Georgine at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week A/W 2015

Last Tuesday morning, we both took time off work to go to Lincoln Center for the Georgine runway show. Since we are big fans of her gorgeous gowns and refined aesthetic, we were very excited to see her Autumn/Winter collection for 2015.

Given the weather, and given that we were dressed up like polar bears (no, not in white fur, you wags!), we decided to have a little fun with our fashion, wearing knit Diesel caps with faux fur embellishments. We gave you a little background on them in this post a few weeks ago.  Getting these hats in hand was no small feat. Valerie hounded a number of hapless but endlessly patient sales assistants about them on a number of occasions. Who, she thought (not incorrectly), could wear these hats to better effect than we?

Alas, they were not for sale, beg, plead, wheedle and cajole though she did.  In September, she was told they'd be available after Fashion Week.  After Fashion Week, she was told they'd be available after Thanksgiving, free with a purchase over $250.  By January, they had disappeared, and the new story was that there had not been enough to go around. But we have our ways! And so, at long last, our determination was rewarded. (Not telling how.   In every woman's life there needs to remain a bit of mystery.)  As in interesting aside, when we first saw them, they were ski masks, and by the time we scored them, the eye and mouth holes had been sewn up and the excess material rolled up as you see here.

But we digress!  Back to the reason we were out despite the dreadful weather.  The most memorable images from Georgine's runway show were the glamorous silhouettes: shiny, long, slim outfits with tall metallic platform sandals topped by curly brown pyramid-shaped wigs. It was magical. Jean had that exact hair do in 1977-79, so to see 33 models with the exact same look was deliriously wonderful. (Wigs by Janet Connection and hair by the legendary Ric Pipino for Melville Pipino Salon.)  All the wigs were custom styled. Valerie wants this wig. What would it look like in gray?!

Juana wore a green lame top with green cigarette pants, gold patterned platforms and a red fox handbag by Max Steiner for Georgine, reminiscent of Jean's red faux Ivan Grundahl muff.  (Remember it in our Chromat posting?)

Valentyna rocked a mustard t-shirt and green lame pants with lots of movement. Jewelry is by Kenneth Jay Lane.

Georgine does gorgeous day wear. Case in point: In Moscat sunglasses with her gold foil shearling bomber over a swiss embroidered turtleneck and orange wrap skirt, Carola owned the runway.

Mari walked the runway in a blue jacquard coat over a luci embroidered sweater with a deconstructed mustard wrap skirt.

We confess, we love Georgine's evening wear. Daniela wore a gold silk dress that looked just as great coming ...

... as it did going!  The mustard pocket added a touch of matte color. (Apologies for the blurry first photo, but it does impart the sense of motion inherent in the collection.)

Here's a video of the final line-up.  Click on the link to see the full sized version, or see this in the mini-version that fits on our Blogspot screen:



Production, press and casting were handled seamlessly by MAO Public Relations.  We ran into Mauricio Padhila (in his fab frames) and Brynne Formato out front, managing the mayhem the way Leonard Bernstein conducted an orchestra, and meeting and greeting, while Roger stayed backstage, making sure the trains ran on time and the models hit the runway on cue.

Roger Padhila (left) and Evan Lenhoff, relaxing backstage at the conclusion of the show.

And here was Georgine herself, being interviewed after the show.

As we have so often noted, not all of the show is on the runway.  The Georgine show was no exception.  Luann de Lessaps (aka "Countess Luann"), being interviewed before the show, was among a lineup of Real Housewives inhabiting the first row at the show.

Valerie photographed this woman because she loved her outfit. Foolishly, she asked if if was vintage, and the woman responded it was Georgine.  This photo doesn't show the colors nearly well enough.  It was gorgeous.  Later, Jean told Valerie (and perhaps some of our readers could have told her as well) that this woman is none other than Kristen Taekman, one of The Real Housewives of New York City.  (Valerie would like to point out that in March she will celebrate her third anniversary without a television set, and is not always up on current events.)

Photographer and Instagrammer Gazelle Paulo cut quite a dapper figure in his hat, glasses and coat, taking dressing for the weather to a whole new level.

These two fabulous women were tall to begin with, their high heeled shoes made them taller, and the blow-dry mohawk on the woman at the right was the proverbial whipped cream on top.

A gorgeous lady asked if she could photograph us with her gorgeous daughter.  (They were dressed nearly alike.  Soo cool!)

Outside on the Plaza after the show, we saw:

A woman showing off her backless blouse (and remember, this is at a time when a good portion of Niagara Falls is frozen, and we're wondering if there is a heating system beneath the Lincoln Center fountain),

a photographer who looked like he'd been on the runway in front of a hundred cameras just minutes before we took this shot,

a man dressed from head to toe in the same color (how did he do that, and how long did it take him?),

and Anderson Cooper. The hand in front of the face is no accident. He walked the length of the Plaza that way, looking neither right nor left. Oh well.

And just like Cinderella, when the clock struck midnight and her coach turned into a pumpkin and she beat a hasty retreat, we reverted to our work-a-day selves and went back to our respective offices -- wearing our Diesel hats, of course!