Cynthia Rowley "Fashion Truck" made the 11 o'clock news

By Laura Medina

KABC's reporter, Leslie Miller, reporting inside the Cynthia Rowley "Fashion Truck."

Watch the whole report on http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=7695395

After a Summer of traveling cross-country and talks then making stops first in Orange County then making the rounds in the City of Angels for various events, especially for Los Angeles Fashion's Night Out, KABC reporter, Leslie Miller has finally christened Cynthia Rowley's "Shop on Wheels" or "Boutique on Wheels" a more aptedly name of "Fashion Truck."

The Fashion Truck has gradually garnered media attention since it rolled into town a month ago.


This past, recent Tuesday night, news crews, from E! Entertainment Network, KABC/Channel 7 News, and a student news crew from University of Southern California, have gathered and checked out Ms. Rowley's current Fall 2011 Collection and surfwear especially made for women surfers, like herself.


Above, even Ms. Miller tried on the latest sequin cardigan and pullover-and obviously, had fun doing it.



Ms. Miller focused on the evolution of the mobile restaurant into a mobile clothing boutique and the emerging trend of making shopping more accessible and more personalize for the customer-and playful.


Since it is essentially a boutique on wheels carrying a designer's entire collection and then some, Ms. Rowley's Fashion Truck can be rented for festivals, events, parties, and fundraisers, such as Tuesday Night's Project Angel Food. All they had to do was convert the charity's parking lot into both a party and a shop. Twenty percent of that night's profits will support Project Angel Food services.

"The Arriviste" is among the shoppers inside the fashion truck with Ms. Karla Cavalli, the stylist.

Karla Cavalli, Ms. Rowley's stylist, states the advantages of having a mobile clothing boutique arriving into your neighborhood, to you personally and directly.

Paraphasing her, a fashion designer's fan wouldn't be able to see, touch, and feel the entire collection in a department store that only order a few selections or they may see the collection online but not able to try on a piece.

A mobile boutique is able to carry a designer's entire line then deliver it to the customer where she or he is able to browse, pick, and try it on. Shoppers found this to be a great and fun sampling of a designer's work and/or collection.

Ms. Miller also noted this is a great marketing and advertising for a brand new to town without the hefty of construction, renovation, and space. Plus, like most trucks, this fashion truck is only at a location no more than two days, making the experience even more special. It was only at Project Angel Food's Hollywood offices for one night only.

Then, it's driving onto Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

Mad for Mad Men, Late Fifties Looks from Malan Breton & Rebecca Moses

By Laura Medina

Malan Breton's Fifties-inspired Spring/Summer 2011 Collection.

Both Malan Breton and Rebecca Moses are mad for AMC's "Mad Men," the debonair drama about advertising women and men spanning from the very beginning of 1960 to its current mid-Sixties setting.

Betty and Don Draper could be the muses for Mr. Breton.

The nipped waists and full-skirts were abound on the catwalk, sashaying down the runway like pendulums.

For the men's, Breton have them decked out in dapper tuxedos then topped them off in duffel coats that look like they were plucked off Madison Avenue, circa late Fifties.

The slimmer silhouettes for the women mirrors what Betty Draper wore as the series progress through the Sixties, Jackie Kennedy-influenced pillbox hats, three-quarter sleeves, and slim pencil skirts.

Rebecca Moses' Spring/Summer 2011 Collection.

Rebecca Moses also reached back into the Fifties and the early Sixties in cropped jackets with three-quarter sleeves jackets and sweaters (from the Kennedy Adminstration's Camelot years) in the bad girl leopard prints (from the Fifties Hollywood sex sirens).

The Fifties were reinforced with sweetheart neckline dresses with full skirts in leopard, updated with a bibbed collar. The Fifties Bad Biker Chick/Gang Girl was displayed by cropped, black clam diggers, embossed to look like leather then topped with a cap-sleeved tee-shirt or blouse.

There was a forties-inspired outfit, at the very top, in a knit shawl sweater and matching fishtail, pencil skirt and sexy but comfortable mules, all in romantic purple, mauve, and dusty rose.

Since Ms. Moses did a presentation, instead of the traditional runway, the library stage settings suggested she went back into the past and did some research.

