FASHION’S NIGHT OUT

Happy New York Fashion Week, Style Solutions readers!

One of my favorite weeks of the year has arrived, and to kick off the first day of shows is the fourth annual Fashion’s Night Out. Prepare your heels for shop ’til you drop mode, because the list of participating stores in this haute worldwide shindig goes on and on with over 500 cities in 19 countries.

But NYC runs FNO best with stores staying open late, incredible celebrity personal appearances, shopping extravaganzas, and food du jour that brings so much hype to the city– even the Empire State Building is participating by lighting up FNO State of Mind style.

Follow my guide for a fun, fashionable, yummy and celeb-spotting evening.

Celebrities: Meet Kate Upton (6-11pm) at Michael Kors, 667 Maduson Avenue UES style, Kim Kardashian (6-11pm) at Lord & Taylor, 424 5th Avenue to promote her new fragrance, True Reflection-if the crow’d a bit too much, head upstairs to chat fashion with “Project Runway” alums, who will be celebrating the reality series’ 10th year-, Oscar de la Renta, Darren Kris and Vanessa Carlton (6-10pm) at Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 5th Avenue for a fragrance launch, Glee cutie spotting, and great tunes, DVF, Solange Knowles and Allison Williams at DVF Meatpacking, 874 Washington Street for complimentary makeovers provided by MAC, a meet-up with the legendary dress maker, and more, and last but not least Cyndi Lauper (7:30-11pm)at Manolo Blahnik, 31 West 54th street for some girly fun Sex and the City style.

Beauty events: Meet Teen Vogue‘s Eva Chen (6pm) along with Clinique’s Global Education Manager Kelly Summers at Bloomingdales, 100 Third Avenue, Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig of Marchesa at Sephora (7:30pm), 597 FIfth Avenue for their new scent Marchesa Parfum D’extase, Rebecca Minkoff at Saks for a ponytail bar, smokey eye station, nail art haven, and make your own “arm party”, Suno designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty for free custom print manicures wild print style from Minx Nails while having hairstylist Edward Tricomi (my hair salon!) trim your hair and getting a temporary tattoo from Rihanna’s ink expert. Lastly, this one’s so good that you need tickets! Gucci Westman (6pm), Revlon’s Global Artistic Director and wife of Rag & Bone’s David Neville will be giving personal consultations along with manicures by celebrity manicurist Jin Soon at 40 Bethune Street.

Food: Blackberry gelato pops at Jo Malone 946 Madison Avenue, 6pm, Georgetown Cupcakes and the Teaologist at Molton Brown 128 Spring Street, 6pm, Saint Ambreous at Brunello Cucinelli Gossip Girl style 683 Madison Avenue, 6pm, and a fish and chips truck at Ted Baker 585 Fifth Avenue, 6pm.

By the way, make sure to grab a FNO t-shirt! You can also order them online here.

with style,

S

Refreshingly Mint

Summer is a season full of beach days, work days, barbecues, parties, and fashion.  During the week, I find myself needing to wear an outfit that transitions well from day to night, or has the ability to be worked with (without completely changing the outfit in its entirety).

A piece of clothing that is a “Sydney basic” during every season is a boyfriend blazer.  I love boyfriend blazers because I find them to be effortlessly chic, sophisticated, cool, and flattering.  I can wear them over tight dresses when I’m feeling extra fit after an intense SoulCycle class, or when I’m feeling extra big on a not-so-fit day.  They are also great for when you need an outfit that is sophisticated enough for the office, yet can be edited for a fun night on the town. Kim Kardashian is a boyfriend blazer master.

All in all, boyfriend blazers are great basics to have in your closet, and most of us have ones that are black mainly because they go with everything.  However, sometimes we find ourselves needing a little change during the summer: a lighter, and more colorful change.  Topshop just came out with a cool, light, and refreshing ‘Mint Linen Blazer‘ that is perfect for day and night.

I love this blazer because the material is perfect for those hot summer days, and is in a color that is easy to match with blacks, whites, and neutrals.  During the day, the blazer will look great with white linen shorts, a white tank, white wedges, a silver tote, and white round sunglasses.  For night, go for a darker look with black shorts, a black tank,  black sky-high platform pumps, a metallic silver clutch, long hanging earrings, a chunky cocktail ring, and bold, smokey eyes.

This Topshop blazer is as refreshing as a scoop of mint-chocolate chip ice cream, and is available on Topshop.com for $120.  Check it out.

Going Green, With An Accent Of Purple, For St. Patrick’s Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  NYC is one wild and green mess today, but silly and fun at the same time.  I woke up to sounds of drums and other marching-band instruments coming from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, in addition to lots of screams from the ever-so-green crowd.

Everyone likes St. Patrick’s Day for a different reason: some may like it for the traditional corn beef, cabbage, and Irish soda-bread meal with lots of alcohol, while others may like it for the parade.  I, however, like it for a completely different reason: I like to see the crazy variations of green outfits along the streets. (In photo: crowd of “green-oufiters” watching the parade)

Green wigs, green blazers, green leggings, and green sunglasses are some of the clothing and accessories that I spotted throughout my whereabouts today.  Some of the outfits were funny, while others were just plain hideous.  I’m all for being festive and showing festivity through clothing, but there’s a way to do so in a chic way like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian do in the photo above.

