My RVA Fashion Week 2014: Part 11 Show #4 Finale Show

Saturday May 3^rd, 2014 at 9:00 p.m.

This was the longest day of fashion week, but it didn’t really feel like it to me.  I arrived at The National at 10:15 a.m.  We were in the upstairs area and it was AWESOME (TV with Fashion Police on, chairs, diff rooms, hot tub room…basically lots of room to hang out).

Hair and make-up was very gradual, with people trickling in throughout the morning and there being no real rush to get everyone done right away.  But I went first for hair because Melanie (Dunn) was doing it first to show the other hair stylists what she had in mind.  It was two French braid pig tails that met down near the base of my head/neck and formed a bun.  Very nice.

But then…the make-up theme was “ice queens”.  I didn’t know this until I saw girls coming out with white all around the eyes and green or orange lipstick.  No mascara; no conventional prettiness; no real sense haha.  But I get it- themes keep things interesting.  My only beef is I went into make-up wearing my own shirt that I’d be wearing all day.  It was a deep blue.  However, none of my outfits were blue.  They were grey/green and black with a copper bag, and I showed the artists pics of my outfits so they could see exactly what I meant.  Yet still, they chose to make my lips sky blue.  It looked so weird with my outfits.  I wish they had chosen almost any other color. It wasn’t good weird. It was just WEIRD.

Then for the majority of the day, we had a lot of down time.  We got to park in the parking deck across from The National for free, so since my car was close I went to McDonald’s – don’t know why.  Fast food when I’m about to be in a fashion show? Sure, makes total sense (sarcasm). 

We all just sat around, chillin’, talkin’, laughin’.  It was pretty good times.  And the food selection was MUCH better that day since almost all the models from the week were there.

Run-throughs were done for each store/designer one-by-one.  Then one big run-through and flood practice.  We had to rearrange what some people were wearing, including me, due to the order of the show.  So I had to give up my Fab’rik dress in order to wear outfits from both GlassBoat and South Moon Under.

Some of the girls and I walked around the corner to a hotel bar to get some pre-show drinks, and that was really fun.  We got to see the bike race that was in town, as well as get rid of some of our nerves and just chat it up.  We also had a bottle of champagne back at The National J But then, it was SHOW TIME! (And I swear we weren’t drunk lol No one fell!)

Then the show went pretty seamlessly (at least as far as I know).  We all just walked out, did our thang, KILLED it IMO, did our quick changes, and went out and did it again.  There were performances from a drum group, a blond female singing duo, and (apparently) a local celebrity who basically does a Stomp type show by making music (beats) with just his body.  

(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)     (Photo courtesy of Roger Walk Photography)

One of the performance groups warming up before the show

Then me and everyone around me rapped “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea (it was the song used for the final walk) as we got in line for the flood. 

(Photo courtesy of Roger Walk Photography)

(Photo courtesy of Roger Walk Photography)

Then it was time to give credit where credit is due, and each member of the RVA Fashion Week board of directors, as well as their assistants/helpers, got to come out on stage and get their recognition, appreciation, and round of applause.  Then we were done!  It was time to say “bye” to everyone, exchange the “let’s keep in touch”s, and head out to get that damn blue lipstick off my face lol J 

 Stef'anie Thompson
(Photo courtesy of Roger Walk Photography)

Melanie Dunn (my favorite)
(Photo courtesy of Roger Walk Photography)

Courtney Coco Culbreath
(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

Erin Brennan
(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

Jimmy Budd
(Photo courtesy of Roger Walk Photography)

There was the Trunk Showcase the next day, which I stopped by.  But that’s mostly a shopping event and I really didn’t stay long so I don’t have much to say about it.  Sorry lol.  It was cool? :D Yeah!

This was definitely a great experience and I want to thank those who selected me as a model for giving me the opportunity.  The directors did a great job, basically starting from scratch and building a fashion week that was creative and beautiful and successful (and sometimes even fun! Haha).  I’m not sure if I’ll do it again next year, mostly bc of my age and full-time job, but I’m glad I did it this year.  I learned so much and met so many great people! Thank you thank you thank you to the organizers, stylists, artists, models, designers, and everyone who came out to support me.  

Much love <3 <3 <3  Keep lookin’ good bitches ;) 

My RVA Fashion Week 2014: Part 10 Show #3 Designer Showcase

Friday May 2^nd, 2014 at 8:00 p.m.

(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

Let me just preface by saying that even though this wasn’t the longest day of fashion week for me, it was the hardest and crappiest (at the end at least; most of it was fun, if not downright enjoyable).

So anyway, I arrived for hair and make-up at Broadberry at 12:15.  This was nice since that was the show venue and we didn’t have to worry about traveling and messing up anything after…well, kind of. I’ll explain later.  But the Broadberry was definitely a very cool venue for the show; possibly my favorite venue of the week.

The hair and make-up area had this eerie appearance to it bc there were bright lines back lighting everything so the artists could see, and there was a very noticeable fog/mist throughout the area.  I realized very quickly that that mist was hairspray, and nothing but.  

Someone brought Sugar Shack Donuts, which was awesome and surprising since I don’t associate fashion models and donuts, but hey, whatevs.

 Before                                                After

Then all we had to do was hang around for awhile.  Models were coming in at all different times to get hair and make-up done, the artists/stylists were busy the whole time.  The organizers were busy of course, running around to get everything ready and make sure things were in place.  Vance got even more cool points in my book by bringing pizza.  I was so hungry but afraid to leave (they didn’t really feel comfortable with anyone leaving unless they absolutely had to). 

We did run-throughs by designers.  Some had specific ideas for their segments, some were basic runway (which meant walk up, pose, and walk back), and some we didn’t even do and you just assumed that you were doing basic runway.

