Good Bye New York....Until Next Time

As this is the last post of my New York blog it will be the first you will read! 

I just want to say I hope you enjoy my diary of NYC. 


Please take the time to click on the side bars and all the under lined links within my posts to get more information. Click "older posts" (at the bottom of the page) for previous entries. 

I can't believe the trip is over, I can't wait to go back at some point !

I had such a fantastic time in New York and I have put together the film below to summarize our trip! It’s the first film I have ever made and edited, I don’t think its bad for a first try but I have learnt some things I would do differently next time. Hope you enjoy the video J

Ashley

Day 3 - Late Afternoon

Central Park

Rockefeller Center 

Leaflets I picked up at the Top of the Rock Observation Deck

Central Park at night

We had such a busy morning that for the afternoon we decided to do a bit of sight seeing. Our last day was so lovely and sunny it was the perfect time to go on a horse drawn carriage ride around Central Park.

We then went to look around the Rockefeller Center and go to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck to watch the sun set J

Later that night we returned to Central Park for a New York pretzel and to sit on one of the large rocks in the park and watch the ice-skating.

I couldn’t believe our 3 full days were over, and that the next day I would be trying to shut my suitcase with great difficulty due to the amount I had acquired during the trip!

Ashley 

Day 3 - Morning

Leaflets and postcards picked up at the Museum of the City of New York

Right : American Vogue with cover by Beaton July 15th 1935 Left: American Vogue with cover by Beaton April 1 1936

Left: Model wearing hat by Suzy 1934, inspired by Surrealism Right: Model wears Irene, stands in front of a Jackson Pollock painting in the Betty Parson Gallery, New York 1951

On our last full day in New York City we went far uptown (off the map and almost to Harlem) to visit the Museum of the City of New York.

The museum was in a beautiful building with exquisite large staircases. We went to see the Cecil Beaton exhibit. Beaton was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and Academy Award winning stage and costume designer for films and theatre..... go Cecil!  

The exhibit was fantastic and had such a great range of inspiration and great references to use in the future. Also on at the same time was an Interiors exhibit show casing opulent New York interiors.

Then we were off to browse the shops on Madison and 5th. 

Madison Avenue was like a whole different world. The high-end shops and the people dressed head to toe in designer labels was mind blowing. I took so many pictures filled up an entire memory card... good job I had a spare! I have shown a few examples above of shops from Madison and 5^th Av.

“Lazy fashion stylists” at Chloe using mannequins on swings, oversize mirrors and stacked chairs at Lavin, IPads as store directories at Barneys (an example of technology being used for the sake of it. As I found waiting for people in front to figure out how to use it was not an efficient way to find out how to navigate the store… particularly when you are looking for the toilet!), amazingly detailed windows at Bergdorf Goodman’s and the beautifully simple yet effective Apple store.

To see more examples of visual merchandising from Madison Avenue and 5^th see the side bar or click here.

Ashley 

Day 2 - Afternoon

 A quick cab ride and we were in Soho. This was by far my favourite part of New York. I enjoyed every second of being there. The cobble streets, the little stalls, the mix of high street and high-end shops and the diverse mix of people. We stopped at the Manhattan Bistro for lunch then it was back to exploring the city.

Here I saw some of the most beautiful examples of visual merchandising and some VM that Tim would definitely label as the work of a “lazy fashion stylist” (Louis Vuitton’s circus theme window to name one). Prada as we were told before the trip was amazing and truly original, I managed to snap a few blurry images of the inside before security came marching over to tell us off :) 

From Soho we made it to Chelsea and the Meat Packing District. The Chelsea market was beautiful and really lovely to walk around. Then it was to the High Line Park at night with all the lights, it was stunning.

Very tired we made it back to the hotel, got some food and walked two blocks to the Empire State Building. The views of the lights in New York at night have been featured in almost every film set in NY so seeing them in person was AMAZING.

To see more images of Retail in the Downtown and Soho area see the side bar (Soho retail) or click here.

Ashley 

Day 2 - Morning

Ground Zero

"The Charging Bull"

Day Two in “The Big Apple”!

We wanted to fit in as much as humanly possible, so after being told that Century 21 opened at 7:45am, we woke up and made out way downtown to check it out.

Getting up at 7am was well worth it as Century 21 was MASSIVE. The volume of clothing and accessories was insane, the only shop in the UK I can relate to Century 21 is TK Maxx X 100. The store was full of designer pieces that were at hugely discounted prices. The store didn’t have much in the way of visual merchandising, I think their plan was to get the largest volume of merchandise in one area.

Right opposite was Ground Zero. At first I didn’t realise what we were looking at as it still looks like a building site. It was amazing to see and a true life experience.

We then walked and got very lost trying to find Wall Street and the “Charging Bull” statue. From there we hoped to go to Battersea Park to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty.

As we were trying to photograph the Statue of Liberty (that looked the size of an ant) an American gentleman told us about the free Staten Island ferry that we could take that passes right by the Statue. I managed to get some great photos and the boat ride was lovely (even though I did get hit in the face by a wave).

Ashley 

Day 1 - Afternoon

Times Square

Harper's Bazaar "A Decade of Style" exhibition at the International Centre of Photography

Booklets showing the photographs displayed at the International Center of Photography 

Finding ourselves in the middle of Times Square after the Ann Inc visit we decided to explore the area.

First stop; having a look at the advertisements and lights in Times Square. This was a completely surreal experience as I have seen images of this location in films and pictures for as long as I can remember.

Then we went off to the International Center of Photography to see the Harper’s Bazaar “A Decade Of Style” exhibition.  It was amazing to see the work of so many brilliant photographers and the magazines editorial content over the years. I managed to sneakily photograph some of my favorite pictures.  

Grand Central Station

A quick stop at Grand Central Station, the early 20th century architecture was truly breath taking

The above two images are photographs of the leaflets I picked up at the exhibitions

We walked a few blocks and reached the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum (FIT). This was one of my favourite parts of the NY trip. First we saw the “Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part One” and then the Daphne Guinness exhibitions, where  Guinness’s couture looks and shoes. were displayed.

To finish off a very busy first day we headed to the Hard Rock Café in Times Square and had a well deserved meal.

Ashley