PREPARING FOR NYFW: YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SLAY THE SEASON

New York Fashion Week is almost here, and if you're planning to attend as a guest, first of all, get excited! Whether this is your first NYFW or you've been outside doing this for years, Fashion Week is an experience. It can be exciting, exhausting, inspiring, chaotic and glamorous all at the same damn time. And for my plus-size girlies, we sometimes have a few extra things to think about because, although the fashion industry loves throwing around words like diversity and inclusion, we already know that doesn't always mean they were thinking about us.

But that does NOT mean we don't belong in those rooms.

So get your outfits together, charge your phone and let's talk about how to survive—and actually enjoy—NYFW.

Know Where the Hell You're Going

First thing you need to understand is that New York Fashion Week isn't happening in one building. You can have a show in Manhattan followed by another event somewhere completely different, and if you aren't paying attention, you'll be looking at your next invitation wondering how the hell you're supposed to get there in 20 minutes.

Map out your day before you leave home. Check every address, figure out how long it will take to get from one venue to the next and give yourself some breathing room. New York traffic does not care that you're late for a fashion show, and neither does the MTA.

And while we're talking schedules, stop trying to attend EVERYTHING. I know those invitations start rolling in and suddenly you feel like you need to be everywhere. You don't. Sometimes trying to hit six or seven events in one day means you don't actually enjoy any of them.

Pick the shows and events that make sense for you. If you're attending as media, think about what makes sense for your audience. If you're a content creator, think about where you'll actually be able to create good content. And if you're simply there because you love fashion, go see the designers you're excited about.

Fashion Week shouldn't feel like you're competing to see who can collect the most invitations.

Now, What Are We Wearing?

Let's get to what we really want to talk about: WHAT ARE WE WEARING?

NYFW is definitely the time to pull out the pieces you've been waiting for an excuse to wear. Give us the dramatic coat. Give us the print. Give us the color. Give us the accessories. Give us the look!

But don't get so caught up in trying to look "Fashion Week enough" that you show up looking like somebody other than yourself.

You are attending Fashion Week, not auditioning for it.

If you're a minimalist, be a fabulous minimalist. If you're a maximalist, then baby, give us everything. If sneakers and streetwear are your thing, wear them. If you love a heel and a dramatic dress, do that.

Your best NYFW look should still look like YOU.

Girl, Try the Entire Outfit On

My plus-size girlies, please try the entire outfit on BEFORE the day you're wearing it. And I don't mean throw the dress on for five minutes, look in the mirror and say, "Oh, that's cute."

I mean put on the bra you're actually wearing. Put on the shapewear, if you're wearing it. Put on the shoes. Carry the bag. Sit down. Walk around. Raise your arms. Take pictures from the front, side and back.

That outfit that is giving BODY in the mirror might start giving something completely different after you've been sitting for 45 minutes.

And while we're here, everything does not require shapewear. If shapewear makes you feel good and gives you the silhouette you want, wear it. But please don't spend six hours unable to breathe because you've convinced yourself that your stomach has to disappear before you're allowed to be fashionable.

Your stomach is invited to Fashion Week too.

Those Shoes Better Have a Backup Plan

Listen to me carefully. Those brand-new six-inch heels that you have never worn outside your bedroom? NYFW is probably not the place to test them out.

Fashion Week involves more walking and standing than people realize. You may be standing in line outside a venue, walking several blocks because traffic is ridiculous, standing during a presentation or realizing that your Uber is 15 minutes away and the subway will get you there faster.

Wear the fabulous shoe, but have a backup plan. Throw some foldable flats in your bag, bring sneakers if you have room or choose a platform or block heel that won't have you questioning every decision you've ever made by 4 p.m.

And break those shoes in BEFORE Fashion Week.

Beauty may be pain, but we don't have to be stupid about it.

Let's Talk About Chub Rub

We're grown over here, so let's talk about it.

If your thighs rub together, you already know what can happen after a full day of walking around New York City. Use your preferred anti-chafing product before you leave home.

Editor's Recommendation: Bandelettes.

Bandelettes have been a favorite in the plus-size community, and they're definitely worth having in your NYFW arsenal. Whether you prefer thigh bands, anti-chafing balm, shorts or something else that works for your body, handle it BEFORE the irritation starts.

Once the chub rub has arrived, the damage is already done.

Your Bag Needs to Be Cute AND Useful

Fashion Week is not the day for a beautiful little bag that can only hold one lipstick and a prayer.

You need a portable charger—and I cannot stress that enough—a charging cord, lip gloss or lipstick, powder or blotting papers, mints or gum, Band-Aids, fashion tape, safety pins and whatever little emergency items your outfit might need.

Between taking photos, recording runway footage, posting to social media, checking emails, looking up addresses and ordering transportation, NYFW will eat your phone battery alive.

You do not want to be standing somewhere at 7 p.m. with 3% battery and two more events on your schedule.

