Behind the scenes at a fashion show.

Last week was spent working Macy's Passport, an amazing fashion show benefitting HIV/Aids. It was pretty exciting to be behind the scenes for such a great event. I worked with a number of other students to dress models. Since this was my first time, I didn't really know what to expect, but the experience was incredible.

Models would fly to their dressers already half undressed and ready for the first outfit change, then as if on an assembly line, they would move on to a stylist for specific fine tuning while make up artists would swoop in to touch up lipstick or get rid of shiny noses. Hair stylists were the last stop, and after a final spritz the models would hit the runway ready to work it!

It was an exhilarating site and the entire process repeated with each outfit change. The show began with the most casual look, Levi's and then became more and more formal ending with a True Blood/Twilight inspired Glampire theme.

So here's what I observed and learned:

1. It takes a lot of people, talent, creativity and a great deal of coordination to pull off a show of this magnitude.

2. Stylists are amazing! During rehearsals two or three would create and sew new costume pieces for the models to wear. A table was set up with a variety of fabrics, accessories, flowers, buttons, shoes, whatever - all of this was used to enhance the outfits that were styled weeks before. They worked amazingly fast, improvised with each outfit and have an amazing ability to zoom in and focus on the minutia of each piece of clothing. Seriously, no detail was left to chance!

3. Working with models was an interesting experience. After a night spent dressing them, they aren't so mysterious. We were all pretty close. Its kind of like being in a dressing room at Loehman's. But then a little more awareness about the industry started to settle in. Models are hired to show the creativity of a designer or a stylist and are trained to make the clothes look amazing. It became much easier to view them as a promotional vehicle rather than a glamorous being in a magazine. Fashion remains a fun and glamorous industry, but modeling, not so much. After being behind the scenes the glamour and mystery was replaced by a more realistic scene. However, it all came back at the after party.