Fashion in the City: Summer Escapes

Some people believe New York is at its least fashionable in the summer. I mean it is true that the sweltering heat melts makeup, frizzes hair, and comfort overrides style. Even worse fashion week (depending on your POV) is either lone gone or far is also either long gone or quite a ways off to even consider serving as a distraction. There are, however, believe it or not tons of fashion events to attend if you find yourself without the means to distract you from the city's brutal summer heat.

Department Stores

Trunk Shows and the Like: These are events that are held at various department stores as well as other retail locations and are used to get potential consumers next to product. There are literally tons of them going on in the summer. Check New York Fashion Magazine's Event Calender and Daily Front Row Calender for constant updates. Free samples and fun activities such as tarot card reading at the recent Bloomingdale's Dior Magic Show event make it a win.

1. 06/30/10: 12 PM Preview the fall collection from Lela Rose during a trunk show at Bergdorf Goodman. 754 Fifth Ave., nr. 58th St. (212-753-7300); 12–4.


2. 07/01/10: Chat with Alexa Galler of Eighteenth, Heather Klar, and Xing Xu of Kallisti during We the People’s “Meet the Designers” series. Guests will also receive 10 percent off purchases throughout the evening. 156 Stanton St., nr. Suffolk St. (212-533-1091); 6–8.


3. Through 07/04/10: Check out organic nail polishes and scented nail polish removers during Karma Organic’s trunk show at Henri Bendel. 712 Fifth Ave., at 56th St. (212-247-1100); 10–8.


4. Through 07/04/10: Perfect your lashes and brows with a consultation from Shu Uemura’s expert, Soul Lee. Bloomingdale’s, 1000 Third Ave., at 59th St. (212-705-2000); M–F (10–8:30), S (10–7), Su (11–7).


5. 07/13/10: 11AM DvF Fall 2010 Trunk Show, 872 Washington Street, NYC, 11AM to 7PM.


6. 07/14/10: 12PM Sizzling Summer Beauty at Sephora, Complimentary makeovers with Maggie and Annie Ford Danielson. July 14 - Sephora Times Sq. July 15 - Sephora 5th Ave. July 16 - Sephora 34th St.


7. 07/19/10: 6PM Bloomingdale’s 59 th Street unveils the brand new ASSOULINE in-store shop with a multiple Assouline author book signing. Various authors will be attending. Kelly Killoren Bensimon, author and former editor of Elle Accessories, who currently stars in the Bravo's hit TV series Real Housewives of NY. Robert E. Bryan, fashion journalist and historian living and working in New York City. Pamela Fiori, editor at large of Town & Country. Lisa Marsh, fashion industry veteran and self-professed foodie. She has worked on staff at Women's Wear Daily, DNR and The New York Post, and currently is a freelance journalist. (This event is worth it alone just to see Kelly's cray cray up close and personal.)

Sales: These are huge during the summer as stores have to make way for the fall stock. The most anticipated being the Barney's Warehouse Sale. I rarely hit the actual sale, because it is a madhouse and product is picked over. My plan of action is normally to go to Barneys a week before the Warehouse Sale. Items are already discounted to prep for the move and the merchandise selection is better in quality as well as selection. Also, no one can put on a price on avoiding the mayhem of the sale. Believe me no matter what you say to yourself - waiting till the end for the deal is just not worth it. Everything is just way too picked over and damaged.

Just a sidenote, but if you need to make space in your wardrobe stop by one of the Green Market locations to recyle your old items. Most items that get tossed into the trash go directly to landfills and the majority of these items will not biodegrade. GrowNYC has a stall there that collects items for textile recyling and donation.

Museums

These normally fill up quite quickly with tourists, but low and behold there are still a couple of events of interest to fashionistas. Thanks to the MET's American Woman: Fashioning a National Identitiy that I blogged about previously there are a couple of events that might be worth a visit.

