Planning a NYC Fashion Tour

NYFW fashionado

New York's fashion industry is home to 13,800 fashion establishments with 900 fashion companies calling the city home, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. New York also hosts 75 major fashion trade shows and houses thousands of showrooms scattered throughout the boroughs. As a thriving fashion capital, the city is home to Fashion Week, couture museum exhibits and trend-setting boutiques.

New York City’s Fall Fashion Week kicks off September 10. Traditionally held at Bryant Park and Lincoln Center, Fashion Week moves to Soho and West Midtown in two locations called Skylight at Moynihan Station and Skylight Clarkson Square. While tickets to Fashion Week are difficult to score unless you’re an insider or a celebrity; there are other exhibitions, fashion landmarks and tours to enjoy. You can also check in with Time Out New York for updated lists of sample sales to score designer duds at a discount throughout the city.

FIT Museum

Stop by the famed Fashion Institute of Technology's museum for a look at fashion's long history and unique style icons. Upcoming exhibits starting in December 2015 include Denim: Fashion's Frontier. The exhibit Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch directly follows Fashion Weekand opens September 18 through December 5. The exhibit looks at the socialite behind the extreme fashion and makeup who took New York City nightlife by storm in the 1980s and continues to do so in the present.

Free Garment District Tours

Mike's NYC Tours hosts Garment District Walking Tours with a look at the apparel industry and its winding history from the development of dress sizes to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Mike offers free walking tours throughout the year and shares his insider knowledge about the industry, including the best places to shop. The tour stops at boutiques and fashion landmarks around the city such as the Fashion Walk of Fame.

City Opera Thrift Shop

Head to the City Opera Thrift Shop at 222 E. 23rd Street near Third Avenue to shop while helping support its namesake opera. Explore two floors of carefully curated clothing and furniture from major designers, such as Christian Dior. Proceeds help fund the costumes for the New York City Opera, making this a unique fashion stop for those looking to support a good cause while finding quality clothes at a discount.

Fashion Walk of Fame

A fashion walk through Manhattan isn't complete without a stop at the Fashion Walk of Fame on 7th Avenue. See nearly 30 plaques commemorating some of the industry's great designers including Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Rucci. The walk was established in 1999 and is currently the only monument in the world dedicated to American fashion.

Couture Fashion Week

You may not be able to score access to Fashion Week, but tickets to Couture Fashion Week are as low as $50. From September 11 to the 13th, designers from around the world show off their couture and luxury designs. Events take place in the heart of the city at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in Manhattan. Stop by the TKTS Booth for a discount on same-day Broadway show tickets, suggests The Dig, to see the costumes and set design of Tony award-winning shows.

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Lonely at Lincoln Center: The NEW New York Fashion Week

by Emily Chandler Westergreen

mercedes-benz-fashion-week-nyfw-fashionado
mercedes-benz-fashion-week-nyfw-fashionado

New York Fashion Week

 was chilly this year, and I don't mean in 

the normal "cold breeze up the short skirted fashionista" kind of way. 

There was a definite change in the air in the tents this year. The 

usual crazy, fun, nonstop fashion-never-sleeps vibe was missing. Maybe 

because those who never sleep for fashion found themselves unable to even

 cross the sacred threshold of the twice yearly Fashion Mecca known as Lincoln Center.

The idea from the Fashion Gods Above was to make Lincoln Center "more 

exclusive." I have nothing against "More exclusive" (actually it's 

kinda my MO!), but the result didn't feel that way. It felt, 

well....empty. And lonely. What used to be a meeting place for the 

fashion elite, a virtual street style runway complete with its own DJ, 

has become a desolate tent occupied by the very boring elite.

Remember the open bar at Bryant Park? Yes, I do, very well as a matter 

of fact. After the initial move to Lincoln Center, that was replaced 

by an open bar of Kim Crawford wine (again, ok by me). The sadder side 

of Lincoln Center offers Diet Coke...and for those of us who don't

like Diet Coke, even better: Frozen Diet Coke.

Have I mentioned a chill in the air?

And the darkness! A black "is it noon or midnight" kind of darkness. A 

windowless Vegas casino darkness that makes you ponder weather to stay 

for the Badgley Mishka show or crawl in the corner and take a nap on 

your Dennis Basso (of course) fur.

So is it more elite? Hardly. The true elite run in through the back 

door and out the same door. They never entered the tent in the first place.

Did I feel more special being allowed to enter this sacred space? 

Well, yes, I did. But after walking 10 feet inside, I felt a major 

letdown. I wished I could click my heels together like Dorothy and say 

"there's no place like Fashion Week," and suddenly be transported to,

well...Fashion Week.

