Sunday, September 18, 2011

...A Visit to the Statue of Liberty!

Three months ago my boyfriend, Alex, and I made reservations to go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty and today was the day that day! Alex, a native New Yorker, had never been and of course, Me, a New-New Yorker had only dreamed of going to the famed green lady. Our story begins like so many immigrants with a boat ride...

We then disembarked and got to see Lady Liberty up close and personal...



...And because we made our reservations three months ago, we were able to snag Crown tickets which allowed us to climb the three hundred some odd stairs into Lady Liberty's head...


Stairs, Stairs, Stairs...


...and more stairs!

Finally we reached the top and into...


...Her Brain!


Her windows to the world! So Steampunk!

The best part about finally reaching the crown was that, for a whole ten minutes, we were the only people there! And believe me, that is saying something for a New York tourist attraction! Turns out that the Parks Department only allows 250 people a day to have crown access! It was indescribably special.


Me in the crown!

Not since 1916 has the torch been open, but you can see the old torch in the lobby on the pedestal.



I would like to tell you that I reenacted that scene in Splash where Deryl Hannah arrives nude from the ocean on to Liberty Island but... if I had it would have already been on the five o'clock news.

Anyway... Thanks Lady Liberty


You put tourists attractions back on the cool list!

x-Stef










Saturday, September 17, 2011

...Count Down To Fashion Week - The aftermath!

Hi All,
I guess you might have seen our show! If not here is the live stream with the ever adorable Andrew Bevan from Teen Vogue!

Now that I am finally well rested I will finally be able to post more things so keep checking back because eventually I am going to post the insiders look at Betsey's Spring 2012 Fashion show!

x-Stef

Sunday, September 11, 2011

...Count Down To Fashion Week - Day 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2...

The Days are a complete blur now and all I know how to do is work! BUT...Tomorrow is our show!!!


I have get to work now but here is pretty much what I feel like


Oh and you know it is fashion week in New York when things like this seem completely normal...


x - Stef

Monday, September 5, 2011

...Count Down To Fashion Week - Day 7

Day 7...


This picture appeared on our show board today because I bore a striking resemblance to Nick Nolte's mug shot. This is what fashion week does to you...


Also to make things even more awesome, we took this picture for facebook and someone commented on how that guy on the left made a fashion faux pas...that guy is me and that coat is 80's classic vintage Betsey. Too bad the commenter missed the super sexy legs on that guy on the left! hah!



x-Stef




Sunday, September 4, 2011

...Count Down To Fashion Week - Day 9 and Day 8 sheesh!

Day 9 and Day 8 


Well time flies when your having fun or when your so sleep deprived that you don't realize that two days have passed!

So here is the low down on what happened this weekend...

1. We had model casting and confirmed some bomb shell girls for the show

2. Locked most of the looks for show

3. Met with DJ Chris Bones about our banging show music

4. Astar happened...

We ate pizza and drank beer and then this happened...

Jen our social media guru is in a box to go to the warehouse!

5. We did some serious trend research at Accessories Palace


Astar happening again!



Next trend?


6. Char and her friend had Betsey draw XOX on them and then got it tattooed



7. Betsey drew on me but I can't tell you why or show you until after show

8. All my hard work with the accessories, such as shoes and jewelry, is starting to pay off in the over all tone of the show. 

9. We almost finished garments for Fashion On Ice

10. Summer 2012 Pink Label is starting to look spectacular

11. And finally, we ate more pizza and drank more beer

I think that is how most of the weekend went. Now I will sleep and begin again tomorrow!

x-Stef


Friday, September 2, 2011

...Count Down To Fashion Week - Day 10

Day 10...


100 years of East London style in 100 seconds. Sept 13th 1911 - Sept 13th 2011

My friend Andrew posted this video on my facebook. I thought it was fitting as far as count downs go and also brilliant!

Went home a little early tonight, well like 9:30, to prepare for the weekend filled with model castings, styling, working on pink label and Fashion On Ice and general all around fun!

x-Stef


...Show Count Down - 11 days till show!

