Feb 16, 2010 | Fashion
This year is waaaaaaay better than last year! (A sign the economy is on the upswing…maybe?) Incredibly generous and overflowing to the max, gift bags are a huge perk of being a registered member of the press for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. There are a lot of cards, postcards, coupons, pamphlets, leaflets, and other extraneous papers about various brands and stores and events – but there is also product – and a lot of it! You also pick up gift bags at various events, conventions, and private parties that you go to. If you are really important and sit in the first couple rows at a well-established brand’s runway show, there might be a gift (or even a bag of gifts) on your seat. The contents of the bags are from companies and sponsors wanting to get the word out about their products. There’s good stuff, there’s useless, untargeted stuff [that I usually pawn off on my inlaws, hehe], and sometimes there’s stuff that makes you go wha…..???
Below is the contents of the gift bags from: the IFB blogging convention / Robert Verdi’s Retreat / official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week press gift bags (4 bags total; sorry, I don’t remember what was in each individual bag):
*L.L. Bean tote bag
*Madame Paulette Professional Stain Remover Kit [score!]
*Maidenform Lacy Blue thong in M
*Popcorn, Indiana Kettlecorn bucket
*4 oz bag of Popcorn, Indiana Kettlecorn [sooooo good!! totally addictive]
*Chambord Black Raspberry Liquer – colored nail file set (?!)
*music CD compilation from G-Star RAW
*an eco-conscious blank greeting card from loop
*2 boxes of NOZIN Nasal Sanitizer (they only had one of these in the press gift bag last year – definitely the economy is on the up-and-up now that there’s TWO in there!;-)
*O.N.E. Natural Spring Water
*pair of We Love Colors neon yellow tights [yay!]
*G-Star RAW rhinoceros head denim keychain
*Revlon Fantasy Lengths false eyelashes & glue set
*2 sample sized Honey Bee soaps
*sample size of Forever perfume by Mariah Carey
*voucher for 1 day’s worth of cleansing juices from BluePrintCleanse
*jouer locking lipgloss, eyeshadow, bronzer, and tint palette
*Shatobu waist-to-knee shaper
*Rums of Puerto Rica case for…something. Maybe it fell out?
*Maidenform seamless collection boyshort and cami set [another reason to put off doing laundry:;-)]
*Glaceau SmartWater [the kind Jennifer Aniston was the spokesperson for]
*Diet Coke heart health pin
*maroon scarf from Affordable Scarves
*Degree UltraClear deodorant in Red Satin
*Phyto shampoo and conditioner sample sizes
*Martini Gold decanter spigot [since I don’t drink alcohol, I have no idea what it’s really called]
*Mercedes-Benz orange croc leather keychain
*purple folding umbrella from Vevant
*map and restaurant/bar guide to Lincoln Square
*mini-sketchbook from Designer Footwear from Spain
*AOL-branded earbuds
*gift set of Cambria Cove french-milled soaps [something nice for my mother-in-law, I think:-)]
*frappuccino-branded purse-hook
*pack of Zone Perfect Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse bars [my breakfast tomorrow hehe]
*VKi Armada Lotion [because my armada is quite dry, come to think of it]
*Rowenta Travel Iron [yes! *pumps fist*….thinks for a moment….this is damn heavy. hmmm.]
*Maybelline new york eyestudio palette in Copper Chic, Stiletto Voluptuous Mascara, and Shinesensational lipgloss
*Tresemme FreshStart dry shampoo and shampoo/conditioner samples
*DHL-branded zipper garment bag
*plastic Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tote
Can one say holy *&#*$* that’s a lot of stuff????!
Suffice it to say I probably won’t be getting anything else for the rest of the week…
I think some of these things I’ll do a giveaway of once I’m back from all this traveling!
I just have no idea how I’m going to fit the popcorn bucket into my suitcase…:-/
xoxox
Carly
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Feb 15, 2010 | Fashion
The February wind whips through the tall buildings here. You walk further than you think you could ever walk, then you walk some more. You go to show after show until they all blend together. You see thousands of faces inside the tent, until they all start to look familiar and you think you’ve met everybody before. You’re checked out by men and women alike: “Do I know her?” “Is she important?” “What’s she wearing?”
