Coquette

NYFW: Charlotte Ronson Spring 2012 RTW

(Photos: Elle.com, imaxtree.com & Matteo Volta)

I've had the opportunity to cover New York Fashion Week with Natalie for Coquette over the past few years and have been able to see some great shows but I've always yearned to go to Charlotte Ronson. Feeling very lucky I got the chance to go this year to Charlotte Ronson's Spring 2012 fashion show.

Charlotte brings a youthful feel to her clothes that are girly and fun with a bit of edge – Downtown girl for sure! The Spring collection featured denim, lace and floral skirts, shorts and jumpers all her signature styles, but what I really loved was the mixing of textures and prints such as sweaters, florals and stripes. (I must have the outfit pictured at top left.)


There was also a lot of flowy/feminine looks such as these floral pieces. P.S. I loved the new take on sheer knee-highs styled with the looks.


Overall, the show was really all about fun. With Charlotte's sister Sam DJ-ing, the music was rocking! All the young fashionistas were in the front row: Margherita Missoni, Joy Bryant, Nicky Hilton, Kelly Osborne and Whitney Port. The crowd cheered when her adorable sister Anabelle Dexter-Jones took the runway. It was very sweet!

~Leigh

NYFW: DKNY Spring 2012 RTW

(Video: Vidcom)

I'm a true believer in classics and no one does it better than DKNY who brings us beautiful classics with a modern edge. The DKNY Spring 2012 collection was filled with wearable pieces that will work over time for you at the office or at play.

Her color palette is impeccable. Her bright red and blue outfits (including prints) gave an amazing pop of color and the introduction of more pinks as well as the classic nude color show a softer side to spring. I am a huge fan of the new style of dresses that are above the knee in front and longer in back. Also, don't dismiss the blazer yet! I love the larger 80's sizes as well as having a double breasted blazer in crisp white.

Here are my favorite looks from DKNY Spring 2012:

(Photos: Elle.com / IMAXTREE.com and Matteo Volta)

NYFW: Falguni & Shane Peacock

photo credit: Bobby Mozumder

I was lucky to score a seat in the second row (thanks Natalie!) at the Falguni & Shane Peacock show. Little did I know the madness to ensue.

La La (Mrs. Carmelo Anthony) was interviewing/filming for FNL and was sitting right in front of me. Then Joan Rivers came and sat down next her. Then the photographers went mad, descending on them and taking their pictures. I've never seen anything like it. I thought I was going to go blind. Not sure how famous peeps deal with that. It's quite awful.

On to the clothes.
I was excited to see the Spring line as I've seen some of their gorgeous dresses before and really loved them. Feminine with a bit of an edge.
The collection was filled with flowy dresses, pants and jumpsuits adorned with feathers, gold, military stripes and many of the pieces had a goth/rock & roll feel to them (leather harnesses, chain belts, etc.).
The palette was warm yellows, blues and orange. Really stunning.
All of the models wore turbans which made the looks feel very exotic.
The dress featured above is my fave. I luv the detailing and the deep blue/gold palette.

NYFW: Fashion's Night Out 2011

Fashion's Night Out is truly my fave night of the year.
This year was no exception as there were over 1,200 events to chose from. We started out in Soho (which you can see in the pic above was a mob scene) and had a very ambitious itinerary to hit as many places as we could and then move on to the Meatpacking District.

Here are some of the highlights:
Our first stop was Marc Jacobs.
Who knew it would be the best part of the night? As I was waiting to meet friends, Sofia Coppola walked in. She is adorable! I luv the Fall 2011 MJ line full of burgandy and polka dots. We had a glass of Sofia champagne (From Coppola vineyard of course!) and then things got crazy. In walked Mark and people rushed to meet him and the cameras went off. He was having a blast. It was fun to see. As we were leaving Dakota Fanning was ushered in.



Then we went past the Net-a-Porter Window Shop. This was the best use of tech that I saw. They set-up a billboard with featured items when scanned with their app opened up a product page that you could then purchase. There was a fun FNO promotion that you could choose an item, pull it up in their app and then win the item. Sadly cell connectivity was really bad (non-existent, really) and the app was not working. :-( I luved the fashion + tech aspect of it.



We continued down to the Mercer Street Block Party and stumbled upon The Back to the Future Delorean outside the Nike store promoting the new Nike Mag "Marty McFly" shoes which are HOT!



The best fashion/location hands down was Nicola's, Nicola Formichetti's pop-up concept store with BOFFO Building Fashion in a gallery in Tribeca. Nicola is a designer for Thierry Mugler and Stylist for Lady Gaga. The clothes and shoes were gorgeous. I wanted every pair of shoes in every color. The space was awesome. It was an art gallery + clothing store + nightclub. Such a fun idea.



