This year was [and still is] the year of the fashion blogger. It was the first year all-star, all-too-well-known bloggers like Bobby Boy, 13-year-old Style Rookie Tavi and Susi Bubble were sitting front row at fashion week next to Anna Wintour, Rachel Zoe, celebrities and socialite tastemakers.
These were bloggers who thanks to their own initiative and altruistic talent, had established themselves as forces to be reckoned with [and listened to] in the fashion world.
With the year of the blogger came the year of the blogger conference. Last winter I attended the Independent Fashion Blogger conference, where I heard some of these famous bloggers recap their rise to digital fame and the ensuing battles they’ve faced and conquered from being in the public eye and media. The number one lesson I learned: stick to your passion through authenticity and a voice that cares about what you’re talking about. It was inspiring for SDV, because I’ve always cared about vintage and introducing it into the contemporary girls’ wardrobe through the positive energy of empowering fashion.
This fashion week, I checked out yet ANOTHER fashion bloggers conference called Chictopia10. Chictopia, like IFB, is a fashion bloggers community where like-minded individuals can find one another in a one-stop digital destination. I don’t use Chictopia [sorry! no time!] but have much respect for the platform and what it has done for the blogger community.
This year’s conference was an intellectual delight. While IFB provided me with some celebrity gawking [I mean, seeing Tavi in the flesh … when I first heard of her, I thought she wasn’t real!], Chictopia pushed me to think, analyze and conclude on some very relevant, very real and very right-now issues concerning fashion bloggers and the future of the internet itself. [dun dun dun]
I shot a few videos of panelists answering specific questions, which you can check out on my Vimeo page or in the blog post that precedes this one. Panelists featured represented big name brands and were full of big ideas, which they shared with the nearly 100 member-plus audience at the Union Square Ballroom on Sunday, September 12th.
After the actual conference, my uber-awesome, uber-inspiring advertising-savvy and Canadian friend [I had to throw that in there!] Ritu from the blog The Stylester joined me for dinner and some after-party rendezvous at the West Village Juicy Couture store, where we mingled with Japanese rock stars [would I kid you?], handsome Russian models serving champagne in a can [check Ritu’s site for some of those pics …] and shopped the sales [and shot some video, too!]
BUT the fun doesn’t stop there [seriously … would I REALLY kid you?!]. I headed back to Ritu’s oh-so-fab Union Square apartment [this is not SpaHa, people!] for her MTV Video Music Awards party that was sponsored by Proactiv. Go Ritu for getting those sponsors! And yes, that is me posing with a TV screen. Drake and Mary J. Blige are on the screen … just in case you were wondering ;-)
OK, I’m taking a deep breath now, too. It was a whirlwind of a day, not to mention recap! Read on below for some semi-snarky, but always very-Sammy-D commentary on the events of the day.
Ritu and I posing with the ModCloth step-and-repeat backdrop at the start of the conference. See that little doggie on the backdrop? That dog is the pug owned by ModCloth’s founder [and one of my personal idols in the vintage industry!] Susan Koger.
I totally geeked out for the media summit. New Macbook? Check. FLIP cam? Check. Blackbery? Check. But Sammy, where’s the iPad, you ask?
NOPE! I didn’t miss the iPad. And I needed it, too, when the battery on my Mac ran out! I was tweeting and blogging away. I was almost [ALMOST] as bad as Kanye.
OK, so in a “past” life of mine I worked as an assistant for popular magazine web sites. And, as an assistant, I was in charge of the holiday gift guide for the site. Enter Lucid Anna, a NY based jewelry company that I was first introduced to thanks to the holiday gift guide. Now enter the FOUNDER and the woman who IS Anna at the Chictopia conference! Ritu & I met Anna, who is pictured here on the left, and I just about died when I recognized her name and her brand from my time spent in the corporate magazine world. This picture was taken by Anna’s camera — check out her site to see her great collection, and tell her that Sammy Davis Vintage sent you!
