Charlottesville Fashion Week

What? You haven't heard of Charlottesville Fashion Week? You're in New York, hanging out with Alexander Wang, Philip Lim, and Zac Posen? Psshhh, why would you want to do that when you can be in Central Virginia?!?!!!

Needless to say, morale is low in this part of the woods this week, particularly for those of us with a fondness towards fashion and anything New York. Yes, in fact, the whole month is destined to go downhill, as we longingly watch videos of shows streaming from Paris and Milan on our not even all that fast Charlottesville internet. Don't even mention the word "party."

Last night, Andrew, Serena, and I headed out on the town to lift spirits and distract from thoughts of separation from the excitement in New York. We had a great dinner at The Local in Belmont, then wandered over to the mall to hit the bars. After three failures (empty Ten, couples night at Zocalo, and Bachelorette Penis Hats at Blue Light), we ended up at Ventana, actually a really great bar with delicious drinks (Rosemary Grapefruit Martini? Yes, please). While completely failing to lift ourselves from Fashion Week Depression, we invited the pirate-patched bartender to have a drink with us (yes, this story is 100% true). His first question: "Why are you all so dressed up? Did you have some event?"

THIS is the problem with Charlottesville: we were not dressed up. I had on jeans and heels with a casual blouse and cardigan; Serena was in linen shorts, a tank top, and heels; Andrew had on leather leggings (I know, kill him now) and a flannel shirt (note this extreme seasonal oddity at his and Serena's outfits). Normal, I'd say, for going out to dinner and grabbing drinks after on a SATURDAY night! If we were in any city, even DC, this would be dressed down. But no, we stuck out like sore thumbs amidst Lacoste shirts and hippie skirts. It was as if You're Not at Fashion Week was flashing in lights.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it is blinding, neon, and flashing: STYLE.COM IPHONE APP. The greatest thing ever invented. You can see all the shows in crystal clear images (zoom in too!) and flip through them, oh, I'd say 350 times quicker than if you were using their obnoxious slideshow feature online. Everything is updated as soon as the site is, and it even feeds in Style File Blog! It is absolutely the greatest thing to happen to Fashion Week, to Style.Com, to Ipods everywhere, and particularly, to those of us in Charlottesville, VA.