'Fashion's Night Out'

Have you ever wanted to hear the musical musings of Oscar de la Renta, or style tips with Alexander Wang and the designers of Proenza Schouler?

Ever wanted to introduce yourself to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour?

You can do all this and more during Fashion’s Night Out!

The global fashion fest will hit all major cities Thursday, Sept. 10, an initiative hatched by editors and publishers last spring in Paris and then cultivated by all 13 Vogue editions.

Its primary focus: to shop, shop, shop!

‘Fashion’s Night Out is Vogue’s response to the notion that in these challenging times, certain kinds of pleasure, such as shopping, are impermissible,’ wrote Wintour in Vogue’s September letter from the editor.

And with pleasure comes business.

More than 300 retailers (from independent shops to global luxury houses) plan to stay open as late as 11 p.m., luring customers with music, giveaways and special appearances from designers, celebrities, models and magazine editors. Pop-up stores – like the one between Vogue and Macy’s, or Parisian boutique Merci and Gap – will be a onetime shopping experience.

In New York City, Fashion’s Night Out equates to an appearance by Isaac Mizrahi at Bergdorf Goodman and the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte selling clothes literally from a car trunk at their trunk show.

At the Stella McCartney store on 429 West Fourteenth Street, have some vegetarian food from a food truck parked outside and swap eco-fashion tips with Vogue fashion director Tonne Goodman.

Add a free pint to your tab at the Rag & Bone pop-up Irish pub, or a signature frocktail and some free pampering at Tracy Reese.

Aside from giving some much-needed business to retailers, Fashion’s Night Out has teamed up with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Community Trust to host a city-wide clothing drive for the NYC Aids Fund. Stores like Costume National and Dolce & Gabbana will have their own collection bin for new or gently used clothing donations.

Or purchase your own short- or long-sleeve Fashion’s Night Out tee ($30 or $35), with 40 percent of sales benefiting the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

For a complete listing of participating stores, visit fashionsnightsout.com

I've marked my calendar. Have you?

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of fashionsnightout.com and vogue.com

'History Lesson in Houses'

Out of Long Island’s North Shore, Jeffrey Bilhuber created a home out of a seventeenth-century house by melding it with his own past, present and future.

The New York based decorator led Vogue’s Hamish Bowles on a grand tour of a country mansion named ‘Hay Fever,’ tucked under a blanket of beech wood and dogwood trees. The carefully executed renovation of the house structure and its interiors are a source of inspiration.

House-hunting Bilhuber settled on ‘Hay Fever’ for reasons many buy historic houses – its quality. “The houses got bigger,” he told Vogue. “But none of them got any better.”

The house was originally a one-story structure, built by Captain John Underhill in 1668 and added onto throughout the centuries. It was a private boys’ school in the 1840’s and later belonged to antiques collector and dealer Jane Robinson, known for her stone house on East Sixty-First Street in Manhattan, which is now the Abigail Adams Smith Museum.

But it was only until the 40’s when the house, nearing demolition, was acquired by Edith Hay Wyckoff and earned the moniker ‘Hay Fever.’

Bilhuber kept the house’s venerable past in mind – he had every tile and floorboard carefully removed so the infrastructure could be restored. For appropriate paint colors and trim of the period, Bilhuber did some leg work, consulting with curators.

The mansion has old English charm with tufted chairs in the living room in a shocking Prussian blue and purple hue, or charcoal gingham chairs in the playroom. In the bedrooms upstairs, Bilhuber mixes large florals, enlivened by wicker furniture and indoor fauna. Even the wallpaper in many of the rooms were a take on old classics – a lemon lime ‘Cadiz’ print and a red ‘Climbing Hydrangea.’

Perhaps the most breathtaking arrangement can be found in the Empire master bedroom, where incredible bolts of crimson linen create the illusion of a four-poster bed.

Amidst Bilhuber’s clever mix of old and new, the decorator is sure to include family heirlooms and precious keepsakes. A framed set of christening robes from his father and uncle hang above a pillow on printed with the British flag sitting on a sofa in the living room. Not far is a portrait of Johann Christoph on the wall, the decorator’s great-great-great-great-great- great-grandfather.

“I thought about all my ancestors when I thought about this house,” he told Vogue. “We all bring these memories that stay with us forever.”

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of vogue.com

'Bring on the drama'

The best fashion speaks volume.

Anyone that has flipped through the pages of an Annie Leibovitz or Steven Meisel editorial in Vogue or W Magazine knows this. Anyone who has sat at a highly anticipated fashion show like Marc Jacobs or Alexander McQueen knows this.

With the model’s back turned to the camera, Iselin Steiro stares sultrily into the mirror in a Lanvin SS09 ad campaign (shot by Meisel). Despite her smoky eyes and dark lipstick, I am more distracted by her dress: a chunky, blue chain link necklace slung round her neck, the fuchsia pink bodice and the crimson red dress panel that falls to the back. The jewel tones are striking against her alabaster skin and the beige bergère she sits upon.

Here, there’s drama; there’s contrast.

The same rule applies to décor.

Redecorating your living room doesn’t have to be difficult as say, renovating your kitchen (we all know how that goes). Think of it as you would go about cleaning your closet.

These are the basics. First, throw out what you don’t need. Ask yourself what you do need.

Then, organize your room into the following categories:

1.Painting

2.Art

3.Fabrics

4.Lighting

The more categories you update, the greater the impact the room will have. And keep in mind: contrast, contrast, contrast.

1. Painting: If painting an entire room a different hue is too time-consuming, choose an accent wall and paint it in a bold color (see above). Colors that are rich (orange, blue, green, purple, red, etc.) allow furniture or wall hangings in that space to get special attention that would’ve gone unnoticed before.

2. Art: Update the artwork hanging on your wall. Make sure the colors in that Claude Monet or Gustav Klimt painting pop against the other furnishings. Rearrange the photos you do have. Or better yet, showcase new photos.

3. Lighting: Create high and low by alternating the wattage in a room. Determine where you want the emphasis to be and reflect that in the lighting. Place a uniquely styled floor lamp, table lamp, or bubble light to set the mood (see left).
4. Furniture: Rearranging your furniture is the simplest way to change the look and feel of a room. Whether you choose to buy a few new pieces or not, remember to alternate heights, colors, materials.
I guarantee the effort is worth it.
- S. Gonzalez*Photos courtesy of heavyheels.blogspot.com, Elle Decor and modern-interior-home-decoration.blogspot.com