We had a fun night!
Now it's off to Fashion Week Spring 2012 shows which I will post highlights on daily.
~Leigh

Web Snob Weekly Roundup

Here is this week's Web Snob with the latest in fashion, beauty, celeb, and lifestyle:

• Bag Snob got a Secret Preview of Louis Vuitton FNO!
• This Lip Heal and Seal at Beauty Snob claims it can protect your lips, heal dry cracked lips and give you a shiny finish. Seems a lot to ask but look again and you will discover that this ingenious tube has a tube within the tube so you are actually dispensing 2 separate products with one squeeze!
• Shopping and Info loves these 5 inch ankle platform booties by Alejandro Ingelmo for Fall and Winter.
• Fete a Fete discovers Dior's fall 2011 blue tie makeup collection.

NYFW: Fashion's Night Out 2011

Hello! It's Leigh and I'm helping cover New York Fashion Week (Spring 2012) again this year.The first official event to kick things off is Fashion's Night Out (FNO) tomorrow night. It's hard to believe this is the third year of the event, it is now global and there are at least 1 million events being held around the world. The event was originally started by Anna Wintour of Vogue during the recession of 2009 to encourage people to get out and shop in New York City. This event is unlike fashion week in that it encourages consumers to hit the stores, meet designers and have a fun night out. There are over 1,000 events happening in NYC and it is logistically challenging to go uptown, downtown and from the eastside to the westside, but in typical New York fashion we try to do it all.

I've curated a list below of shops/events I want to hit:

• Target Pop-up (Soooo excited for this as they will have the new Missoni for Target line here first!)
• Net-a-Porter Pop-Up Window Shop (Sounds very fashion + tech, which we luv at Coquette)
• Carnival themed Marc Jacobs store
• Mercer Street Block Party
• Shopbop Lounge
• Nacho Figueras at the Ralph Lauren store in Soho (swoon!)
• DKNY
• Christopher Street Block Party (Albertine, Doyle Mueser Bespoke, etc)
• Rag & Bone
• Zappos Pop-up
• Moon Festival at Vivienne Tam

I'm also looking forward to some new stores opening:

• Z Spoke by Zac Posen
• Surface to Air
• Intermix in the Meatpacking District
• Aesop

As well as these made for FNO items being launched:

• Chanel nail polishes (blue hues)
• Nars Silver Odyssey products

Here's a great list of performances throughout the city from My Free Concert. I'm hoping to catch Best Coast at Helmut Lang and Foster the People if possible. Download the FNO iPhone or Android app to plan your itinerary! I'll be tweeting highlights/pictures on @coquette on Thursday night and provide a highlights post on Friday morning. For those not in New York or a FNO hosted city, your purchases can help do good with buying online. Barney's NY is donating 10% of the day's sales to the September 11 Memorial Museum. Also, 40% of the FNO Collection proceeds will go to the New York AIDS Fund.

Tune in live to some of these shops webcasting their FNO events:

• Nine West
• Alexander Wang
• Mac
• Shopbop

For those in San Francisco here is a great overview of FNO SF events via the Huffington Post SF. What are you planning to do in your city? What were your FNO highlights? Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page to let us know.

Enjoy!

~Leigh

Shop Online at Zara.com

I am so excited that US visitors to Zara.com can now shop online! All the prices are the same as the retail stores and the site offers free shipping for standard delivery (3-5 days) to all 50 states. You can also choose the option to pick up your garment in store as well. Fall shopping just got much easer!

Watch the IFB Conference Live Stream!

Today in NYC is the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference which has become one of the premier conferences for the fashion blogging community. Don't worry if you aren't in New York, just click the video below to catch the live stream from the conference today!

Watch live streaming video from ifbconference at livestream.com

Fashion's Night Out 2011 NYC: Coach

I'm going to do my best to collect some of what I think are the coolest Fashion's Night Out events for you in the coming day so you can plan your itinerary for Thursday's big night. At the top of my list for FNO festivities in NYC is the fun happening at Coach with the return of the Duffle Sac with seven of the web's top bloggers such as Hanneli Mustaparta pictured above.

The Duffle Sac is a timeless classic that looks just as fresh today as when it was first introduced back in 1973. And now, the Duffle is making a limited-edition return on Fashion's Night Out. Updated with modern, supple leather, the iconic bag will be available online and in select stores in five traditional Coach colors: British Tan, Black, Navy, Vermillion and Olive Green. If you pick one up on FNO night at three locations: Coach in NYC, Rodeo Drive in LA, and the Forum II in Las Vegas. A special custom hangtag will be added to your bag during FNO.

As part of the collaboration, Coach has commissioned each blogger to photograph and style herself wearing the Duffle. The photos will be published in a limited-edition broadsheet. The bloggers and web editors participating include Hanneli's Hanneli Mustaparta, The Man Repeller's Leandra Medine, The Glamourai's Kelly Framel, Into The Gloss's Emily Weiss, Tales of Endearment's Natalie Joos, The Chriselle Factor's Chriselle Lim and The Blay Report's Zandile Blay. The bloggers will also help celebrate the project's launch.

Fashion's Night Out
September 8, 2011

Coach Flagship Store
595 Madison Avenue
7-9 pm
coach.com

Marc Jacobs Handbags: Behind the Scenes Video

If you know me, I love well-made, excellent quality handbags and I love getting glimpses of the craftsmanship that happens behind the scenes. This 10 minute video takes you all the way to Italy to see how Marc Jacobs handbags are handmade with love.