Day 11...
Don't quite know what happened last night but this picture was on my phone in the morning!

Jen, Ash, and Petra vogue-ing

x-Stef

Thursday, September 1, 2011

...12 Days till show!

Day 12...

Not quite sure what this has to do with show but it appeared on our show table last night!

What do you think is in there?

x-Stef

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

...Show Count Down 13 Days to Go!

Day 13...
This is how we ended the night...

This Framboise is bad news only 13 days till show! 

9:00am - Coffee with half and half
12:00 - Cappuccino 
2:00pm - Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich that my boyfriend has been making me every morning
5:00pm - Another cappuccino
6:00pm - Traveling Music (champagne)
8:00pm - Red wine
9:00 - Kettle one, water and powdered drink
1:00am - Framboise

Oh yeah... and in between we did some work on show;)

x-Stef

Monday, August 29, 2011

...Show Count Down 14 Days to Go!

Monday August 29th - So I finally left work at about 11:30!

So busy that we did not even have time to clean up and you could barely leave the design room because of the racks parked in the showroom!



I took this picture around 8:30 but due to technical difficulties (my work computer being a piece of shit) I had to get home before I posted today's events.

1. We finally started styling the show! It is looking amazing but there is still a lot of work to do... and I once again became Mowgli from the Jungle Book... if you don't know what this means you can read all about it in my Fashion Week Daily Assistant Files article...

2. We got Peter Gray to do the hair for our show! He is my favorite!

3. We worked on Fashion On Ice which is an exciting event that Betsey is doing after the fashion show which is a story I cannot wait to share with you all! So look for that post at the end of September.

4. We also worked on concepts for Summer silhouettes and Fall prints for Pink Label which is another exciting line that Betsey is working on! So many projects, so much to look forward to! ( I think the exclamation point will be the first key I wear out on my new computer, ha!)

5. Most importantly, we survived the first day of the two week count down until show!

More tomorrow!

X - Stef




Sunday, August 28, 2011

...Count Down To Fashion Week - The Calm Before the Storm

Thank you Hurricane Irene and random earthquake for kicking off the Count Down to Spring 2012 NY Fashion Week!


Irene...NYC is under there somewhere...

All of us feigning fright after we evacuated our building due to Tuesday's Random quake


With the inclement weather and the shakes behind us, I feel like we are finally at the top of a hill in our fashion go-kart (without brakes) about to plummet into the two most exciting weeks every season...


...NY Fashion Week!


Stay tuned for updates from the front lines of how Betsey's band of misfits is going to pull this off! That is unless we get swept away by a tsunami...


x-Stef

Saturday, August 27, 2011

...A Count Down to Fashion Week - The Bike Show

The Bike Show as it is fondly known around the showroom, but more formally known as Le Tour De Betsey, is the second show I did with Betsey and by far one of the most exciting and in your face shows.

Bikes?...

Yes, Bikes... cue crickets...

When it comes to fashion bikes are not exactly the first thing to pop into my head, maybe like ten years ago when it was ultra fashionable to date a BMX'er or a skateboarder but that was so ten years ago (believe me I was one of those girls)

So we are back to Bikes with a big fat question mark at the end of it?

Here is how it all happened...cue flash back screen fade...



This theme came early to Betsey this time, really early, like three months before show early. Usually we are biting our nails and asking for deadline extensions before Betsey finally settles on a theme. You can imagine our surprise when Betsey came into work one day in June and announced that she had the theme for the show. We all breathed a sigh of relief and then she announced the theme...

Bicycles! ...ummmm...wha?

A series of coincidences occurred to help her get to the theme of Bicycling and ultimately her show being called Le tour De Betsey. First her daughter was really into soul cycle exercise club, second her hair dresser would go away for cycling trips upstate which they would always talk about while she was getting her hair done and third while walking up Madison Avenue, Betsey wearing her loud Warhol - esque tile print in primary colors and carrying the matching bag, was trying to figure out what part of the population she dressed like, when a cyclist with all his own matching gear pulled up to the vary same corner where Betsey was standing. They looked at each other and laughed cause their outfits were so similar yet two completely different circumstances. And so it was…the birth of Le Tour De Betsey!
Usually there are two meanings to every Betsey show and this year's duality was the celebration New York fashion week’s tents moving to Lincoln center.

