Reader Brianna Nicole asks:

How are models chosen to participate in Fashion week?  I am very interested in participating.

Great question Brianna! Most model castings are done through the model's respective agency.  Either the house or the show production will contact the agency in regards to what type of model they're looking for, whether it be by attitude, hair color or overall "look". One of the best places to get a peek inside model castings is the Confessions of a Casting Director blog, also known as COACD. Models typically aren't paid for walking in shows, but can receive last season's goods from the designer.

Smaller houses might post an open call on Craigslist, so keep your eyes peeled!

Readers Catherine & Ashley ask: 

Where can I get my hands on New York Fashion Week tickets for this September? I would be so grateful if you could help.

I was wondering when the upcoming events for New York Fashion Week for Spring 2009 were and how I would be able to get a hold of tickets.

Thanks for writing in ladies!  New York Fashion Week Spring 2009 will take place September 5 -12.  The events of Fashion Week are not open to the public, and tickets are generally not for sale.  Exceptions to this rule include tickets for sale through American Express and scalped passes posted on Craigslist. Fashion Week is intended as a preview for press and buyers so they can plan their next season.

In all honesty, Fashion Week is not as glamorous or as fun as it's made out to be.  It is many long hours of hard work, both for the production crew, press and attendees of the shows. Imagine how much fun you'd have if you were in 4" heels all day long and on a diet consisting of caffeine? Amplify that times a tent full of women in the exact same situation, mix in some attitude ("Don't you know who I am?!") and you've got Fashion Week.

The best way to do Fashion Week is to let others do the work for you.  There are plenty of online resources available that post photos of the shows within hours of the showing.  The tents are hot, sweaty, and crowded all for 15 minutes of loud music and bright lights.  Why suffer when you can sit behind the safety and comfort of your computer?

Click here for past Ask Style ITs or to ask your own question!

While in San Francisco, I planned to spend a Sephora gift card I received for my birthday from the gals at Coutorture burning a hole in my pocket.  What better location than to spend it than San Francisco, the home of Sephora, and in San Fran's Flagship store.  I went in with a few ideas on what I was going to purchase, but once I saw the NARS display I was transfixed.  I eventually walked away with Lip Gloss in Dolce Vita, Lipstick in Heat Wave, and the Duo Eyeshadow in Portobello.  I was planning on writing an in depth review complete with photos when I became transfixed by another NARS release - the Miami Sun Set.

I was immediately struck by the sunshine yellow eyeshdow color, and went straight to daydreaming potential eye makeup combinations before I even considered the rest of the set.  The duo, appropriately named Sundance, is clearly the standout item in the collection.  Including a summer red nail polish, Dovima, wasn't a bad choice on NARS' part.  After all, who can go wrong with a brilliant cheery red?  Where the collection starts to lose my affections is at the potted Lip Lacquer in Capucine.  True the shimmery orange is gorgeous but the application is messy, especially considering applying the color anywhere in New York City.  Gross subway germs combined with the need to consistently carry a lip brush immediately turn me off any potted lip color.  Aside from the inconvenience and gross factor of the gloss, the Miami Sun Set isn't a bad deal at $65.

It's no secret that I love Borghese spa & cosmetics products.  Borghese is offering a fantastic spa and makeover filled day at Bloomingdales locations all over South Florida.  

Clear your calendars on June 28th so you can enjoy the following fantastic services at a South Florida counter near you:

1. Mini facials by experienced Estheticians in a private spa room with warm facial cloths

2. Complimentary Makeovers with professional makeup artists

3. Easy to learn Makeup techniques and applications

4. Relaxing Massage

5. Vitamin C Treatments for illumination and glow

6. Hydration treatments with our Crema Straordinaria Skincare Products

7. Free Gift with Purchase

8. Complimentary samples to take home

***Bring a friend and receive a deluxe sample***

Locations participating in this event are:

The Falls Miami - 305-252-6256

Aventura - 305-792-1054

Boca - 561-394-2286

Palm Beach Gardens - 561-625-2073

If you're not in the South Florida area, you can still receive 20% off orders of $100 or more for registered users of Borghese.com.

I was recently encouraged to check out Marshall's new in store Shoe MegaShop.  As someone with very large feet (size 12 if you must know, but they do perfectly compliment my 6'2" frame) shoe shopping often leaves me disheartened unless I can count on the retailer to carry size 12 shoes regularly.  In fact, there are very few shoe stores I can count on - Target & Payless immediately come to mind.  

