New York, New York!
(this was my view on the way out, with some shnazzy filters added of course!)
NY, NY: It was the Best of Times,
It was the Best of Times
This week’s travel destination,
and all that it encompasses is overwhelming; New York City. Overwhelming in the sense that I do not
even know where to begin to tell you how many exciting places, things,
historical sites, there are to see/do/delve into. And you’ll want to do them all, believe me! I was blessed with two opportunities
last year to visit the Empire State, and readily accepted both
opportunities. So as I recommend
what to pack I speak from experience.
Both trips included jam-packed days of excursions into Manhattan, one of
New York’s five boroughs. And the
second of the two trips I got to venture out into the neighborhoods of Brooklyn,
another of the five boroughs (the other three are Queens, Staten Island, and
The Bronx). No matter what borough you’re
staying in you’re going to need a Metro Rail pass to hop around (only about $30 for one week). Click Here for a fun, quick vid to get you pumped for that New York life.
I want to approach this entry a
little bit differently, because I am passionate about this location, and have a special place for New York City in my heart and I want all you fashionistas to walk
away with the same feeling.
There’s so much information to
give, but I want to highlight some of the best times I had while I was out
there, and what to PACK for such occasions of course!
Weather is a main factor on what
you’re going to pack for this trip.
If you’re going in the dead of winter, let’s say anywhere from
November-March, you’re definitely going to want to pack some thermals (for
UNDER your clothes), heavy coats, scarves, thick socks (wear these in the
airports as well because they de-shoe you as you go through the security check
points), boots, beanies, gloves.
Whip out your biggest piece of luggage, these pieces take up a lot of
room, I stuffed my suitcase to the brim (think sitting on the suitcase while
mom strategically has to zip up the sides). If you’re traveling during summer/autumn, April-October, New York is known for its humid climate, that means bring some breathable
clothing choices (cotton tops, fedora hats if your hair frizzes out like
mine). September/October will
start getting chilly however, so bring thicker layering pieces, knitted sweaters
or sweatshirts, to go over those lightweight pieces.
This Fleece from American Apparel would be good for winter.
The Winter Jacket also from American Apparel
Okay, so now for the FUN part,
where to go, what to see, and an appropriate outfit choice for each of these
places. Let’s start with Central Park, a must see.
Central Park is over 800 acres in size so that’s a lot of
ground to cover; luckily they offer horse drawn carriage rides that take you
all over the park. Some of the
main spots inside the park are the Strawberry Fields, which is a living
memorial for peace activist and one of four Beatles, John Lennon.
You can also see the fountain that was
replicated in the opening credits of FRIENDS (only my favorite show).
On both of my trips I had to visit this
landmark park, in January I bundled up in a fuzzy coat, turtleneck, skirt (but had
tights AND another layer of leggings under those), gloves, and boots on. The second time was in October so I
just wore a collared shirt, with a boat neck, lightweight sweater over, and
leggings, and threw that hair UP in a bun.
My trip #1 Outfit, pictured left (as well as a couple other outfit ideas, shout out to fellow blogger MG, center).
A fun, little side story about her tan trench that she's wearing. You can't see it in this pic, but she had DIY'd gold studs up and down each shoulder of the trench, very Burberryesque. After this photo was taken we took the downtown train to Greenwich Village and ate gelato in the Chelsea Market, had a VH1 producer approach us asking if we wanted to be extras in a new show that was being filmed a few blocks down, we said "heck yeah!", signed away our lives, and posted up in a booth in some swanky, but hole in the wall lounge as we watched stylist June Ambrose makeover "has been" rap star Trina, and got to see her perform. OH, and if that wasn't a mouthful enough, we had a Sony record producer asking M if she could please ship her a trench coat JUST like the one she was wearing because it was, and I quote "a MUST have, one of a kind piece". So if that sounds like something you're into, DRESS to impress in this city, you never know where you might end up :)
I bought the coat, turtleneck, and skirt all from Nordstrom
Outfit #2
(I'm holding a charcoal sketch portrait of my face, yes, that's a whole other story I won't elaborate on, but nothing short of a good time in Central Park, trust.) The sweater and pants are fromTopShop, and the floral collared top is from Forever 21.
NEXT you are going to want to visit the Theater District by night.
There are SO many Broadway shows to see. I jumped on the 'Wicked' and 'Jersey Boys' bandwagon, and both shows are amazing. I could not choose one over the other to recommend to you, so that means you're just going to have to buy tickets for both! This is your chance to dress up, put on a fun dress, or a mid length Taffeta skirt (picture below), and cropped top...just DO it.
In the vintage section of American Apparel.com
Theater District Outfit Ideas:
So once again (far left), I used my coat by night and wore a black, long sleeve American Apparel knit dress under it (and layered tights, leggings, socks, and boots).
NY NIGHTlife
Let's stay on the night time theme for a bit. There's so much to do after the sun sets in this city. Whether it's going for drinks at Jay-Z's 40/40 club, having cocktails, vibin' to the DJ on a rooftop lounge in the Theater District after your show, in the Meat Packing District crashing a privately thrown birthday bash, in the Beekman Beer Gardens overlooking the water with light up white couches, a wine bar in Greenwich Village area where you meet a London based band that invites you to the GreenHouse right across the street, it's tricky to bring the right outfit because you want to look cute, but it's hard to do when you're also trying to keep warm as it's 20 degrees outside.
The 40/40 Club
The Beekman Beer Gardens
The GreenHouse
So what to wear to, what to wear...? We already have packed our heavy coats, etc. to bring out, but once inside these places we can leave our coats at the door and hit the dance floor. My go to store for these trips was American Apparel, moderate priced pieces, packing friendly, and most of the items are basic so you can wear them over and over, and switch them up with different outfits.
The dresses below would be appropriate for either a lounge, a show, dinner, club...the Beer Garden is another story because it's outdoors. You'll probably want to wool it up (the tan coat paired with the red dress below is a wool fabric and would keep you nice and toasty). Blazers are always good too because they tie an entire look together, and is an additional coat layered below that super, thick one you bring.
All items below are available for purchase on American Apparel's website.
When the Coats Come Off...
The Wool Coat
The Blazer
Here's some real life outfit ideas from my first trip, we've got tights, trench coats, blazers, pea coats, scarves, leather jackets galore...
Okay, this is just a start to some of the pieces you can wear in the Big Apple. I feel like I could do a continuation to this post because there are many more areas to talk about, and many more outfit choices you could make, until then I hope this helps and sing along with Alicia Keys,
-Alysha M
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