Maison Margiela Collection Showing

So, the original fashion week event that I was supposed to go to was cancelled by the "blizzard" -- the one that lasted all of maybe 6 hours in the city, and really just seemed to get everyone up in arms over nothing. So scratch that event, but I did find out last minute that 1stdibs was hosting an event with one of our vendors who has a huge Maison Margiela collection that just premiered on the site. You can see all of the pieces at:
http://resurrection-margiela.avl.1stdibs.com/store/avl_search.php?FRID=Z2qZZ2g%253D
and the party pics at:
http://nycarthur.com/MartinMargiela%20NYFW%20Feb2010/index.html

Some pretty interesting stuff there. A duvet restitched into a coat? Gloves restitched into a blouse? Hmm. He's a very big name in fashion.

I had to have this whole Fashion Week thing explained to me. It's basically the fashion equivalent of a week of trade-shows -- the events are to showcase new lines, new designers, and let people choose what they want to get in their stores in the upcoming seasons. But a trade-show for fashionistas is really more like a giant glitz-party. And they're fun. They are very much what you think they are. Lots of crazy (beautiful) people dressed to kill in some of the most gorgeous and unique ensembles you've ever seen (or thought up). Lots of attitude. Open bar. Caterers doing a tray pass with champagne, as well as peking duck wrapped in scallions; fig tarts; belgian waffle with dark chocolate; and some other amazing bites. A very enchanting and indulgent scene. The venue was pretty awesome too. It was held at 1 Jackson Square, where condos are selling for $6-7MM. Yes, MM. Million. They had a couple of condos open and decorated with items from our vendors. They were the swankiest, coolest, most amazing living spaces.

Ok, so here's how the night went.

To start you walk up to a building that is all glass curves on the outside, and all wood curves on the inside -- 1 Jackson square. The building was quite a sight in and of itself. A step into the nonlinear lobby and there's an intimidating lineup of good-looking guys and gals (like 8 of them) all dressed in black and holding clip-boards waiting to find your name on the list. Excessive, but effective in creating an image. You drop your coat with the gentleman behind them, and walk around the (curvy) corner to the elevator, where someone else is waiting... just to push the button for you and tell you that its the 6th floor.

Muzak, anticipation.

Doors open, and two gentlemen with trays of champagne await. Grab a glass, and its on down the hallway to the condo where the event is being held. You can already hear the music filtering down through the hallway, and there are caterers coming down the tiny hallway with their empty trays.

The first door that is ajar leads into an amazingly decorated condo that you can browse at your leisure. $6.25MM if you're interested. Overpriced some of the guests said (nah, really?).

Back out into the hall, and the next door is the same apartment, only its full of people, music, sights and sounds. A collage of photos from the collection covers an entire wall, and two other walls have pieces from the collection hanging all the way up to the two-story ceiling. There's music and everyone is dressed like they're a designer or a model. Debbie Harry (lead singer of Blondie) was there.

We hung out there with our drinks for a while, mingling a bit, but mostly watching. It was a somewhat intimidating scene. So much fun though.

The whole night was really amazing. The pictures don't even do it justice. (Oh, and there is a pic in there of me :)). Not something you can experience in many other cities.

1st dibs fashion event

So I found out last minute that we were hosting an event with pieces by Martin Margiela that are about to premiere on the website. Here's the link to the photos from last night:

http://nycarthur.com/MartinMargiela%20NYFW%20Feb2010/index.html

Blizzard Warning

National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning.

Huhwha?

What's that?

I really, honestly, didn't know what the textbook definition of a blizzard was or how it differed from a regular snowstorm... so I asked Wikipedia.

In the United States, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as sustained winds or frequent gusts reaching or exceeding 35 mph (56 km/h) which lead to blowing snow and cause visibilities of ¼ mile (or 400 m) or less, lasting for at least 3 hours. Temperature is not taken into consideration when issuing a blizzard warning, but the nature of these storms is such that cold air is often present when the other criteria are met.^[1] Temperatures are generally below 0 °C (32 °F). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard

And there you have it. I totally do not have the clothes for this kind of a venture. Boots are definitely a necessary item. Those goofy galoshes and rubber boots that we laughed about in Ga -- gonna need some pronto. I'm really still kind of baffled by this whole heavy-snow concept, and at the fact that all my clothes are just simply inadequate for this climate. WEIRD.

It is pretty though.

Fashion Week

Soooo, I got an invite to a showing/after-party for a fashion week event. It's tomorrow night. Will be sure to let you all know how it goes. 

1 mo and counting

It's Feb 8th. That means I've been here exactly one month. Whatever an exact month is.

Things are going well. Work is picking up, and I'm starting to get the hang of the project that I'm working on, so my productivity is accelerating a bit, which makes me happy.

Still attempting to get "settled" as it were. I'm going back down to Ga to get my stuff at the end of Feb, which means until then, my box of a room is really just a box. My new room is 8x10' and has... an air mattress in it. And stacks of clothes (read piles). Lol.

Buuuuuut I wouldn't trade it in a million years. I'm still very excited to be here. I'll be even more excited when the weather gets a bit warmer and the days get a bit longer. It's been hard to do too much outside after work cause it's just cold and dark. And BTW, no one in their right mind moves to New York in January. With good reason.

It's funny, Florida ('s tourist bureau?) runs soo many ads up here. I see them on the subway, and even hear them on internet radio. And let me tell you, Florida has never sounded so appealing in my entire life. We poked fun at Snow Birds, but they totally have the right idea. Just skip the winter altogether, or at least go for a more temperate one.

But if you do stay, take some advice from Death Cab:
"I don't mind the weather
I've got scarves and caps and sweaters
I've got longjohns under slacks
for blustery days."

Ok, I'm out for now. Hope everyone is doing well.
-K3

PhotoWalk #1: Food

To add some depth to this NYC portrayal, I'm going to start taking walks -- with a camera, and a topic. Photos are only allowed if they can be made to relate to the topic del dia. For the first walk, I asked someone for a topic out of the blue. The answer came back: "food." One of my favorite topics of all time!

I started out from my apt at 6th Ave and 28th St. I went no further north than 34th St, and no further west than 8th Ave. A relatively small distance to cover, but definitely rich with food. Here's the album:

PhotoWalk - 001 - Food

Fun with Maps

I tried to mark down all the places that I learned about and visited while I was living in the East Village. And here they all are, on a Google Map. I'm new to using Google Maps like this, so let me know how it works out. I think if you click through, it will give you the list of all the markers. Since there's a lot of really close markers, it's probably easier to browse if you zoom really far in. :)


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