CURIOUSER NEW YORK

Given that this month my life has been pretty much revolving around work and home packing...with an occasional, random bits of fun and trips in between, I seemed to be noticing just now that the Fall is at full 'blossom' and the colors fell on us... And since my home-work-home trajectory has been pretty predictable, I had no choice but to notice - [and admire the fall colors] - on my very rare lunch breaks. I was lucky that the sights of my 'lunch breaks' were easy on an eye...

It's one thing when the pink color plays part in the runaways and it's one thing 'everything in pink' goodies - from pink mascara to pink bags and shoes - appear on pages of magazine a week or so prior the Breast Cancer Awareness month. It's another thing, when you actually become part of such 'pink' event and meet the breast cancer survivors - [those who fall in the 65% of the women with the breast cancer in USA who are able to beat the disease] - and the people who organize those events at their own time and money to benefit various organizations, hospitals, and individuals to fight the breast cancer. I've been always a strong supporter for the cause. I've participated in both fundraising events, charities, marathons, races, etc...And this year, I got an opportunity to do it in Washington, DC - to be part of the annual Pink Party DC . 

You might not have known this fact - [we take all the fashion magazines for granted now] - but that glossy magazine Glamour that you might be a big fan of, is 73 years old!

I've been always attracted to the archives - archives on everything. I remember as a kid, I'd go to the public libraries to browse through the books and smell the covers of the very old books. I pretended they smelled "history" - and the smell of my morning print press still fascinates me. But please, do not think I'm weird. Not at all. As a matter of fact, yesterday when I went to visit Newseum in Washington, DC - [the one that cost $20 billion to build] - I came across a gift shop, which sells cups with a tag "I love the smell of my morning newsprint" - so, there! I'm not weird at all...I actually got that cup, long with the one that says "Trust me, I'm a reporter" - the line that could be interpreted both as a "sarcasm" and as a "true statement"...

To tell you the truth, as much as I like the fashion shows and seeing lavish and unique collections by the designers, I'm rather a person who likes simplest outfits - the ones you just throw on yourself, mix it up a bit, but that look simple, clean, subtle and....perrrrrfectly sexy, but effortlessly sexy...

It's time to invest in a better camera that can actually produce better videos...I must admit that my favorite part of any fashion show is the runaway music...and the after-the-show people in style. Ahhh...Tuesday day dreaming.

After a few tense nights of going through all the photos from the DC Fashion Week menswear collections' runaways, I narrowed it down to a few that stood out. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that a lot of those collections are inspired by very urban African-American culture. When the first models came out on the runaway, I knew the collection might have been from a Washington, DC based designer, who is African-American...It was just very prominent, very obvious, and to some degree - [stereotypical and typical] - of an African-American culture: very splashy, gaudy, rich, cheerful, colorful...and a bit of gangster and gigolo.

Yes, I'm trying - [insanely] - to wrap up DC Fashion Week , but with the hundreds of photos I took, it's impossible to do it all at once. Besides, there are a few components to any fashion show. So... There are - runaway shows, models behind the scenes, designers' interviews, celebrities in attendance, fashionistas and It-Girls and the general public...Not to mention that there is always something else that might happen during the fashion weeks - like an interesting political/social protest outside the show and/or an extravagant pre-show promotional campaigns by the sponsors of the shows...

I'm really loving it. It reminds me of all the retro 1970s films about the African-American civil rights movements, Jazz clubs and Diana Ross era...I could never understand why so many African-American women color and flatten their hair when it looks so good the natural style? I hope they'd keep the 'new' look for a while! What do you think?

We all know that the magic happens before, in-between and after a fashion show. A different kind of magic - when the fashionistas get up from their seats and walk the hallways in hope to be captured by the photographers...Even if they say, they are indifferent to it. They are NOT. They actually dress more for the photographers than they do for the rest of the crowd. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few street fashion photographers in NYC, for example, who made it way too cool for someone to end up on their blogs. I'll tell you even better... shshshshsshshsh ...

As it always happens at the last moment - something - THAT something - makes me miss some of the fashion shows only in time to catch up with the fashionistas at the next shows to tell me that I haven't missed much... It's actually rather sad when someone says about a fashion week -"it's been dull"...This is definitely not something you'd hear at the NY Fashion Week - months in advance NY fashionistas start looking around to see if anyone knows someone - who knows somebody - who has access to the tickets to the fashion shows. It's like with the bouncers at the cool, hip and happening lounges - you've got to know them! You've got to know your way around. So, I hung on tight to my PRESS badge - the ultimate access key to the fabulousity of the fashion shows...

For the second year in a row I've been attending DC Fashion Week . Many things have been said about the DC fashion scene, among the most predominant and often-said things are that DC is far from being a fashionable place ...

I just love the style of Uliana...She does not cease to amaze me with her personal sense of style: they way she combines clothes, shoes and accessories... Every time I see her wearing her "signature" unique style, I immediately ask her, where she got these clothes/accessories/shoes...

Every time I travel to a different country -- [just visited Montenegro, Croatia and Italy] -- I take a notice of how locals dress. I'm absolutely fascinated with street fashion - not so much with the runaway, but rather with what people wear on a daily basis. One can discover some fascinating trends and details - if you really, really notice what people wear... Would you say, you are a people-watcher? Washington, DC: U.S. capital comes with a formal [dress code]... He looks sharp, though - and very "matching"... Cities like NYC, Paris, London, Milan, ... - are perfect for people watching. I always take some time on my trips to grab a cup of coffee and sit outside at a cafe to people watch. I also like to browse the streets and capture styles-on-a-go...