New York: Day 2

Tuesday. The day of the Anna Sui exhibition and 5th avenue tour!

My day 2 outfit consisted of: the same hat, necklace, coat and shoes as day 1 + distressed mom jeans (PLT), white "L🌍VE" t-shirt (Topshop), black turtle neck crop top (New Look), 'GG' tights (Instagram Boutique), transparent cross body bag (Urban Outfitters), and black eyelet belt (Primark).

The Anna Sui exhibition was at the Museum of Arts and Design, and is actually the same exhibition I had visited in London at the Fashion and Textiles museum in 2017. Despite viewing the exhibition before, the vibe was much different in New York. It was much busier but the layout of the rooms wasn't as effective as in the F&A museum. I personally think the room was too dimly lit, and you were almost bombarded with the information on the iPads.

We then continued with our day and walked alongside Central Park to make our way over to 5th Avenue - of course we had to be the typical tourists and get a picture outside of a yellow bus...

The first store we visited was the Apple shop; the brand's flagship store which is actually open 24 hours, 7 days a week! I ended up visiting the store a further two times over the course of the week, as I found it such a calming escape in the bustling city. All the staff were so friendly too and made you feel welcome as soon as you stepped foot inside. My favourite sections of the store had to be the sound system rooms where you could test the speakers yourself, in your own home-like space. Also, at one end of the store, away from the products was the event corner. Whilst we were there, a member of staff had an exciting event taking place where he was showing how to use to new iPhone cameras to the full extent. I then learnt from other employees, that there is a whole course of tutorial events that take place each week - something which clearly targets their consumers well.

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Next stop was Louis Vuitton. This store was up there with one my favourites of all which we visited. I enjoyed the window visual merchandising a lot; the contrast of male mannequins with their painted pink colour and position, surrounded by flowers. The stereotypical juxtaposition works well and gave me the impression the brand were showcasing their spring items in particular.

Inside, the store layout was so pretty. There was a corner of the second floor which was styled like a museum, featuring their most interesting and historical collaborations, such as the LV x Tennis merchandise. On the same floor another cool use of space was the two female staff members hand-painting designs onto products, in their own office style area. This helps customers understand the price value of the LV products, due to the intricate details and personal effort levels.

The smell inside the store itself kept me in there for way longer that was necessary. They definitely do know what they're doing - and are aware that their consumers will be in the store for a long time when making a purchase.

Next stop was Prada. I really loved this store too, mainly due to the use of colours in store. There was lots of contrasts between neon and basics such as black and muted pastels, making it very visually appealing. I also adore the bucket hat which they have, and found most of their mannequins would have one which matched their outfit. 😍

We took a break and sat in awe of the beautiful Saint Thomas Church:

Then continued are shopping tour down to the Nike store.

If I'm honest I was very underwhelmed with this store, as it has a much bigger opportunity to be exciting and interactive, due to the store size. Despite saying this, on the top floor they did have a 'Nike Expert Studio' where customers could go and customise their own Nike items. This is a fun addition as it enables consumers to reinvent their pieces and make them unique.

After a long, tiring day we went to visit the Rockefella Center and decided to go ice skating to make the most of the rink still being there.

We then stumbled across the New York Public Library and I insisted me and Christy showed Emily how beautiful it is inside, as we have both visited the city before.

After eating at Chick-fil-a and having a recharge for a few hours at the hotel, we wanted to do some late night exploring. We decided to go for a wander and visit the Grand Central Station and Empire State building.

My evening outfit consisted of: a cream pearl bobble hat (Next), black velvet half zip crop sweater (PLT), black oversized joggers (Topshop), the same bag, plus my huge cream borg coat (Topshop).

Visiting Grand Central Station late on is definitely something I'd recommend. It was soo quiet and peaceful, nothing like how I had seen it on my last visit in May 2014. It was a real Gossip Girl moment. ✌️

We then wanted to go up the Empire State Building as we found out it was open until 2am. After messaging Sam and Mary to see if they wanted to join, we met them and walked in the freezing cold for about 20 minutes, only to be turned away on arrival because it was too foggy... 🤣. Despite this we still had a fun night wandering the streets of 'the city that never sleeps', and gaining a whole different perspective of New York at this quieter time of day.

Mia

xo