How I Ended Up in Vogue — My Journey to NYFW
How I Ended Up in Vogue -- My Journey to NYFW
A funny thing happened this week. After years and years of trying, finagling to be in the right place, working my connections to even be within breathing space of Anna Wintour, I found myself at a New York Fashion Week Vogue Party. Yes, that Vogue. The mecca of fashion editorials Vogue, the heart of New York Fashion Vogue, the bleeding center of all things Devil Wears Prada Vogue. And when one gets an invite to a Vogue Party, one goes.
I knew that I had to dress to the nines – the invite actually said, “DRESS CODE: Cocktail Chic | We love to see your personal style!” So, I decided to rock the #Barbiecore look inspired by Anne Hathaway and Valentino a few weeks earlier. I picked out three hot pink rentals from ARMOIRE, a Bottega Veneta bag from VIVRELLE and bought myself a very expensive pair of VALENTINO platform shoes. What I didn't expect, however, was to suddenly show up the next morning tagged in a photo on Vogue's Instagram for their Vogue World viewing party.
I just hid my Lululemon Bag o’ Birkenstocks under this couch.
How Did We End Up Here?
As the TikTok meme says, you're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. Sometimes these things just don't make sense. In this case, they kind of halfway did. This was a really nice bit of luck coupled with showing up to the right place at the right time coupled with YOUR GIRL J wearing a slamming outfit so they wanna photograph you. The journey to the invite started much longer ago. I basically based my entire New York Fashion Week off of AUSTEN TOSONE’S YouTube videos. She is a former editor and the absolute guru on all things social media influencing and freelance writing.
My second resource was the THE INFLUENCE COMMUNITY PODCAST hosted by absolute queens ALLYSA LARSON and DANIELLE GLANZ. In their podcast, they gave tangible tips on how to navigate NYFW, from getting invites to attending parties to making the most of your super-hectic week.
With these two epic resources in my back pocket, I sent out 31 pitches to design houses to get invites to shows and parties. Like a pro, I just slid it into the first few sentences that I’ve written for the TODAY SHOW and other publications, and hoped to get a response. I kept a simple Google Doc tracking each of the shows I asked to attend, their time and location, contact information and response. Of those 31, I got about 14 responses. Four were immediate NOs; 10 gave me a glimmer of hope. Then the Vogue World Viewing Party just showed up in my inbox one day!
The Journey to Vogue
Being my absolutely-not-first party in New York City, I knew how to handle the logistics. As a blogger and pro writer, I always promise to keep it #real for you. This is a science. I’ve attended a bazillion fancy parties and learned the tricks of the trade. Here’s how it went down.
I actually drove my car in (which has become my second closet through all of New York Fashion Week) and found a parking space on the West Side Highway. Hot Tip for those of you driving in New York City: Always go to the Far East or Far West sides. You'll find parking on the streets there. A few days earlier when I went to the meet up hosted by The Influence Community, I actually had to park in Soho and it cost me a cute little $72. So I was happy that the Vogue Party was at the Hotel Gansevoort!
As I parked my car, I was wearing a comfortable BCBG Max Azria dress, nude strapless Spanx and my fave white Birkenstocks. I finished writing an article in my car (yes, this is a thing that happens), grabbed my Vogue dress and shoes, stuffed them in a Lululemon bag and walked over to the Meatpacking District. I had once project-managed a Christmas party in the basement of the Gansevoort, so I knew exactly where to go. Hot Hot Hot tip for any of you who need a secret place to dress in Meatpacking (and please don't tell anyone about this because they will take it away from us): There is a more casual restaurant called the Chester inside the Gansevoort, but most people just go for brunch. There is a secret stairwell in the back that leads you to a row of private bathrooms. If you go in there you can do a full wardrobe change without anyone being the wiser.
After changing into my Vogue Outfit, I did the next logical step, which is doing a full photo shoot with some of the busboys in the hallway. Once they approved my outfit and we all felt confident about the shoot, I decided to go downstairs toward the elevators that take you up to the roof. And as with all my tips, you will be exceptionally nice to any service individual you come upon. They are the bread-and-butter of our community!!
My secret bathroom in the Meatpacking District.
Once I was inside it was pretty sparse at the beginning, but I do love getting to a party early. A great tip I learned on my blogger trip to France comes from ALLYSA LARSON: Everybody is nervous at an event and wants to be talked to – so be the person to introduce yourself. I did just that and it was the best move ever!! After stashing my Lululemon bag o’ Birkenstocks under a corner couch, I straightened my dress and introduced myself to the first cool person I saw. SAGE NICOLE CHAVIS and I became immediate best friends – discussing the differences between NYC and LA, the things we dread about Fashion Week, the beautiful sunset we were taking in on the Gansevoort Rooftop. Turns out she was not only an epic human being, she was actually handling PR for a candle company at the event, and wearing a fabulous vintage outfit. (As a writer you definitely want to meet PR people all the time!) She eventually took me over to the balcony, where we watched the Vogue World party from six stories above, and met NiCHOLAS BAILEY, a photographer who was also invited to the party. We caught him taking photos ON FILM of the Vogue World event happening on the streets below. The three of us had a really interesting conversation, then Nick taught us how to produce a photo shoot using the flashlight on an iPhone. We took turns using his camera, each being the model, photographer and lighting assistant, and laughing in between!
The fashion show had ended, we had Instagrammed it appropriately and now we were just having fun. And THAT’S when it happened. The pro photographers hired for the event walked by and said, “Do you want a photo?” The three of us looked at each other and immediately knew it was an internal HELL YES. I might have been a few cocktails in, but we pulled it together for the exactly-one-photo this woman took of us.
The party was starting to end, so Nick, Sage and I exchanged numbers and IG handles and went on our merry ways. I, of course, produced another solo photo shoot on the Meatpacking cobblestone, before hopping in an Uber to meet some other friends at the Refinery Rooftop in midtown. Yes, honey, it’s Fashion Week!
Where I Ended Up!
Now, listen, when all this goes down, every single person at the party is internally hoping we have a photo end up somewhere, somehow with a Vogue logo on it. Personally, my highest hope for the evening was to be sent a private link with 300 pics on it and get a mediocre photo of myself with some sort of logo on the bottom corner. So, when I checked Instagram in the morning and saw me tagged on the Vogue Club Instagram, I was in shock!! I immediately wrote Nick and Sage and they said they both got it by email, and to click the link to the article. And there it was: me, in my pink-on-pink glory photographed in an ARTICLE ON VOGUE.COM.
Yes, I ended up in Vogue! There were so many things that added up to me getting to be there, getting my pic taken and finding myself on Vogue’s website and IG. Sure, it’s just a picture, but it’s also a moment. A moment that I’ll cherish forever and laugh about when I (finally!) write for them one day. Because, as ANNA WINTOUR says, “Vogue is the best of everything that fashion can offer.”
And I’m happy to be one little blip on one little digital page of that best. — J