What she and Mr. Breton did accomplished was bring sexy back-the smoldering elegance that made "Mad Men" so posh and popular among impressionable twenty-something hipsters and push trashy sluttiness off the stage.

Washed, Treated, & Soft, What's Not to Love? Spring Summer 2011, Mik Cire & Buckler

By Laura Medina

Eric Kim's Mik Cire Spring/Summer 2011 Collection

Mik Cire Spring/Summer 2011 Runway Video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgmJKFevcNw

Think of the frosted beach glass or the softened ivory buffed by the beach's sand, surf, and sea.

You if can imagine this then you have the idea of what is emerging for men's casual wear for the early part of the twentieth-first century.

Leather technology has gotten to such an advanced point that it can be treated, lighten, and washed that it can be mistaken for washed, casual linen; and waxed linen and cotton have also gotten to the point where they are also mistaken for washed leather in return.

Both Eric Kim's Mik Cire and Buckler by Andrew Buckler led the march of the soften but not sloppy casual wear for Spring's warm days and cool nights.

Mik Cire keep the military palette of black and olive green then impart them into the three innovative and major trends in menswear: asymmetrical details, washed leather, and the henley, the tee-shirt alternative.

A Mik Cire fan and "Gossip Girl's" Dan Humphrey's father, Rufus, aka Matthew Settle, mentioned, "What's not to love about? The asymmetrical collar. The henley shirts."

As for Eric Kim, being one of the Los Angeles designers becoming Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week's consistent favorite, Mr. Settle cannot help but be awed by the emerging talent coming out of the City of Angels who eventually land in the Big Apple.

Mr. Kim took Los Angele's craft in casual wear and jersey knits then bump them up with more fashion-forward tailoring.

The tee-shirt has grown into the henley. Hoodie sweaters morphed into relax and comfortable, light-weight cardigans.

Both leather and linen received the twentieth-first century treatment. The leather motocross and biker jackets got out of their black rut then refreshed, rebuffed, and rewashed in white, light-weight lambskin. These soften lambskin jackets are on their way to becoming Spring closet classics-for folks who can't part with their leather jackets but want something relaxing, not sloppy.

To add a little bit of zing from the New Wave Eighties, Mik Cire added asymmetrical tailoring to tank tops, drop-crotch shorts, and jackets-without the zipper.

With all these fashion-forward details, these add up to a soften but still dressy ensemble without the formal stiffness of traditional tailoring.

Buckler by Andrew Buckler Spring/Summer 2011 Collection.

For former denim/jeanswear designer, Andrew Buckler, he had to look at history in order to move forward.

He, too, explored waxed cotton and linen, washed leather, and the henley but influenced by Twenties's underwear-as-athletic wear: "Chariots of Fire" and the 1928 Paris Olympics then the Bauhaus Movement for graphics.

Instead of the motocross and motorcycle jacket, Buckler washed and treated the varsity jacket with a soft hand in a slim construction.

The tank tops are looser, leaner, and longer.

The overall faux wrinkled effect is actually stitch-down with purpose and style.

Post-Modern trendiness, tailored shorts, droopy athletic drop-crotch shorts in waxed linen. The harem shorts are also profiled in Mik Cire's show.

Since these menswear trends are all about dressing for hot days and cool nights, these designers are taking light-weight textile in a more dressed but subtle appearance, as in waxed linen trousers and jackets. The lightness of linen or cotton but the chicness of faux leather. The pairing of leather and linen. These waxed-linen and cotton trousers are shower-proof, not waterproof.

The affection for softness, is not only for ease, but a preference for subtleness while losing the taste for the overt. This also explains the proliferation of white and tonal gray.

The trend of grosgrain ribbon is continuing into Spring/Summer when Buckler reinforced it into draw-string shorts and cardigan neckline.

The asymmetrical tailoring used in Buckler is a trompe l'oeil. The asymmetrical button-closure begins as a check then closes as a stripe.

Using his background as a denim designer, he uses the elements of a denim body in non-denim fabrics. Five-pocket jeans in linen, making stylish dressing easier for the male customer to understand.

Eric Kim of Mik Cire does the same. He translates fashion-forward dressing in the more adaptable tailoring of motorcycle and motorcross jackets then using the henley as the "new tee-shirt."

Spring/Summer 2011 menswear, light, soft, and comfortable but not weak.

