patricia field for payless party

since the spring semester ended, i was thrown headfirst into my summer holidays and honestly, i felt really lost at the start. i have only been in new york for about 9 months, but parsons has kept me really busy and i have had not much of a social life at all, really. when school broke for the winter hols last december, i flew back home to singapore for christmas and new year, then went to tokyo for 5 days before returning to new york for school again. so really, this summer holiday will be the first time that i’ve really spent a long period in new york, without having to think about school!!! (that took a really long time to explain, but really it’s that sad.)

i mean i’ve had fun in between, and i’ve been to some great parties, but this was really a chance for me to breathe and take the city in, explore, and live it up like them social butterflies!!!

right?

then of course i decided to take a summer class and intern.

haha.

but you know, i’ve been so lucky with so many things, i honestly think god loves me. to cut the long story short, i got myself two internships with two very different, but so very great companies. the first is a very kitschy, whimsical bag line called femme sud. i am interning as the manufacturing and designing intern, assisting the designers with the brand. i loved it just looking at their website at their bags. they’re SO “me”!!! right? right? don’t you think so? it’s been a great learning experience so far and i’m looking forward to the opportunity of designing one of their fabulous ex libris book bags. seriously, it’s sooo cute. i love the date book, fame & fortune, the bible (especially the bible!!!), and also the brag book! they also have another line called grand prix and kill me now because i want all of ‘em ribbon bags! ooooooh!!!

anyway more about femme sud at a later date.

the OTHER internship i have, is with patricia field!!! those of you who’ve followed freebird since forever (i love you), you might remember i gushed about my fabulous haircut+color that i got there. yes, she has a little salon in the basement of her shop where she gets her flaming red hair colored too. so anyway i’ve become a regular customer there and get along really splendid with my hair stylist. 3 weeks ago, i went to get a haircut after an extremely disastrous impulse perm job that i got at a japanese salon near my house. (i promise i won’t start bitching about that. yet.) so basically i needed ayumi to save my life and save my hair.

3 minutes into reaching the salon, she tells me that they are having a party at the end of may and she knows i’ll love it and that i must attend! i write down my name and plus one on a fancy-pancy list, and she tells me she’ll email me to give me all the details!!!

40 minutes and a new, reborn, resurrected, totally saved head of hair later, she tells me that they are looking for a new intern at the store and do i want to work there?

like, hell yeah!?!?

she said, “ok don’t worry i’ll pop into the office right now and ask them. they’ll surely take you in and i’ll make sure they’ll take good care of you. they’ll listen to me since i’m the most senior staff here, and i’ll tell them they better be nice since you’re my important customer!” isn’t she the sweetest thing? i mean i’m sure it was a joke and i hope she didn’t actually say that to them but it was so nice of her to even say that.

5 minutes later, with the salon’s plastic robe still wrapped around me and probably a bajillion pieces of random cut hair on my face, the director of commerce comes out from behind and speaks to me. i was like, “i’m so sorry i don’t have my resume or portfolio to show you right now because… because… i mean, i came here today to get my hair cut!”

i got the job after i confirmed my schedule, and basically my job is to assist a lot with the shop’s merchandising and i am basically working directly under the buyer. i think it’s fantastic and such a great learning experience for me because after all, heck i love shopping, and i do want to have my own shop one day and it’s great to see how this all works in the real world.

fast forward a couple of weeks to yesterday. it was the patricia field party for payless shoes! a lot of buzz going on and all the staff, yours truely included, had to help prepare the store for the party. trust me it was a real biatch. total manual labor. i went up and down the stairs so many times, i think i can totally rock the highest, hardest setting on a stairmaster right now. we cleared out unnecessary merchandise from the store and loaded it with payless shoes. but you know, it’s really weird but i actually like running around and like doing some crazy work, even if it involves physical labor. when everyone’s working together like that, i get a weird buzz. maybe it’s got to do with my upbringing and how i’ve always seen my parents work hard, and also i thrive in team work after all those years playing field hockey!

so anyway. i didn’t know what everyone was going to wear but i brought my outfit and it was soooooo different, for a second, i almost second-guessed myself. but then when i first threw on that outfit i knew it was the right thing to wear, so i’m glad i went with my instincts.

when i first got the invite to the party, my ‘plus one’ was supposed to be my beloved gay husband who i love to death, but he was going off and away from new york for a holiday that little bitch. (*just kidding*) so i thought about who i could invite and although i had never met her face-to-face before, i sent a message to gala darling and asked her if she wanted to be my plus one.

hey sweetie. i had an invite to a certain pat field’s super party at the end of the month… not sure yet how many people i can bring along with me, but if, IF(!!!!!) i can bring more people, come along k?

her reply was so cute!!!