Goofing around during run-throughs

(Photos courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

Most of us hung outside at this point.  There was a little table with snack stuff, but wasn’t exactly appetizing to me (there was some fruit, veggies and hummus, and at most you could make a wrap that consisted of deli meat and mustard…or the hummus). 

Some of the designers started to show up though so we got to hang out with them a little and see all the clothes.  Last minute I was assigned to a second designer with a line called Kamala.  I liked the dress, but unfortunately one of the downfalls of not having a fitting is designers don’t get the chance to tailor the clothes to fit the model correctly.  So this dress was a little big for me and poked out at the sides around my bra, completely exposing it, which made me a little uncomfortable.  I had to figure out a way to walk and pose that hid that but still looked natural… I hope I pulled it off… I can’t tell lol.

All the models continued to hang out outside with maybe three or four chairs, the dismal snack table, and no heat lamps or anything to heat the area for about 2-3 hours before the show.  By the time we had to change into our first looks, everyone was freezing.  (Believe me, the life of an unpaid model is definitely not glamorous.  I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re really trying to enter the modeling world and are ready to pay your dues.)  But this also where I started to worry, “Oh it’s hot out right now.  Am I going to sweat my make-up off?”  And any wind was obviously messing up our hair, but so was the humidity.  And then when it was freezing and perfect for touch ups, we couldn’t find anyone!  But oh well, NBD.

The show started a little late (each minute feeling like a lifetime to me bc I was sooooooo cold).  There were a few speakers from the United Network for Organ Sharing(UNOS) including a friend I’d just met through the guy I was dating! So that was kinda neat.  

(Photo courtesy of Covington Imagery)

And from then on it was chaos.  Models running to find their correct spot in line before going on, then models running to get into their next outfit (bc some designers that shared models were right after each other), organizers trying to keep everyone in line, designers getting upset that the wrong music was played, and in the middle of it I’m just standing their observing haha.  My two designers weren’t near each other in the line-up, so I got to watch the entertainment unravel as I shivered in my dresses.  My first dress was made by Nijole Bailey, and then my second dress was the one from the Kamala line by designer Abigail Mpofu.

(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

(Photos courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

Then I was hoping to leave as soon as my 2^nd walk was done bc originally we hadn’t planned to do a flood.  But wouldn’t you know it- they changed their minds!  So I had to shiver for a little longer, do the flood, then my night was DONE.  I quickly and happily changed back into my jeans and sweater and headed out to meet my friends.   The most exhausting day of Fashion Week was over and all we had left was the finale the next day, which I at least knew would be a long day (that I wouldn’t have to worry about for 12 hours, so psshhh that was a day for Future Meagan to worry about) J

 DEUCES!
(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

My RVA Fashion Week 2014: Part 9 Show #2 Jewelry and Accessories Show

Tuesday April 29^th, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.

(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

This was probably the best show experience bc it was an evening show on a weeknight, so it was casual/laidback (nothing extravagant or over the top) and quick. 

I got to Salon Vivace for hair and make-up at 4:00p.m.  This was the most painful hair session ever.  It took six attempts and two people (bc the awesome, talented Melanie Dunn had to step in to help since) to create this braided net contraption on my head, mostly because I have long, thick, healthy hair (didn’t know healthy hair was a bad thing, but apparently it was annoying to several hair stylists throughout the week bc it’s difficult to work with).  And I grew up with a mother who made me lean forward off my bed as she pulled my scalp off trying to get the tightest possible pigtail braids ever, so I’m quite used to pain.  But STILL this was painful as well as headache inducing.

The make-up was simple so the application went rather quickly…and painlessly…thank ya geezus.

I got to glave koven gallery (sic) at 5:15 and went upstairs to our little loft hang out area, but a lot of models weren’t there yet…and weren’t for awhile.  We weren’t really sure why.  Apparently a lot of girls weren’t sure where the gallery was, so there was a lot of texting and phone calls. But in the meantime we got to see all the beautiful jewelry, from designers and stores like GlassBoat (they have it as two words, but I think it's just one), New Normal, Jasmine Justice, Origami Owl and more.

It didn’t really hold anything up though.  We did a run-through around 5:45 and the show was supposed to start at 6:00, but bc of the bad weather they decided to push it back anyway. 

(Photo courtesy of Jimmy Budd)

So the show officially started around 6:45.  We all lined up on the stairs and walked out single file, with me as the caboose.

 (Photo courtesy of Carly Paige)

(Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)

The concept behind this show was each model was living art, so we walked around nine podiums of different heights and would strike a pose and stand still for about three minutes until we heard a cue to go to the next (the cue being a volume drop in the music that was playing).  But what was funny was the speaker went on maybe one or two minutes in to one of our poses, and then she talked for well over five minutes.  So I feel like maybe I didn’t choose the most comfortable pose by chance, and then had to hold it for what felt like forEVER.

(Photo courtesy of Carly Paige)

 (Photo courtesy of Brian Godsey)

 (Photo courtesy of Connecting RVA)

(Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)

(Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)

There was one jewelry change, so we all walked off and went upstairs to our changing area, got to sit for a little, eat some tiny sliders from downstairs (from Mezzanine who catered the event)...

and split (yes, SPLIT) a bottle of water by divvying it up into cups. Lol. Then we went back down for another round of the same.

(Photo courtesy of JC Vera Photography)

 (Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)

(Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)

(Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)

(Photo courtesy of Dawn Yilmaz)

After some quick photo ops in front of the bar, we were free to go.  I got changed, grabbed a glass of wine, and mingled with everyone for a little.  Definitely a fun night and overall amazing experience!

(Photo courtesy of Carly Paige)

(Photo courtesy of RVA Fashion Week FB page)