Fashion Week.  A place for designer’s ambitions, dreams and hard work to spill out onto a runway in front of an intense, anticipating public eye.  In front of other sweaty-palmed designers.  In front of Anna Wintour and Blake Lively’s mane.

Excuse me for sounding dramatic, but isn’t that what Fashion Week is all about?  Being dramatic? Based on my nightly routine of viewing pages and pages full of lustful fashion lines this week, that seems to be the case. In fact, it seems that Fashion Week exploded this season.  It exploded right on my face.  And now I’m left blinking at a screen full of lace, sheer fabrics, bold colors, drapery, fur and tribal makeup.

At first, I couldn’t decide if I was liking anything that was popping out from behind the curtain. It looked like MC Hammer and Lucille Ball barfed onto some fabric, smeared the regurgitated styles all over models with paint on their faces and let it go on a long strip of runway.  The chic, bold colors and ’40s-inspired ideas came together awkwardly and I was pursing my lips like Ms. Wintour.

But after taking a moment to sit back and appreciate the artwork, craftsmanship and deeply thought out designs and styles, I started to find some beautiful pieces.  And I. mean. beautiful. Then I started drooling. Then I started Googling ways to make a couple thousand dollars fast so I could get my hands on some of these things. Then I got scared about selling my eggs/body. Then I gave up and just got excited for these thoroughly anticipated clothes to hit the racks so I can window shop with that glazed over look in my eyes before I pop into Forever 21 for the knock-offs.

Ready for some Fashion Week porn? Here are a few of my favorite things that came down the runway this week: Read More »

Another New York Fashion Week has come and gone, and if it weren’t for the fact that London starts up just as it ends, I’d be spiraling into a deep pit of fashion depression, downing Chunky Monkey as I flipped through pictures of my favorite collections for the 47th time. I’m not crazy, I just feel like this year NYFW and I took our relationship to the next level. Though we’ve been doing long distance forever, the live-streaming of my favorite shows has been making it easier to cope. We even spent Valentine’s day together this year, with our dear friends, Betsey and Marc.

Yeah, it’s kinda serious.

While shopping for Fall clothes is still many months away, there is lots to look forward to once you hit the mall come August (despite what we originally expected/feared). Next fall will be far from drab, with lots of bright and neon colors. And the little red dress you rocked on Valentine’s Day appears to have some staying power, so hang onto it! Oh and if you’re sick of the horizontal stripe, have no fear; Marc Jacobs was all about the polka dots, so you may have a new simple pattern to hate next year.

With some designers looking to the post-war 1940s for inspiration and others drawing from the grunge era of the ’90s, fall fashion is going to be varied, fun and exciting. And I can’t wait! Wonder what you’ll be wearing on the first day of classes? Here’s a look at the biggest trends from Fall 2011 NYFW: Read More »

[While most of us are relying on photos and livestreams to get a glimpse of New York Fashion Week, some very lucky CollegeCandy writers were blessed with the opportunity to attend some of the biggest shows at Lincoln Center. Of course, they promised they'd share their experiences with everyone, so here is Melanie's first-hand account of one of the most anticipated shows of the week.]

What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than at New York Fashion Week? When boys fail, fashion rules. In the famous Lincoln Center Theater on February 14th, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week showcased the fashion show of the season from the iconic Betsey Johnson. Our friends at Rowenta treated us to an extra-special night of floral prints, celebrities galore, crazy kooky hair and catwalk cartwheels.

The show opened with dark eyed, gaunt models strutting their stuff in the “He Loves You Not” portion of the show. The hair was sleek and airbrushed with black lace patterns, and the clothes were deliciously pressed and witchy (thank god for the Rowenta steamers and irons backstage). The music blared, Jill Zarin texted on her Blackberry and Miss Jay silently nodded his approval as the gothic looks stormed down the runway. It was incredibly chic, sleek and dark. My MVPs? A long fur coat and a lace up dress.

It took all my power (and fear of the many security guards standing by) to keep me from jumping on the runway and tearing them off the models. Read More »

Taylor Lautner fans are crazy

Random stuff I don’t need but kinda want

Does Lady Gaga’s new song rip off Madonna?

Glitter and condoms: welcome to New York Fashion Week

Vanessa Hudgens has gone and sexed herself up

Child stars: where are they now?

20 VDAY gifts for your ex

At what point should you just dump a loser?

