Wear What When

Report: Fashion’s Night Out

Here’s what went down where we were at last night.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 09, 2011 at 01:15PM 2 Comments

Photo: Adria Saracino for The Emerald Closet

Slideshow: Seattle style blogger Adria Saracino from The Emerald Closet shared a few of her snaps from #FNOSea, as I’ve come to call it. Check her blog on Monday for more of her shots.

Though generally speaking I’d have to be categorized as anti-man bag, this fellow here is definitely an exception to my admittedly short-sighted ‘rule.’ I like that he’s just full-on owning it with this great clutch.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adria Saracino for The Emerald Closet

Slideshow: Seattle style blogger Adria Saracino from The Emerald Closet shared a few of her snaps from #FNOSea, as I’ve come to call it. Check her blog on Monday for more of her shots.

Though generally speaking I’d have to be categorized as anti-man bag, this fellow here is definitely an exception to my admittedly short-sighted ‘rule.’ I like that he’s just full-on owning it with this great clutch.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adria Saracino for The Emerald Closet

Love that Adria got a picture of this gal; I had seen her also but then she was gone by the time I crossed the street. It’s a completely agreeable look from top down; love the cropped tee.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adria Saracino for The Emerald Closet

If this woman wore those shoes all over downtown for the whole of Fashion’s Night Out, I’d like to buy her a cocktail. Get in touch, lady!

View Slideshow » Photo: Adria Saracino for The Emerald Closet

Somehow this captures the mood of the night, which really felt more like a ‘day,’ or at least an evening, owing to the gorgeous weather and the slightly surreal giddiness of shopping en masse.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adria Saracino for The Emerald Closet

Skirt length: past the knee. Let’s do this.

You know you’ve had a good time in downtown Seattle when your parking tab at Pacific Place is $26.

We definitely started Fashion’s Night Out early. We were checking in on shops like Nancy Meyer well before anything you would have called “Night,” but we had serious ground to cover and we were determined to make all the requisite stops.

And here’s the thing: making those stops, especially early on, afforded us the opportunity to chat with shopkeepers, not just about #FNOSea but about, well, life in general. And the block party aspect of the event—the whole get-to-know-your-local-retailers thing—is integral to what Fashion’s Night Out is all about.

Of course, FNO is also about a good time. Wherever we went, as we ran into friends and acquaintances, the first round of questions concerned where we’d been, what they were doing there, and what they were pouring. At Mario’s, for instance, it was vodka cocktails, spiked with a photobooth.

But just as important as the booze was the activity, celebration, and/or parade of fashion; what FNO’ers really wanted to know was where the action was. They were looking not just to shop but to do or see or partake—at Alhambra that meant watching as models in fresh fall gear posed rather valiantly in the First Ave windows, while all manner of passersby got up on the glass to inspect them. At Baby and Co. it meant wrapping up in a scarf-tying demo. At Barneys it was a party vibe with a DJ and inventive snacks; at Nordstrom, the savvy department was flooded with friend groups getting in on some newfangled, editable, digital step and repeat situation.

While there was plenty of good stuff going on, it wasn’t necessarily easy to sense the critical mass of it, simply because it just isn’t possible to be everywhere at once. Trucking from, say, First and Union to Sixth and Pike, you were bound to miss moments of retail bliss, sartorial celebration, and fashion-on-the-loose here and there. Even with our early start and extra hours built in, it wasn’t easy to get to all the stops let alone take some time to stop, shop, and enjoy them. And send up a few Tweets about it.

“Are you seeing lots of people? Is everyone here?” That was another thing we asked each other—only that too was difficult to gauge. Same reason.

Only solution: Next year, every single downtown retailer and restaurant stays open til 9 and we really turn this thing inside out. Or, maybe by then science will have made some progress on the whole being-two-places-at-once thing.

Still, when we wound up at MistralKitchen at the end of the night (have you had the Thai popcorn there? insane) there certainly weren’t any regrets. Sure, it would be cool to be in New York for FNO where the event kicks off New York Fashion Week (and $26 buys you twenty minutes of parking), but walking down Westlake last night and looking up at the moon in our uncluttered, clear blue-black sky, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.

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Tags: Mario's, Nordstrom, Barneys, Fashion's Night Out '11, Baby and Co.

Dress Code: Fashion’s Night Out

A group response to those who wrote in asking what to wear on Thursday September 8 to FNO.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 06, 2011 at 08:00AM 1 Comments

FNO: Not super dressy; no one’s getting married. Not too casual; this isn’t a random Saturday stroll through the mall. Maybe you can borrow Lauren Santo Domingo’s perfect cigarette pants and slightly sheer nude top? If you talk her out of that choker, you can leave probably leave your jacket at home, too.

Throughout the long weekend, after I posted my game plan for FNO, I got hit with several queries about what to wear this Thursday. I figured I’d frame my reply here; if I haven’t answered your message, consider this it.

Fashion is pageantry. We know this. Ancient civilizations, tribal communities, and pockets of specialized modern societies dress up to celebrate, recognize, show reverence, or otherwise parade beauty for the good of the clan, the climate, the culture, the harvest, the trade. The reasons are many, the results are the same: we put on our best, most vibrant, most immediately relevant and we go out into the world to appreciate the best, most vibrant, and immediately vibrant in others.

