The Fashionista Experience

The Fashionista Experience was such a wonderful experience! I was so excited for the party to get here, I was hurried while preparing for it on Saturday and now I'm sad that it's all over! I want another one! But you know what they say about too much of a good thing. . .

At any rate, fifty stylish and tres chic women descended upon the Conrad Hotel last Saturday to enjoy an evening of food, fun, camaraderie and SHOPPING. I did something really fun for the seating assignments. As the fashionistas checked in with my oh-so-charming hostesses, they were told: "Today you will be shopping at. . ." and this is how they were assigned tables. The centerpieces were classic shopping bags resting on a silver platter covered with bling/ice. So, if you were "shopping at Bond No. 9," then you sat at the Bond No. 9 table. Genius, huh? We had other great names such as Barney's, Kate Spade, Tiffany's, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Cole Haan, just to name a few. Those centerpieces were such a hit!

The highlight of the party was the personal fashion show presented by the charismatic Kathy Presley, a personal stylist at Nordstrom. She brought in tons and tons of clothes, shoes and accessories and walked us through the new looks and trends of 2008. Fashionistas were allowed to model the clothing and we even had one fashionista change clothes into the dress she wanted to purchase immediately! That was classic. We were also treated to a demonstration by a Bobbi Brown make-up artist and we learned how to use mascara on your lower lashes without getting it on your face (use a cosmetic sponge and place it under your lashes while applying--hmmmm). I scored that night with the cutest dress by Suzi Chin. I thought I did pretty good on my spending considering I had just bought three pairs of shoes in Nordstrom two days earlier.

I already posted about the delicious menu that we put together for this shindig and it did not disappoint. I think everyone's favorites were the coconut shrimp, the raspberry-flavored tea, the tomato bisque with the garlic cheese crostini and the chocolate mousse, of course. K Sherrie+Company gave away strawberry cupcakes as take home favors--which survived a "situation" right before the party. The bottom of one of the boxes that transported the cupcakes fell out!! We were able to save most of the cupcakes, though.

These are the looks that we found out will be au courant for Spring 2008:

The Gladiator

Primitive Prints

Organic Stones

Ornamentation

Natural Materials

Mixed Stack of Bangles

The Caftan

Safari Style

Exotic Rings

Handmade Details

I think I love it all--swoon! Without further ado, more photos. . .

And, my new dress. . .

I can't wait to get it in the mail. I would like to give a special thanks to all those who helped make this event a fabulous success: Kathy Presley, Monica Whitehead, Jeff and Jeff, Cristina Harris and the always excellent, wonderfully competent and supremely stylish K Sherrie team. What, oh, what, shall we do next??

Photo credits: Cristina Janee Photography, K Sherrie+Company