This blog post will be a documentation of the happenings and the fits that happened during my 2.5 days in (super duper cold) New York City.
Let me start by saying, this was my first EVER fashion week. I decided to go the day before and never looked back (I did come back home, but I'm referring to the spontaneity of the situation). I just gotta say that any other time in my life I probably would not have decided to do something so new, so last minute, but I had just cut all of my hair off so anything was possible.
DAY 1: February 9, 2020
On my fist day of NYFW I arrived to New York at about 11am and made my way to a friend's house in Brooklyn (shoutout to that friend for letting me stay at her place). Once I got to her place and greeted my other two friends, we got ready to go into the city. We planned to walk around SoHo, eat, and then make our way to the Chromat Show at Rise By We.
The Fit:
I was cold and wanted to be comfy-creative-cute so I threw on my trusty harness, a hat, and some red eyeshadow and lipstick. The theme of the day was black and red. Simple, weather appropriate, cute, fashionable, and most of all, me. All dressed up and ready to go, we made our way into the city which I was already falling in love with with each passing moment.
After we took the subway into the city and quickly ate our little hearts out, we made our way to Rise By We to check in with the backstage crew and get our assignments. I was assigned front door duty, where I witnessed a lot...just so so much. People with attitudes, people without attitudes, crazy outfits, a couple celebrities, and a couple more celebrities that I didn't know were celebrities (oops). However, while standing in the cold hectic entrance of the show location I met some really nice bloggers, models, photographers and more. Specifically, a lot of plus size influencers and bloggers who I could actually talk to about fashion and the struggles of being a plus sized woman in fashion and in life. I met Mary Higham (@glam.in.gotham) a blogger, fashion lover and overall super bubbly person and Alison Zupancic (@curvygirldc) a DC law enforcement officer/model/fashionista. They were both amazing, and kind, and so freaking helpful. I realized that I was finally finding my people and they actually wanted to talk with me and help me navigate this wild world of fashion.
At some point during my door guarding, I spotted a woman wearing a long green coat, oversized grey scarf, fingerless gloves and a cool haircut. She carried a camera in her hand, a backpack on her back and a focused look on her face. I recognized her, but I had to make sure. Turns out it was Lydia Hudgens, an amazing fashion photographer who I have been following for forever on instagram. As I was processing this information in my head, I caught her eye and she waved me over. I headed over to her (I did not care that I was working) and we instantly started chatting. She said that she liked my outfit and that she'd like to take a picture of me. OF FREAKING COURSE MA'AM (in my head). We chatted as we walked across the street for better lighting. I told her how much her work in fashion has impacted me, and how honored I was to be photographed by her (on my FIRST day of NYFW ever). After she took my picture and we parted ways, I couldn't stop smiling (she's so freaking cool guys). A couple days after, I happened to be looking through an article that she was taking photos for (for InStyle magazine) and I saw my photo. I was in an article alongside most of the plus size women who I have been looking up to and I was losing my mind (from happiness of course).
More sights:
DAY 2: February 10, 2020
On my second day of NYFW, we planned to visit the 3.1 Phillip Lim flagship store on 48 Great Jones St for a Studio Day. There, we viewed the new Men's and Women's Fall 2020 collection, hung out with the design team, met some other interesting personalities and met Phillip Lim himself. There was no RSVPing, no rushing, and I actually got to stand up close to the clothes to see the beautiful workmanship. I actually enjoyed this setting because it gave me a chance to touch the clothes, they were real, and they were right in front of me. I also had the chance to speak with the design team which, as a designer, was amazing.
The Fit:
Again, it was cold. I wanted to look a little more boyish on this day (my lack of hair made this much easier), but kept it a bit feminine with my fuzzy powder purple turtleneck sweater. My trusty harness was also in attendance, but this time I threw on a handful (or a couple) of various chains. I wanted colorful accents to compliment my overall dark-gal fit so I donned neon green zipper earrings and yellow/neon green eyeshadow. Overall, this outfit was a successful balance of cute, masc, fem, grunge, creative and it was so warm y'all.
Day 3: February 11, 2020
On my third day of NYFW we walked around the city. We visited bookstores, goth stores, a half-hidden Off-White store, and most of the stores in SoHo. I had two favorite stores: Agent Provocateur, because not only was it super cute and boudoir in there, but because I really like lingerie. The second store was the Rick Owens store which just felt unexplainably right. It was probably the cool furniture and cute sales associates at both of these stores, but the proper combination of those two things have my heart anyway (lol).
The Fit:
On this day I wanted to go for "girly" and kinda failed. I threw on my harness (again), but backwards (!) this time, and threw on a ton of chains again (!). This over top of a flowy blouse, and floral mesh shirt, paired with plaid pants and my Dr. Marten's hopefully screamed "if necessary, I will kill you" to anyone who passed by. Like the other days, it was cold and rainy, so I needed to be warm and comfy. And like the other days I was warm and comfy. I think that this was a successfully executed fit and I think that this was my favorite fit of my "week".
More sights:
Overall, New York was great. It felt right. It felt like I was surrounded by people like me. I'm glad that I took the chance and jumped on a bus to attend my first NYFW. 10/10 would do again.
XOXO,
Ramsie
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