New York Fashion Week day 2

It was a 7.30am call time for my second day styling with the team for the first show of the day — Veejay Floresca’s debut.

I came into the morning with a much calmer presence. The nerves weren’t taking over, no nausea, I felt way more settled.

The show was held at the Ritz-Carlton in NoMad — an easy subway ride. The room was a lot bigger (there were 30 models, so it was still tight). Britt Dion was the lead stylist for this shoot, and she gave us the debrief.

We moved in pairs again. Kristina was our mentor, and I was paired with Lilian, whom I’d chatted to at the welcome drinks. Our first model was Christina. She was lovely — she actually introduced herself to me in the lift on the way up. She had natural curls, and we sleeked her into a ponytail, enhancing her curls at the back. I remembered how to do my job this time, which was great. We were really pleased with her final look.

Next up was Sele, who had beautiful hair. The look for her was a Hollywood wave.

I was using Kristina’s wand. Also, why is it that when you’re using something you don’t own it feels weird? Like you don’t quite have the muscle memory for it. It was one of those marcel wands with a really long tong handle — they’re not really a thing back in the UK and they truly make my mind boggle. Kristina mentioned they had to do a few tweaks to it after I left because her natural texture kept creeping back. Working more precisely at a higher speed is something I can work on before my next fashion week! Sele’s final look was wonderful, from the images I’ve seen shared so far.

I had another show at 10.30 further uptown (such a New Yorker). It turns out it was a holiday here as well as in Canada, so the subway was running on a weekend schedule. It was the only time I’ve been crammed in like a sardine this whole trip.

The second show was for J.Press at the New York Historical — a pretty cool venue near Central Park. Alaina was the lead for hair on this shoot, and it was mostly men.

My first model was William. His hair was already doing its thing, so I got straight in there with some texture spray. Then I had Addison. He had some shaggy curls, so I sprayed him down and rehydrated him with Be Curly Primer to make his hair look healthy and hydrated.

My third model didn’t quite go as planned. I just wasn’t connecting with how the look should be (I also avoid styling men’s hair when I can help it 😅), and that’s something I’m going to improve on.

My last model of the day was Teresa (I asked her about the H 😛 ). We were going for a smooth ’60s vibe, so I used a blow dryer and a Mason Pearson brush to smooth it out just a touch. One of the seasoned stylists helped me refine the front.

By this point, all the models were complete and they’d started doing a run-through. I was able to stay until the show finished. I followed Alaina around for touch-ups and watched the models walking the runway on a screen backstage.

It truly is something to see the whole thing come together.

At my first show, I froze.

At these shows, my work walked.

I’m excited to take the Advanced Runway Styling Course in the future. For now, I’m taking everything I’ve learned home with me — to practise, refine, and bring back into everyday salon life.

Thanks Terri