To achieve a festive yet chic St. Patrick’s Day themed look, don’t just stick to green: combine green with another color to balance it out (how about purple?).  Topshop recently came out with an adorable ‘green paisley-print waist blouse‘ that is perfect for St. Patricks Day.

Wear this blouse with black leggings, black suede wedges, a black leather purse with silver or gold hardware, and a purple and green cocktail ring.  For makeup, go all out with purple nails and a smidgen of purple and silver eyeshadow.   Because it’s warm out, all you need over the blouse is a light leather jacket.

The Topshop blouse is available for $80 on Topshop.com.  Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day, and indulge on some traditional St. Patrick’s Day food!

My Favorite Looks From The Grammys

Kourtney & Kim Take New York

What an evening last night was!  The Steelers won against The Jets at Heinz Field, a devastating loss for New Yorkers, and are going to play in the Super Bowl in Dallas, Texas in just over a week.  In case you don’t know yet, the Black Eyed Peas are playing during halftime, which is going to be a great performance-so excited.  After the game that determined which team would be competing against the Green Bay Packers, the season premiere of a show that I have been looking forward to followed right after: Kourtney & Kim Take New York.

Goodbye California and Miami, and hello New York City: the oldest Kardashian sisters, minus one (Khloe), has taken the streets of The Big Apple.  The Kardashian’s are the most watched, loved, and obsessed with family on television, but specifically Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe.  How could you not be obsessed with the “Three Musketeers”?  You’ve got the gorgeous Armenian goddess, the mother/business woman, and the newly wed.  Somehow, you find yourself being able to relate to one of the sisters, whether that means pushing off a guy, having a baby with someone you’re not married to, or having curves, plus more.

There are a few outfits that Kourtney and Kim have either fashioned on last night’s premiere or have been seen wearing that I’ve either loved, or hated while in NYC.  On the left, you can see Kourtney fashioning this long and dramatic skirt topped off with a fur shrug and a high bun.  I have to say, not a great fashion moment for Kourt.  Kim, however, rocked the black pencil skirt with black feathers below, a simple white button-down, and a gold belt with black platforms.  Although Kim’s outfit is better, the sisters look a little too “cha-cha” for my liking.

In this photo, you can see a better, chic, and simple NYC street look.  Kourtney fashions a navy-blue double-breasted coat with knee-high boots and a bright purse.  Kim fashions an all-black outfit but adds some color with her camel Birkin and light-brown fur vest.

Kim and Kourtney haven’t made my top fashion list yet, but hopefully they will in the upcoming episodes of Kourtney & Kim Take New York, because I really do enjoy watching the sisters on E!  What do you think of Kim and Kourtney’s outfits?  Check out Kourtney & Kim Take New York on Sundays on E! at 10pm Eastern.

Who’s Your Favorite Dash Doll?

When I was waiting in line to get into Dash, almost every person was debating as to who was their favorite Dash doll.  Who’s yours?  Kim, Kourtney, or Khloe?  Vote!

Spotted: The Kardashians and Gossip Girl Cast

What a day today was!  Here was my original plan: get up, go to math class, change my clothes (into my Torn by Ronny Kobo (from Intermix) Chanel-looking jacket), and meet Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian.  Some of the plan was accomplished while other parts were not, but boy were there exciting add ons that I least expected.

As I walked in the door of my building, I noticed a familiar (gorgeous) face, one that looked so familiar.  It was Kevin Zegers, aka Damien, Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) from Gossip Girl‘s drug dealer ex-boyfriend.  I turned the other way, and there was the majority of the cast (Blake Lively, Kevin Zegers, Leighton Meester, Connor Paola, and my favorite Chace Crawford) shooting for a new episode.  I was able to get snapshots of some of the cast while filming.

(In photo: Kourtney Kardashian). Although I was tempted to stay at the Gossip Girl filming, I had to run off to the Kardashian book signing for the sister’s new book, Kardashian Konfidential, which was my main priority of the day.  I’ve gone to book signings before at this specific Barnes and Nobles location on 46th and 5th (like when I went to the Rihanna one), and every person in line always had the ability to meet the author.  I even bought my book in advance, yet after 200 people, no one else was able to meet the Kardashians, one of which was me.  Even though it was extremely frustrating that I wouldn’t be able to meet the sisters, I was able to see them walk in and take some photos of them (which mostly came out blurry) while meeting one of the millionaires from Millionaire Matchmaker (I will be blogging about him tomorrow).  Despite the lack of organization at this book signing, the sisters looked beautiful and I am still Kardashian obsessed and love their book.  The book is a walk into their lives and has an amazing chapter called Stylin which talks about each of the girl’s advice on how to dress, their must-haves, a dress-to-impress shopping checklist, how to organize your closet, rules of style, and how to strike a pose – it’s great. The book is $28.99 and is available at Barnes and  Noble.

Today was a hectic yet fun day, and it was so exciting to get a glimpse of the Kardashians and  Gossip Girl Cast.  Don’t forget that tonight is the lighting of the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center.  Catch the Lighting on NBC tonight at 8:00 PM.