Choong! Choong! Choong! Clumps of Baubles for Spring/Summer 2011

By Laura Medina

Ports 1961's dazzling array of African Desert-inspired jewel and gem-tones.

Ports 1961 Spring/Summer Runway Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF62x9omb58

Instead of adding on a necklace, a bracelet, a pair of earrings, and a knuckle of a ring, Gottex, Ports 1961, and Cynthia Rowley are giving women the option to wear their gems through embellishments and sewing on the crystals and baubles onto garments and swimsuits.

Gottex's bronze and gold baubles sewn unto chiffon as belts and straps or used as sun visors and headbands.

The best way to describe the bevy of baubles is by borrowing a passage from Richard Conniff's "The Natural History of the Rich."

A Parisian friend of his made an astonishing comment about her English host's family hand-me-down emeralds, "Choong! Choong! Choong!"

This is how this writer sensed while watching an array of jewel-toned glass/plexiglass carats and baubles strutting down the runway.

The stately Ports 1961 literally set the tone when half of the Cibani sisters, Fiona Cibani used the pseudonysm "Essadi" to describe the discovery of gems and minerals in the North African desert, using them as color palettes.

Using the arid sand and the vivid sky as background, the main stars were the gems found in Africa: sapphire, emerald, and amethyst spun into silk caftans, tunics, and sweaters.

The jagged luminescent were digitally printed onto silk satins and chiffons in bold tonal palettes while Labradorite minerals became abstract camouflage prints. The sapphire mosaic prints resemble cracked open geodes, becoming the new animal prints.

Gottex's Sapphire swimsuits coverups.

At Gottex, those jewel-tones blow up into huge glass or plexiglass gems chisled into carats or sprinkled on as sequins. Jewelry were the integral component of the swimwear as belts and straps in bronze and gold. Coverups, bikinis, and swimsuits were dipped in jet black beads or sapphire crystals. The jewel colors started by Ports 1961 were only more reinforced by the rich shades in tulle and chiffon on delicate display by Gottex.

Cynthia Rowley's Byzantine-influenced Spring Collection.

Cynthia Rowley Spring/Summer Runway Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k56jQoaOTL8

Cynthia Rowley push the concept further by imprinting mineral mosaic onto leather shells and chemises for tonal effect.

She literally took this baubles idea then turn it into a new twentieth-first century version of Byzantine style.

Palletttes were turned into cabochons that radiate from the center of the collar, the chemise, the shell, and the shift dress. Actually, Ms. Rowley took another Byzantine clothing, the tunic, then transform it into a chemise, a shell, and a shift dress.

The simple white wash of Mercedes-Benz New York Spring/Summer Fashion Week became milk glass under Ms. Rowley, emphasizing the jewel-tone theme.

The leather trousers got the Byzantine effect by adding on the bold pallettes at the hems.

The Grecian Goddess draping still takes shape in forming the female figure but the bold embellishment shouts Byzantine.

It's Freshly Squeezed Orange for Spring/Summer 2011

By Laura Medina

Perry Ellis

One of the recurring themes running through three different designers and brands was the color orange.

Juicy shades of the color ran from cantaloupe to melon at Perry Ellis. There was even a splash of the color accenting trims on shirts and sweaters and plaid boardshorts.

Gottex, obviously, put a more seductive spin through vibrant hot orange and coral or adding a swirl of orange sherbet with cream in tulle.

Cynthia Rowley used it as a solid punch for her Spring/Summer 2011 Collection in ladylike Fifities tailoring with eyelets evolving into flirtatious perforations and peek-a-boos cut-outs that were neat yet slyly naughty.

For Spring/Summer 2011, it's pouring a fresh, tall glass of orange.

It's All About the Presentation at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011

By Laura Medina

Nautica Spring/Summer 2011

The changes in the season, the computerized check-in, and the new Lincoln Center location in the Upper West Side were not the only changes...but how designers literally present their collections have transformed themselves.

Whether it was the ease of having all the models and the outfits showcasing at once or people just wanting to remove the headache of the pecking order fighting over seating arrangements or standing, art-world influenced installations or presentations, which they are now known, are the actually, the newest trend in the New York Fashion World.

It equalize the social order where the A-List mingle with the low-key but classy patrons and both hassle for camera position.

