Last week I arrived in New York…. well, technically Brooklyn. We’re getting ready for the Evolving Influence conference and all the Fashion Week goodness that’s going on next week.

Staying in New York for an entire month, I had only brought one suitcase, so everything has to last… a month. Fashion Week can be crazy, it’s a bit of a circus where everyone is dressed to the nines, but the days are long, and really long. Since working super long days getting ready, I’ve not exactly been the most fashion forward, but there are ways to do it.

Jeggings… I’ve talked about my love for jeggings before, and in real life I think several of my friends have been turned on to jeggings ever since I got a few samples from Charley 5.0 for review. I haven’t done the review yet, somehow it got caught between the ‘testing’ stage and lost in the craziness of planning for the conference. The truth is, I wear them all the time. Right now my favorite pair is the Baby Snap pull on denim legging (I couldn’t find them in black online).

Pretty Blouses… I just splurged on this Joie Elvia lace blouse for fashion week, and I love it! I wore it today to give it a ‘test’ run you know, just in case I didn’t like the way it looked on me… but I have to say, I’ve bought lots of lace tops in the past, but this is the first one that’s not itchy. Holy moly.. it’s a new world, I had no idea lace could be not itchy. For some reason I forgot to pack more accessories, so all I have is the Liz Larios necklace Macala from Fashionably Marketing Me gave me a while back. It’s one of my favorites right now.

Boots for Walking… My favorite walking shoes died. Well, they still hobble around, but they definitely won’t fly at fashion week. I just got a pair of Jeffrey Campbell ankle boots. I know, why not get the crazy Jeffrey Campbell shoes, but I need to walk around you know? These have nice cushioning on the inside and kinda feel like sneakers, without actually being sneakers.

Smiles… I don’t know what it is, but as much as I try, the lack of sleep, the over stimulation of people around, being away from home, but I always seem to be a bit tired, with puffy eyes and yeah.. puffy eyes. Smiling goes a long way when it comes to not looking tired. One can not stress enough what a smile can do. I’ve also been wearing some fake eyeglasses every now and then on those particular puffy eye days.

Anyway, the next week, we’re going to have a lot of fun stuff going on!

Click Here to Register for IFB’s Evolving Influence @NYFW September 9th

Edited by: Thom of The Sunday Best

For the past week I’ve been listening to Cee-Lo Green’s fantastic send-off, F@#* You, and little else. At the same time I’ve been reading a lot of the hand-wringing in the press about bloggers and whatever are we going to do about them, along with our responses both here and on our blogs. And the two have combined in my head to form a single determination – bloggers need more swagger. I don’t mean anger, of the you-don’t-respect-us variety, or apologetics, of the we-are-as-legitimate-as-other-media variety. I mean swagger, the kind of swagger that comes from doing something well and knowing you’re good at it. So whatever other themes might knit together this week’s links, they all share that important characteristic – swagger. Step up to the plate, knock it out of the park.

Join us at IFB’s Evolving Influence Fashion Blogger Conference @ NYFW

Links à la Mode: September 2nd

• A la Modest – The Mystery and the Magnificent Monki
• All Tumbled Down – Fancy Style File
• Any Second Now – My Fashionable Heritage
• A Pretty Penny – Fashion Fitness and Floggers
• Awakened Aesthetic – To Covet: Cold Comfort
• Beautifully Invisible – The Corset: The Sexiest of Sexy Shapewear
• Beyond Fabric – Size and Fit: Shirts
• Bright Lights, Big Style – Losing Style in Fashion
• Chic Steals – Long-awaited Interview Outfit
• Fashion Cents – When to Alter Your Clothing
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: How Blogging Changed My Life
• My Closet in Sketches – Outfit Sketch
• Oranges and Apples – Thinking About Aging
• Ramblings With Rin – Before Meets After
• The Coveted – Design Your Own Shoes With Jeff Silverman
• The Demoiselles – Millenials: We Are the Revolution
• The Fashionista Lab – The Emmys: Red Carpet Recap
• The Lingerie Addict – Is Expensive Lingerie Worth the Cost?
• The Pursuers – Cheer Up, Margot
• The Sunday Best – Let Them Eat Bread
• What She Should Have Worn – Copy Cats

SPONSOR:

New at Shopbop - JNBY - Wildfox Couture - Kirrily Johnston - Graham & Spencer

Have you ever wished you were a shoe designer? Or longed for a pair of shoes that didn’t exist? Or wished it came in *that* color. Me… all the time. It happens all the time with shoes, clothes, you name it. Part might be the fact I went to design school, and I’m married to a product designer. Part might be my own control issues. But I’ve always wanted to give it a go.

