with immediately.

-Embellished shoulders: not only padded, but I noticed a lot of detail focused on shoulders from razzle dazzle stones to military type adornments.

-Lace: this was everywhere too. Lots of shirts and blouses had lace detail or a cut-out with small lace patch.

-Slouchy trouser: Usually cropped with loose pockets. I really liked theses!

-Fabric insets on denim: Some of the fashion denim would be distressed and under the distressing would be some sort of printed fabric from stripes to liberty print.

-Dress Shorts: We'll be seeing a lot of tweed and velvet shorts paired with tights this fall for sure!

-Stripes: Still really big!

That's what comes in mind for now. I am kind of brain dead from the lack of sleep and traveling so bear with me. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and week and I can't wait to catch up on your blogs. Have a great day!!

NYC!

I am leaving for NYC this Saturday to attend Coterie. Andi and I will be buying clothes for this coming fall/ early winter. I'm so excited to see what's coming!! I doubt I will have time to blog while I am there, but I will for sure take some pictures of anything exciting. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what to pack. When I first started attending shows I wanted to dress nice because there are so many fashionable folks there, but after spending 11-15 hours on your feet for 4 days straight I now try to wear what is comfortable and warm (the shows are usually freeeezing too). Above are a few outfits I'll probably pack because they're just so easy.
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We're staying around Time Square so we're close to the show. Does anyone know any great restaurants to check out? Last time I went we had a superb dinner at Freemans. I was thinking it might be fun to go have a drink at the Ace Hotel and then look for a spot to eat. Any suggestions?

newyorkcity your so pretty...

I'm baaaack. My trip to NYC flew by and I can hardly believe I am back sitting in front of my computer again. The trip was FILLED with mostly work. Fun work, but lots of meetings. Unfortunately, it rained the WHOLE time we were there so we didn't have a chance to walk around that much and discover cool things, but we didn't really have time anyway. I also didn't take many pictures because even though I was feeling like a giddy girl in a candy store, I tried playing it cool and tried not whipping out my camera every minute. I didn't see any other buyers taking pictures either, so the ones I did take were when I thought no one was looking (total dork-I know) and they turned out blurry. Sorry!
It was definitely a dream come true. We spent everyday going to the show, meeting with designers, buying lines, and gawking at all the new styles and pretty people. I think I said the word "so cute" about a hundred times a day. My favorite part was going to the design showrooms not at the show. They were always beautiful and if we we're lucky the designer would be there! Above is a picture of Andrea at the Citizens showroom. They had a cute little pup wandering about.

Blurry. Blurry mess. Sorry. This showroom was really chic and carried about 10 lines that are absolutely gorgeous. I really liked Geren Ford fall collection that was here.

Since I was lucky enough to see a lot of upcoming styles and trends I thought I would share with you some that I noticed in pretty much every line:

Bottoms

1.) Distressed boyfriend rolled crop (this was EVERYWHERE)

2.) Harem trouser

3.) Straight leg Jean

4.) Boyfriend jean rolled

5.) 4 pocket Knit leggings (black)

6.) Paper bag pencil skirts

7.)Loose high waisted skirts

Tops

1.) Anything boyfriend

2.) Slouchy easy blouses

3.) Long knit vests

4.)Blazers (blazer vests too)

5.) Burnouts

Colors/Patterns

1.) Grey (still! and loving it)

2.)Neon (esp. yellow)

3.)Watercolor/tie-dye

4.)Royal blues

5.) Lots of embellishment for Holiday

6.) Plaid

On our last night I had a chance to meet up with my friend Kai who lives there. He is a talented designer who works for the Pentagram. He brought us to a fabulous restaurant in Soho called Freemans. Its at the end of this little alley, barely visible from the street. It was SO beautiful. The decor is dark with grey washed walls, mounted taxidermy, and the food is divine. GREAT people watching too.
And that's pretty much my trip! I stayed the night in Minneapolis with Leslie and my dad drove me to Duluth today. He's actually taking a nap right now before he drives back down. He's so adorable, I just love my Dad. I hope you all had a great week! Duluth greeted me with 72 degree weather so its nice to be home :)

au revoir

The Storque posted these yesterday and I can't get over how cool they are. Artist Hendrik Kersten's interpretations of classic paintings like Girl with the Pearl Earring. Man, people can be so creative!

I leave this Sunday for NYC, so this will most likely be my last post until I get back next week. I'm a little nervous to see what the airport is like because people keep telling me there are a lot of folks wearing masks! Creepy right? I dunno, I think this whole Swine Flu thing is unfortunate, but not like the apocalypse is occurring. Check out this video from the 70's that Ben showed me which I think sums it up pretty well....People LOVE to hit the PB (panic button)!

Happy May Day & see you when I get back!

geisha bun love and fashion shows

this is leslie. she is a best friend of mine. some people think we are sisters. she is an art director at a gallery in the cities and gets to go fun places like paris and new york a lot. she told me high buns are the latest hair trend, so we decided to try them out....i think i look like a hippie geisha. (thats ok though) {trying not to giggle}

{i took this one when she wasn't paying attention and for some reason I can't stop laughing every time i look at it. it looks like 'old maid' snuck into my office}

on another note:

Remember when I said I recently became a buyer for a new clothing boutique that's opening up? Well, Andrea (owner & friend) just called to let me know I will be flying to NYC to attend the Circuit.Intermezzo Enk fashion showrooms to pick out more lines! I'm so excited to be in New York and get to preview new clothes AND get to buy them!!! I feel so lucky right now. I leave in 2 weeks!