The runway transformed into a setting or a stage reinforcing the theme or concept of the collection.

In the wake of the return of "The Preppy Handbook" through its sequel, "True Prep," Nautica showcase a line of water-proof sportiness with cozy but rugged windbreakers and boardshorts then running onto natty seersucker blazers paired with Bermuda shorts in madra, topped with bow ties and nerdy-on-the-outside-but-sexy-in-the-inside thick, rimmed eyeglasses.

Preppiness can be so smoldering without the sluttiness.

Yoana Baraschi Presentation.

For some attendees, it was fun to just come in and shoot the models like statues.

The models in return either enjoy themselves posing and making expressions, as in Yoana Baraschi's presentation, or some wish they were strutting up and down the runway instead of being stiff for two hours.

Truly, it is the setting and the clothes that determine the posing, the movement-or the lack thereof-and the models' demeanor at the presentation.

The surfer boys at Nautica maybe stiff accessorizing the windbreakers and hoodies with their hard-won six-pack abdominals but towards the other end of the spectrum, their better-attired buddies in madra sport shirts and polos were joking and having fun, emitting that care-free Preppy fun that folks have come to know and love.

In a homage to Faye Dunaway in "Bonnie and Clyde" and the devil-may-care Flapper, Ms. Baraschi's models were jaunty and jolly as they were youthful.

Tadashi Presentation.

Whereas during Tadashi Shoji's Presentation, since the man prides himself on stately elegance, the models were graciously calm under the popping bulbs and glaring flashes. They were statues of lace and satin chiseled out of ivory and cream.

Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 was about the presenting oneself.

Super Charged Inside the Tents, New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center

By Laura Medina. Photos by Michelle Zimmerman.

The Maybelline Lounge.

One knows it is Fall when you can sense that charge in the air, snapping you out of that Summer Slumber.

New Yorkers when very well where that static electricity is emitting from...the tents of Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week.

Another charges also came from the new computerized system that people were anxious about at first then quited relieved when tried.

The traffic jam of waiting in line at Bryant Park, of yore, has been put to rest.

One all has to do is this...print your barcode confirmation, show it or them to the security guards, waltz up to the kioski terminals or the information desk. Like checking in at the airport, scan the barcode then it will spit out the seating assignment (lucky you) or standing (be grateful, you got in) ticket.

If you received a beautiful, old-fashion invitation card. No need to panic. The designer computer terminal will have you in the database. Either option, you still can't jump the line but the lines are leaner and neater.

The envelope robe and the bubble wrap dress at DHL booth.

New York Fashion Week would not have existed if it were not for the sponsors...and we press people are grateful for that.

After years of fighting for a spot to publish the latest and freshest in fashion, the kind folks behind Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week has been listening and hooked up with AOL to give us the posh Media Lounge outfitted with a central terminal, a fresh supply of AOL notepads and pens (we fashion technoistas love our office supplies), couches and coffee tables to be civilized and socialize where we can sit and refuel on Starbuck Frappuccinos.

The little things do count. We press/media people love that AOL outlined the lounge with chargers for our Blackberries and IPhones since we were literally working on overdrive.

Mercedes-Benz E550 Cabriolet Edition in Mauritius Blue.

Other sponsors made the attendees' lives easier under the tents.

In between the shows, TRESemme Hair Loft primped while Essie Manicure Booth polished as the Maybelline Lounge dole out one cosmetic per a person per a day, can't be too greedy. All this grooming makes us refreshed and ready to tackle another show or the suprise photo op.

The electricity charged by the crowd is palatable.

Kim Kardashian coming to the Jill Stuart.

Celebutantes, modern-day socialites with a reality show edge and mostly from the greater Los Angeles area, arrived to show support for their favorite designers.

Remember, fashion week showcases the designer and the clothes as the stars. This is where the celebrities turn into fawning fans, sprinkling glamour dust on the occasion.

Tim Gunn hugging "The Arriviste" Michelle Zimmerman.

If folks flock to Hollywood to fawn over their favority movie and television stars, then fashionistas race to Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week to meet their designers and fashion experts, such as "The Arriviste" New York correspondent, Michelle Zimmerman getting a warm welcome from "Project Runway" host, Tim Gunn.

Wonderful things do happen at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

New York's & Los Angeles' Fashion's Night Out when the public can party like a fashionista.