Depending on where you are seated/standing, people may or may not talk to you. At the night shows, hundreds of yahoos who managed to score an invite push past the industry people politely lined up, insisting they’re important and need to go in first. Being herded like cattle; stumbling over the cobblestones of the park[in the tents there’s no floor- just the open stones of Bryant Park]; taped-down wires, risers, platforms you can’t see in the crush. Waiting in line 20 minutes to even get a seat assignment; waiting in line 15 minutes to get in the door; waiting in line 10 minutes to find your seat; waiting for the show to start. Pounding music inside the shows; deafening.
On the streets: people of multiple races, creeds, heights, body types, tourists from foreign lands, locals who can’t speak the language, couples locked in PDAs (it is Valentine’s Day after all), everybody on their Blackberry; so many people, all crammed together. The sheer number and types of different people is staggering.
Cold. Sore. Tired.
Back at the hotel, strip off multiple layers to take a shower and survey the Fashion Week casualties (chafes from unfamiliar clothes, scrapes where my 1000-lb bag hits my legs, pulled muscles, stubbed toes, lost buttons, rips and tears, running mascara, smelling of cigarette smoke and the streets, the carpet burn under my eye from the airplane aisle I was dragged through by well-meaning attendants).
Roll creakily into bed, managed to bang something out on the keyboard, then realize you still have 4 or so events to cover and about 50 photos to yet post.
Tomorrow, dear readers; tomorrow.:-)
If you’re not following already, please follow me on Twitter and get up-to-the-minute tweets as I hit shows, shopping locales, and other events during Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week!
xoxo
Carly
Tomorrow: IFB Blogger Conference – Jill Stuart Show – The Robert Verdi Retreat – Ecco Domani show
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Feb 14, 2010 | Fashion
Meeting up with friends – interview with Luca Luca designer Raul Melgoza –
Lua Luca show – shopping at Century21 – Vassilios Kostestos show
Happy Valentine’s Day!
xoxox
Carly
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Feb 13, 2010 | Fashion
Courtesy of Singer22, the Soixante Neuf hammered ring in silver or gold will set you back about $132 or $152, respectively.
I scored my similar ring (without even knowing it had been seen on Vanessa Hudgens and Kim Kardashian), at Forever21, for about $5.80. Though they don’t sell it online anymore you can probably still find it in stores – and here’s some similar ones they have online:
If you like knuckle rings, you can also purchase an eerily-similar-to-that-Robert-Lee-Morris knuckle ring on Etsy for $75 at ashaloo’s shop. (The Robert Lee Morris for Elizabeth + James Knuckle Ring goes for $170 and up.)
I will post a piccy soon of the F21 Soixante Neuf doppelganger soon! have posted a photo here.
And Forever21’s version is sparkly, gals. Yeehaw.
-Carly J. Cais
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Feb 12, 2010 | Fashion
Where have you lived? And what made you decide to move to those places? If you don't mind me asking.
In order: New Jersey; Yokohama, Japan; Virginia Beach, VA; Vermont; Tokyo, Japan; Philadelphia, PA; Honolulu, HI; Portland, OR. I grew up in rural small-town NJ, then my father’s job moved us to Japan when I was 11. We lived there 3 years, moved back to Jersey for a year, than my dad’s job moved us again to Virginia Beach, VA. I finished high school there, then went to college in rural, college town Vermont. Spent a year in Tokyo for a study abroad, finished school and went to 2 years of animation school in Tokyo. Met my future husband while in Japan, moved to Philadelphia PA while he was finishing up school (had to leave Japan since my visa was up), then, when he was done with school, he wanted to move back to where he grew up: Hawaii. So we moved to Honolulu, lived there 4 years until we had a kid and just couldn’t give him the life we wanted to in Hawaii (too isolated, too expensive, housing unaffordable, schools leaving something to be desired), so we moved to outside of Portland, OR, and have been there the past 2 years. Whew! I’m a little sick of all these cross-country and international moves by now.:-) We’ll probably be in Portland for a little while.
Thanks for your question!
Where have you lived before?
xoox
Carly
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