When it comes to traveling at a moments notice, I have become the queen! I love that in my lingerie bags I travel with necessities as when I land, I hit the ground running between segments, swinging my brands and styling a client all while having my must haves tucked in my carry on! I am a believe that when packing, you need to know that you have some basics. The other evening, I went to Pamela Pekerman's Accessorize for Wellness which showed all the musts haves that we need to be fit and look great whether we're at the gym or simply running around with friends! She shared Yummie Tummie with us! As you know Yummie Tummie was founded by Heather Thompson who is currently on Bravo's Real Housewives of NY! She has such a cute personality and interestingly enough, when I was on HSN back in March I had a quick second to chat with her as Robert Verdi was on with his sunglass line, I went on next as the spokesperson for Sebago and then Heather was on chatting up Yummie Tummie. I always love seeing Robert outside of Fashion Week madness and Heather is every bit as gorge as you would suspect). I can say that I have been a fan of her shapewear for years and love the tank and pantie that was gifted! When I do segments, it's nice to know that you're always looking amazing and that whatever you've nibbled is not peaking out on camera!
When I'm not on camera or fitting into a very slim dress, I also love having my Commando underwear. These ensure that you don't have lines which is always pesky and not cute by any means! I'm also obsessed with the depth of Hollywood Fashion Secrets which has a huge line from tape to keep yourself in place, silicone cover ups and more - there are no excuses for a wardrobe malfunction! Finally, Cynthia Rowley is back again with her fabulous collaboration with Band-Aid available at Birchbox! Just in time for summer, we all find that we may have had a little too much summer fun and at least this lets us heal quick with fun colors!
Together, all of this fits in my lingerie bags which ensures that I never forget them! Lola Haze is known for their lingerie line; however, I never travel without my bag as I like to place my lingerie as well as must haves in my luggage!
Earlier this week - yes the one that was super rainy, windy and just annoying navigating around NYC all day long. I am someone who never likes to run around wearing wellies and wet things but there was no choice as I was very excited about heading over to someone that I definitely admire within my fave field - accessories! Pamela Pekerman hosted her 2nd Annual Accessorize for the Holidays event at Kimpton Hotel's Ink 48 (a fab sponsor). We didn't have to worry about raindrops as Pamela insured that one of her sponsors, Ford picked us up in cars to the hotel. It was a nice way to get ready for a cozy night in with friends, accessories, nibbles and bevvies. I arrived rocking dual animal prints, leggings, wellies, trench coat and fab scarf!
Once inside, we headed up to the Heaven Over Hell's Kitchen Suite where we had the option to enjoy getting our hair touched up as well as manis in a portion of the suite courtesy of Maria Bonita Spa. As everyone settled in and enjoyed nibbles and bevvies, we were introduced to Pamela Pekerman's holiday picks (above she takes a picture with one of her friends from The Real Housewives of NY, Romona Singer who also brought her daughter along for the fun) which were focused on us getting ready to travel home and getting ready to enjoy the holidays with friends and family. We were introduced to fab Swarovski bling from Chelsea Taylor which I have had the pleasure of wearing for my appearances on HSN as I love to add a little sparkle which you can as well when you're at home with a fab brooch, ring and more (they even have water bottles that are blinged out).
In addition to loving a bit of bling, it's absolutely necessary to have a scarf - not just for cold weather, it looks amazing to have just a pop of color while keeping your neck cool! I have been living in my Olsen Europe scarf in ombre which looks so luxe and has been getting so many compliments! It comes in a number of colors as well as styles so you'll find the perfect one that works for your look. When it comes to finding your style, it's all about color so I love that Pamela introduced us to a site where you can shop by category but more importantly, you're favorite hue! Colour Me is the perfect site for the times when you're super particular on getting that shade but want to see all the available options!
My FAVE FAVE FAVE item of the night was from The Chick on the Go! Interestingly enough, Pamela joked that I needed this since I am always going on air and I was one of a few people that won an entire collection. This fab brand has a kit which has 5 garments and 2 accessories in it and a card that shows how you can make 25 outfits - (includes black pants, white long sleeve top, white tank, black tank dress, black poncho and a sash in white as well as black) within a case and is $289 total. I love the fact that it travels well and ensures that you can make everything fit in your bag when you're traveling which is nice as it can go over your head on your flight. As you think about traveling via your favorite airline, Travalo allows you to pump your favorite fragrance into this atomizer without dripping everywhere and this TSA 3 fl oz container ensures that you can take your scents with you.
