Geren Ford is a lesser-know label but his collection struck me right off because in a sea of crazy, he is making real-people clothes. I want to wear these clothes and on top of that, I have places to wear these clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE aspirational fashion (I wear stilettos in NY for heaven’s sake. I gotsta be crazy.) There are tons of basic blacks shoes at fashion week this year. I will share these with you, but then I will get to a particular standout from this collection: the jewelry.

But first, here are the shoes. I definitely like them; however I wouldn’t wear these shoes in NY. These suckers would get stuck in every grate from here to the Empire State Building.

Especially not these boots.

Cute they may be, but the poor model wearing them was obviously in pain as she stood on her elevated platform. She brought new meaning to The Agony of De-Feet (Da Dum Chsssssss).

So much so that at one point her knees buckled and she almost hit the floor with her skull. Fortunately, a nearby photographer caught her and, quite literally, averted disaster. I guess it’s one time the proximity of the paparazzi came in handy. As glamorous as it seems to be a model, sometimes it’s pretty dangerous. This is not the first model I have seen injured or nearly injured. It’s hard to fird perspective about someone who jets off to Milan and Paris to wear the most covetable clothes in the world.

So the jewelry at Geren Ford was lovely. It had a very rough rock-quartz, geometric look to it and I thought it was ab fab. It was provided by a small label called b-side by ken & dana. You can check out their website here. Statement jewelry is so the in thing right now and these pieces are awesome. Take a gander at the pieces from Geren Ford.

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A very prominent trend at fashion week this season was interesting hosiery. We were definitely in luck with the weather this year; the temperature was above freezing almost all week. However, hosiery (or tights, as the kids call them today) is the best way to deceive yourself into thinking that the little dress you’re wearing is actually warm.

On the runway at Carlos Campos, I saw some of the sexiest hosiery that’s been around in recent times:

I admit that the super shortie romper is not something that most women can pull off, but the hosiery would definitely make the wearer feel sexy, whether it was completely visible or not. Even looking at this still photo right now, I can see that the impact doesn’t transfer. In person, these suckers just radiated sensuality. There was an audible silence as all the men in the room collectively caught their breath when this model strutted down the runway.

At the Barbie runway show, (I know, I keep going back to that one, but it was FULL of material) we saw the be-hearted little girl princess tights that I know at least half of you had when you were young. Admit it! I’m on to you!

There were Wicked Witch of the East tights at Erin Featherston and pretty patterned paillettes at Custo Barcelona.

And those were just the tights on the runway! Off the runway, it was clear that the hosiery trend has already swept the New York fashion elite.

I’m am curious about whether this trend is New York-centric. I know that even outside fashion week, the streets of New York are littered with ladies in Jewel Toned and pattered tights. Not to mention the leggings (which are NOT pants, ladies) and stirrup tights that are all over the place. Is this trend prevalent where you live?

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It’s no mystery that at Fashion Week, the shoes worn by the editrixes, bloggers, and other assorted fashionistas can be just as fabulous, if not even better than what we’re seeing on the runway. Who do you think actually goes and buys those shoes anyway? So this is going to be a completely covetable, drool-worthy photo essay of Fashion Week Shoes: Off the Runway.

Let’s set the stage. Picture yourself at the Bryant Part. You are surrounded by fashionable folk and hangers on. Photographers hang out by all the entrances smoking and cracking jokes. Masses of people line the front and back of the tents, hoping to catch a glimpse of a famous person or to slip by security. You are not concerned with this as you blithely bypass security and stroll into the Tents. Since Fashion Week is Barbie themed this year, the first thing you see is the giant barbie sign. Each letter filled with Barbie in her many different iterations:

There are life-size barbies standing in a field of (real!) pink painted apples.

Are you getting into the mood?

Now check out the fabulous shoes that are literally just standing around:

Ok so these are not the gorgeous spiky Christian Louboutin for Rodarte heels that Rachel Weisz wore on the October cover of Vogue, BUT I was still pretty impressed that these lookalikes were being worn in public by a (regular?) person.

Red Hot Hoofers wander around, waiting for their close-up Mr. DeMille.

Studded Gladiator Sandals with cuffed jeans? Is that Katie Holmes? (Sadly, no. But her influence is clear.)

Furry Fabulosity! It may have been 45 degrees outside, but arctic fashion is SO in right now

Cut-outs are fun! (Well, the girl on the left was having fun. She was pretty agile in those booties. But the girl on the right was literally being completely held up by her date. She could not move on her own!

All Around Cool

I hope you have enjoyed my little Fashion Week photo story. May the shoe gods smile down on you!

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It may be a madhouse, but Shoe Mania in Union Square in New York was a goldmine when I visited it last week. To be found were Via Spiga, Steve Madden, Frye, Michael Kors and others galore. All sales final. 50 percent crazy sale, indeed!

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Do you know what I have seen a lot of this Fashion Week season in New York, London, and Milan? Snakeskin shoes. Most of it has been fairly subtle: the texture has added an extra dimension to many of fine pair of footwear, but snakeskin coloring has been relatively scarce. Well, look no more! At Baby Phat, if you are going to do snakeskin, you are going to do it all the way.

Most of the looks in the show featured either a 70s, Austin Powers feel (the Heather Graham version, not the Elizabeth Hurley) or a luxurious Egyptian Queen motif. There was a lot of gold, a lot, of sparkle, and a lot of skin. The shoes were high and they were hot. Python trimmed in gold and bright bits of color. Here are some exclusive backstage shots.

These snazzy snakeskin heels were worn by the model that I worked with backstage. (The charming Hollis – check her out here)

This model is waiting to go on (and waiting and waiting – the show was announced as “starting” 3 times over the course of an hour)

And here it some more formal footwear. I love that pop of pink!

There was a very unusual vibe backstage at Baby Phat, during New York Fashion Week. I have worked at many many shows and I usually find that the primary overarching emotions are stress and outright exhaustion, especially in the models at the end of the week. The stylists and and Baby Phat folk were certainly stressed out (if you work for Kimora, I’m betting your anxiety is off the charts right before a show), but the models were surprisingly chill. There was music, there was laughter, there were many models laughing about the sheer quantity of skin they would soon be exhibiting before the world. The backstage area was dark and strobe lights from the runway filtered through as the base reverberated through the floors causing the clothing racks to rattle. So let’s see, loud music+dark, crowded room+pretty girls in tiny clothing = nightclub. So the verdict: All in all, it was pretty cool.

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