Last night I was chatting with Gilda, and she was telling me about how she made a pair of shoes for her graduate collection, they cost a fortune. Today JeffSilverman.com launched, a website devoted to customized made to order shoes, that doesn’t cost a fortune. You can either pick a pair of shoes, from the banner store (see the top of the right column). Or you can Be the Designer and design your own shoes…

“We can create almost anything you want. Once you submit your instructions (via email, Photoshop image or any other means you prefer), we’ll provide high-resolution photographs from six different angles to make sure it’s exactly what you want. No more than three weeks later, the shoes will arrive on your doorstep.”

For bloggers, or anyone with a website, for every pair of shoes you designed sold, you earn $15-20. You can join here. When you buy the ‘Beatrice’ wedge (named after my Grandma Bea, she always wore heels)… you’ll be supporting The Coveted!

Personally, I saw a lot of potential in this. Maybe not so much for me, I like tweaking here and there, shoe design is a whole art, I need to practice (and I’m working on it). But I thought it really brought home the one thing people cant really design and produce on their own. It’s not like sewing a dress or a skirt, shoe production is much more complicated, which is why when Jeff Silverman handles the production, giving you a quality shoe for an affordable price, the possibilities are endless.

Not to mention the return on the sales, for bloggers, is pretty good. If you’d like to know more, just get in touch at jeffsilverman.com

We’re giving away 50 pairs of Jeff Silverman shoes at the Evolving Influence Conference… and 50% of 50 more to people following the conference at home. Be sure to register before tickets sell out!

Click Here to Register for IFB’s Evolving Influence @NYFW September 9th

The fog has finally lifted… well, sort of. We finally got in a few nice days before September rolls in. It’s not the sweltering summer many people get, but I’ll take it!

Today, I pulled out the Juicy Couture shorts from the Blogher conference, as I’ve been looking for a day to wear them for a while. They’re wool, so they’re not a summer short, for these transitional days, they’re perfect. Honestly, I’ve been trying so hard to get out of the jeggings cycle that I’ve been wearing the past three weeks, working on the IFB conference has made it so the only energy I have goes towards it. So today, I just forced myself out a bit and got dressed for work, good and proper. I work for myself, so I guess, shorts in the office, are juuust fine!

Wearing: Shorts courtesy of Juicy Couture • Blouse • Twinkle by Wenlan • Cardigan : H&M • Shoes: Jeff Silverman (stay tuned tomorrow for about the shoes!)

Click Here to Register for IFB’s Evolving Influence @NYFW September 9th

The SF Project: Eco-Fashion Makeover with Jennine Jacob from FASHIONmeGREEN on Vimeo.

The lovely Greta from Fashion Me Green made a great little video about sustainable fashion in San Francisco. I’m in it…but more importantly there is some great insights from local designers.

It’s been a while since the last outfit post! Christina from Profresh Style made me do an outfit post today…things have been super busy around here planning the Evolving Influence Conference, which is going to be amazing by the way! I’ve mostly been wearing jeggings the whole time. They’re pretty comfortable, but not as much as the T by Alexander Wang jersey dress, picked up at the sample sale in New York. It’s the perfect summer dress, and I can dress it up (or not) in a lot of ways. I’m not showing you who I wear it working, because it’s pretty much the straight dress and a pair of sandals, so here I’ve dressed it up for the breeezy summer evening that’s rolling in. I’m loving the last few days of summer!

Sweater: Rebbeca Taylor • Dress : T by Alexander Wang • Shoes : Alexander Wang • Belt: Vintage

Here’s another one of my outfits worn with the same dress… not sure if it’s post worthy, but, I do wear it quite often!

Click Here to Register for IFB’s Evolving Influence @NYFW September 9th

This was originally posted on IFB by the lovely Wendy Brandes

As you might have seen, Independent Fashion Bloggers announced its big event for New York Fashion Week: Evolving Influence will take place on September 9.

I asked Jennine Jacob, the founder of IFB, if I could say a few words to help y’all make the most of this opportunity to take your blog game to the next level.

True to its name, the Evolving Influence event itself has evolved, though I prefer to think of it as Madonna-like re-invention. In February 2009, Jennine hosted an IFB blogger party. By September 2009, the event, having turned into a party with panel speakers, had outgrown its original location. It was hectic! Bloggers were here, there, everywhere and spilling on to the sidewalk. To accommodate the growing interest, the event was moved to a larger venue for February 2010 and was a smashing success. Three hundred bloggers attended in person and 2,000 people viewed the livestreamed video of four panels. And, of course, there was an after-party.

