NYFW: DAY TWO
Day two was an absolute blast. My call time for the Carolina Herrera market wasn’t until 4PM, so I had the entire day to gallivant around Manhattan.
I woke up early so I could fit everything I wanted to do into one day. I grabbed breakfast downstairs, made my version of the perfect hotel lobby coffee, and was on my merry way. First stop: 9AM Blank Street for a mf matcha. DUH. I drank it at the counter in about eight seconds and almost ordered another, but stopped myself from being horribly greedy.
My next adventure was heading to the Upper East Side and Central Park. I had never taken the train by myself before, and since I’m about to move to Chicago, I figured I might as well learn how. I did, in fact, go south instead of north for four stops before I noticed - but I learned! I popped out right in front of Central Park. The air was crisp, people were bustling around me, and I felt like I was in a movie about New York. No joke.
I walked through Central Park, making my way up to the Upper East Side to drop into Ralph’s. If you’ve never been, you absolutely should - they have a security guard seat you. I was VIP af. I ordered a cortado and a croissant with jam and butter. When I asked for the check, he came over and told me not to worry about it and that he covered it. WHAT?! Unreal.
After that, I was buzzing - because only in NYC would something like that happen. I left and made my way back through Central Park toward The Met. I hung out on the stairs for a bit like Blair and Serena before deciding to fully entertain the idea of shopping along Fifth Ave. I walked about five miles, eventually looping back through Central Park and all the way to the Upper West Side, where I grabbed an iced coffee and hopped on the train to change before my call time.
Herrera’s market was about seven blocks uptown from my hotel, which made for a pleasant walk. I got scanned in through security and was immediately put to work. We had to memorize the looks on hangers in the showcase room (as seen below) and bring the looks back and forth from the dressing room to the showcase. At these markets, brands host their top clients and stylists to buy looks straight off the runway. Models are told to put on specific looks, and clients receive a personal presentation to decide which pieces to purchase.
It was the fastest three hours of my life. By the time it ended, we had dressed the same dress five different times on all four models. We celebrated the end of the day with champagne and joked about nothing and everything.
I was exhausted by the end of it. After heading home to clean up, I made my way to Ichiban - a Japanese salaryman ramen joint. I waited in line for about an hour before diving into a top-ten meal of my life. It was incredible, and the line was totally worth it. Exhausted and happy, I walked back to the hotel and passed out.