Finally it's all about the look and we ended the night with Franco Sarto boots which elongate the leg, are comfortable and are staple as the weather goes from crisp to chilly! In addition TJ Maxx and Marshall's completed the night as they are a great way to obtain various on trend and designer looks from attire, body and home which is essential for all of your personal touches!
Definitely take some time to look at all the images photographed by Shawn Punch from the event which gives you a 360 of everything from participating brands, fab touches of the events, editors and more!
Above are images from the Robert Verdi gifting suite where I launched Kimmie Smith x Sebago Spring 12 by chatting it up with Verdi himself, chit chatting with Nigel Barker (ANTM and phenom photographer - his wife is super cute), my 4th Anniversary of Kitten Lounge party at Shobha, my appearances on HSN prior to NYFW, inclusion within Cosmo for my Get Palladium Pretty campaign and co-hosting Fashion Night Out with Ted Rossi at Henri Bendel.
In doing this post, I feel like I am doing those "What I did over my summer vacation" write ups that we all had to do when we were in school. I remember that one summer was super uneventful and I literally worried about what I would present! But as we're enjoying the fall that has blown into NY (um Pumpkin Spiced lattes, light scarfs and cute layers - hello) I had to look at the 360 of Fashion Week and what it has meant for me in terms of coverage as well as my brand.
Regardless of who you are, Fashion Week for editors and such begins months in advance of the actual shows themselves. We spend a lot of time interacting with brands, their PR firms and related areas. These cultivated relationships, write ups and more result into us having access to the shows, backstage, parties etc which allows us to share with you what's going on. That has been my experience for the past 8 seasons. I cover a number of shows, presentations and lounges but this season took on a new significance due to projects that I had been working on for a number of months that all became public during SS12 NYFW!
Aug 28th - Sept 1st: Since NYFW in Feb of this year, I have appeared on HSN for Sebago as their spokesperson and days before the runways bustled with activity, I beat the hurricane to go to Tampa to present fall fashion within HSN Fall Showcase presented by Elle Magazine. It was a fun series of shows and I love that in terms of my styling, I wore SBS (Smart By Style) which launches in Spring 12 and as the face of the brand, it was amazing to wear them on air - then it was back on a plane home to NYC to do last minute preps and pulls for my appearances for NYFW!
Sept 7th: Although the season ran from Sept 8th - Sept 15th, I started it off with Robert Verdi's Chic Week Twitter Party where we officially launched and shared news about my Kimmie Smith x Spring 12 collection with a room full of my fellow blogger colleagues and press. It's always fun to chat it up with Robert Verdi and to give sneak peeks to people in the know! We streamed this as well so our virtual audience got in on the fun.
On the same day, newsstands had the October Issue of Cosmo Magazine and my Get Palladium Pretty campaign came out. I had shot the photos and the video in the beginning of August and if you go to Cosmopolitan's Facebook Page you can see the video I shot as well as find out how you can get an amazing piece as well. It's my second placement in the magazine as a member of the Beauty, Brains and Blogs Network that was created by the publishing team of Cosmo so being in the Sept issue and then having a huge page in Oct was huge and of course coming out during Fashion Week - I was thrilled! You can see everything here.
Sept 8th: On the first official day of Fashion Week, it was time to hit the shows and of course, that night it was Fashion's Night Out! I kicked this off at Henri Bendel with my dear friend and designer, Ted Rossi! We styled up fans of the brand and I provided amazing tips on how to look fabulously blinged out as he has been dressing me in python and Swarovski for years. It was the first time I did an FNO event and doing it at my accessory destination with a brand I have worn and loved for years was phenomenal! Kitten Lounge also did a Digital Fashion Night Out by selecting brands that we love that people could shop from throughout the day!
Sept 9th - Sept 11th: Although there has been a lot of activity, I'm only at day 2 and it's Friday. Fortunately, it was light enough that I was able to spend a few hours hanging out at the UGG Australia Showroom on their terrace for a post brunch to FNO (also I LOVE LOVE LOVE the slipper moccasins which kept me going in the evening when I was updating). We definitely needed it and I loved catching up with the Fashion Indie crew. You need a bit of a breather as many of my shows were falling on Sat and Sun and I wanted to be rested. In addition, over that weekend I hit a lot of the media lounges that took place which lets you know about in season or future product and of course, it's a great way to have catch up seasons. I ran into Verdi at the tents and we did a fun Pop Up Show with Robert Verdi talking Spring 12 Trends that you should keep an eye out for for First Comes Fashion - Fashion on the Go and we had one of my fave pop up guests, none other than Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson - Law & Order SVU) popped by too - she's gorge.
