Fashion Week: Fusion of Fashion and Dance

The Style Pointe fashion show invite intrigued me because I’ve danced for 12 years (ballet, tap, jazz, modern) and have always loved fashion.  Style Pointe melded ballet and modern dancers and choreographers with emerging fashion designers and proved to be an innovative and artful end to my New York Fashion Week.

Just to give you an idea of how the two worlds collided, the dancer/models walked on pointe (tippy toes) all the way up and down the runway with the usual confident blank faced stare.  But at the end of the runway where a model usually poses, the dancer surprised us with her own fantastic flare.  After watching a week’s full of fashion shows, this unique runway strut really caught my attention!  And I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if all top models were required to do a little dance-off at the end of their walk.  Pretty entertaining, I think!

This format allowed for you to take in the clothes and appreciate the fluidity and movement so much more so than your standard runway show.  The full production involved having ‘models’ appear on stage far longer than an average runway.  If you think about it, you really only get to see the clothes for a few seconds as it whizzes past you in a fabulous flurry on a normal catwalk.  But here, you got to view it prancing across, flipping above, and leaping to the runway which added a whole other level of excitement and anticipation.

And it seems the fashion world is starting to embrace this fusion of fashion with dance.  Opening Ceremony, hired the New York City Ballet dancers to strut incognito down their runways this season.  Their choreography centered around the idea of models falling down the runway

I love the element of surprise.  NYFW attendees sometimes need to be jolted out of their jaded attitudes.  The veteran fashionistas think they’ve seen it all.  Then they see a model fall (which elicits a group gasp).  Then they see another model fall in the same location.  Then they’re on the edge of their seats hoping it won’t happen again.  Then the next falling model gracefully transitions her fall into an epic dance move!?!?  Clever.  Very clever.

For those of you NY-ers who appreciate dance and fashion yet didn’t get an invite to these NYFW shows, don’t fret.  You can also view this new mix October 2nd-4th at Brookfield Place in Battery Park!  In a special event called ‘Move!’ Visionaire co-founder Cecilia Dean and noted writer David Colman, pairs artists with noted fashion designers to create one-of-a-kind experiences for the public to enjoy.   I don’t know about you but I’ve already marked my calendar for this one!

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Fab Fetes – How to create a White Party in 8 Easy Steps

White parties have a certain elegance and excitement surrounding them.  They signal summertime, celebrations and …P.Diddy.  And what’s cooler than P.Diddy?  I’ve waited years for P.Diddy’s white party invite but strangely, have yet to receive one so I decided it was time to host one!  I figured it would be a great chance to use all the white decor I already had lying around the house.  You know, the stuff my husband nags me about not using enough of i.e.cake plates, platters and other frivolous items that he doesn’t understand.  But other than trying to prove him wrong, I just wanted to bring people together and enjoy the last bit of summer.  Anyone who knows me I love finding a reason (any reason) to celebrate.  Extending and celebrating summer sounded like a good enough reason to celebrate as any!

I thought it would be cute to anniversary last year’s white themed play date in the park and invite moms and their kids.  Every mom appreciates a fun reason to dress-up and meet up elsewhere other than the usual park / playground.  This time though, the event would be more formalized, with a dinner spread and even florals and candles. (gettin’ fancy here!)

Here’s how to create a white party of your own:

1).  Ask guests to dress in all-white! The stricter you are with this requirement, The better the pictures and the better the ice-breaking.

Juliet would remind you not to forget to accessorize!

2). Feature white furniture and/or table linens (white gift wrap, contact paper, plastic table covers, sheets, drapes and blankets all work too!)

3).  Serve white beverages (We had sake, white wine, sparkling cider, white grape juice, and water)

The branded waters were repurposed sheets of party circles meant as cupcake toppers, designed by That Party Chick.

4).  Serve white foods and snacks.  I served sushi rolls, Japanese chicken and udon noodles, pork dumplings, cheese and crackers, white dip for veggies, and hummus with veggie chips, and popcorn). Kids’ white snacks included Mum Mums and Trader’s Joe’s cereal bars (both of which had white packaging and were served upright in clear vases).

Other non-white foods like the edamame and seaweed salad were served on white platters that showcased the Rocksbox promo code ‘FabGabBlog’ which all my guests were entitled to for a free month jewelry subscription.

5).  Have white desserts (For this party, I presented white frosted cupcakes, marshamellows, powdered sugar doughnut holes, white rock candy swizzle sticks, white yogurt covered raisins, animal crackers and white macaron puffs).

The white rock candy swizzle sticks were a hit amongst the kids!  But who doesn’t love these??

6). White decor -Besides my white ruffle linen, I brought down pillar candles and 3 silk hydrangea vases from my living room along with some white baroque frames and set them along the white marble communal table that was already at the rooftop terrace.

7).  Create a white photo backdrop – I set up a simple white banner backdrop with some cardstock and a strip of fuzzy white yarn found on clearance at Michael’s.  You could also hang white: balloons, Chinese lanterns, drape, crepe paper …the list goes on…

These besties were hamming it up for us!

For fun, I had some photo props for guests to use if they liked.

Get toddlers grouped together for a photo by sitting them atop a bench that is just high enough for them to not want to try and jump off.  I learned this terrific tip from my professional photographer friend who took half these photos for us, Gotham Love!

8).  For kids’ entertainment, I had asked parents to bring a silent toy or two that their kids wouldn’t mind sharing.  And I had a bubble maker and white blown – up balloons for them to play catch on – site for the kids.  But music (if the venue would have allowed) and games would have been great additional add-ons.  For our party, the WHITE noise of the waterfall and children’s laughter in the background was our music.

For the parents, I thought that a confessional round where each guest reveals a white lie they recently told would be fun too – maybe next time!

All in all, it was a memorable time and a fabulous chance to wear our whites one last time before summer officially ended!

Juliet is still talking about all the fun she had!

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