This September is going to be the most awe-inspiring event yet. Seriously, it’s going to be like current Madonna with the bulging biceps and the Brazilian boyfriend. Evolving Influence has moved to the ultra-hip Hudson Hotel, where there will be four seminars. The seminars are different from the panels in that they provide more one-on-one interaction with the experts, allowing you to get the practical blogging tips you’ve asked for. Each seminar is led by just two well-known bloggers, compared to as many as six bloggers on the panels. Each blogger will speak for 20 minutes and the audience will have a full 20 minutes per speaker to ask questions. The quality of the information you get will depend on the quality of your questions. Think about your issues — whether those are photography, traffic, comments, monetization, sponsorship or anything else  – then listen to the speaker and impress us all with a smart question that’s going to elicit an answer that helps you and everyone else. (As anyone who saw me moderate a panel last season knows, I will gladly cut you off if you launch into a soliloquy instead of a question.)

See Madonna’s biceps? via Harper’s Bazaar

Not only do you have wisdom to gain — and impart — at the seminars, but you also have the chance to get and give lots of good advice while hobnobbing with your fellow bloggers in between the seminars, during lunch and at the after-party. The timing of the event is perfect, too: right at the beginning of Fashion Week, so that you can put all that you’ve learned into effect immediately and impress the pants off me (figuratively speaking).

Once again, here’s the Evolving Influence schedule:

ONE: It’s Just Business: Make a living with your blog
9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Brought to you by Bloglovin’
Whether you’re getting up and running, or taking monetization to the next level, this session will help you demystify the business of blogging.

Speakers: Mattias Swenson - Bloglovin’ • Phil Oh - Street Peeper

TWO: Get Involved: Cultivate a passionate readership
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Brought to you by theFashionSpot.
One of the best parts about blogging is community engagement. Learn from the masters how to get your readers excited about your blog, and how to keep the love alive!

Speakers: Yuri Lee - LOOKBOOK.nu • Gala Darling - Gala Darling

12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Lunch included

THREE: Foot in The Door: Launch your new career with your blog
1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Blogging can open the doors to amazing new careers in fashion. This session will share experiences from those who made it happen for them.

Speakers: Susanna Lau - Style Bubble • Bryanboy

FOUR: Content is Queen: Captivate your audience with compelling content
3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Brought to you by TheFind.
What makes a great blog? Writing? Photography? Style? Je ne sais quoi? Here we’ll talk about how content will always bring your blog to the next level.

There will be giveaways, nice gift bags, and fun stuff so stay tuned for more information!

Join us for the party afterward!

The conference is possible because of our generous sponsors American Express and  TheFind, Bloglovin’, Jeff Silverman, the Fashion Spot, who brought us the seminars of the seminars. Other sponsors include Shopbop, ModCloth and LOOKBOOK.nu. Without the sponsors, IFB wouldn’t be able to charge $60 for a day that includes four seminars, lunch, an after-party, giveaways and gift bags.  As Jennine noted in February, tickets would cost a whopping $300 without the sponsors. And I assure you that an event of this size doesn’t happen for free. People don’t donate things like locations, audio and video systems, lighting, food, drinks, graphics and so on. Crazily enough, they expect to be paid. (If you want to understand more about labor costs, click here. My post is about jewelry but it applies to everything!) So instead of blowing $60 at some fast-fashion store in Times Square, expand your mind and your readership by getting some hot blogging tips from IFB. I mean, who else would bring you something as eye-opening as this post about how some corporations take advantage of bloggers? There will be lots more of that on September 9. Also, you’re not going to BELIEVE the dress I’m going to wear unless you see it with your own eyes.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

I’m a liquid liner junky. Ever since I started wearing makeup, it’s been my weapon of choice. As a long-time Benefit lover, I was so excited to hear they had come out with their liquid liner called, Magic Ink ($20).  I got a sample for review last week and have been tying it all week, it’s pretty good.

Here I talk about the Magic Ink, eye tattooing, high school kids use of photobooth, and eating 10 year old cherry jam.

Seriously!

Hey loves! Sorry I’ve been rather quiet lately.. as some of my long-time readers know I organize a conference during fashion week on a bi-annual basis. This year, we’re doing something really special, on the first day of fashion week, we’re launching a series of seminars for fashion bloggers…

Some have hailed 2010 as the “year of the blogger,” but we know it’s only just beginning. Join us this September at New York Fashion Week, as IFB hosts a day of seminars. Listen to eight people who have learned from the challenges of pioneering the new medium of blogging and come out with careers they love.

The Cut • Style Bubble • Bryanboy • Cupcakes & Cashmere • Street Peeper • LOOKBOOK.nu • Gala Darling •  Bloglovin’

If you’d like more information please click here, or if you would like to buy a ticket and support the IFB community, then please click here.

Before you splurge for Fall, read a blog or two