1. 07/17/10: 11AM Teen Festival Of Fashion: From Suffragists To Sirens, Spend a Saturday with Heiresses, Gibson Girls, Bohemians, Suffragists, Patriots, Flappers, and Screen Sirens in the exhibition American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity and enjoy a day at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Join in fashion activities, including a style studio, a session with a perfumist, fashion films, and a special hunt in the galleries! And help us celebrate the winners of the T-shirt design competition at an award ceremony. Come dressed to walk the red carpet in your favorite T-shirt or as one of the American Woman archetypes. 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m., Carson Family Hall, Uris Center for Education, ground floor


2. 07/06/10: 2PM American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity Films, Charles Dana Gibson: Portrait of an Illustrator (1997) Josiah Emery, director. Explores the origins of the Gibson Girl, the first popular image of the American woman (28 min.). The Flapper Story (1985) Lauren Lazin, director. Examines the social phenomenon of the flapper during America's 1920s (29 min.). These films are shown in conjunction with the exhibition American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity. Free with Museum admission. Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Uris Center for Education.

Fashion Events

Not everyone escapes to the Hamptons and as such there are still some fashion parties going on in the City.

1. 06/28/10: Get $65 haircuts and $35 blow-dries at Mizu, where all proceeds will benefit HAIRraising, an initiative that raises funds for the Children’s Hospital of Boston. The day will end with a cocktail party featuring drinks from Ty Ku and hors d’oeuvres by London Lennie’s. Special guest Molly Sims will also make an appearance. 505 Park Ave., nr. 59th St. (212-688-6498); 8–6 (haircuts and blowdries), 6–9 (cocktail party). To book an appointment, e-mail hairraising@mizunewyork.com. To RSVP for the cocktail party, e-mail rsvp@mizunewyork.com.


2. 06/29/10: BCBGeneration hosts the first installment of StyleCaster’s summer concert series, featuring an open bar and music from Beach Fossils and Mick Boogie. Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St., at Walker St. (212-584-5492); 9–11. To RSVP, add StyleCaster as a friend on Facebook.

Have any events that you want to add? Leave them in the comments. I'm always looking for something interesting to do!

Walking Amongst Giants: American Woman at the MET

I finally made it to the American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity at the Metropolitan Museum. Seriously, I have tried 8 times to go and each and every time something has come up. This time I only made it with 45 minutes to spare, so unfortunately it was a bit of a rushed viewing of the exhibition.

A little background on the exhibition:


American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity "explores developing perceptions of the modern American woman from 1890 to 1940 and how they have affected the way American women are seen today". The exhibit is broken up into The Heiress, The Gibson Girl, The Bohemian, The Patriot and the Suffragist, The Flapper, and The Screen Siren.

As you can imagine, the fashions were nothing short of amazing. I could literally go on and on about them. The most interesting thing I found about the exhibit, however, is how truly timeless the pieces were in their construction.

Take this piece from 1910 by Madame Marie Gerber for instance. I highly doubt any hipster would bat an eye if I showed up in a bar in BK in this outfit. After all, it is eveningwear accompanied with leggings!


This sweater from 1895 also caught my eye as it would hardly look out of place in my wardrobe today. I mean there is no way you can deny its similarity to this piece by T Los Angeles.


Then of course there is this excruciatingly beautiful gown made by Madame Grès in 1937. It would hardly look out of place on a red carpet today - just look at this dress worn by Angelina Jolie in 2004.

The exhibit overall was a bit crowded and small, but the curating is amazing. If you are in NYC this summer I highly suggest you brave the crowds and take a trip over to go see it. Also, if you loved the exhibit like me but were hoping to a take a slightly more leisurely stroll through fashion history I highly suggest picking up High Style. It is the catalog created to accompany the exhibit and at $25.00 a copy it is one of the most cost effective art/design books I have ever purchased. I seriously cannot wait to sit down and leaf threw it some more!

Have you been there yet? If so leave your thoughts in the comments.