My Most Uncomfortable Experience

Do you ever wish you could leave your house barefoot? We do. That’s because when it comes to uncomfortable experiences, it typically involves our feet and some painful footwear. Stilettos, of course, but other shoes, boots, even sneakers are included. The most uncomfortable moment? It happened during this past New York fashion week. Picture this: standing in line at Christian Siriano for an hour wearing my brand new Vince Camuto Della Peep-Toe Booties. Oh, the agony! But it’s one of the sacrifices we must make for fashion, right? After that grueling hour with my feet perched like a Barbie doll, I gave up the fight and put on my backups, my Tory Burch Leather Logo Reva Flats. After the show, I ran into Kelly Rowland who complimented me on my shoes. Now if a music superstar could appreciate some great flats, why couldn’t I?

Tell us about your most uncomfortable experience, footwear-related or otherwise!

Rent the Runway: haute couture that you love, wear and return

UPDATE: Rent the Runway is currently INVITATION-ONLY. In order to join, please email me at editor (at) whatshaute (dot) com.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a fickle shopper. ‘Buy today, return tomorrow’ has long been my motto. Not everything of course – I do like to keep my closet well-stocked. But I like to buy something, try it on at home, test it out with a few accessories and see if it ‘works’. If not, it’s going right back to the store. But with more and more stores adopting a “No refunds” policy, what’s a girl to do?

Enter Rent the Runway. Dubbed the ‘Netflix of Haute Couture’, this new site brings high-end fashions to the masses. But not in a lower-priced, mass-produced kind of way. No, these are the actual runway pieces so you can wear what celebrities wear, at about one-tenth of the cost. You can rent dresses and exclusive runway pieces from fashion designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Hervé Léger, Proenza Schouler and Christian Siriano. Siriano’s ready-to-wear pieces traditionally go for up to $3,000, but on Rent the Runway, you can get pieces from his line for $150 to $200.

Other perks include:
A reservation system to ensure that you can get a specific dress for the night you need it.
On-call stylists
Returns within 24 hours of rental, for any reason
A second style of dress as a backup, for an additional $25
A custom garment bag and fit kit including double-sided tape, bra strap adjusters and deodorant stain removers

Are you ready to Rent the Runway? “Love. Wear. Return.” Now that’s a motto we can shop with.

Christian Siriano - Fall 2009 Fashion Week

Typically reality show winners suffer the curse of the sudden death of their careers once the show ends. But Christian Siriano seems to have shaken and broken the curse and his meteoric rise in the fashion industry has been something worth watching.

Siriano won last year’s Project Runway and since has reached celeb status, partly due to his fierceness, but mainly due to his incredible talent as a fashion designer. His over the top creations on the show won him fans but we all wondered if he was a one-note. Well, his Bryant Park debut proved otherwise. It was great to see Siriano duplicate some of the things that made him famous but also to see his ready-to-wear pieces that the everyday woman could actually wear.

His color palette consisted of primarily khaki, brown gold and blue tones but that did not limit his imagination. Designing everything from gowns to suits, Siriano certainly put his stamp on every piece in the collection. Present were the expected puffy sleeves and ruffles, but also present were asymmetrically pleated skirts, skinny pants, cape jackets and shirred and ruched satin dresses.

Though you may forget about those other reality show winners, Siriano continues to make his mark on the fashion industry and he won’t let you forget about him and his fierce clothes anytime soon.

Me pictured with Christian Siriano at Bryant Park

Concordia/Wireimage

The Heart Truth Red Dress Collection at New York Fashion Week

This was my first time attending The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection 2009 and it was an amazing way to kick off fashion week. Stars who usually sit front row were front and center on the red catwalk, donning stunning red designer dresses to raise awareness about heart disease in women.

Twenty celebrities strutted their stuff in the show. Following an introduction by Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, Amanda Bynes opened the show in Daniel Swarovski, followed by Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling, of Beverly Hills 90210 fame, in Badgley Mischka and Betsey Johnson, respectively. Then out came actresses Nia Long in Tracey Reese, Natasha Henstridge in Verrier, Vivica A. Fox in Jenny Packham, model/TV host Daisy Fuentes in Pamella Roland, Wonder Woman Lynda Carter in Carolina Herrera, and Patricia Arquette in Nicole Miller, followed by singer/actress Hilary Duff in Donna Karan and Katie Couric of CBS Nightly News in Carmen Marc Valvo.

The crowd was treated to animated dances down the runway from Cicely Tyson in B. Michael, Dancing With The Stars co-host Samantha Harris in David Meister, Valerie Bertinelli in Christian Siriano and soap opera megastar Susan Lucci in Gustavo Cadile.

Athletes got in on the glam act as well, with figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi in Vera Wang and Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin in Max Azria both modeling in the show.

Celeb spottings: Christian Siriano (Project Runway), Miss Jay (America’s Next Top Model), Gerard Butler, Marcus Schenkenberg, Peter Facinelli.

About The Heart Truth:

The Heart Truth created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wake-up call to American women. For the first time ever, a selection of the designer dresses seen on the runway will be auctioned online in February through a partnership with Clothes Off Our Back. The Red Dress reminds women of the need to protect their heart health and inspires them to take action. Each February since its launch, the Red Dress symbol has come to life the runway with the support of the fashion industry and celebrity models at the Red Dress Collection Fashion Show.

Find out much more about women’s heart health at the The Heart Truth.

Christian Siriano’s Fierce Fashion at Bluefly

Project Runway fanatic, are you? Well now you can rock the wares (or ‘wears’) Read more