Move over New York City. St. Louis is positioning itself to be a major player in the fashion game. And, the recent Saint Louis Fashion Week (STLFW), four days of high caliber fashion experiences, took four big steps in that direction.
Thanks to the Midwest Influencer Network and a few generous sponsors, I got to experience STLFW the best way possible, as a member of a VIP blogger squad.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
Get a glimpse of the experience by following along below.
Day One
5:00 p.m.: I head to the Tiny Bar for happy hour. There, I meet up with some familiar faces and help welcome the out of town bloggers to St. Louis. Signature cocktails. Bloggers dressed to the nines. This happy hour was the perfect start to an amazing night. By the way, you must try the Tiny Bar’s Manhattan.
6:35 p.m.: I drive to the St. Louis Union Station for the Caleres Emerging Designer Competition. Wow! I’ve never seen so many stylish people in one place in St. Louis. I have just enough time to be whisked to my seat. You can see my favorite designs and find out who won the competition in my Saint Louis Fashion Week Recap.
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| Photo Credit: Ashley Lear |
9:00 p.m.: The runway event is over. I catch up with some blogger friends I haven’t seen in a while. We hang out for a bit, and then I head to Three Sixty to enjoy dinner and the best view of downtown St. Louis from the roof of the Hilton. The night’s dinner was brought to us by Socially Jen, a social media and marketing boutique.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
Day Two
10:00 a.m.: A subset of the blogger crew gets an advanced tour of Naturalizer’s latest collection at the St. Louis Galleria store. Wait until you see the super chic Naturalizer “Harbor” boots, which I’ll be featuring in a post next week.
11:30 a.m.: Did you watch Resale Royalty? If so, you’re familiar with Sue McCarthy and her daughters, owners of Women’s Closet Exchange and The Vault, designer resale shops in St. Louis. As a fan of the show and the stores, I was especially excited about our next stop—The Vault. Here I am chatting with fellow bloggers while we take a quick shopping break.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
5:00 p.m.: After a break for a meeting, I reconnect with the crew for happy hour and dinner at Element, a restaurant and lounge that encourages family style dining by offering shareable small and large plates. The dinner was supported by a new jewelry line, Collections by Joya, that I was excited to learn about. Here I am listening to a brief presentation by the owner of Collections by Joya, who explained how proceeds from the company benefit women’s charities around the world.
8:15 p.m.: Several courses later, the blogger dinner is a wrap. We head to The Luminary to catch the end of the STLFW Wear It: Fashion Challenge. We get there just in time to see St. Louis designer, Nasheli Ortiz, announced as the winner of the $5000 prize. Here I am with Julia completing quick edits on a few snaps from the event that I’m about to tweet.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
Day Three
11:00 a.m.: Day three starts at Lu Lu Seafood for Dim Sum. I used to eat at Lu Lu all the time when I first lived in St. Louis while attending graduate school. The food was as delicious as I remembered.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
5:00 p.m.: I left the blogger crew after Dim Sum and joined them later for happy hour at Fauxgerty, a vegan leather outerwear brand. What can I say? I felt at home in this store. Heidi and I instantly fell in love with these herbivore sweatshirts that we picked up. Vegans unite!
6:45 p.m.: While we were at Fauxgerty, the Fantich and Young exhibit at Projects+Gallery kicked off. So we headed straight there. The exhibit was creepy and cool. Do yourself a favor and click through to the Apex Predator | Darwinian Voodoo exhibit to see what Carmen and I couldn’t stop photographing.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
7:30 p.m.: After making the rounds at the exhibit, I headed to dinner and a discussion at Central Table sponsored by the Missouri Eating Disorders Council. I was so moved by the firsthand accounts of people whose lives were directly affected by eating disorders, an illness prevalent in the fashion industry. Here’s our group actively listening and receiving a wealth of information from the discussion that night.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
Day Four
5:30 p.m.: On day four, I’m unable to make the popup shop events in the morning because I teach my fitness classes at the same time. I’m excited, though, to reconnect with the girls for dinner at Budweiser Brew House. I was surprised to learn about the delectable menu, prepared by a chef with particular beer pairings in mind. The chef whipped up a tasty vegan entree just for me. I ate every single bite.
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| Photo credit: Ashley Kuenstler |
After dinner, our crew got an exclusive tour of Ballpark Village, and then toasted to a fantastic Saint Louis Fashion Week at Howl at the Moon.
What a week! Thanks again to the Midwest Influencer Network and all the brands that made this experience so enjoyable.