Please Eat, Girl

And GIRL, EAT. Please.

Fashion Week will have you leaving the house in the morning, running around all day and suddenly realizing it's 8 p.m. and all you've had is a glass of champagne and two little appetizers somebody walked past you with on a tray.

That is not a meal.

Eat before you leave home. Drink water. Keep a snack in your bag when you can. If you're doing an entire day of events, actually schedule some time to sit down and eat something.

We are not passing out in the name of fashion.

Fashionably Late Doesn't Always Work at Fashion Week

Arrive early.

Yes, we know fashion shows have a reputation for starting late, but don't let that fool you into thinking you can stroll in whenever you feel like it. Depending on the producer and venue, there may be security, check-in, credentials and assigned seating.

If your invitation says 6 p.m., don't be running down the block at 6:20 blaming traffic. Give yourself enough time to get inside, get settled, fix your face if necessary and breathe.

Also understand that an invitation doesn't necessarily mean a front-row seat—or even a seat at all. Some invitations are assigned seating, some are general admission and some are standing room.

Don't take it personally.

Where you're sitting has absolutely nothing to do with whether you belong in the room.

And please don't move somebody else's name card because you see an empty seat in the front row. Don't be that person. Somebody is always watching, and this industry is much smaller than people think.

If You Were Invited as Media, Do Your Job

If you're attending NYFW as media, an influencer, blogger, photographer or content creator, remember why you were invited.

Yes, get your picture. Get your outfit shot. Give us your little Fashion Week reel.

But PLEASE cover the designer.

Tag them. Spell their name correctly. Show the clothes. Talk about the collection. If a designer or producer invited you into their space because you represent a publication or platform, your coverage should not consist of 12 pictures of yourself and absolutely nothing about the show.

We can make Fashion Week about ourselves and still respect the people who actually created the fashion.

Network, But Don't Make It Weird

NYFW brings together designers, stylists, photographers, editors, models, publicists, producers, influencers and creatives from all over the place.

Talk to people. Introduce yourself. Compliment somebody's outfit. Ask what they do. Exchange information when it makes sense.

But networking does NOT mean introducing yourself and immediately telling somebody what you need from them.

Build relationships.

Sometimes the person you randomly start talking to while waiting for a show ends up being somebody you work with three months later. Every connection doesn't have to become a transaction before the conversation is even over.

Find the Shows That Celebrate Our Bodies Too

I also want my plus-size girlies to remember that NYFW isn't only about the mainstream shows.

There are plus-size and size-inclusive designers, independent producers and events happening during Fashion Week that are intentionally creating space for OUR bodies. Seek those shows out and support them too.

If we're constantly asking the fashion industry for more plus-size representation, then we also have to show up for the people who are actually giving it to us.

Attend the shows. Post the collections. Tag the designers. Buy from the brands when you can. Share their work with your audience.

Representation cannot only matter to us when we're complaining about the lack of it. We have to support it when it's right in front of us.

Put the Damn Phone Down Sometimes

While you're at the shows, get your content, but put the damn phone down every once in a while.

Watch the clothes with your own eyes. Look at the construction. Look at the styling. Pay attention to the casting. Listen to the music. Feel the energy in the room.

We've become so obsessed with proving we were somewhere that sometimes we forget to actually experience being there.

You don't need 137 videos of models walking down the same runway.

Get what you need and then enjoy the show.

Plus-Size Girlies, Take Up the Damn Space

I need my plus-size women to hear this part.

You may walk into some NYFW spaces and realize that there aren't many bodies in the room that look like yours. You may watch a runway show and not see one plus-size model. You may attend a brand activation and realize they don't carry anything remotely close to your size. You may even notice cameras moving around the room and somehow overlooking the bigger bodies standing right there.

Unfortunately, none of this is new.

Do not let that make you shrink.

Don't suddenly start questioning your outfit. Don't make yourself smaller. Don't stand against the wall because you feel like everybody else looks more "fashion" than you. Don't wait for somebody to give you permission to take up space in an industry that your dollars, creativity, influence and presence help support.

Walk into the room.

Take the picture.

Introduce yourself.

Sit in the seat.

Ask the question.

Wear the damn outfit.

And when somebody asks to photograph you, don't start acting shy now. Give them the pose, girl!

Most Importantly, Enjoy Fashion

Have FUN.

Fashion Week can become so wrapped up in invitations, seating charts, who's wearing what, who's sitting where, who got photographed and who got invited to what after-party that we forget why we fell in love with this industry in the first place.

We love fashion.

So enjoy the clothes. Discover a new designer. Meet somebody new. Compliment another plus-size woman who is killing her look. Take the ridiculous pictures. Change into your sneakers between shows. Eat the pizza. Laugh when your carefully planned schedule goes completely left.

And remember: you don't need New York Fashion Week to validate your style, your body or your place in this industry.

You already belong.

Now go find something fabulous to wear.