Planes, Trains, and Armani Gowns

After the debacle that was the Golden Globes, we had the to contend with the Oscars We were all excited to see the couture collections at the end of January. We hoped that there would be some great gowns, and there were quite a few, but not as many as we were expecting. The gold paillette Armani prive gown was one of the first gowns that came to the studio and when we saw it we knew that it was special. But we needed so many more gowns, and we thought we were going to find them while at New York Fashion Week.

I love New York Fashion Week for many reasons, but mostly because we get to see new clothes. Fashion Week is like Christmas. Working for months and months with the same samples becomes boring, so when the new collections are shown, everything feels new again. We get excited about who is going to wear what. This year New York Fashion Week was scheduled extremely close to the Oscars, so we had to miss the last few days in order to come back to LA to prep the clients that were attending. On top of that, we had a cover shoot with Jen Garner. The plan was that Taylor would take care of the shoot and I would hunt for Oscar dresses with Rachel. Even though it appears that I was merely visiting designer showrooms, I was also pulling looks for the Jen Garner shoot directly from the designers and looking for party dresses to be sent back to LA. Always working!

There is some time for play though. So many of my close friends live in New York, so when I am there I always try to see them. Since Taylor was working so hard, I thought it would be fun if I organized a night out. Lorenzo, Maggie, Danielle, Annebet, and Stephanie are all really good friends of mine and I don't know what I would do without them (Annebet was featured last season as well). My friend was throwing an anniversary party for NEXT Models at Marquee and he was nice enough to ask me and my friends to stop by. We had the best night dancing and having fun. We ended up going all over the city, dancing the night away. Sooo good! It was exactly what Taylor and I needed.

I felt so bad when Taylor told me she was leaving New York. She flew all the way there and barely had any time to see or do anything other than pull from stores, which was a futile exercise in the end. She was right about the fact that she probably should've stayed in LA the entire time. The trip was a complete waste of time. Worse, she found out just after she got back to LA that the shoot was going to be mostly a beauty shoot, which means that the shots are very close up and the clothes are rarely seen. The most that is shown is maybe a sleeve or a strap. Apparently Rachel knew this all along but didn't tell either of us, more importantly Taylor. Considering Taylor was already frustrated and annoyed, it didn't help the situation. Oy!

Meeting Mr. Armani was such a surreal experience because he is such a legendary designer. He was so kind and sweet and his entire team was comprised of the most gracious people I have ever met. His niece Roberta is the essence of chic, refined elegance. She took my breath away! I kind of have a crush on her. Like Rachel says in the episode, "They are a well-oiled machine." No detail slips past them and they do everything in their power to accommodate any request. Such a treat!

We were so excited to hear that the trains for the gown were ready and that the Armani team was going to bring them to Rachel's hotel to see. When the model came out with the first train on, I knew it was not going to work, and that we were in trouble. My heart started beating so fast. I could feel Rachel realizing that her vision might not be the right solution. It was awful ... I knew that I had my work cut out for me.