Surviving Fashion Week in Style

For most of us, September signals the start of fall and the time to go back to school ... but for New York's fashion crowd, this month means just one thing: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, when the city gets taken over by fashion shows, glammed-up parties, imposing black-clad guest list checkers and skinny girls decked out in sequined dresses no later than 9 a.m.

Thursday marked the end of this year's event -- a simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating week-long peek at what we'll be wearing next spring.

The Times are A-Changing

One big change this season was the introduction of M.A.C & Milk, an alternate show space in the trendy Meatpacking District. A lot has been made of how commercial the main show location, the Bryant Park Tents, has become. It's hard to argue when McDonald's and Maybelline logos greet you at the door. That's why the M.A.C Cosmetics folks deserve huge kudos for coming up with another option. Their space, conveniently near chicster faves like Pastis and Jeffrey New York, felt sleek and stylish without being snooty, complete with comfy sofas and healthy natural snacks in case you arrived at a show early or wanted to gossip about it afterward with friends.

The Milk space hosted some of the week's most memorable shows by lines like Proenza Schouler and ADAM by Adam Lippes. In a season that featured a lot of extreme looks (think super-short gold pleated minis and enormous ballooned pants), Lippes's show was a refreshing collection of wearable (and pretty affordable) breezy separates. The styling for the show was similarly suited to real life.

"It's very healthy, polished, and rich," explained Romy Soleimani, who created the makeup look for the show. "There's an ease to Adam and to his clothes; I wanted the makeup to look like we're not trying too hard. Adam designs for that woman that always looks really pulled together in a really effortless way."

Alternative Style

M.A.C & Milk wasn't the only alternative space of this season's Fashion Week.  A few blocks away, STYLE360 hosted a large handful of shows, including Pink Dress Cancer Awareness, a collection of dresses donated by designers like Betsey Johnson and Nanette Lapore that will be auctioned off to benefit Susan B. Komen for the Cure. "Everyone's starting to see the benefits of looking to other venues," observed Al Silvestri, one of the space's organizers and a vice president at Hachette Filipacchi Media. "Designers should have choices - it shouldn't just be one stage and one stage only. And the designers get the benefit of being able to express their vision here the way they want it, with no real rules."

HauteLook, the discount designer website (because, let's be honest: what's more stylish than a bargain?), also hosted a handful of designer presentations in a large suite in the Bryant Park Hotel. Lily Rafii Band, whose adorable accessory line Felix Rey was shown in the suite, said that deciding to show there was a no-brainer.

"HauteLook did a great job with this space, so it was an easy decision," she raved. "And we're smack in the middle of the city and right across from the shows at Bryant Park. There are so many great spaces in New York – why not take advantage of it?"

Perhaps the most unlikely choice of show space came courtesy of John Patrick Organic, which showed its super-wearable collection of sustainably sourced clothes in, um, an old school steakhouse. Somehow the setting worked – and was just conveniently just a few blocks from the Bryant Park Tents – but we still hope attendees opted for locally-grown veggies for lunch afterwards instead of a T-bone steak. The presentation also included the week's best "feel good" gift bag: a refillable metal water bottle and a coupon for a cup of organic, artisanal ice cream.

Perhaps the best news for some fashionistas is that a couple shows could be seen in the ultimate alternative venue: their own home. Both Michael Kors and Isaac Mizrahi simulcast their shows online, so anyone could snag a front row seat (even on a shabby old sofa wearing pajamas). And, although it entailed actually leaving the house, anyone strolling through Soho yesterday could see Norma Kamali's collection, which was presented on a Soho sidewalk in what she dubbed "the democratization of fashion."

What to Wear, What to Wear ...

Still wondering what you'll be wearing next April? The shows included lots of sherbety colors, extra-short skirts and every shade of blue imaginable. The best shows weren't trendy per se but offered key pieces you could actually imagine investing in, like Michael Kors' gorgeous shifts or Phillip Lim's punchy red separates.

There was more Who would actually wear that? clothing than usual shown this season – like short silk shorts for daytime at multiple shows – and some truly memorable theatrical presentations, like Isaac Mizrahi's classy Fred Astaire-inspired show. All in all, Spring 2010 wasn't one of New York's strongest-ever collections of shows ... but there are still plenty of colorful goodies to look forward to in a few months, even if you'll be buying (like most of us) the H&M and Forever 21 interpretations instead of extra-pricey designer originals.

(Photo from Adam Lippes Fall 2009 fashion show by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for IMG)