Needless to say, this idea grew on us and here is what we came up with...

...The Elements...

The invite…a pink bracelet a la Lance Armstrong style

The program …a bike map of Manhattan which led the audience through each vignette which took place in a different location on the island.


The production – LDJ production company for the tents installed an amazing LED screen upon which we played a video of traveling through the streets of Manhattan from a cyclist's perspective!

The Runway - Down the center we had LDJ put reflective tape to simulate road lanes

Jewelry - Necklaces that read "Ride Me" in huge rhinestone letters.

We even attempted to have bikes form Bowery Bicycles on the runway. But because of music cue mishaps we had to pull them at the 11th hour, no big deal because we did get a skateboard on the runway!

During this show I met a lot of new friends who do really cool things...

First cool new friend I met is Peter Gray! He is a hair stylist who was sponsored Redken for our show and is now my friend and one of my favorite people I have met since I moved to new york city. He spent long hours with us at the showroom perfecting the hair look until we were all happy with what turned out to be a teased and matted little pony tails held together with tiny rubber bands that look like the brightly colored bicycle tire spoke beads. Since the bike show I can’t imagine working on a runway show with any other stylist who would have his conviction to see a vision through. I also owe my white hair to Peter.


Second cool person…the very talented Sarah Lucero with Stila Make-up!  The previous show we worked with Stila, so it was a treat to get them back for a second year! Betsey was sure that she wanted a green eyelid and Sarah gave us a very cool thick green racing stripe lid and highlighter pink lipstick. I love working with Sarah, she gets Betsey through and through.


This was my second time on Betsey's runway! I wore this amazing orange dress that another designer and I were huddled over still sewing the morning of the show!


Later Zink Magazine did this amazing editorial with the dress 


One of the best things that happened during the preparation for this show was Betsey hand air brushing dresses. Heather, our airbrush expert gave Betsey a tutorial on how an airbrush works and once she got the hang of it there was no stopping her! So much so that we had to convince her that not everything in the show needed airbrushing. Needless to say we trashed the showroom and for about a month after the show we were finding paint and glitter everywhere. 



This beautiful hand painted dress was worn by Katy Perry to the People's Choice Awards 

One very special element to a Betsey show is the "bye-bye"! For each show there is always a different saying, VOTE, LOVE, etc. This years was RIDE ON! Betsey takes this part very seriously and we practice with the models in the showroom. When the models who will be in those last looks come for their fittings Betsey will jump up from her chair and start singing this stripper song and we will get in line  to practice the dance on stage and then the contagion of turning around to slowly reveal the "bye-bye"! Usually everyone does a good job of getting it right! 

I am the "N"

Hope you enjoy reading this! Starting Monday it will be two weeks till showtime and I will be keeping up with you all by posting a daily status of how we are surviving fashion show preparation!
Let's get ready to rumble!

X - Stef

Monday, August 22, 2011

...A Trip to the off-set printer for The Betsey Johnson Spring 2012 Fashion Show invitation

Today Ashley and I went to Karr Graphics to approve the Betsey Johnson Spring 2012 Fashion Show invite! Our buddy Larry offered to give us a tour of their factory and my morning was transformed into this Sesame Street episode


Sesame Street is so timeless, I even dig the music! and orange is cool all over again!

When you enter Karr Graphics the first thing you see is a collage of old fashion wood carved letters. I am in love with this wall and want to install one in my apartment but Larry told us that these blocks go for big bucks on eBay. 


This is the machine that they print our invites on! OOOOH!


 Voila! Our invitation is being printed right before our eyes!


Then Larry took us upstairs to meet the Papa Bear Machine! Here he is, with his paper ready to go! 




And here are all the irresistible shiny buttons you press to make Papa Bear run!



