My Trip to the Big Apple

I just spent an incredible three days in New York City at my first ever ENK International Intermezzo Collections and Accessorie Circuit buying shows, and I am still bubbling over with excitement I don't even know where to begin. Overall, attending the different shows was one of the more memorable experiences I've had in the industry, and I loved every moment (even at the end of the night when my feet couldn't handle one last step before falling into bed).

Because I have so much that I want to tell you about my trip, I'm creating a blog within a blog over the next few days which will feature my experiences and overall observations during the trip, fall trends to look forward to and a few designers that I think everyone will enjoy learning about.

New York is so amazing to me every time I go, but when I was invited to come along on a buying trip with my friend Juli, I jumped at the opportunity. Juli owns a store called Fresh Ideas Clothing Company in my hometown, Northfield, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. The store covers a lot of ground in appealing to a wide target audience of both younger and older customers who love fashion and, similar to many of us, purchase clothes that make them feel beautiful and unique.

Day One: Travel Delays + Fashion Stimulant Overload = Happy Lauren
Our day got off to a slower start than we had both had hoped, thanks to flight delays, the NYC bike race and parade that were all blocking me from attending the show that I had been anticipating now for weeks. We finally made it to the Jacob Javits Convention Center and dove into the fall collections for women's clothing and accessories. We continually came across sweaters and jackets in adorable babydoll cuts, oversized buttons, rounded collars, and 3/4 length sleeves - a fun trend and feminine shape that is flattering on all body types. We continually ran into this style in fun colors of chocolate, greys, mustard, warm blues, and red. Cropped jackets were also everywhere we turned. This piece will be a great item to wear with all outfits, especially with dresses as we transition into fall. Jackets and sweaters were only the beginning of our adventure, and at the end of the day I had been thrown into the excitement of the buying world. I was helping Juli make decisions on what would make it to her stores, and I even did a bit of modelling.

We came to NYC on a mission to find clothing for the fall season...and boy did we succeed. Stay tuned for details from day two and three of our trip where we came across more accessory trends for fall, as well as a few designers that I immediately fell in love with their lines being shown.