Last night, I invited more than a dozen gorgeous bloggers to Christian’s studio to drink Champagne, see the Spring 2010 collection and shop Fall 2009. Our guests were Jennine from The Coveted, Jordana from Clutch 22, the three Fasshonaburu ladies, Jessica from What I Wore, the Jessica Rabbit-shaped Midtown Girl, Jillian from Nova Style, Pamela from Market Publique, 39th and Broadway, Jeanne from The Periodic Elements of Style, tiny Alixrose and repeat customer Princess Poochie.
I need to invest in a video camera so I can properly capture events like this. Still photos are nice, but they don’t let you hear the high-pitched squeals that followed the presentation of every darling spring dress, not to mention the giggling and gossiping. Christian was quite brave about it, but a couple of times I did find him hiding his office, checking baseball scores in a desperate effort to counteract estrogen overload.
Christian told us that Spring was inspired by the American Museum of Natural History‘s famous dioramas. He imagined how the museum might display three species of fashionable New York ladies that he had identified and named. Here are his descriptions:
- The Wild Sugartooth (cravus sucrosius) is an upbeat, social creature who displays lively colors and a bright smile. A springtime stroll past Dylan’s Candy Bar, Magnolia Bakery or Pinkberry is often rewarded by the sight of this species, which appears to enjoy nothing more than eating a sweet snack and wearing a pretty dress on a sunny day. (A subspecies of the Sugartooth can be found clad in gym clothes near the Cadbury Dairy Milk bars in supermarket aisles.)
- The Eastern Gameling (brainius cumulonimbus) is a gifted and talented breed with a natural immunity to gloomy weather. While some may nap the rainy day away, the Eastern Gameling seizes the opportunity and invites her flock over for an afternoon of fun and games. But even while she’s perched in her apartment alone, she finds stimulation in the bright colors and bold graphic prints that fill her closet.
- The cheerful Meadowspringer (novella picnicana) can be found in Central Park, frolicking around freshly mowed grasses or engaged in animated conversation around a picnic blanket. Well adapted to the landscape of fields and parks where she spends her free time, the Meadowspringer is as colorful as a flower shop and as melodious as an outdoor concert.
Christian presents an Eastern Gameling dress to a chorus of oohs.
Kathy from Fasshonaburu takes a close look at a Sugartooth dress.
The Lite-Brite inspired fabric for an Eastern Gamelings dress nearly brought the house down.
Even I needed to check baseball scores after the ladies saw this.
I loved watching people try on the new fall clothes.
Jennine tried on a vintage-y jacket.
When Jordana tried on the same tartan dress I was already wearing, we decided to pose as mirror images. We ended up looking into each others’ eyes so intently for so long while everyone got their pictures that I felt obliged to ask her to marry me afterward.
Jordana thinks there's something a little "off" about her reflection.
Everyone looked adorable in their purchases. The most fortuitous one was by Fasshonaburu’s Alyssa. She was mourning the fact that she never got one of the graffiti-inspired dresses from the Spring 2009 collection, when lo and behold, we found a lone wrap dress lurking on a rack. How great does she look?
Score!
I’m hoping that Fasshonaburu’s Vyque (now the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind Francis skirt) follows through on her threat to organize a Francis-wearing flash mob for Fashion Week. I’ll be checking my phone for your text, Vyque.
Thanks again for coming, ladies! I hope you had a good time. And, to anyone who wasn’t able to join us last night, don’t fret! I’ll give you your own private tour of the studio any time. Holla at me at wendy at cfrnyc dot com and we’ll set it up.
UPDATED TO ADD: I had no idea that Princess Poochie DID have a Flip video camcorder. Here’s a half-minute clip that starts with the Jordana/WendyB mirror pose and gives you a good sense of the volume of voices in the studio. Now imagine that going on for 2 1/2 hours! I love hearing Princess Poochie saying, “Clothes, clothes, clothes…” in a sing-song voice.
*A version of this post was originally published on the Francis blog.