Fashion’s Night Out is pageantry too. It started in New York in 2009 as a way of revitalizing the retail community. Vogue headed up the campaign to shop and socialize in the name of the economy, the designers, and the industry, and the whole world caught on. So, in essence, Fashion’s Night Out in Downtown Seattle is not unlike, oh, say, Bumbershoot. Instead of standing in front of the bands we love, we’re wearing the designers and styles we admire and commune with like-minded spirits.

So the short answer is: Wear what you love. Wear what you’ll feel good trekking all over downtown Seattle in. Wear what makes you feel individual or wear what makes you feel a part of the whole. I know, I know, you wanted something more specific. Considering the season (so, is this summer?), the timing (let’s put the Night in FNO, shall we?), and the logistics (FNO is basically a pub crawl with boutiques and department stores) we can get specific with these three elements:

1. Shoes So here we are a day past the bookend of summer and the forecast calls for a week of sandal weather. Now, it’s a controversial move, and certainly not for everyone, but I’m fully in support of socks with strappy heels. It’s a look that’s been on runways and style sites for years now; Miu Miu even made a bootie out of it. Not into it? Fair enough. I’d recommend something dressier and less day-centric than your everyday flats and less precious than your prettiest heels. Unless you want to hike the pavement in four inches of python-covered Prada.

2. Outerwear In Seattle, it’s all about that outer layer—even when the weatherman says it’s going to be 83. It cools off right quickly come nightfall, have you noticed? The jackets and outer layers I’m most into right now are little bomber-style shorties (maybe over a knee-length dress), denim shirts over just about anything, well-cut gorgeously colored suit jackets, ambitiously designed military jackets and long, 70s-feeling cardigans. But, really, I’m with you: Let’s hope it’s super warm that night and accessories alone can cut it. In that case, stack on some bracelets and bangles and a scarf or weighted necklace, and head on out.

3. Color There sure are a lot of really gorgeous reds, oranges, greens, and yellows for fall. My favorites are deep evergreen shades and that weird tomato red that isn’t true red, isn’t at all orange but something in between. But don’t forget what’s really making color work in the most exciting runways and on whatever street style blogs you follow is the totally inspired, often wanton, and sometimes non-sensical way in which they are paired, mixed, ‘matched,’ and riffed on. From tone-on-tone color blocking to brights and neons with neutrals and all-out pattern free-for-alls, there’s a lot of fun to be had and FNO—wedged in this space that is not summer and not fall—feels like the time to do it.

So maybe some late-summer additions to a long summer dress Little leather shorts with a great jacket and top? Trouser-like jeans with a white blazer? But only trouser-like jeans or otherwise special denim, okay? This isn’t a cocktail attire affair, but it’s no time to phone it in, either.

If all else fails, remember: Wear what you love.

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Tags: Fashion's Night Out '11, Fall Fashion 2011, Lizzie Parker

Guide: Fashion’s Night Out

Follow us, literally and digitally, for good times and great outfits.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 02, 2011 at 09:00AM 4 Comments

These fold-out Fashion’s Night Out maps, with full info on all participating stores, are included in our September issue; if you’d like one, feel free to stop by our offices on Western Ave and pick one up. Thanks to the amazing UK-born Seattle-based fashion illustrator Izzie Klingels for the artwork on the map.

Whatever the reason, there’s a sort of critical mass this year as far as Seattle and Fashion’s Night Out are concerned.

The Bravern is doing it, U Village is doing, heck, even Alderwood Mall is doing it.

And downtown Seattle is most definitely doing it. And so are we—we being a pack of Seattle Met’sters and friends. Mia Harrison from Fashion Network Seattle and Melissa Middleton from JeNeSeQua are joining Ethan Miller and Jamie Fish from Heffner Model Management and our Seattle Met posse as we do the shopper’s version of a pub crawl at a fashion-centric block party.

The whole lot of us will be armed with mobile devices to Tweet and Facebook what we see and who we see; we’ll be looking for FNO’s Best Dressed, tagging and uploading contenders to the Seattle Met Facebook page and my Twitter feed.

Meanwhile, the Heffner crew will be scouting for new faces. So bring your top model dreams, your summer-to-fall style, and let’s hang out.

Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow me on Twitter now so that when we cross paths and digitally verbalize our mutual admiration, we can tag and “@” you and all that.

And, be sure to use the Downtown Seattle FNO hashtag, #FNOSEA

Here’s our itinerary. (Warning: it’s a lot to take in; we’re completists and we’re intent on getting to all the spots at all the right times—backtracking be damned.)

+ 2:45 to 3:30 Swink Style Bar Where else would we start? As I don’t have much hair to blow out, I’m just getting my makeup done. I’m thinking liquid liner and nude lips.

