June 30

We started early and went late today, but we had a nice break in the middle. We met at 7am to go to Musee de la mode et du costume au Palais Galliera to usher at the Alexis Mabille show. The models walked down a runway and back halfway, then around a semi-circle and into the other side of the backstage area. That sounds confusing; I wish I could draw a picture. People were seated lining the entire runway. There were people from every big publication invited - Vogue, Elle, Womens Wear Daily, etc. I was excited to see Anna Wintour and Scott Schuman on the list, but neither had confirmed that they were coming. Sophia Coppola confirmed, but she didn't come. Several of the girls stood at the front table, looking up the names. They would write the person's seat number on the invitation then pass them off to one of us that showed them to their seat. Since we are in France, I spoke to everyone that I seated in French. One lady said "thank you" and then corrected herself, saying "merci" then she said, "parlez-vous anglais?" (do you speak English?). I may be wrong, but I think she mistook me for a French person. Score. The Alexis Mabille show was wonderful. His theme was bows, which were everywhere. The girls wore heels with bows all over them. They were subtle in some looks, like on the cuff on a man's shirt, which was just barely peeking out of his jacket. My favorite look was a black long sheath dress with white bows in a row down the back. The designer was really nice to us, and so was his mom. She was so cute, telling us to promote his line. Everyone was very appreciative that we came to help (for free).

Our next show was at 6:30pm, Georges Hobeika fall-winter 2008/2009. I thought menswear was cool, but womenswear has definitely blown me away today. This show was the most amazing; I can't imagine anything else topping it. The collection was all evening gowns, with lots of crystals and sparkle. The same song was playing the whole time and it was getting really repetitive, then all of a sudden there was a loud noise and the music stopped. All the lights went out, but the camera flashes lit up the room enough to see dressers pulling out a train and a model in a huge white dress. When the lights came back on, it was a wedding dress with a train and a super long and wide veil. The model walked to "My Love" by Justin Timberlake, but a slower and different version. The dress was v in the front, off the shoulder a little, white tulle with crystals concentrated at the top but all over. I don't even know how to describe the other dresses; they were fabulous, very detailed.

Our last show of the day at 8:30pm was Eymeric Francois, Atlantes, fall-winter 2008/2009. It was also evening gowns and also ended with a wedding dress. Some of the dresses looked like they were made from vertical rows of zippers, unzipped a few inches at the top and to just about the knee from the bottom. Most of the dresses were white with brushes of light pink, purple, and green. The wedding dress in this show was strapless, with floral lace. The model wore a huge white belted trench with a big collar before showing the dress.

I can't believe that we have had a chance to go to so many awesome shows!