Life Before Selfies & Simple Times During Fashion Week

Igee Okafor and Liz Teich

top and pant: c/o Dana-Maxx // coat: Chaiken // shoes: Lela Rose for Payless // bag: c/o Cambridge Satchel // hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

When I attended—and actually worked on—fashion shows back in the tumbleweeds days of the tents at Bryant Park, it was show after show of nothing but designers’ collections of the season. It was a way for us to preview what was to come, make orders and plan editorial stories, etc.

There weren’t sponsors hanging around, doing shoegoer’s hair, serving them an endless supply of SmartWater and Diet Coke, and I even had to run over to ‘Wichcraft to grab a fruit salad for a designer which ended up uneaten. Models, they’re just like us, they would walk around in plain clothes and sans makeup between shows. I recall one even reading an actual book (remember those?) in the middle of Bryant Park. The closest thing to “street style” was getting a glimpse of what Anna Wintour wore while entering the front entrance. Cameras were only found inside photographing what was on the runway and maybe the four celebrities attending the show in the designers’ clothing. The biggest shocker is that I even wore red faux leather booties from Payless to one of my first shows.

On Emily Kammeyer: coat: Christian Siriano // top: Madewell // hat: Patricia Underwood // bracelets and necklace: E.Kammeyer On Liz Teich: sweater: Joseph // skirt: c/o Dana-Maxx // hat: c/o Tracy Watts // bag: Rebecca Minkoff all shoes: Sigerson Morrison

New York Fashion Week has become a completely different beast nowadays. It’s become quite a show. Whether you like it or not, it’s now about how the designers present their work (Alexander Wang created an uproar when he moved his show to Brooklyn and Alice + Olivia had this season’s show at an exclusive and creative location…stay tuned for more on that). It’s about who’s attending the shows—or even hanging around its newer venue of Lincoln Center.

At the very least, this new fashion week encourages creativity in how people dress. The wardrobe you see outside the tents is actually just as important when setting trends as what you see inside the tents. Can you believe people are already making predictions based on this past week (camel coats for fall!)?

I guess not all has changed. I even wore a pair of Payless shoes this time around. You can make my fashion week fancier, but I will always be a fan of mixing designer fashion with affordable pieces like a real person would/should.

With Blaire Brown

On Liz Teich: coat: Paul Smith // pants: Dolce & Gabbana via T.J.Maxx // sweater: c/o Dana-Maxx // belt: c/o Nona E. Rose // bag: c/o Alexander Wang

Liz Teich, Rachel Greenspan of Quarterlette and Rachel Sax, Quarterlette contributor and designer of Nona E. Rose

What do you think of what New York Fashion Week?