Fashions Night Out was one of those great New York events that we just happened to stumble upon without any real planning. The very first Fashions Night out was held in September 2009, in which all the glamorous stores around the city open their doors and offer sales, celebrity appearances, food, drink, live music and various other promotions. Somehow, we didn't hear anything about this until the next year's event, in September 2010. Even then, I only heard about it after we had already purchased $10 preview tickets to a Broadway play for the same evening. What I was hearing about FNO sounded fun though, so we decided we would just leave early for our show and catch some of the action on Fifth Avenue before heading to the theater.
Well, we never made it to the theater. For the first (and probably only) time in my life, I voluntarily let Broadway tickets go to waste in favor of another event. We were just having too much fun to leave and go to a show. That night, we dined on caviar and champagne and then goofed off in a photo booth with Bar Refaeli at the Armani store. We browsed through Prada while sipping champagne as a DJ played music and Dakota Fanning hung out downstairs. We walked the yellow carpet at Tiffany's, posed for photos and hit up the free candy buffet. We caught what we could of a free Idina Menzel performance at Michael Kors, and then watched her and her handsome husband graciously fight through the crowds to make their exit. We admired strange window displays, many featuring live models (including one featuring cast members from the Real World/Road Rules Challenge). And of course, we posed on the red carpet at Rockefeller Center.
Fashions Night Out 2010
Top: Sipping champagne in Armani; posing with Bar Refaeli
Bottom: Free candy at Tiffany's; photobooth fun; Eric posing with Aubrey Hepburns at Tiffany's
Right: On the red carpet at Rockefeller Center
Since that first year, we have attended Fashions Night Out twice more. In 2011, my sister was in town. We did more wandering, celebrity searching, and drinking of free champagne, but it was much more crowded than the previous year so we were less successful.
Fashions Night Out 2011
Left: Posing in Fendi; Right: Free sparkling grape juice in Gap; on the red carpet at Rockefeller Center
In 2012, we took Ellie to be a part of the action. She looked quite the part of the baby fashionista in her polka dot dress, but given her early bedtime we did not stay out too late.
Fashions Night Out 2012
Top: Ellie and me on the red carpet at Rockefeller Center; posing for the paparazzi
Bottom: On the red carpet at Macy's; Ellie with her dad in Rockefeller Center
Although we certainly had fun at Fashions Night Out all three years we attended, none could quite match the awesomeness of the first one. Maybe it was that it was still new so not very crowded, maybe it was that we got lucky and got to do and see almost everything we wanted, maybe we drank more champagne than other years. Whatever the cause, that first Fashions Night Out has stuck out in our minds as one of our most amazing and unbelievably fun New York nights. I mean, you know it's good if I feel very little regret over giving up our Broadway tickets for something else! We just had such an unexpectedly fantastic good time, so much so that we have been unable to replicate it since. It was a perfect evening, and that is why Fashions Night Out 2010 is the one that has earned a spot on this countdown.
To read more about our Fashions Night Out fun, choose a year: 2010, 2011 or 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment