hello my friends! i’m back! well, i’ve been back from austin for quite a little while but i am FINALLY getting around to blogging about one of the most memorable trips of my life, to date. there are almost no words to explain how magical my first trip to austin was. and i owe it all to my darling friend kaleigh, of meldeen and the modern creative (you may remember her precious little family from here). kaleigh is a very talented creative and an incredibly ambitious business woman. she did all of the branding for austin fashion week, which was amazing, and i was honored to be her guest to austin fashion week. i also want to thank matt swinney, the producer of austin fashion week, for the most well-done fashion week i have attended. the VIP treatment was so special. i especially enjoyed sitting in the front row every evening to see the work of such talented designers (which i will get to in my next post). one of the most memorable parts of the trip was unexpectedly being able to attend the final night of awards and collections (thanks to the terrible weather in texas and american airlines for canceling our flights). overall, it was an unforgettable experience and i can’t wait to go back to austin again.
to start, a few of the highlights from the trip captured on instagram (from upper left):
1. upon landing in austin, we had lunch at the cutest little place: blue dahlia bistro.
2. delicious brie apricot walnut tartines for lunch.
3. after some shopping (first order of business, obviously) we were ready for night one of austin fashion week.
4. what i wore: dress: bcbg max azria, shoes: shoemint, clutch: gift from a friend.
5. up close: nails: butter london, watch: michael kors, jewels: banana republic {similar here}, j.crew, gifted.
6. kaleigh’s logo for austin fashion week.
7. outside the driskill hotel, home of austin fashion week.
8. lighting at the driskill.
9. even the bathroom was gorgeous. photo op (…thinking “am i really here?”)
10. kaleigh’s branding above the runway.
11. my lovely hostess!
12. front row fun every night with kaleigh and stephanie.
13. one of my favorite designers of the week: isabellarosefashion.com. she’s 11. yep.
14. wall projection of kaleigh’s logo.
15. out for champagne and oysters at parkside after night one with new friends in austin. cheers!
16. so fun.
17. photo of us sitting front row, by the statesman.
18. after the after-party at lustre pearl on rainy street. a little photo shoot in this darling bar.
19. bikini-clad dog walker on the runway. this little one reminded me of sophie as a baby pup.
20. getting into trouble shopping at zara at the domain. must-have trends for fall: leather peplum and snake print pants.
21. feather butterfly installation at neiman’s at the domain.
22. most unique coffee shop: houndstooth in austin.
23. houndstooth is so charming. and we’re talking real coffee- like no cream and sugar… it’s that good.
24. getting my makeup and hair done by kim barnes woolery in her airstream. what an experience!
25. austin fashion week night two at the driskill.
26. what i wore: jumpsuit: bbdakota from statement, heels: zara, clutch: zara, headband: forever21 {similar here}, jewels: jewelmint, brandy melville, banana republic {similar here}, michael kors.
27. the haunted bridal suite of the driskill. eerily beautiful.
28. austin fashion week night three. what i wore: dress: ladakh from statement, heels: zara, leather jacket: zara, clutch: michael kors, and…
29. THE gloves! perforated leather lambskin driving gloves made by my new friend ross bennett, of the ross bennett collection. photo credit: ross.
30. utterly entranced in the front row.
31. awesome shot of the driskill.
32. my new babies.
33. leaving austin fashion week. until next time! (or so we thought…)
34. saying goodbye to austin and new friends at houndstooth.
35. what’s that? our flights are cancelled due to the weather after waiting for hours at the airport? sounds good. we’ll just grab some energy strips and head to the final night of austin fashion week!
36. running in to the awards show.
37. we threw it together, but we made it. what i wore: greylin dress from piper {same print here}, jacket from zara, ash wedge booties {similar here}.
38. new friend lauren polt of chika-d accepting her award. naturally, a golden boot.
39. ross and erin bennett after debuting the collection– it was the icing on the cake that we could make it for this!
i’ll be back with more on austin fashion week. next up: photos from the runway…
xoxo natalie
sequined silver lining 
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