If you’ve been following my SnapChat stories (@emmajacqueline) or my Instagram (@thefashionhotbox) the past couple of days, you know that I’ve been galavanting around at UBM’s FAME Show. FAME is a show for wholesale clothing companies to preview and sell their clothing for next season to retailers. I have to say that I wasn’t sure what to expect (I had never attended a trade show before, let alone a fashion trade show), but it was a truly unique and amazing experience. It was basically three days of shopping around never-before-seen spring and summer styles by some of my favorite brands (Lush, L’atiste, Ark & Co.) with some really cool fashion bloggers who get just as excited over spring loafer trends as I do.
The first day, I met up with the other fashion bloggers who were also tapped to be social influencers for the event (including Vivien, pictured above), and I quickly realized I was basically at a Fashion Blogger summer camp (minus the summer part, unfortunately). We got to sit at this adorable table that was roped off next to the DJ (yes, there was a SICK DJ at this event) and had a great view of the entire showroom. We spent the day getting acquainted with each other, the show managers, and the show itself. The show was HUGE–there was no way we could get through it all in one day, but we resolved to make it to every brand by the end of the three days we were there.
By the second day of the show, we had made it through about half of the brands on the trade floor, and we decided to take a break and get our makeup done by Charlie Riddle, a makeup artist working at the show on behalf of Jane Cosmetics (check them out, I’m obsessed!). Needless to say…he killed it, and we spent the rest of the day wandering around, connecting with cool brands for future collaborations, and snapping pictures for inspiration.
It was really such an awesome and unique experience to be able to connect with all of these brands in person. I recognized a lot of them, and Vivien and I found ourselves constantly asking, “OMG do you guys sell to Lulu’s? LF? Nasty Gal?”. Basically these brands all made wholesale clothing that was then sold to some of our favorite boutiques, so we got some sneak previews for the spring and summer collections to come. Trends-wise, there were tons of loafers, blush, pom-poms, rompers and lace bustiers. I got so excited for summer that I almost forgot it was 10 degrees outside!
By the third day, we had all become quite close and we spent much of the day hanging out together, talking about how cool of an experience this was to have, and which brands were our favorites. We finished up walking down the last aisles of brands we hadn’t gotten to yet, and snapped some last-minute pictures with Brittany, the photographer for the show, for Instagram.
I do have to say that one of my favorite parts of the the show, besides endless shopping and trend-hunting, was the opportunity to meet and connect with other “mid-tier” bloggers in NYC. It’s nice to know that my #fashionbloggerproblems are not just unique to me, and that we really do want to support and help each other. Plus, it’s nice to be around people who don’t judge you for taking selfies for once.
Thanks for the fun times, FAME…until next year!!
[Post sponsored by FAME, but all opinions are my own.]
