Oh yes we did—we met fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and it all started with an email from a girlfriend! Genevieve, who remembered our past posts and tweets about how we were nuts about Mizrahi, kindly let us know he was going to be in town for an event to launch the Liz Claiborne New York line. Mizrahi took over design for the line this year (ending his relationship with Target, where he helped create an affordable style revolution). Carson Pirie Scott (known as BonTon in other parts of the country) hosted a fashion show and shopping event with an opportunity to meet the designer. Being that it was right in our backyard, so to speak, we simply had to be there. 

We’re in!

After waiting in line to see if we were going to get into the event, we were seated near the runway. Yes! Our pink wristbands ensured we would get a goodie bag after the show. Better, we had a closeup view of the stage where Mizrahi would sit and talk about style with emcee Stacy Wallace-Albert.

Style tips

Does fashion matter to real girlfriends, with everything going on in the world today? Well, if you’re talking about high fashion, maybe not. But, no matter who you are, style does matter. You have to present yourself in some way, given that we live in a visually oriented society, so you might as well give it some thought and look put-together. It doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot. Mizrahi focused on versatile pieces in this line, which is reasonably priced. Perhaps playing to his Midwestern audience, he also gave a lot of practical fashion advice in his time on stage. Here are a few of his nuggets:

“Tailoring is your friend. Color is your friend. If you like a color, nobody is going to tell you that you look wrong in it.” You can’t go wrong, Mizrahi says, with one bright color and a neutral. Two colors with a neutral is even better, and three colors with a neutral can be a “home run.”

He’s had it with the “tyranny of the style gurus.” He thinks you should wear what you like. “There’s not a Mr. Blackwell lurking on every corner,” he says, waiting to put you on some worst-dressed list.

“Don’t shop with your mother!” Mizrahi warns. “You have to go shopping with a really fun friend that you trust.” 

The clothes

The clothes came out in three groups with commentary in between. We loved the one-button “boy jacket” and Jackie-fit straight-leg pants, in a soft denim. Tina wanted the stretch gingham pleated skirt, while Dawn wanted the white ruffle-front shirtdress. Everybody seemed to want the belted bateau neck gingham dress. Punching up the neutral shades were bright pops of color in yellow, pink, green and orange. Mizrahi surprised a grateful fan by giving her this colorful tote because she was wearing a bandana on her head, as he often does in his video blogs. And speaking of accessories, we want this petal perfect flower pendant, in pink, of course.

The goodies

After the show, as everyone hurried back into Carson’s to get their goodie bags, we were stopped by a Chicago Tribune style reporter who wanted our take on the new line. Seriously! We tried hard to put together a coherent thought, which was tough since we were still feeling faint from all the excitement of getting into the show audience. It will be fun to see if our comments make it into print! 

Then, we went to collect our goodie bags in the festive atmosphere back in the Liz Claiborne department. In the goodie bag: A copy of Chicago magazine, coupons for future purchase from Liz Claiborne, and a lovely hardcover blank journal, embossed with the new “four-leaf clover” Liz Claiborne logo. Lemongrass water was served, prizes were raffled off, and shoppers scoured the colorful new collection. The first 50 people to make a purchase received a copy of Mizrahi’s book, How to Have Style, AND the opportunity to have it personally signed by him. Well, you know we had to be in that group! The white ruffle dress was quickly snagged, along with a gold wristband, Mizrahi’s book, and place in line to meet the man himself. He was warm and friendly, and chatted us up about whether we were out having a fun girlfriend day, where we lived, and so on. We told him we bought the white ruffle dress and plan to wear it all summer long, and he concurred, saying it was the “best dress.” We told him we recommend his book all the time and pressed our pink business card into his hand, imploring him to stop by the website and say hi. We hope he will!

A great girlfriend day

It was fabulous fun seeing the new Liz Claiborne fashions and meeting one of our favorite style icons. Hope you enjoyed our little report! This awesome day started and ended with GIRLFRIENDS: Girlfriend-in-Chief Tina was behind the camera, shlepping the bags and being the best friend a girl could have. Thank you dear, for patiently indulging my obsession!

If you want more Mizrahi, check out his website here. He video blogs all the time! He’s also hosting a new reality series on Bravo, The Fashion Show, beginning May 7. And if YOU want to celebrate style with your girlfriends, check out our Girlfriend Parties with Style for several fashionista-friendly girls night ideas.