Fashion's Night Out 2010

I spent last night in the midst of a Soho chaotic mess that is Fashion's Night Out event. There were tons of people! I started the evening with friends coming over for a couple drinks then we walked over (in heels) to the Ace Hotel's Opening Ceremony store - there was already a small crowd inside. Upon exiting, the food trucks from the Breslin (restaurant for the Ace Hotel), Van Leeuwen ice cream truck, Baohaus, and another food truck which I can't remember the name of... A line formed (while chowing down a delicious bao) to enter into the Ace Hotel for Opening Ceremony that wrapped around the building (a forecast for the rest of the evening).
We headed down towards the flatiron bldg (still in heels) for Argo Tea's event with MS Apothecary to get our fake lashes & make up touched up by Mary Schook who is super personable. Mary and I talked shop for a little bit.
Hopped on the train to Soho.
Upon exiting the station it was PURE CHAOS! I've never seen Soho this packed in the evening. (ok, maybe after the Halloween parade)
We made it to the Ben Sherman store where they checked IDs and free beers abound (how very frat-boy-esque). Not after passing by the pop-up Piperlime store where Rachel Zoe, the celeb stylist, was anchoring herself down for the evening. There were so many people there, I thought a riot was going to break out. (more on that later)
My gal pal and I went to the Kate Spade store after parting w/ part of our group (which included men so I can understand why this was so not their scene). Tim Gunn was signing autographs for his book. I took a picture of Tim Gunn but I think its a bit blurry. His book sold out by the time we got there. We hung around for a bit at Kate Spade b/c the drinks and appetizers kept flowing. Plus there were comfy plush couches for us to sit on.
A quick trip inside Uggs, Molton Brown, Illori before seeing Karl Lagerfeld and then a stampede broke out in front of Chanel. My friend grabbed me and we ended up following Karl's posse before getting shoved around, but we made it to the front of the line. (lots of crazed ladies out) Chanel was madness, I stood in another line to get a free manicure and it took FOREVER. My feet were killing me in the heels. (why did I decide to wear heels? I should invest and really hot flats so I don't end up in my sparkly fit flops which is not exactly appropriate for events like these). By the time I got my manicure FNO was almost done, and I wanted to purchase the green khaki color but the manicurist said it was SOLD OUT (FML!).
On a random note: My friend also got her iPhone stolen in Chanel while getting her make up retouched (WTF!)


Overall, my fave experiences were getting my lashes, hanging out at Kate Spade, drinking free champagne. Next year, I'm going to do more of the spa-like activities like the free hair blowouts, make up touch ups, and manicures. I ended up not purchasing anything the entire evening b/c the lines for everything was INSANE!