While in San Francisco on a business trip, I managed to sneak a few moments for myself Saturday morning before my flight back to JFK to check out a conveniently located Marshall's store.  Honestly I tried as hard as I realistically could to enter the experience with an open mind.  Once I saw the store's style-by-style merchandising, I knew that I only stood a 1% chance of finding a shoe in my size.  The downside of style-by-style merchandising, while appealing to those average sized gals, is the tantalizing styles get my hopes up. I browsed the aisles, casually falling in love and repeatedly looking for anything over a size 10.  If you have average sized feet (ie, sizes 6-10) you'll love the new Marshall's Shoe Megashop.  For more details on Marshall's new merchandising efforts, check out what Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains has to say.

I had a similar experience when I popped into a Union Square Payless location one day while casually shopping.  The retailer is also experimenting with style-by-style merchandising instead of the traditional sorting by size method.  The store looked lovely, the shoes were beautifully displayed, but the entire experience left me feeling like I'd gambled and lost.  

Even though the Shoe Megashop experience wasn't meant for me, I'm still a very big advocate of Marshalls/TJ Maxx, especially after having worked there for a stint during college.  If you're an ultimate bargain hunter like me, check out Marshalls and TJ Maxx's new sites, What's In, where you can share your great finds with other users.  After signing up find me, under username styleitonline, and show me your latest finds.  I'm planning a TJ Maxx shopping trip this weekend for the 3 p's - pots, pans and purses!

Getting to San Francisco certainly wasn't easy (to put it mildly), so I knew the city MUST have good things in store for me and other members of the Coutorture team.  

I have searched every drugstore in New York for L'Oreal's Lineur Intense felt tip liquid eyeliner.  After working for Lancome for 7 months, I came to realize exactly how similar these two companies are.  Products premiere under the name L'Oreal months before they are branded Lancome to test the market's receptiveness, Juicy Tubes appear in identical colors at your local CVS, and many women are fully aware of this fact.  Why should you pay upwards of $20 for products endorsed by some French actress when the same concepts, research adn development went into products available for under $10? My favorite L'Oreal/Lancome dupe is Lineur Intense, which is an exact duplicate of Lancome's Artliner. Truth is, liquid eyeliner's effectiveness doesn't come from the formula but from the comfortability of the user with the applicator.  I could draw circles, hearts, leopard spots and a map of the United States with Lineur Intense's felt tip.

I have heard whispers of L'Oreal foolishly discontinuing Lineur Intense, after the introduction of the new Voluminous Mistake Proof Marker Eyeliner.  I have yet to test the "mistake proof" liner, but I'm pretty sure mistakes can be made.  Additionally, L'Oreal also has a Lineur Intense brush tip liquid liner, so the shelves are becoming crowded. Similarly, Maybelline had a similar felt tip liner product that was also discontinued.  

Terrified of having to pay $28 for Lancome's Art Liner, I searched high and low all over New York City for my beloved eyeliner.  San Francisco is known to serious shoppers as the city that has everything.  The stores aren't crowded, even on weekends, and items sold out in New York are readily available in in the Bay Area.  I didn't believe the tales, chocking the stories up to an urban shopping myth.  However, when I popped into a Walgreens on Market Street, I checked out the L'Oreal display like I have done so many times in NYC, scanning for even a hint of the sleek gold packaging.  Lo and behold, San Francisco's shopping tales are truly no urban myth, as Walgreens had at least two of every color in stock.  Quickly I grabbed Earthen Rock Brown, a deep true brown and Black Mica, the perfect soft black, like they were my natural disaster food ration.

If San Francisco can provide my beloved, rapidly disappearing liquid eyeliner, the sky is the limit.  I plan on hitting Sephora to spend a birthday gift card and Payless in search of the elusive sandals.  I won't complain if I still cannot locate the sandals, because when I begin to feel sad I shall create perfectly drawn liquid lines to my heart's content.

When the sun went down after a 95 degree day, my roommates and I headed into the backyard for a little fun with the water hose and our dogs.  Goofing off, I somehow managed to rip the nail off my big toe.  The nail is still attached, and my toe is bandaged into the size of a light bulb.  What timing my klutziness has, just as I'm packing and preparing for a week long trip to San Francsico starting tomorrow.  I'd been avoiding buying sandals all Spring, thinking I could get away with wearing ballet flats all Summer as to avoid dirty feet.  

My procrastination has left my only shoe options for the week to Havianas flip flops handed out at Fashion Week last year.  I'll be spending all of tomorrow morning calling Payless stores all across the city in search of Mork Mirrored Sandal, $19.99. Even if you're not temporarily handicapped like me, the Mork sandal is a great summer option, in either the black or silver.  

Ladies, don't make the same mistake I did - no goofing off near a fire escape ladder!