Fall into Fashion

I don't consider myself a clumsy person. In fact, I think I am the opposite. It's rare I have a stain on my clothes, I don't drop things or break dishes. I'm pretty accident free. But something shifts when I am alone in a new place. I turn into a bumbling weirdo tripping over street corners and trying to PUSH when the sign says PULL. It probably stems from my discomfort in being alone and exposed to the world with no protective barrier. 

So today, I went to meet Jane at Fall into Fashion in Director's Park - a fashion show followed by specials and refreshments at local stores and malls. I had some time to kill so I talked to my Dad on the phone while wandering through Nordstrom, leaving a drool-trail on the YSL bags. I then headed up to the park, chronically early as I always am, and after spinning about on the street corner for a few minutes, went into a favorite delicatessen to pick up a little snack to make me feel less awkward about being alone. I discovered macarons and naturally bought one of every flavor. When I walked out into the park to take a seat amongst other onlookers, I got caught in a gust of wind, my skirt blew up, and in juggling my camera, bag, skirt, and jacket, my package of macarons got caught in the wind and the macarons tumbled into the dirty street. Great. Stupid $2 treats! I was too wary of the human feces I saw on Yamhill the other day to collect them and sneakily eat them off the street, so I just held back tears and thanked god the chocolate one survived down in the bottom of the bag. 

Anyway, enough of my first world problems and onto the Fall into Fashion event we attended.

Fall into Fashion was a great event put on by the shops in downtown Portland as a precursor and compliment to Portland's own mini-fashion week. It started off with a runway show featuring items from stores in downtown, both local and chain, and then many of the local boutiques had discounts, in-store parties, and refreshments. Jane and I knocked back some delicious snacks from Nordstrom including cookies, truffle potato chips, San Pellegrino, and entered to win some prizes. We then visited some other shops, had our photos taken, and finally ended up at the gorgeous Mercantile. Mercantile sells luxury items like beautiful cashmere sweaters, insanely gorgeous and expensive coats, and jeans beyond any normal person's price range. Therefore everything is drool-worthy and they had an awesome party. We lingered around beautiful items by DVF, Chloe, Red Valentino, and Missoni and sipped white wine and ate appetizers from Urban Farmhouse down the street. It was a blast. 

Of the items shown above, I was really loving the Nordstrom look with full leather skirt and demure sweater - perfect for Fall. I also fell for the Pendleton coats - those bright tan, black and red coats on the men and women, and found myself coveting the shift-dress in grey and black. No idea how the models could stand the 95 degree heat while they marched about in wool - but bring on some chilly weather! I'm ready for coats!