Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Fashion Week


Here's How It Happened:

The Boyfriend knows an amazing, wonderful designer named Chyvonne who invited us to her very first Fashion Week runway show.

We'd just gotten home from dinner when he got the text message, having shared a bottle of red wine at our favorite Italian place, and so (in the midst of tipsy giggles), he asked her if she needed models.

And she said yes.

She asked me to send her photos ASAP, so I flew to the computer and sent her a few of these old head shots, taken for me by the super talented Keri Shean, and edited by the equally super talented Nicolina Dante.

The fact that I was able to resize the files while slightly drunk made me incredibly proud of myself.

And then my phone rang.

OHMIGOD DON'T SEEM DRUNK DON'T SEEM DRUNK DON'T SEEM DRUNK…

Nailed it.

And that's how I became a model for the Small Business Fashion Week show for the Fall/Winter 2014 Collection for ChyVonne.

The Photo Shoot:
I own the first four seasons of Project Runway on DVD, thank God, because I pretty much marathoned them until my pupils were so dilated I looked like my cat when there's a fly in the living room.

Let's not even think about how hard it is to walk in 5 inch heels. I mean, I've been walking for 27 years, but all of a sudden you stick heels on my feet and I look like an extra from Shaun of the Dead.

But one of the big perks of doing this show, whether I fall or not, was the photo shoot.

Check this shit OUT:

 
Between the photo shoot and the runway show, the most surprising part was how supportive and friendly all the other models were. There were a hefty number of girls who had never modeled before, so I didn't feel completely out of place, but the girls who had experience would give tips and words of encouragement. 

My dress was a little too long, so two of the girls taught me how to walk a runway while holding up the hem. You have to grab the skirt mid-thigh, fold it once (you can't just bunch it up in your fist) and kick the hem.  When you get to the end of the runway, you drop the hem for photos, and then pick it up again, and swish it around you as you turn so that you don't step on it on the way back. Seriously, it was like a four-step process and these two girls I had never met before, whose names I didn't even know, walked me through the whole thing before I went out on the runway.
Thank you, lovely ladies! For helping me to not fall on my ass!