Crisis in Denim

Rock sugar candy. Yum.

…  thus went the first-ever Boston Fashion Blogger Mixer last weekend.

Of course there’s much, much more.

When the day began I was a bit apprehensive.  Would my outfit be right? Would the other bloggers already all know each other? It was like the first day of sleep-away camp, circa 1988!

To ease my nervousness I told myself I’d just pop in for a few minutes, pick up some business cards, introduce myself to a couple bloggers, and quietly slip out. Wrong.

Hello, Lovelies. Where have you been all my life? These Pour La Victoire booties at Luna were a bit out of my price range, even with 25% off. Still, they are gorgeous and have inspired many a fantasy.

First off, the mixer was held at the fabulous Luna Boston handbag store (hello? handbag store?! It was like the venue was chosen especially pour moi!)  on Newbury Street, and the first thing I saw was a sign offering all bloggers 25 percent off anything. Now THAT’S what I call hospitality.

Then, just as I was filling out my nametag, some excitement erupted outside. We all ran to see. It was the annual Santa Speedo Run making its way down Newbury Street in all its Spandex glory.  Suffice it to say, we bloggers were all ready for a drink after that sighting.

The Santa Speedo Run ran just past the Fashion Blogger Mixer. It was a juxtaposition of sorts-- people who love wearing clothes, and people who love, well, NOT wearing clothes.

Thank goodness for Hpnotiq. If it sounds like I’m shilling for a big alcohol company, well, I am, just a bit. It was just that they sent over such lovely bottles of baby-blue liquor, along with bartenders to make delicious concoctions such as the  Roq Candy  which was stirred up with a stick of pale blue rock sugar candy.

(By the way, it seems we all inadvertently enrolled in Hpnotiq’s “Night School for Girls” (Click on 12.12.2009 Luna Boston)– since there are plenty of photos of the festivities on the company’s website.)

After we’d all had a few sips of these yummy drinks, the place really got hopping.

A Necklush. I feel a Jones of the Week coming on.

I met Lei Ann of Give Me Platforms… or give me death (I know, I love the blog name too) who was very Zen in her Buddha necklace.  She was also the lucky winner of a giveaway from Necklush, which makes super-sweet neckwear that is somewhere between necklace and scarf.

I met Amy of The Bargain Hunter Extraordinaire, Jessica of  Daucus Carota, Davita of Dita’s Style Buffet, Najeema of A Stylized Hysteria and Julie of Orchid Grey — all lovely and super-cool.

I met Jen of Jen Loves Kev and Amy, aka Punky of Punky Style, who also owns a very cool mobile vintage shop, Haberdash Vintage, and who supplied many of the goodies for the random drawing giveaway. (Yours truly won a crocheted clutch!). They, along with Liana of New Brahmin, organized the mixer and I,  for one, can not gush enough with gratitude.

Blogstress after fabulous blogstress confessed to me that she’d been nervous about meeting everyone and all I could say was: ME TOO! I had thought I’d stand in the corner, sneak out when no one was looking, and have a whole afternoon to kill before my 5:30 p.m. bus to New York.

Boy, was I wrong. Sometime around 3:30 p.m. I glanced at my watch and realized the afternoon had flown by and I didn’t even have enough time to take advantage of the shopping deals some Newbury Street stores were offering bloggers. In fact, I barely had enough time to pick up my bags and head to New York City.

I just barely made my bus and on the ride down (well, before those blue drinks sent me into a deep sleep), I thought, I don’t care what anyone says about fashion and New York– there is no city with a more fabulous sisterhood of fashion bloggers than Boston.

Booze and Shoes

Okay, don’t die of shock, but I didn’t make the The Boston Globe’s list of the 25 Most Stylish Bostonians of 2009. It’s fine. Really. I wasn’t expecting to. I mean, I was already passed over for the Fashion Boston list of the City’s 100 Best Dressers. I’ve grown used to disappointment.

However, I remain optimistic.

First,  The Boston Globe promises to pick 25 NEW people each year. Plus, the Globe and Fashion Boston lists don’t appear to include the same fashionistas (despite the fact that Globe Media publishes Fashion Boston) though I haven’t scrutinized them as carefully as perhaps I should, mostly because they make me feel so inadequate I can’t bear it.  So that’s 125 new “Most Fashionables” launched into stardom each year.

In addition, census figures show the state’s population growing only slightly, even registering a year-over-year decline not too long ago. There are also reports that young professionals are leaving Massachusetts, probably because they’re sick of shoveling their cars out of the snow piled in front of their overpriced houses. Fewer competitors means more room for yours truly among the ranks of the stylish.

Finally, and here’s really the key, I’m betting in the next year some new “Best Dressed” or “Most Fashionable” or “Greatest Dresser” or “All Around Most Awesome” lists will crop up. This is the DIY era, after all. So the more “Best Dressed” slots there are available in the city, the more likely I am to land on one of the lists.

Even if the list was created by some little blog no one reads….

Hmmmmmm…..