I nerded out a little bit but so cool! right!?

x-Stef







...Fashion Drugs - A Healthy Addiction - Kelsy the Blonde Bad Ass

This weeks muse is Kelsy! She is a fellow NYC blonde who works as a hair stylist slicing up some bomb hair cuts at Cutler Salon. She did this to me... 
Kelsy did the hair and of course Betsey did the rest!

When Betsey and I went to the New York City Ballet gala, Kelsy was the hair stylist recommended to me by my good friend and hair artist, Peter Gray. The end result was perfect and since then I have been trusting Kelsy "do" me right. Since Kelsy has so much style with the "complex fibers" I could not wait to see her Fashion Drugs picks. 

Enjoy

x-Stef

The Blonde Bombshell reincarnated, Kelsy!

My Personal Style

One thing I love about fashion is it's yours to explore and own! All yours. So I take full advantage of it. I never feel like an outfit is complete without that punch of the unlikely. Something to make people think a little. The edge of ugly and beautiful.. Perfect.

Outfit number #1:
So here's the deal. I LOVE androgyny . The fine line between feminine and masculine is a good one to be on. Get it right and you've got an original head turning look.. And, at the end of the day isnt it just too fun dressing like a boy?!

I'm not gonna hurt you baby..



#2 - Super girly pink dresses worn with a studded leather harness. Perfect.  Yes, here I am contradicting my feature pieces again. The love of oppositional harmony. How about super literal statements you ask? I say yes as well. Creating interesting outfits that makes people think. To me that's what's fashion is all about. Take as you will.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

...Shaping Up!

Which shape are you?


Isn't this funny, I found it when I was doing show research...

x-Stef

Sunday, August 14, 2011

...A Cheap Saturday In NYC

This weekend I set out to prove to myself that I did not have to "break the bank" in order to have a good time in New York City!

I began the day by downloading the Hipstamatic camera app on my iPhone ($1.99)

I always wanted to download this app but it seemed like such a guilty pleasure that I wanted a really good reason to buy it. After all, why spend the money on a day of frugality? These two dollars bought me a whole day worth of entertainment and all the pictures for this post!

My boyfriend Alex and I went to the Summer Streets event which is sponsored by NYC DOT, who closes down Park avenue from Central Park to the Brooklyn Bridge so that everyone and anyone can bike, run, walk, skateboard and roller blade down the famous ave. Sadly, thinking we would be able to get in on the free bike rentals they were offering, an hour wait to ride a bike did not seems so appealing. So we walked from 51st to 14th. Along the way we stopped in St. George's Thrift Shop near Gramercy Park where I bought this $9 pair of Lucite shoes.
Hipstamatic makes me have Frankenstein veins


The next place we stopped was the union square farmers market where we picked up some juicy peaches! ($2.00)


After doing the farmers market circuit, we stopped into Trader Joe's wine shop to pick up some really cheap wine. We got two bottles the low, low, low priced ($2.99) rose and the slightly higher priced ($3.99) Chardonnay.  We mixed the two together because one tasted like syrup and the other tasted like water. Anyway it did the trick!


After we mixed our wines, we got ready to go to Gini's house warming party! Where I really got to play with my new app.

Alex on the train reading the NY Times. He was reading the business section and I read an article about a Greek island called Hydra in the travel section of the Times.  $2.25 train ride later we arrived at Gini's new apartment...

Gini in her new house!

Me trying to be hip for the Hipstamatic.

Later that night I found $20 dollars on the ground at the Woods (a hip Williamsburg bar) that bought me and Alex a drink with $6 left over!

So let's do the math...

Hipstamatic app................................................- $1.99
Summer Streets.................................................- Free
Lucite Shoes.....................................................- $9.00
Union Square Farmers Market Peaches............- $2.00
Two Bottles of Trader Joe's wine.....................- $7.00
Train fare to Gini's new apartment....................- $2.25
Finding $20...................................................... +$20.00
Drinks at The Woods........................................- $14.00
$36.24 - $20.00 = $16.24

Pretty good! A great day and only $16.24 spent! 

x-Stef