By Laura Medina

Folks getting down at Juicy Couture's Madison Avenue Boutique

Over heard on the streets, "All these people dressing up. All these people walking around. All these people dressing up fashionably. Paparazzi running all over the place. What is this?," spoken by an average Manhattanite.

It's Fashion's Night Out!

Baby all glammed up at Juicy Couture's Madison Avenue shop.

It's not just a "New York" thing but a global fashion festival conceived by American Vogue's Editor In Chief, Anna Wintour.

It is her duty to make fashion less elitist, more democratic, obviously to make it more commercial and accessible to the point the general public feel comfortable in purchasing high quality products. The underlying goal is to make average Jane and Joe feel included in the fashion world. Maybe, the next generation of Vogue readers will be generated on this night.

Bergdorf Goodman gone Broadway.

Ms. Wintour must had tore a page from "The King of Fashion-Meets-Entertainment," aka Christian Audigier's recipe book of cooking up fashion into a party bash.

Each major department store, from Barney's to Bloomingdale's to Bergdorf Goodman to Saks Fifth Avenue, metamorphosize into carnivals. Their display windows turned into impromptu Las Vegas shows and stages that have the normally-assumed, jaded New Yorkers into jaw-dropping gawkers lining up for miles, snaking around the corners three-times over, just begging to get in and partying with their favorite celebrities of stage, film, and television.

Bergdorf Goodman had painters do performance art happenings. Broadway singers belting out disco tunes in the windows. Food carts feed the hungry crowd. Crowds so massive that the security guards formed a human link to keep the folks in control to not rush the windows and doors.

The trend of food trucks transforming into boutique trucks were out in force, feeding the fashion frenzy.

The Tous Truck parked right in front of CBS Networks, the Tiffany Network, in the middle of the Upper East and West Side.

Instead of pulling up a porch, they pulled up a lounge where revelers can sit back in the couches and walk inside the jewelry gallery-slash-truck.

A passerby quiped it's like New Year's Eve at the beginning of Autumn. If Fashion Week and a new wardrobe are the traditional starts to Fall then this is certainly the way to kick it off.

Open Bar at Barney's with all you can eat snacks and free souvenir water.

To add onto the old adage of "party like a rock star," Ms. Wintour's Fashion's Night Out was this one window in time where the everyday person can party like a fashion insider.

Big department stores and small boutiques alike, offered free drinks, free snacks, and free chocolates to go along with the free entertainment and games.

For the fashion professional who was invited to five to ten different parties in the span of four hours, the best way to manage is to treat each and every event as a stylish pub crawl. This being Manhattan, one never worries about a DUI.

Among the twinkle of boutiques shining soirees, the beacon of fashion were the major department stores.

Each and every floor had a happening. Games abound.

New York being New York, the fashionistas were the main attraction at Barney's.

Tavi, the adolescent fashion journalist/commentor/blogger, held court as adult fans paid homage while Ms. Anna Wintour, herself, graced the ground floor by breezing through with a camera crew as she moved onto Saks Fifth Avenue.

Among the throes of folks getting a peep at Tavi and Anna, was the actor and star of FX's "Sons of Anarchy," Ron Perlman. He, too, was in awe at the carnival atmosphere.

Now, onward Saks. Saks Fifth Avenue was a hot bed of activity.

People played pictionary with Ed Westwick's "Gossip Girl"costar and girlfriend, Jessica Szohr aka "Vanessa Abhrams. Folks got in bed and had their photographs taken with the funny and quirky Viktor and Rolf.

Claire Danes hosted along side Donna Karan.

The molten core of this hot bed was the contemporary menswear floor where tweens, teens, and adult "Gossip Girl" fans mobbed Ed Westwick (Mr. Chuck Bass to you CW novices) playing darts with the lucky few. It got so close that security had to cut off additional visitors.

Rain Phoenix performing at Juicy Couture's Rodeo Drive Boutique.

While Mr. Westwick nearly incite a riot of rabid fans, across country, the City of Angels try to out do the love by making the Beverly Center Mall as the West Coast's hub of fun, fashion, and frivolity, giving away free parking, free bus rides to and from, and free tee-shirts.

If Ms. Wintour graced Manhattan with her presence, Mayor Villaraigosa was the ringmaster who ignited the celebrations with the Black Eye Peas' Will. I. Am. and Vogue's West Coast Editor, Lisa Love.