YES SIR! I’m so there… even if you don’t have any extra invites

hahaha. so yes, we were dates and it was fun to have someone to text and say,”waiiiit!!! what are you wearing??? i have nothing to weaaaaaarr!!”

we talked about the party a couple of times and she even accompanied me to soho on an extremely, super duper hot sunday afternoon (sorry! hee hee!) to go shopping around for stuff. although in the end i bought so many things non-related to the party. but talking about it together made us both really excited about it. i really wanted to go get my make-up done by a pro but since i had to work all day, i couldn’t. before gala arrived at the shop, i called her to say, “oh my gosh there’s someone else here (the fabulous kennykenny) who’s wearing mickey mouse ears too! you should definitely wear yours!!! the one from disney with the gala word on it!!!”

the place was so packed i could hardly breathe. the staff were given payless shoes to wear and parade around in, and parade i did. hahaha.

gala came along at about 8 and i think it was just such an eye-opener for the both of us. personally, i have been to so many great parties but this was just so different! there were many people in regular clothes, but everyone was either friends or customers of the store, and there were people who were decked out and i loved it!!! who doesn’t love the chance to dress up? i know i’d do it everyday if i could.

in the end we ditched the shop and went over to patricia field’s house to check out the scene instead. previous to the party, i’ve been inside the place a couple of times and seriously, i totally covet. it’s so well done and has so many gorgeous one-of-a-kind items that i love! (also, it’s like fucking huge ok!)

we went downstairs and decided that the crowd was growing at such a rapid pace, that we’d better find a good spot and grab some seats before we had no choice but to stand the entire night. and really i think we found the best, coolest spot, perfect for the both of us to sit and talk and people-watch!!!

my camera sucked and thank god gala had some nifty piece of technology that saved the day. here are some of hers and my shots!

today’s get-up!

• lace tank by graey
• “who killed anna wintour?” t-shirt by apollo braun
• crazy denim skirt and tulle by by apollo braun
• pink rabbit brooch by hinagiku@tokyomade (worn in hair)
• studded leather belt by betsey johnson (work as an obi)
• hologram tights by vivienne westwood
• turquoise heiress pump by patricia field for payless
• queen alice ring by tarina tarintino
• skull ring by number nine
• kimono by me

phew!! quite a lot of things eh??

it was soooo much fun!!! we had our pictures taken by quite a few people! gosh i can’t even remember. they included patrick mcmullan, the post, and someone found our pictures on jezebel.com, and i spotted a shot of us in a video on fashion week daily!! (which i subscribe to, so thank you very much!)

i am really glad that gala got to take a picture with patricia field, the lady herself. gala really wanted to get to talk to her and she was constantly surrounded (of course) and we were so comfy in our little alcove, we didn’t really move around much and stalk her. hahaha. it was only at the end of the party where we went up to her and gala introduced herself, and i took that picture for them! well to be 100% honest, i wanted one too but hey, i’m like the new intern, and i don’t wanna be gushing like a crazy fan. (overheard: i have been a customer at your shop for 4 years and i love you and i respect you and i think you’re amazing etc etc etc)

so i told her that. “hello! it’s great to meet you. i’m your new intern, by the way.”

and she was like, “oh!!! what’s your name?”

“gilda.”

she turns to her assistant and asked, “so has she been good to you?”

and her assistant goes, “oh she’s actually interning next door but she was very helpful today.” (i was. really! i ran an errand for her. hahahahahah.)

and pat field pats my back and says, “very good very good. well i’ll see you again.”

we thank her for the great party and skip out. wheee!!

then we went and pigged out on 2 slices of pizza each. ahaha!

i had so much fun!!! i need more parties! i need more reason to dress up! i’m also aching from going to ikea and carrying a 21kg table, fixing my curtain rods, moving the merchandise in the store, and then moving it back in today, and all this in 4 consecutive days!!! aching! major!

but it’s all good. we were such good dates, no? gala and i. hee hee!

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Tagged as: gilda, inspiration, life, new york, patricia field, style, today's get-up