When I was outfit planning for NYFW, I really pushed myself to try trends I had never embraced before. I had seen fringe everywhere these past few months, and when I found this skirt at the Bloomingdales outlet, I knew I had to give it a shot because it was the only one left and in my size — if that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what is!

The hard part came when trying to find the right top to go with this skirt. Because it was so skin-tight, I wanted something loose and long enough to balance it out. After hunting around and finding absolutely nothing, I ended up shopping my own closet and finding this semi-sheer white number that worked perfectly with it. I was a little self-conscious about the semi-sheer material, though, so I layered on my biggest statement necklace to make me feel more “covered up”. As Tim Gunn says, make it work! 😉

You guys should really see some of the outtakes from this shoot; we apparently picked the wrong street because it was a wind tunnel! Actually, you know what? I think I’ll share some with you. Add me on Snapchat (username CLOSETLUXE) and later today I’ll post a couple for everyone to laugh at. 🙂

Alright, so let’s get down to why you’re really here:

How does one get invited to NYFW?

The truth is, if you are a budding blogger like me, there is no official invitation. You honestly just have to decide you are going, then book your flights! Melissa, Stacey and I decided back in April that we wanted to go, so we booked our flights right then and scored them for super cheap, $340 roundtrip! After that, it was all about planning.

Leading up to September, we created a media kit and professionally filmed a group introduction video. As soon as the NYFW schedule went online, we started emailing those pieces off like crazy to every PR agency and designer, letting them know that we would be in NYC and would like to attend their show if possible.

We used Google spreadsheets to keep track of people we had already emailed and still needed to contact. We also used it to keep track of responses we got back. All three of us were juggling day jobs, so keeping organized was absolutely essential. We sent out emails during our lunch breaks and night after night, after work. For a while, it really felt like we were working 2 full-time jobs, and while it was really hard, we did get quite a few invitations to shows and presentations!

So there you have it, that’s how one gets ‘invited’ to NYFW. More secrets and tips are still to come!

Outfit details

Top: Rachel Zoe
Skirt: Wow Couture (similar here)
Shoes: Sam Edelman (old)
Clutch: Kate Spade (old)
Necklace: Stella & Dot (old)
Rings: Chanel, Svelte Metals, Melinda Maria (old)
Bracelets: Stella & Dot, Jawbone UP2 activity tracker

Photographer: Emily Malan