Fashion's Night Out 2010

Eric and I spent the night out on the town Friday night, in a way that only New York can offer. We had another set of $10 Broadway play tickets, to see Brief Encounter at Studio 54. We bought these tickets months ago, without realizing that Friday night was Fashion's Night Out in New York.

But first, let me backtrack briefly. Our fashionable weekend actually began Thursday night, when we tried to take advantage of off-Broadway's current "20 At 20" promotion ($20 tickets 20 minutes before the show) to see Freud's Last Session. Unfortunately, we were just a few moments too late, and when we got to the front of the line they only had one ticket left. Bummer! But, we ended up having a great evening out anyway - we walked over to Lincoln Center and spent some time sitting by the fountain, and in other parts of the plaza. Fashion Week is taking place at Lincoln Center right now, so there was lots going on and it was fun to be amidst the action. Plus, I consider Lincoln Center at night to be one of the most beautiful places in New York, so it's never a bad time to spend an evening there.

I wish I could say we took this photo, but I found it online. Still, isn't Lincoln Center gorgeous?

Sitting by the fountain at Lincoln Center. The building behind me to the right is the Fashion Week setup.

Eric took a really fancy photo of me!

I tried to recreate Eric's fancy photography, but I'm just not quite as good.

So, Friday night was our play night, but when we started hearing about Fashion's Night out, we began to wish we had the night free to attend some of the festivities. Basically, Fashion's Night Out is a big event at all the fancy stores in SoHo and on Fifth Avenue. All these stores throw parties to lure people in - they give discounts on merchandise, provide free food and drinks, have DJs and celebrity appearances, and the designers often come out to their stores to join in the fun. As Eric and I heard more and more about what was going on at various stores, we started to wish our show tickets were for another night! But, we made plans to head out to Fifth Avenue before the play to take in a little bit of the fun before show time.

We got our first taste of what was to come as we walked past the Manolo Blahnik boutique, where crowds were already gathering in front of the store window to try to catch a glimpse of Manolo himself. We didn't stick around long enough to see him, but I did spend some time drooling over The Shoes that every Sex and the City fan knows so well:

Ahh...a shoe so beautiful, I nearly wept.

We continued on to the Armani Boutique on Fifth Avenue, where it was rumored that supermodel Bar Refaeli would be appearing. When we arrived things were still pretty quiet, but we perused the store (and admired dresses that would cost me half a month's rent) and sipped free champagne and snacked on free caviar. Hello, glamorous life. Perhaps if I had those Manolos on my feet, I could have died 100% happy right then and there.

Champagne and caviar in Armani

I tried to get Eric to buy this outfit, but I just couldn't make the sale.

We inquired about Bar's appearance and were told she wouldn't be appearing until 8:00 (show time! Oh no!), so we headed out in search of more fun. We had planned to hit up Bergdorf Goodman to watch a Canine Couture Fashion Show (see photos here), but the line to get in to Bergdorf was INSANE. So, we passed and headed over to Prada, where Dakota Fanning was hanging out and there was more free champagne and a DJ. Again, we admired the merchandise (and Eric felt some fur throw thing that was literally the softest thing that has ever existed) and sipped our champagne for a bit.

Dakota Fanning in Prada

Crowds in Prada

Eric touching the softest thing ever

Standing on the grass (yes, grass) in Prada, enjoying some champagne

Our next stop was Tiffany's, where they were debuting their new Tiffany Yellow Diamond Collection. They had a yellow carpet set up outside, Audrey Hepburn lookalikes galore, free lemonade, a free candy buffet, and a photobooth where you could have your picture taken and then shown on a big screen on the main floor of the store.

Doing my best red carpet pose on the Tiffany's yellow carpet

Eric with a couple Audreys

Enjoying some candy from the Tiffany's candy buffet

One of our photos from the photobooth

While we were there, we did the unthinkable - we decided to skip the Broadway play. GASP! SHOCK! HORROR! I cannot believe I ever agreed to such a decision, but we were having such a fun time on Fifth Avenue that we just didn't want to cut it short. I still feel guilty about it, even though we had a great night otherwise. I hope my theater-loving family does not disown me.

So, we continued on. Our timing was great to head back to Armani to try to catch Bar Refaeli, so that's where we went. There was a line, but it moved quickly and before we knew it, we met one of the most beautiful women in the world. Eric was overjoyed, of course. Apparently that whole "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Model" thing is appealing to men. Who knew? Personally, I was thrilled because she is dating Leonardo DiCaprio, who I was MAJORLY IN LOVE with in high school. I still wouldn't be sad if he wanted to take me out, either, so you know...this was the closest I have ever been to him and that was super exciting. Bar had Twittered that he would be joining her at Armani, but we didn't see him. I would have died if we did!

Eric and Bar

Bar suggested we do a "sexy pose." You know what's intimidating? Trying to do a "sexy pose" with one of the sexiest women in the world. I mean, she does sexy poses for a living. She wins.

Making kissy faces - it's almost like I'm puckering up with Leo, don't you think?

As soon as we had our pictures with Bar, we hurried over to the Michael Kors boutique on Madison Avenue for another event we had really wanted to see: Idina Menzel giving a free concert! Unfortunately, we were too late to get inside. There were just far too many people for the tiny boutique, so we watched/listened from outside the store. We were able to see and hear a little bit, so it was okay. (Michael Kors himself also sang with her a bit, too!) The best part, however, was when Idina and her oh-so-beautiful husband Taye Diggs left after the concert! They walked right past us, and had to stop and stand in the crowd for quite some time as they waited for their car. We got so close to them, and they were so nice to the fans - they were smiling and waving and signing autographs. It was really crowded, so I was impressed at how calm and friendly they were. Nice people!

Crowds gathered outside the Michael Kors boutique to hear Idina sing

Idina singing

Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel after the concert

Beautiful man.

After that, we just went back over to Fifth Avenue and wandered around a bit more. It was just fun to walk from store to store, checking out all they had to offer. Plus, the people were awesome, too - everyone was so done up! There was lots of awesome fashion to be seen.

A couple other notable things we saw:

In Louis Vuitton, there were some dancers on the stairs in the store, and a live window display featuring a man licking a Louis Vuitton bag. (I mean, how do you get that job? "Okay sir, we have your resume...now can we see you lick the merchandise?") After he licked the bag for a while, another person came out and did a little dance. Very weird.

Dancers in the Louis Vuitton store

Guy in the Louis Vuitton window, licking a bag

VIDEO: Louis Vuitton craziness for Fashion's Night Out

There were also live window displays at Escada.

Live models in the window

At Diesel, they had a live window display featuring Kenny, Laurel, Paula and Johanna of Real World/Road Rules Challenge fame.

Kenny and Laurel

Paula

Our last stop was Rockefeller Center for a quick pose on the red carpet, and a brief look at the band performing beneath Prometheus.

On the red carpet at Rockefeller Center

Band in Rockefeller Center

By then we were pretty exhausted, so we called it a night and went on home.

This ended up being such a fun event! I think we will definitely go again next year, but probably with a more well-thought-out plan. There was just so much to do and see, there is no way you could see it all and I'm sure we missed a lot of awesome things. Next year we'll do more research beforehand to find out what all is going on and where, so we can make a "Must Do" list. But even with our unorganized approach this year, we had a great time! What a fun New York event!