NYFW: My September 2019 Outfit Recap

I know, I know, it’s the end of November and I’m finally sharing my NYFW recap. Over the next few months and leading up to the next Fashion Week, I hope I can share more posts that help others plan their own NYFW trip. However, for the ease of posting, I figured I would start with the easiest: an outfit recap. I managed to photograph most of the outfits I brought to New York, which is no easy feat between meetings, drinks, and shows. I think, for the 7 days I was there, I packed about 24 outfits, including the workout outfits I planned to wear to my morning classes. Out of those, I think I only didn’t wear two and a few of them, unfortunately, were not caught on camera. (I’m not going to lie, I wore one of my favorite looks to dinner one night and it was way too wrinkled to photograph after that!)

However, the ones that I did catch on camera are real gems. Most of my outfits are shoppable, but I was deadset on not buying anything just for the sake of going to fashion week. A lot of my items were old (like years old) or thrifted from thredUP.

One of my goals this year was to wear more color than I did when I went last year. Even though I relied heavily on my favorite denim jacket, I think I did a decent job. Let me know what you think and what your favorite outfit was!

Arrival Day 1: Thursday

I’m not going to lie; I was absolutely exhausted when I landed in New York. I took a red-eye out of Phoenix at around 11 or 12 (I’m a budget traveler, ok?) and landed at JFK at 7 am. The flight was relatively short (only 4.5 hours) so honestly, I probably got an hour of sleep total when you count all the dozing off and waking up I did the whole flight. The person in front of me also turned on her bright-ass reading light and stayed awake the whole flight; who does that?

Either way, with as much of a good attitude as I could muster up (because who can be upset at Fashion Week), I changed in the airport bathroom and put some heavy concealer over the bags under my eyes.

I strategically planned on wearing this outfit on the first day because it’s so comfortable. I wore one of my favorite sports bras with a loose satin midi skirt and, of course, my pièce de résistance this year – the denim jacket. I actually braided my hair for the long-haul flight because I figured it would still look good when I got off the plane. I was able to rock these braids all through Saturday, so I think that plan was a success.

If you watched my stories (which you can still see on my Instagram highlights), you might have seen that we parked our butts at a Starbucks until we could check into our AirBnB at 3 pm. I did a few things for work and met some of the other girls I would be rooming with.

We rolled our suitcases over to our loft at 2:45, struggled with getting into the AirBnB for about an hour and half (the AirBnB will have to be a whole separate story on its own), and then got ready to attend our first show.

The outfit that got me through my first long day at Fashion Week

Day 2: Friday

I was supposed to meet up with a few friends on Friday morning, but that unfortunately got canceled due to some issues with their flights and luggage. On short notice, I threw my hair up in a ponytail to match this chic look for a morning show.

I had planned to button the blazer to wear it as a top, but, on the advice of one of my roomates, I left it unbuttoned. (Sorry, mom and dad.) But – the advice seemed to work – I was photographed in this outfit! Hit me up if you find me on Getty Images.

I’m wearing sunglasses I borrowed from my friend, a J. Crew blazer I found on thredUP over my Natori bra, crop kick flare jeans from ABLE, red Mansur Gavriel ankle boots (they’re on sale *heart eyes*), all pulled together with me Gucci bag and handmade hoop earrings.

Of all the outfits I put together, I think this one was the most popular on my Instagram. Is this one your favorite too?

Following the show, we walked back to the loft, I quickly straigtened my hair, changed into something slightly more comfortable, and went to brunch.

While we were at brunch, it did decide to start pouring, so some of my photos were definitely taken in the rain. But – the show must go on.

Unfortunately, my third outfit of the day got rained out. I wore it to a spring preview at Eliza J and by the time I left, it was literally pouring outside. I, unwilling to spend more than $20 on an Uber (and it was over $60), sprinted to the nearest subway station without an umbrella. As you’d expect, I got drenched.

You can still see me blow-drying myself off with a hairdryer when I got back to the loft. I spent most of the night trying to warm up from being in wet clothes for so long.

Day 3: Saturday

Amazingly, I stayed in one outfit most of Saturday. Practically half my day was spent on the subway, going uptown and downtown and uptown and downtown… One event after the other and not one could be in the same vicinity!

Saturday night, I also got together with an old friend. While I didn’t get any stellar photos, I wore a neon pink Alice and Olivia dress with a choker and brown lipstick for the full 90s My Date With the President’s Daughter vibes.

Day 4: Sunday

While a good portion of Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday night, I did manage to put on a cute outfit and meet some girls for brunch.

This dress, while thrifted from thredUP, is actually still for sale! It’s from Fame & Partners and still available from Shopbop in almost all sizes! I paired it with a leather jacket from Nordstrom and a pair of pink suede Vans. I can’t find the pink color of these shoes anywhere, but you can still find them in a few other colors and you can still find the lace-up version in blush.

Day 5: Monday

A NYFW trip wouldn’t be complete without a full photoshoot, now would it? I saved a few of my favorite outfits (even though I loved them all) for this occasion, knowing the photos would turn out the best.

I took photos with Jessie, who helped me with photos the last time I went, and these turned out amazing.

These boots are an old favorite of mine and have been on plenty of trips with me. They’re a bit old now and not available for sale anymore, but I’m sure you could find something similar. The dress is a cult favorite, which I posted earlier this year here. I rolled it up a bit in this crocodile belt, a favorite thredUP purchase, and paired it with this polished blazer, another secondhand find.

Oh, look. Here are the boots and the jacket once again. The dress is under $100 and was a piece I intended to bring to Vegas, but instead I layered it over a mesh turtleneck and it made an appearance at fashion week.

The last outfit of the day also turned out to be one of my favorite photos from the entire trip. This dress is an old Fame and Partners dress as well, which I paired with a lot of the same accessories as above.

Day 6: Tuesday

Tuesday was a big recovery day for me. Fashion week is fun and amazing, but it’s truly exhausting between all the shows, meetings, and events. This outfit is totally something I would wear every day. It’s a floral silk skirt, the same denim jacket on repeat (obviously), the same boots, and a linen crop top I wore nonstop this summer. It paired well with the loose waves I was rocking to give my hair a break from the heat.

Day 7: Wednesday

Sadly, Wednesday was my last day spent in the city. It saw a few outfit repeats, but this time – I actually managed to photograph them.

As busy as a week as I had, I was able to recover a bit once I got back to Phoenix. I can’t wait to share more with you guys over the next few months so you can plan your own trip!

Which look was your favorite?

Hi - my name is Kirsten! I am currently based in Chicago after a long cross-country move from Arizona. What will you find here? I love sharing all things sustainability and slow fashion, any of my day-to-day shenanigans, the latest new hobbies I picked up, and whatever concert or music festival I can find. Welcome and thanks for popping in to my little corner of the world wide web!