local bloggers

Well, I left the home front behind Saturday morning and made my way to my first professional gig as a blogger! I was flattered to be included in Stanford Shopping Center’s blogger preview for their Fall fashion event, which is called Simon Fashion Now. I won’t lie and tell you I wasn’t totally stressed a bit about what to wear and more. Though after I met all the lovely fellow bloggers and the Simon people I was quite thrilled to be there!

Learning how they run it backstage from Jacque’.

We all loved their stylist’s Miu Miu sequin and stud tennis shoes!

 After meeting everyone, we got a special behind the scenes look at the clothes, models and hair and make-up. We even got to peruse the outfits put together by their stylist, making notes of what we wanted for ourselves and taking pics.

We all loved this leather dress from Bloomingdales, which they showed with a white chiffon blouse underneath. This coat from Rachel Roy was also very popular.

Anne Sage of The City Sage admiring the gold leather pants. And Jessica Ryzenberg, below of Ryzenberg On, checking out the racks backstage. As well as being nice, these ladies have amazing style blogs. You need to visit them!

Stylist Erica Sanae below also has a terrific site and Rommellyn with camera writes a blog called The Stunning Post.

And hey guess what I got to wear? I’m press, baby!!  No doing laundry today people.:)

First up we got to see the Design Wars fashion show from The Art Institute of California. It was Project Runway on a small scale. I loved seeing the student creations . There were a lot of very theatrical dresses. The winner was the dress with the full cream skirt and leather top.

The Bloomingdale’s runway presentation used many of our favorites from backstage racks.  The only thing this show was lacking was some happening music! I seriously love to hear some inspiring tunes during a fashion show. The items below all are from Bloomingdales. Some of the Fall/Winter trends I noticed on my favorites below..

Primary colors are deepening and paired with similar tones of the same hue. Mixing tones is so right now.

Peplums are still big.

Furla plastic satchel.

Leggings and layers.

Colored cords seem to have taken the place of colored jeans for Fall and in more muted versions of the primary colors.

Lots of tops and dresses with longer draped backs. Neon colors as a foil with black.

Black mixed with metallic tones and leather.

We loved this J brand jacket with leather sleeves. Wearing white jeans year round with wintery sweaters looks chic and seems to be the thing now.

Booties with dresses and skirts.

Tweeds and Chanel inspired jackets.

Men’s clothes have also seen some brightening. The dusky versions of primary tones look brilliant together. It’s a welcome change from the usual blue and browns.

Loved this look on him.

Simon did a great job with the fun interactive events. One was Ready, Set, Style! Contestants from the audience competed in two teams, to style an outfit on a model in a few minutes.  Really fun to watch and two of my fellow bloggers, Erica and Jessica helped out the stylish gals from the audience.

The results below. Not bad for a few minutes!

My takeaways from this show.. Leather can look pretty as trim on silky dresses and paired with soft, sheer blouses. Adding a bit to your closet will look current. If you want look smart,  you need a pair of short booties to wear with dresses, skinny jeans and leggings, preferably with a wedge. I would also get a scarf, bag, dress or a standout coat in one of those deep teals, reds, magentas, or mustards that are so fun.  To top it off, a tweedy Chanel-inspired jacket to pair with distressed jeans and you are set for the season.  I  believe in just adding a few chic pieces to your closet is all you really need to do. You have to pick what you like and what flatters you. Thanks to Simon Fashion for a wonderful day and getting local bloggers together. I truly feel so fortunate to have met so many inspiring and talented new friends.  Did this give you any inspiration for Fall and Winter?  Have a great week! Kim

All photos Northerncalstyle.