29Rooms is like the student you see in the hallway who is effortlessly perfect. Everything they do and everything they wear seems perfect. An unofficial event of New York Fashion Week, the walkable event provides an audience with interactive fashion and art pieces to explore, and of course, amazing instagram opportunities. Created by powerhouse media company Refinery29, 29Rooms is “an interactive funhouse of style, culture, & technology, brought to life by a group of global artists and visionaries across mediums, and powered by you.” Every year is a new theme. 2017 brought Turn It Into Art. Each Room with everyday pieces of life, carefully crafted into beautiful works of art. I attended the evening session on September 8th. Follow along with me as I traveled room to room and my extreme fangirl moment when I walked passed Piera Gelardi in her perfectly paint-splattered pantsuit. THE LINE:
In previous years, you had to get in line many, many hours before the doors actually opened. The first year I went, I didn’t know this little fact, and was greeted with a six hour wait time to have a possibility of getting it. Talk about a waste of an outfit. This year, even with a purchased ticket in hand, I still arrived about 2 hours early. Second in line, the line leader and I made polite chatter about how early we were, if it was okay if our friends joined us in line, and what we are doing with our lives. She works for a design company and is moving in with her boyfriend soon. I have 17 jobs and no love life. Really good. After a quick, painless wait, I was greeted by a Snapchat employee who offered me the opportunity to use the Snapchat Spectacle glass, uhm DUH! My ticket was scanned, and a blue paper bracelet taped to my wrist, and in we went!
THE ROOMS:
29 beautiful, powerful rooms. This space was my favorite of the two times I have attended 29Rooms. Rather than a long hallway with each room truly confined to four walls, many of the exhibits were out in the open, so there were no lines, and many people could see and take photos at the same time. Instead of going room by room explaining what I loved and what I didn’t here are my three best and worst rooms.
BEST
#11 The Future is Female: Filled with punching bags and motivational sayings this room didn’t have a long line, and was super interactive, inspirational, and instagram GOLD! It was so fun to put on the boxing gloves and just let aggression and tension that builds up day-to-day out in such a positive environment. BONUS: When you hit the punching bag, it made a huge BOOM sound, so basically you were a superhero.
#7 Bright Future: This is an example of one of the rooms that is in open space, which was so great because you could see it, and then be on your way. Comprehensive sex education is something I didn’t get when I was in middle and high school, so I am a huge advocate today for a positive sex education experience. The neon banana with a condom have on, and blue script letter shining “Sex Ed” and “I Stand with Planned Parenthood” made my heart very full. And not to mention it was just beautiful to look at.
#20 Love Walk: This room was a long hallway turned runway that was covered in red lights and shoes. If you don’t know, two of my favorite things are cute shoes and the color red, so I immediately fell in love. This room was pretty much just a photo/video/boomerang opportunity, so much so that they had someone there to direct a mini photo for you while you walked the runway. They cheered “WORK” and “YAS” and made me feel like I could almost be a supermodel. Almost.
WORST
#16 Behind the Flavor: This was a room sponsored by Dunkin Donuts, and I’m a Starbucks girl, but that isn’t the reason why I didn’t enjoy. Okay, not the WHOLE reason. It was basically a play kitchen, and just seemed very juvenile. I have a kitchen at home, and it was kind of to big to look at. Not something that I felt compelled to go into.
#15 Cloud Pool: Sponsored by Casper, was exactly what it says. A pile of comfy pillows ready to jump into. With exhibits on afro feminism, gender, and something called The Womb, it didn’t feel like waiting in line to jump into a pile of pillows.
#6 The Beauty Carousel: I was super disappointed by Ulta this year. Last year’s exhibit was a lipstick-lover’s dream. This was again, juvenile. It was a carousel. Nothing big or extravagant. A carsoel that you rode around in a small circle. Not my cup of tea.
CONCLUSION
29Rooms is an amazing way to interact with art in a new and exciting way. The staff is friendly, everything is clean, and every year it just keeps getting better and better. The $20 was extremely well spent, and I would pay double that in a heartbeat. To end the night, we got a free sample of ice cream as we walked back to the train. Perfect end to a perfect night. I love you Refinery29 and all the artists who collaborated on this amazing exhibit!