FASHION’S NIGHT OUT 2012

 

I still think the name is stupid, but I wouldn’t want to miss the event, which should rightfully be dubbed “trick-or-treating for grown-ups.”

Last year, I was in New York for it and went with one of my most fun friends. Betsy Abramova’s like a little sister to me and we have so much fun together; we’re so on the same wave-length and we laugh all the time. Even getting lost in a bad neighborhood on the way home, (thank goodness my mother isn’t here now to read that tidbit!,) didn’t seem so bad to us!

So, doing Fashion’s Night Out with someone like that means that I can’t judge the event as critically as perhaps I would with someone else. I had planned on comparing the event on both coasts, but I have a feeling that even different areas in the same city do it differently from each other, rendering those coast comparisons perhaps not the fairest. So I’ll just report what happened in each instance.

As with most things in life, I did research on Fashion’s Night Out ad nauseum to choose the best place to grace with our presence. And, last year, we really couldn’t have done any better than Manhattan’s meat-packing district. It was perfect and we did it right, beginning with getting there just as the whole vibe was starting at 6PM. That really helped; we got in on as many features as possible, while late-comers were missing-out.

Collecting free stuff is not at all the main focus of the event, but fun is, and nothing says fun like everything we did. We received complimentary lipstick, mascara, hair-color,…even underwear! We had our hair done, ate lots of snacks, and best of all, we had gel manicures! And neither one of us drinks, so we didn’t get disgusting like lots of the rest of the patrons, who were there mainly for all the free booze.

So, this year, I was back in LA, and happy to do FNO with my pal, Lucia, since we had made the plan right after last year’s event. I wanted her to have the same fun that Betsy and I had in New York.

Well, this is just about the only time I can state that NY was more fun than LA! I think that’s because the energy of being in the streets made such a difference. There was a whole vibe on the east coast of participating in something special. And the September air in that region has a totally different feel.

LA that night felt like nothing special, probably because we chose Beverly Center as our destination. It was kind-of creepy, but I still believe it was the correct move for us. The only thing better would have been if we had one of the participating neighborhoods right down the street from one of us, because of the traffic. Everyone in NY goes by public transportation, except for moi, so there were no crazy traffic jams like there were in LA. Thank goodness I know where secret parking is in this town because, even with leaving on time, we couldn’t get near the mall!

We still had a good time, and because the stores are right next to each other, and the mall has benches, it was easier on my back than other areas would have been, so that part was good. But it really did feel a lot like when I’ve taken kid pals trick-or-treating at Westside Pavilion!

We started off our evening with mini-hand massages at L’Occitane. (The massages were mini, not the hands, except for my dainty digits, of course!) Cherish, a girl from London, did both of ours, and we enjoyed talking to her even more than the service!

We did find some fun snacks, (but I could not eat another cupcake if my life depended on it!,) and came away with some good-enough gifts, (a creamy green cloth tote from Tous, great nail polish, shampoo sets.) And we both got our hair flat-ironed at Carlton. The hostess there, Sherri, was the most fabulously put-together person in the whole mall! Everything she had on was perfect! Diana Choi did my hair, and didn’t even rag on what it already looked like! Richard Zimmerman did Lucia’s, but was as sweet to me as he was to her, a potential client. I really appreciated his kind words.

But not every store was into FNO. I hate when businesses won’t participate in any way, shape, or form, and instead just ride the business coattails of their neighbors who are footing the bill. So selfish and thoughtless.

And a few of the stores were liars; I’m going to name names. Brookstone said they were doing comped foot massages, which I dearly needed because that helps my back. So, for two weeks before, I exfoliated and creamed and groomed even more than ever. That morning, I gave myself a back-pain-inducing pedicure, to make it not rough on the masseuse. We avoided other potential delights, gifts, and edible treats to get over there. But where were the techs? Nowhere, because Brookstone’s version of “giving foot massages” was actually, “come try our stupid, and painful, foot and leg massaging machines that you can do any day, and then buy it!!! So rude of them.

And Tumi’s “packing demonstrating,” which I really need because I’m the worst packer and I haven’t seen Smile for awhile, turned out to be a demonstration of one of their high-priced suitcases, and how easy it is to pack that!!! Hey, I can see that kind-of thing at gifting suites; I don’t need to waste my time at an only-three-hours cross-country fashion event for that!

I realize that I may have received some special treatment if I had gone as a member of the press, but I didn’t accept any PR invites because I wanted to experience it as the public does, and not owe anyone my time. The event is only three hours long, for goodness sake—why use that up listening to more spin?

But the beauty of FNO is that it will be absolutely different every year you attend, as long as you choose different ‘hoods. So, guess what? I’m getting stared on next year’s event right now! I already made plans with Vanessa for then, so you know I’ll be motivated to show yet another pal how fun fashion can be! (Just not at the Beverly Center.)