This past Saturday, Her Campus’s College Fashion Week came to New York City in a celebration of girl-power and the latest fashions. Collegiettes from the New York metropolitan area were chosen to model the newest styles from Forever 21 and Sorel, who were two of the biggest sponsors of the event. I had the privilege to be amongst this group of beautiful and intelligent young women and live my dream of walking on a runway (in New York, no less).
My best friend and I arrived at Santos Party House in SoHo around noon, where we were promptly given tags stating the itinerary and the scene we’d be modeling in. Once we found out we’d be getting the full treatment of hair, makeup and eyebrows, we couldn’t contain our excitement. A stylist from StyleWatch picked our clothes and accessories from Forever 21 and shoes from Sorel. I got to rock a pleated skirt with a plaid sweater, mini backpack and black heeled booties as part of the “Time for Class” scene. We really felt like models, though, when we got to practice our fierce poses on the runway.
One of the coolest parts of the experience was getting my makeup done by the artists from Milani. My artist, Emily, did my makeup flawlessly and now I long even more for a personal artist to do my makeup every day. Each scene had a different hairstyle courtesy of the GlamSquad, and our eyebrows were shaped to perfection by the European Wax Center. Everything felt so glamorous and fussy that it felt like prom all over again!
My favorite part of the experience, however, was getting to meet other like-minded girls and share this experience with them. I actually met a few girls from my home state of New Jersey and we bonded over how small a world it really is. The day included a lot of waiting around, so we had a lot of downtime to chat, practice our poses and take selfies with our glam looks.
Although we had around eight hours to practice, my nerves didn’t kick in until minutes before show time. My scene was lined up and ready to go as the emcee hyped up the crowd, stressing the fact that we are “real girls” who were just there to have fun and embrace one another. All the confidence-boosting “Superwoman poses” that Her Campus co-founder Windsor Hanger Western taught us during our choreography sessions stuck in the back of my mind as it was finally my turn to walk. I heard the cheers from my family and chapter members as I nervously strutted down. I may have walked a little too fast than it was advised, but I would say that I didn’t do too badly for a “real girl” trying her hand at a few seconds catwalk fame.
The experience may have been exhausting and a little bit stressful, but hey, that’s what professional models have to deal with on a regular basis. I must say that it felt cool walking onto the city street afterwards in full makeup and hair and toting my bag of goodies and free samples. In my opinion, it is rare to see an event like this that empowers women and encourages them to come together as one. The event also didn’t shy away from traditionally-girly things such as makeup, fashion and beauty products, for those who are into that kind of thing. Overall, I was proud to represent my chapter and promote a good message while spending my Saturday in all the glamour of New York City.