Sept 12th: Mon arrives and I'm running on the pure will to go forward as it's my birthday, I have a number of shows and presentations and I have my first Meet and Greet for my Kimmie Smith x Sebago Spring 12 collection at the Robert Verdi Luxe Lounge for Chic Week which takes place every NYFW! My shoes had been showing since the 8th but due to scheduling I could only come by on various days. It was such a great first day as I was able to see a number of buyers and celebs which I highly recommend checking out the gallery of images as Real Housewives Jill Zarin and Alex McCord (plus her hubby) came by, Nigel Barker (amaze photographer and judge on America's Next Top Model) popped in as well as a number of stylists and bloggers! It was amazing to see Shape, Elle and so many more come through as well. How did I celebrate my birthday - we headed to Pop Burger for Peach Cosmos, burgers and fries!
Sept 13th: It's Tuesday and I'm still going to shows, presentations, media lounges and spending a few hours chatting it up at my second Meet and Greet at Robert Verdi's We end the night having dinner with an amazing meal at The Red Cat with Adam, winemaker of Cupcake Vineyards.
Sept 14th: Wednesday, I have a few shows but that night, I had a fun Kitten Lounge NYFW 4th Anniversary Party at Shobha (where I get my brows threaded). This night was made possible by Shoba, Vita Coco, PopChips, Covergirl, Cosmo, Havaianas, Elizabeth Grant, Crest 3D White (I'm a brand ambassador for them - they are a must for me) and Birchbox - so much fun to have people swing by (read about it here). Earlier on this day, I saw that an article about myself and the merge of traditional and new media had been posted on Huffington Post Style (apart of AOL media) - so this was super amazing!
Sept 15th: It's Thursday and the last day of Fashion Week, so it's all about seeing the last shows and of course my final day at the Verdi Lounge to showcase my Spring 12 collection. By this time, sleep has definitely been a luxury and I have met so many people, brands and so much more that I can say that this is not only a successful season from a coverage standpoint but it is also successful for Kitten Lounge as well as the Kimmie Smith brand. Due to the coverage, we have received a lot of press and interest for upcoming projects and people finally get to see the items that I have been working on from my design line - SUCCESS. I also love that Shobha (which I'm a huge fan of) included me as a blogger/personality that is not only browlicious but my thoughts on Fashion Week and how I prep for it!
Sept 16th: That brings me to today - Fashion Week may have ended yesterday but now it's about making sure that everything was accurate on the coverage end, saying that you for the invites and of course following up on the items that involve my personal brand. We will be doing interviews about the shoe collection and my brand ambassadorship positions as well. In terms of what's next, it's about holiday at this point and I am already on the schedule to shoot an amazing video for a large beauty brand that has a tie in with a movie that will be released on DVD which is exciting. I'm already in the planning stages for designing yet another season and we're excited that it seems that Kitten Lounge will get a fun mention in a show that will be airing that covered Fashion Week - beyond thrilled. So the work continues and moves on but I'm so glad to have been apart of the hectic nature that is NYFW. Also a HUGE thanks to Natori, that dressed me for a number of my Meet and Greets - as I always know that her line makes me look phenomenal and she has fun cuts and prints that I adore! Stay in the loop with She's Kimmie.
We'll recap the weekend spent in DC as I'm currently prepping to make my way back to NYC! I was definitely inspired by a phenom Wine and Tapas restaurant that Paul and I went to in DC that was not too far from the Hotel Palomar within the Kimpton family of hotels! I loved that it served Mediterranean food and the decor had wine bottles everywhere! So you too can bring this super chic look into your home as well as finding fabulous pairings with your vino of choice! Whether you're like Real Housewives of NY's Romona who insists on Pinot Grigio being at the ready or you simply like to sample a number of them, your home will look fabulous with this Wine Hutch from Restoration Hardware. It's also super official that I am a huge fan of Horchow so I had to include this as well - the chair remind me of a Breakfast at Tiffany's chic sensability!
She's Kimmie is a virtual scrapbook and is the best way for fans of Kimmie to connect with her, see where she's heading next and of course to get fab insider info!
As an Accessories Expert, Kimmie appears on HSN, designs, is quoted/featured in various publications talking about style from an Accessories Forward perspective! To work with Kimmie or to see project portfolio, visit her site here.
Kimmie is the Co-Founder/Creative Director of Shoe Week which launched during NYFW Sept '12 and is styling a number of shows as well as having evening leading up to our second season of shows during NYFW Sept '13.
Co-Founder, Kimmie, connects brands with bloggers in intimate event settings via Style Tweetup.
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