All three floors of the Beverly Center became major runways.

This wasn't just a West Hollywood thing. All of the city's major neighborhoods threw bashes to celebrate their homegrown fashion talent that makes splashes in the world's global style.

The bohemian chic Abbot Kinney of Venice had Angelica Huston pouring margaritas.

G-Raw Star on Melrose Avenue held a world class chess championship with Liv Tyler.

"That '70's Show" Danny Masterson threw open his store, Confederacy to the public.

Beverly Hills transformed the rarified Rodeo Drive into a block party carnival with a huge ferris wheel parked right onto the famous street. America Idol's Katherine McPhee belted out tunes in Kevan Hall's Cloud Dress on Luxe Hotel's rooftop to the hordes below.

Anyone who spent $25, an equivalent of one day's worth of groceries, and kept the receipt, got into Hollywood's hottest nightclubs, Industry and XIV and partied like a fashionista.

In fact, Fashion's Night Out was when Anna Wintour took the humble art walk and neighborhood block party then elevated them into a glam slam where the average folks can party like a fashionista for this one night only. Sort like a New Year's Eve redo styled by Vogue Magazine.

This is the best night to enjoy both New York and Los Angeles where both cities showed the love to normal folks then shower them with swank parties and happenings usually kept for entertainment/fashion industry people.

Mark your calendar for the next Fashion's Night Out and never be nor feel left out.

If you really piqued about the making of Fashion's Night Out and Vogue's biggest ever fashion show at Lincoln Center, do yourself a favor and watch tonight's CBS special of Vogue's Fashion Show and the Behind-the-Scenes of Fashion's Night Out Special at 10pm.

You will learn to appreciate all the hard work that goes into mega-wattage event planning.

This isn't no beer keg party.

Real Scenes from Vogue's/CBS' Mega Watt Fashion Show for Tuesday, September 14th at 10pm

By Michelle Zimmerman. Edited by Laura Medina

Vogue Magazine and CBS.com just throw their mega fashion show in the courtyard of Lincoln Center this afternoon, 7pm East Coast Time, 4 pm Pacific Coast Time.

Stars from "Gossip Girl" such as Leighton Meester and Blake Lively rush to be on time for the show...

One of the lucky guests, director Baz Luhrmann said celebrating Fashion's Night Out last year, was a cultural crossroads of art, music, fashion, and sports...as in Serena Williams all glammed up for the show.

On left and the back is Caroline Herrera, one of the numerous who's who of fashion, showing up for moral industry support.

These are the second squad of models showcasing the latest on contemporary wear, ranging from Fifties' herringbone tweed, Siberian, Rocker Chic, and Military.

Watch out for the eveningwear segment, a special musical performance.

It seems they took a page out of Christian Audigier's showmanship book then translated for Manhattanites.

You can watch this all in action next Tuesday, September 14th at 10pm as CBS' collaboration special with Vogue Magazine and QVC.com.

In that special, they will take you behind the scenes from the inception back in April to this afternoon, plus scenes from this Friday's Fashion's Night Out.

Anna Wintour said the purpose behind this show and Fashion's Night Out celebrations to open the world of fashion to the public and demystify it.

Why the long and huge runway? Because, she wants to prove there is a trend for everyone, with emphasis on affordability.

Making fashion democratic.

Chic TV, the spark that sets off NY Fashion Week

By Michelle Zimmerman. Edited by Laura Medina

Chic TV's soiree was the spark that set off New York Fashion Week.

The glamorous Gusto Restaurant in the West Village at 60 Greenwich Avenue held the fete underneath a giant crystal chandelier.


On the right, Chic TV's Senior Editor, Lauren Reeves discussed with New York correspondent, Michelle Zimmerman, about how she is reaching her audience with her online and video magazine covering fashion, lifestyle, and beauty trends.

Ms. Reeves sporting some serious but within reach bling from Ann Taylor.

Emily Loftiss on the left, Michelle Zimmerman in the middle, Ms. Reeves on the right.

Ms. Reeves and Ms. Loftiss model the Little Black Dresses from that night's sponsor, Ann Taylor, from their Holiday Collection. Not so staid classics but trend-driven. Especially Ms. Loftiss' ruffled, tiered strapless dress. Oh so fun.