You know the one. The Fashion Week that was. The slightly-less-snobby 

version of the most snobby event of the year.

fashionado

Trina Turk Interview

Trina Turk: NYFW to Phipps Plaza ATL

Trina Turk

graciously squeezed in an interview with

fashionado

TV

just a day after her Spring 2014 presentation at Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week. Turk's beautiful new showroom at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta served as our backdrop. Her thoughts on fashion, the Turk brand, interior design, Mr. Turk and moving forward... watch NOW!

*Photos courtesy of Laura Cochran Nay, Miss Beanie Blog; Video Production: Impressions Entertainment.

fashionado

NYFW Review Spring 2014

The most fabulous fashion circus in the US,

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

in NYC ... let us take you inside Lincoln Center to see the fashion, meet celebrities and preview the biggest trends for Spring 2014.

Green Room Agency's

Nyssa Green

and

fashionado's

own

Southern Socialite

Emily Chandler Westergreen

joins us

On the Red Sofa

... watch now! #fashionado

TV

fashionado

2013 CFDA Awards

[caption id="attachment_21097" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Bee Shaffer & Anna Wintour"]

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[/caption]

This past Monday, Lincoln Center in NYC got a huge dose of glamour as the venue for the 2013

Council of Fashion Designers of America

,

CFDA

Awards. The biggest designers turn out for the annual celebration as did the celebrities who love them and wear them. Proenza Schouler, Thom Brown, Vera Wang were big winners that evening. The Huffington Post has the complete star-studded details and list of winners.

Read full story

.

View photos:

[caption id="attachment_21098" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Nicole Richie in Marc Jacobs"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21099" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Kerry Washington in Jason Wu"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21100" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Zac Posen & Juliette Lewis"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21101" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Diane von Furstenberg"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21102" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Vera Wang"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21103" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Miranda Kerr in Proenza Schouler"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21104" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Hilary Rodham Clinton & Oscar de la Renta"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21105" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Todd Snyder & Zachary Quinto"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21106" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Rachel Roy & Jessica Hart"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21107" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Tommy & Dee Hilfiger"]

tommy-hilfiger-cfda-2013-fashionado

[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21108" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Betsey Johnson & Lulu Johnson"]

betsey-johnson-cfda-2013-fashionado

[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21109" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Riccardo Tisci & Jessica Chastain"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21110" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Linda Evangelista"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21111" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Catherine Malandrino"]

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[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21112" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Nina Garcia"]

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[/caption]

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Got Chanel?

chanel-kyle-anderson-marie-claire-nyfw-fashionado


I stumbled across this gem of a photo while cleaning out my NYFW iPhone pics today. This faux fur wearing queen sashayed into Lincoln Center with this huge motherfuckin Chanel bag. She stopped and "checked her phone or texted" just long enough for everyone [like me] to take pictures. Well fabulous! The Chanel Hula Hoop Bag made it's debut during it's SS/13 runway show in Paris. Kyle Anderson, Marie Claire Accessories Director, stopped traffic and turned heads [like mine] sporting it in grand, edgy style at fashion week. The bitch werked it!  It really was something fabulous to see! I have to hand it to Kyle, I loved it!

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My own little Gossip Girl!

emily-chandler-westergreen-gossip-girl-prada-empire-hotel-style-mag-vm-fashionado

My producer calls her a "special correspondent" and I call her a "roving socialite." But really,

Emily Chandler Westergreen

is my own little "Gossip Girl." I can't reveal her sources, but lets just say Emily has the celebrity hook up at

NYFW

, which

WE

at

Style Mag VM

love. Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton... okay okay, some of these are trainwrecks... but there's also Sarah Jessica Parker, Liv Tyler, Rachel Zoe and Kelly Osbourne... Emily has met and chatted with all of them either on the runway, inside the tents or at the

Empire Hotel

. And always comes away with with fun, little stories to share.

e-vincent-martinez-emily-chandler-westergreen-style-mag-vm-nyfw-fashionado

How did Emily and I meet?

At a fashion event, of course! We both attended last year's

Jeffrey Fashion Cares

. At the after party, I was walking over to say hello to designer Joseph Altuzarra and Emily was coming towards me with a big smile. She said hello, but what made me fall in love with her was when she told me that fashionado was her favorite blog! XOXOX

Last season, we rendezvoused at Lincoln Center and had a very fabulous NYFW experience. Emily was my guest for Style Mag VM's BlogTalkRadio fashion week "wrap-up" and will be joining me again in February. This time we are producing a Special Edition DVD and have launched the project on Indiegogo. *WE need

your

help to make this happen.

CLICK HERE

to view the video. [*Every contribution helps!!!*] Thank you!

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