Yesterday I had the pleasure of an entire free day in NYC! Usually I overschedule every moment of my visit, but this time I decided to schedule in vast amounts of free time for people watching and window shopping.

I took the bus first thing in the morning and booked it straight down to Soho. My heart sank a little when I saw the giant Hollister but I didn't let it get me down. They might be stores I know, but this is the fashion capital of the world and the stores are showpieces.

My first stop was Allsaints. We don't have one where I live so it was exciting to see and touch these amazing destroyed and deconstructed pieces. Next I was on to the tiny Bloomie's next door. This store focuses on trendier, fashion forward brands. The store was packed with super bright, almost electric orange, cobalt, emerald green, and purple. I was surprised to find that some pieces were even affordable but you have to dig for them.

I met a friend for the McQueen exhibit at the Met. The entire exhibit was so incredibly well done and intense. There are about 80 dresses in 5 small rooms. I could have taken an intermission between each room because the works were so overwhelmingly beautiful and painful, sick, twisted and mesmerizing. You can check out the pieces here: http://blog.metmuseum.org/alex.....n/objects/, and check out the curator's video tour if you have time.

After that we took a much needed break on the roof of the museum and headed to the serious bloomie's at 59th and Lexington. If you've never been there, the first floor is tiny jewelbox mini stores, including Chanel, LV, Prada, etc... I spent lots of time just walking around the store, not specifically shopping, just enjoying checking out brands that I've never seen in person, and examining them for fit, quality and price point.

Throughout the day, I was doing lots of serious people watching. Thankfully no one is sporting 5" platform heels any more. Maxi skirts seem incredibly impractical - they drag along the floor of the subway and along the ground. People aren't really wearing black. It's nice to see that even New Yorkers lighten up for summer. Even though the stores are full of super bright, almost neon colors, people are still wearing mostly neutrals. Summer dresses and knee length skirts ruled the streets.

1) Roof of the Met
2) My super stylish friend and I
3) They drink seaweed juice at the health food cafe!
4) Shockingly, Scoop had a white jeans display!
5) Tangerine helmet was the brightest accessory I saw all day
6/7) Almost perfect Theory denim jacket at soho bloomie's. Not very budget friendly at $325, and it wasn't really the iconic jacket that I've been searching for anyway
8) I found the only pretty thing that survived the apocalypse at AllSaints. Too big but sweet shape for someone taller.
9) Ipads on the selling floor
10) Wall of antique sewing machines
11/12) Art on the street