This sets off the spark to New York Fashion Week and Fashion's Night Out.

CBS' telecasting NY/Vogue's Fashion Night Out show on Tuesday at 10pm, September 14th

By Laura Medina

For those who are planning to celebrate Rosh Hashanah instead of Fashion's Night Out this Friday on both Los Angeles and New York or just don't have a Fashion's Night Out in your humble hometown.

But, wish so much for it or can't find a babysitter.

Ms. Anna Wintour, Vogue's Editor In Chief, thought of that too.

In cooperation with CBS and QVC.com, Vogue will bring their extravagant and biggest fashion show yet to the people, in the comfort of their homes on Tuesday at 10pm on CBS.


Neil Patrick Harris will be the host.


There will be N.E.R.D. with Pharrell Williams performance, can't say when but they will be there.


Ms. Wintour made this the biggest and the most accessible fashion show to prove to the everyday folks that fashion is for everyone and there is a trend for anyone.


In this CBS special, they will take you behind the scenes from the inception back in April to the accumulation of models at Lincoln Center. There will be 150 models from Naomi Campbell to Gisele Bunchen.


Andre Talley Leon is the affable co-host/commentor, along with Vogue's blogger, Hanneli Mustaparta.


Guests include Baz Luhrman commenting that last year's Fashion's Night Out was a cultural cross-road of fashion, art, and music. Nobody felt left out. Other notable guests are "Gossip Girl" Blake Lively and Leighton Meester and Proenza Schouler's Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough.

If you truly express an interest in how to launch a global fashion initative spanning 16 countries and 100 American cities, spanning from Moscow to Paris to Los Angeles, watch Ms. Wintour in action on Tuesday, September 14th at 10pm on CBS.


The freshest fashion education anyone can get.

After Cross-Country Trek, Cynthia Rowley Truck is finally here for LA's Fashion's Night Out

By Laura Medina

Yes, yes, finally...the Cynthia Rowley "Boutique on Wheels" has finally rolled into the City of Angels, made a couple of pit stops in Santa Monica and West Hollywood.

Now, it is part of Los Angeles' Fashion's Night Out highlight, the kind folks at the Mayor's Office are honored to host the truck on the city's shining night in fashion.

The truck will visit historicial Downtown Los Angeles, the birthplace of the city and visit the city's biggest secret-the huge Garment District, home to the city's 5,000 mainstream brands from Guess? Jeans, Bebe, and BCBG to name a few.

The women of the Mayor's office has assured this scriber that the truck is in good hands while here.

For my LA fashionistas, the truck will be parked right outside your loft or apartment. Might as well as say "hi."

When you do drop by for a visit, these are what you're going to see...

Feather collared tee & feather party dress

Ms. Rowley's current Fall 2010 collection, the "Dark side of Beauty."

She, too, fell under the spell of Lady Gaga and used theaterical feathers, dipped in ombre, against strips of grosgrain ribbon in inky purple, navy, and of course, black.


If Ms. Rowley was influenced by Lady Gaga's "Little Monsters," her monsters are more like Seasame Street's Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Elmo.

All fluffy. All furry. All cuddly yet so darn hip.

Feather & Silk Tuft Dress

Check out this mixed-media dress tufted with black feathers and black lace intersparsed with navy silk ruffles.

It's Lady Gaga gone ladylike. Her idea of a tea dress.

With Ms. Rowley's exploration of the "dark side," then mixing it in with her signature preppy cocktail dresses and ensembles, she made this collection Lower East Side hip or rocking Sunset Boulevard. Think of this as "Punk Prep"2.0.

Since her truck will be parked in Los Angeles' artsy neighborhood on Friday's Fashion's Night Out, take advantage of the opportunity and get some rocking outfits.

Get them while they're hot.

Steals & Deals. FREE FACIALS & MAKEOVERS at Marina Del Rey's CVS with Paveena

By Laura Medina

The fortunate of being in a non-descript shopping center in one of the city's best swinging-single neighborhoods, Marina Del Rey, is having the most spacious CVS drugstore with the widest assortment of upscale but affordable-within-reach European skincare and the space to set up a spa for free facials and a vanity table/makeup station for when you don't want to apply makeup but have to.

