5 Ways to Enjoy Fashion Week if You Aren't There

Note Dated Sept 2012: Today marks the start of New York Fashion Week. As you probably remember me saying (two days ago) that I won't be heading to NYC for Fashion week this Fall for a multitude of reasons. Part of me wants to sulk by myself, ignoring my Twitter feed full of #NYFW hashtags and bloggers living it up but most of me looooooves fashion and all that is new and shiny... so a girl has to be resourceful, and enjoy Fashion Week her own way.

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1. Attend your city's Fashions Night Out. Boston is in their second year, endorsed by the mayor, so take that! Newbury Street will be all a twitter this evening with store sales, salon events, demonstrations and tons of ladies in heels. Even in the 'burbs of Natick, we have this very classy mall that is celebrating with sales and champagne and close proximity, oh my! Check out if your closest city is celebrating and find the events that fit you best! * As of Sept 2013, FNO has been cancelled in many cities. My recommendation? Just go shopping. YAY!


2. Keep up with your favorite bloggers/fashionistas who are going to be in the city. I know of many who will actually be there so I live vicariously through them and their experiences. Some are newbies while others are considered fashion week veterans. Either way, you are getting a different look/experience from different viewpoints which is pretty cool if you think about it. My hot recommendations? I love Ty from Gorgeous in Grey, the girls from Honestly WTF and the folks from FashionIndie.

3.Watch Live Streams and follow Mercedes Benz Fashion Week's You Tube channel for some of your fave designers. Let's face it, you'll probably get a better view watching the videos than if you were crammed standing room only in the back of the tent.  Follow Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Instagram. No, I'm serious. What I want is the experience, not just the models walking down the runway in pretty clothes, although that is a big part of the draw. I want to see behind the scenes snapshots. Along those same lines, their Twitter and Facebook are great to follow so you don't miss these pics and other updates. 

4. Watch what your fave designers are doing. Check the official schedule so you know when to be ready for some fashion goodness. Your faves will likely be posting pics of pre-show rituals or models in hair/makeup. It's sort of exciting. I know I am looking most forward to Nanette Lepore, Tadashi Shoji, Prabal Gurung, Michael Kors and Rebecca Minkoff so you bet your babies that I know when their looks hit the hot runway. If I happen to be in a meeting or at bootcamp, I know I can go home, catch the video and then wait for the sweet, official images to emerge. Although it's not live and in person, I do still love that first instance I see something new! If you love fashion, you love fashion, people!

5. Buy a new pair of shoes. No matter how hard I try, I am still going to be a touch sad that I can't be in NYC, hustling and bustling, eating street meat and rocking my social media feeds like I was the coolest girl in the room. What makes me feel better? Shoes... and cheese. I think I will perhaps treat myself to some toe cap pumps this week.

If you aren't in NY and are mildly interested in fashion, how do you keep up with the designer lines?