New York Fashion Week is the most unproductive 7 days of my year. Which is really saying something since I usually spend around 75 days a year in the fetal position willing away a massive hangover. Instead of doing the mountains of work that give me the stink-eye the moment I sit down at my desk every morning, I spend this most glamorous week poring over pictures of clothing from the best designers in the world. For hours. Every day.

I love seeing what new and innovative things they come up with, what new trends they’ve incorporated into their new lines, and what I’ll be wearing come Fall 2011….when Target/H&M/Kohl’s take their ideas and brings ‘em down to my broke-ass level.

And according to today’s “research,” it’s gonna be a frumpy fall. Like, hide yo wife and hide yo curves, frumpy. Gone are mini-skirts, cinched waists and bandage dresses. In their place? Shapeless frocks in patterns that look eerily similar to the drapes your grandma has hanging in her sitting room. Read More »

Here at CollegeCandy we like to consider ourselves quite the fashion go-to girls. I mean, we tell you where to shop, what to buy, and how to wear it. So it’s only right that today, the first day of Mercedes Benz Fall 2011 New York Fashion Week (gah, that’s a mouthful!), we offer you our two cents on what’s to come.

But not so much on the clothes themselves, or even the designers. We’ll leave that to the professionals. Instead we’d rather focus on everything else. So here’s what’s coming your way from the runways of New York over the next 7 days. Well, besides the great clothes, and the good looking guys, and the gorgeous models, that is.

1. The ugliest clothes you’ve ever seen. They’ll be hideous. Unflattering. Out of proportion. They will break every fashion rule that has ever been made. No one will ever wear them. And no one will ever want to. But for the entirety of Fashion Week people will rave about how brilliant the designers are, and how great the clothes look. And sure they will probably inspire some really cute outfits from some less than Fashion Week-worthy designers, but those clothes? The originals? Those won’t be worn again. Not even by Blair Waldorf. Read More »

Do you know what today is?

Yes, it’s Thursday.
But it’s not just any old Thursday. It’s the most fabulous Thursday of 2010.

It’s the first day of New York Fashion Week!

As we speak, the world’s biggest designers are putting the final touches on their ferosh spring 2011 looks, Rachel Zoe is going bananas over the Oscar looks she’ll inevitably find at the shows, Lindsay Lohan is waiting with baited breath to see if she’ll get any front row seats this year (I’m putting my money on no), and Anna Wintour is scouling from behind a pair of oversized sunglasses (standard).

Meanwhile, we’re busy living the slightly less glamorous life: writing the first papers of the year, getting back into the groove of seemingly endless homework assignments, or – if you’re as lucky as I am – studying for grad school admissions tests.

Let’s face it: the closest any of us college-going girls are going to get to this year’s Fashion Week is an impromptu clothing swap with our roommates. Read More »

Fashion Week and all its bittersweet glory has come and gone. The last Fashion Week to be shown at Bryant Park, designers pulled out all of the tricks under their sleeves to make it unforgettable.  The big white tents, made even whiter by the snow, brought new looks into the new decade that will be sure to translate into your wardrobe.  So what will you be wearing next fall? Read More »

After my incredible experience at New York Fashion Week this fall (I have a full-year internship in New York City), I became hooked. Luckily, my job in the beauty industry supported my newfound love for this high-energy event and scheduled me to work backstage at some of the biggest shows of the season. I’d only experienced Fashion Week from the front row (yeah, I’m a baller), but never behind-the-scenes, wrangling models and stylists alike.

It was truly an incredible experience. I had the opportunity to both work backstage and watch the shows. I got a truly unique perspective and learned some very interesting things about the goings on of fashion shows. Here are the five biggest things you don’t know about your favorite designers’ biggest events.

1. The models are people too (kinda).
The models actually are, for the most part, friendly. I know, it’s shocking. Some are rude, but generally they’re nice. They also eat. A lot. Before one show, I watched a group of these pin-thin girls eat mountains of Double-Stuf Oreos, gummy worms and cheese. Gross, right? I can’t decide if that makes me hate them more or a little less. At one show I was told there wasn’t enough food backstage. The models threw such a fit about it that the designer ended up ordering boxes of pizza for them. So yes, they eat. And they can read. And yes, they are very, very scary skinny. And a lot of them are super young, even as young as 15 or 16. Read More »

…and he looks good!

Alicia Keys talks about Lil Mama.

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Get 20% off on Felix Rey’s beautiful bags!

Mischa Barton’s lookin’ healthy!

Sneak peak at the new Harry Potter theme park!