In this, as of now quiet Westside outpost, one can simply saunter in pre-Fashion's Night Out or slump right in post-Fashion's Night Out.

If you want to be prim and proper, please call the Beauty Department manager, Monica Gils or the facialist/makeup artist, Paveena Encinas. She is the woman who perked up this tired fashion journalist.

That is her business card, above, (310) 821-8908 at 13171 Mindanao Way at 90 Freeway, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292.

Paveena's earliest booking is at 11:30 am.

Using the finest European cleansers, masks, and scrubs, she wipes the grim from the day or night before while warming up the towels in a crock pot. Ready, she'll wrap the freshly warmed, moisten towels over your face to steam your pores clean.

From there, Paveena's expertise as a Lancome and Shiseido artist shines. This is where she teaches you "High mountain. Low Valley" eye makeup. The "High Mountain" is where you highlight and open up the brow bridge and eye lid. The "Low Valley" is the crease and definition to give your peepers shape.

If the drugstore brands aren't up to her sniff, she brings her own personal cache of Lancome and Shiseido cosmetics with her.

If Fashion's Night Out leaves you dragging, Paveena keeps it simple by using affordable NYX coral cream cheek stick that does a triple threat of cheeks, eyes, and lips. Then, she simply lines the lids with purple eyeliner then tops off the lips with a glace of peach gloss.

Not only is this a simple and sweet look for recovering but if you want to recreate the look, the actual items, all together, only costs $10 to $15 at most.

As "wise pro," Paveena dots the facial and makeovers with great tips, from the theaterical one-shade deeper foundation below the cheeks then all over the jaw for a sharper look to using creamy eye cream as a creamy but moist lip cream to prepping the skin with feather-weight serum-no oil.

Not only do you walk looking better but since these are freebie services, you'll feel better, too.

Yep, this is the face behind "The Arriviste" after Paveena's facial and makeover. Simple Sweet.

First Aid Kit for Fashion's Night Out

By Laura Medina

Cynthia Rowley-designed Band Aids for blisters and scrapes during NY Fashion Week.

With the island of Manhattan bursting with Fashion's Night Out happenings and parties then three hours later, the City of Angels unfurling a fury of parties and scenes with a very generous package of free parking, free tee-shirts, free nightclubs, free carnivals, free snacks, free cocktails, and free cupcakes, doing and covering Fashion's Night Out on both coasts, with the average count of three parties in one night, can be an exhausting night enjoying the festivities.

But, trying celebrating Fashion's Night Out then running the circuit of the entire New York Fashion Week for the next 6 days and nights. It is running a marathon in high heels with full makeup on. Something no professional athelete can never understand until toss into the mix.

Don't despair. The Arriviste is here...with fashionable appropriate kits and double-duty skincare that doesn't weigh you down, dashing from beauty happening to runway show, is a flash.

What's really great, these products shield, moisturize, and don't clog.

Designer Cynthia Rowley is now the reigning queen of fashionable function, from her cute but durable surfwear for surfer women, like herself, to thinking of designer diapers for hip moms to personally enduring the race of New York Fashion Week-wild-patterned band aids to cover those blisters and scrapes.

These special, limited-edition Band Aids can be purchase at her boutiques, online store, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museume. Every dollar goes to supporting art programs.

Want to save time and money for the parties and fetes-and space?

These quads of double-duty gels and creams are here to help.

Believe it or not, NARS Nourishing Eye Cream is more soothing light-weight gel for already-stressed eyes and lips. So jelly in texture that it does not clog. Great for that late Summer/early Fall clogging-inducing sweat and heat.

Philosophy Eye & Lip Cream comes in a handy tube you can stash in your pockets and clutch, packed with vitamins E and C. Eases dark circles and parched lips.

You don't have to bust the piggy bank to get double-duty skincare.

If you're diligent to save your CVS coupons, you can get some deep discounts on these serious European sunscreens in a tube.

La Roche-Posay Eye Cream in SPF 29 is also a decadent lip creams that, obviously protects from the UV rays.

The Allure Magazine-endorsed Vichy NormaDerm Pro Matte Sunscreen SPF 15 Lotion in a tube is both a mattifier and a sunscreen for everybody'd T-Zone.

These are "Dab & Dash" beauty first aids you can dump in your pockets and go.