Rookies Guide to New York Fashion Week

Having attended my first New York Fashion Week, I wanted to share some of the things that I learned and the things that I would do differently next time around. I went on my own, without a sponsor, and managed to see tons of shows in person so here are some of my tips, tricks, and ideas surrounding attending Fashion Week in person.

Getting to Fashion Week

And I mean getting to Fashion Week beyond buying a plane ticket. As NYFW is a closed event, it means that you need invites from each designer’s PR Company to even get into the venues. This means doing your homework to find the correct PR agency and email for each designer you would like to see. It’s time consuming work but a little Internet digging will give you all the information you need to know. Once you have contacted each designer, then comes the waiting game. Many of the shows are in small venues, so guest lists are meticulous and many biggest designers don’t let newbies in. However as space opens up and RSVPs are returned, many designers will go down the list with last minute invites or space in their standing room section, so don’t be discouraged if you only have a small number of invites initially. Many may come the day or two before the actual show.

Where to Stay

Fashion Week takes place all over the west side of town between 33^rd street and Soho. The fashionable and well established will probably stay somewhere near there. However for us rookies out there, consider staying in a less fashionable neighborhood. Look in neighborhoods that generally cater to students. Upper West Side has many options for hotels in the area around Columbia or in Greenwich Village around New York University. Another idea would be to look for deals with hotels on sites like Groupon as you may luck out and get to stay in a nicer place without spending as much.

Getting Around

Ubers and cabs are for the rich, famous, and established. However for the Fashion Week Rookie, the New York Subway system is the way to go. Plus between the various venues, you will rack up quite the bill on cars so to save both time and money I recommend an unlimited metro card. This way you can quickly hop on a train in between venues without worrying about refilling.

What to Pack

This is Fashion Week so it’s implied that you need to bring you’re A-game. You should definitely plan out our outfits by day and by event however I would also advise to bring other options in case of inclement weather. Total downpour and plenty of thunder and lightening accompanied the first two days of Fashion Week. I talked to many people who had planned on wearing leather or suede those days and had to last minute change what they were wearing, which threw the rest of their week out of sync outfit wise or caused them to repeat outfits (gasp! The horror!)

Heels, High and Low

Many of us ladies feel our most glamorous in a pair of killer heels but don’t forget to pack a pair of flats. With running in between venues and to events, you should really save your feet for when you most need them to be in heels. I started calling this the ‘Fashion Week Hustle’ as I would wear a cute pair of flats on my way to a event, then once I was a block or two away I would pull out a pair of heels and swap out my shoes. This was especially helpful on the days when it rained and I didn’t want my shoes getting ruined. I also recommend that you stock up on band-aids and anything you need to make your shoes more comfortable. All my shoes required the addition of heel padding to keep them from slipping around and causing blisters.

Did you follow New York Fashion Week from near or far? Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know about my experience. I’m happy to share!

You can read more about some of the shows that I saw here and here