The blogging world is a crazy one. You meet “online” friends that you may never meet in the flesh. Thankfully, I had the chance to meet two of my favorite fashion girls from the heart of DC, Carlis & Katya of Spicy Candy DC! This was seriously a dream come true — I even interviewed them for my segment with Lemondrop on 4th of July fashion before meeting them in person. Amen!
Karen, a publicist repping StyleSips [seriously, the cutest thing to come to Kmart in a long, long time] rocked my world. She asked the most hilarious [and needed!] question to one of the panelists, who worked for Twitter. Her question, “When my Twitter was hacked, why was I put into Twitter probation?” She was referring to the fact that after your account was hacked and spammed, you couldn’t access it for an entire month. Poor girl! Knock on wood that @sammyd22 or @sammydvintage is never hacked …
The PR girls behind StyleSips … I stole this from their fanpage, because I just thought this shot was too cute not to feature! Morgan, front and center, was my BFF in the StyleSips lounge. She and I share the [almost] same birthday — she is March 17, and I’m the 16th.
StyleSips was seriously hooking us up with style … and I will be receiving this military-esque cropped jacket as a complimentary gift from the Bongo line in the mail very shortly! Can’t wait to wear — thanks ladies!
Now for some intellectual seriousness. On the right is Susan Koger, who I mentioned above is one of my vintage industry idols. She founded one of the first [well maybe not THE first, but seriously it was more than 10 years ago and the internet had just been born!] online vintage e-commerce sites. She was only … drum roll please! … 17 years old! She started it with her then-boyfriend [now hubby!] and it grew into what is ModCloth today. I met Susan and introduced myself thanks to our PA lineage [she is from Pittsburgh] and of course, talked the vintage talk with her for as long as I could. I’m wishing her the best of luck as she grows her business and continues to give women an awesome online option to shop new and to shop vintage.
Photo Credit: Lucid Anna
One of the panelists for the panel “Search vs Social Media: What Drives Traffic?” on the right, Vanessa Hong of the Haute Pursuit. She is based in Canada and so Ritu was really pumped to meet her!
A view of the room — full of bloggers, media peeps and just lots o’ plain ole’ stylish ladies!
Later that night, Ritu and I moved locations to the official afterparty at Juicy Couture in the West Village. The store was absolutely STUNNING and decorated to the nines. I wish I had grabbed pictures of it on the inside, but if you want to check it out for yourself, it’s on Bleecker & Charles Street! [one street above 10th]
Obviously, I’m a sucker for sequins. So obviously, I had to try this on. Wasn’t a huge fan, but on the right occasion, pink sequins can take you far [and get you out of some deep trouble, too!]
Watch the video below for the full shop-the-Juicy sales experience … and MORE sequins!
Sammy D & The Stylester at Juicy Couture / Chictopia After Party in the West Village from Sammy Davis on Vimeo.
I swore to you above that I “ran” into Japanese rock stars … well … here they are in their full tutu/tulle glory!
I wouldn’t be following good karma if I didn’t add this picture of my free swag from the Chictopia10 summit — complete with booty-poppin’, color-poppin’ bright green spandex from American Apparel and loads of other goodies!
Somehow we weren’t too tired to turn on the tube and catch some of the VMA’s at Ritu’s party as sponsored by Proactiv. We had some great drinks, food, and of course caught Kanye West and Taylor Swift in all of their post-drama glory [and a Lady Gaga who SANG during her acceptance speech? Oy vey!]
That’s it folks. I could keep on writing, but I don’t know if you could keep on reading!
xx SD
This is an AMAZING recap! Well done Sammy!
Love this recap Sammy! Had so much fun, learned a lot, but most importantly (drum roll)………….WE GOT TO MEET! ;)
xoxo
Katya
Everyone wants this recap, thanks for your work for public demands. and very warm wishes from me.