-3:30 to 5 Pacific Place vendors: Ann Taylor, J.Crew (those who spend $150 or more on FNO get a free custom Fashion’s Night Out tote), and True Religion Brand Jeans (gift with purchase!) to Nancy Meyer (yes, absolutely, underpinnings are an essential element of fashion) to Eileen Fisher (more champagne! sweet treats! raffle prizes!) to Mario’s (for a spin through the photobooth while the DJ plays our song; they’re starting early—4!—and ending early—7!—so don’t miss out, and do check out small bites, signature cocktails, exclusive Fashion’s Night Out merchandise, and prizes from Hugo Boss)

-5 to 6:45 Columbia Sportswear (to check out their new City Collection) to The Finerie (for Fashion’s Night Out specials, signature cocktails, and a chat with designer Abigail Glaum-Lathbury) to Free People (we’ll see who’s enjoying the 20 percent discount and complementary feather extensions—with purchase of course) to Alhambra (where there will be a live fashion show, live music, and champagne—and, for those who spend $200, a $50 gift certificate) to Baby and Co. (we’ll take 10 percent off of the scarf bar and some “how to” demo’s, yep, thanks).

-6:45 to 7:15 We’ll be at RN74, refueling, even if we have to pay full price. The buzzed-about joint is offering a late night happy hour from 9 to close for FNO’ers; all items on that menu will be $5.

-7:15 to 8 Barneys New York, where they’re doing it up party-style with Trophy Cupcakes, light bites from Alan Davis of Scout Provisions, and a DJ (store manager Chris Nardi promised me Boy George—or was it Culture Club?). Please note: Barneys is outta here at 8. We’re sort of hoping they’ll let us flip the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ … or something like that.

-8 to 8:30 Morton’s the Steakhouse where bar bites are $6, but depending on how rigorously you’ve been shopping, you might just go for the steak and seafood three-course menu for $54.99.

-8:30 to 9 Ah, how many nights have we been at Nordstrom for last call? They’re serving up entertainment, refreshments, prizes, exclusive merchandise, and, of course, the latest trends. We’ll be there.

-9 to ? MistralKitchen, because, c’mon, we’ve only just begun. The official after-party spot is offering specials on food, cocktails, and champagne from 9 to midnight.

Of course, we certainly won’t be the only thumb-typing style hunters out and about on September 8. Seattle fashion bloggers and of-the-minute shopping news updaters Jess Estrada from Fresh Jess, Tina Witherspoon from Glamspoon, Ashley Breckel from Style Umbrella, and the Emerald Closet folks from the blog of the same name will all be out and about. Hope you will, too—we can’t wait to connect!

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Tags: Mario's, Nordstrom, Barneys, Fashion's Night Out '11, Baby and Co.

Fashion’s Night Out Update

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Aug 05, 2011 at 02:15PM 0 Comments

Those of you saving September 8 for Fashion’s Night Out in downtown Seattle will be pleased to know that the first round of good-time, nighttime shopkeepers and restaurant/bar owners is in and a really fun night on the town is starting to take shape.

Joining Mario’s, Barneys, and Nordstrom in extended hours, special promotions, and general fashion and snacks-and-cocktails merriment are Alhambra, Ann Taylor, Columbia Sportswear, Free People, Baby and Co., J. Crew, True Religion, Nancy Meyer, The Finerie, Eileen Fisher, Swink Style Bar, Morton’s, RN74, and Mistral.

At the risk of sounding like a cliche, there really is something for everyone, especially those who still think there’s no fashion scene in Seattle.

More to come on how, specifically, each store will be celebrating, and how we Wear What When’ers will be joining in.

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Tags: Special Event, Fashion's Night Out '11, Seattle Style Headlines, Baby and Co., Baby and Co.

Save the Date: Fashion’s Night Out

Vogue’s fashion and shopping initiative comes to downtown Seattle in a big way.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jul 21, 2011 at 08:40AM 4 Comments

Some stores will have official FNO merchandise, like this tee-shirt.

Remember back in 2009 when Anna Wintour and scores of New York’s savviest shoppers took to the shops after closing time in an effort to kick the recession’s butt? The now-global Fashion’s Night Out celebration is approaching its third year and for the first time, Seattle is poised to participate in a big way.

Led by what could be considered downtown’s anchors: Barney’s, Mario’s, and Nordstrom, Thursday September 8 will see after work shoppers and revelers from Pike to Madison, Sixth Ave to the waterfront, and beyond. Stretches of streets that can feel, at other times of the year, like ghost town corners after 5:30 will be magically become The Places to Be. The Places to Be Seen.

Shops, boutiques, restaurants, and bars (yep, we’re going to shop and party) will host special events, promotions, and in-store good times, and we at Seattle Met will distribute collectible fold-out Fashion’s Night Out maps so that you’ll have all the details. Figure on it being a booster shot for the local retail economy, but also figure on it being one of those nights when everyone looks amazing, feels inspired, and goes home feeling lucky to live in such a stylish and beautiful city. We’ll shop, sip, socialize, and carry on long past regular closing times, so clear the evening—and maybe the next morning, too.

Keep your eyes on seattlemet.com, my Twitter feed, and our ShopTalk newsletter for details on participating stores and their events and promotions, and news about how you can star in the evening’s most stylish proceedings.

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Tags: Fashion's Night Out '11