Tap. Tap. Is this thing on? I never asked to cover the red carpet for a cable network, never even wanted to, never thought I would, but as fate would have it, I did. And I liked it.
The PR team preps for red carpet arrivals just moments away
Here’s the skinny: I’m producing a TV series on red carpet style and by luck of the draw (i.e. my fellow producers were in edit), I was sent to cover Teen Vogue’s 8th Annual Young Hollywood Issue! I was allotted about 10 inches of horizontal carpet space (uh, have you seen these hips) so we literally had to stand sideways. Just as I was getting acclimated, the sound guy throws me a microphone as the first star hits the carpet. Suddenly, Kendall Jenner is standing right in front of me and I ask what sister Kim Kardashian gets right on the red carpet and she beams, “Everything! She just can’t go wrong!” We talk about Kim’s tight dresses and best long-sleeved looks. One soundbite down, many more to go — and the event was a mad-dash mash-up of emerging talent and stylish stalwarts.
Kendall Jenner in Alice + Olivia and H&M
Saying I was thrown to the wolves is an understatement, but I was learning a lot of valuable things during the process, like: my hair looks really frizzy on camera. Ok, now seriously (but it does): you know that back and forth microphone thing that hosts do? Well, I’m not Ryan Seacrest and it turns out the camera will never actually see me, so that mic needs to stay locked on the celebrity at all times (um, ok, thanks cameraman).
AWARDS
Michael Kors partnered with Teen Vogue for a fashion show happening later that night, so I spotted many gorgeous girls in his frocks and ended up handing out awards! I mean, in my own head: Babe in Brown to Victoria Justice, Golden Girl to Willa Holland, Orange Crush to Yin Chang and Everybody Jump Jump to Crystal Reed.
PULLING THE PLUG
A mere 90 minutes after securing my sacred turf — the lights were flipped off without warning — and I was jolted back into civilian life. I walked away with some great soundbites for my series, got to talk style with a svelte Kelly Osborne, scouted Lauren Conrad channeling Veronica Lake (slight slouch, included) and wasn’t too proud to shout “Alexaaaaa!” from the diaphragm after I missed my shot at Alexa Chung (who was cool enough to circle back with a sarcastic soundbite)!
Ok, my foot is bleeding from all the names I’ve dropped and I’m debating whether to mention that I also interviewed Nicky Hilton and Taylor Jacobson in the last 2 weeks. I’m officially off my cloud, but still on deadlines and slowly phasing back onto the grid with style stories I’ve been stockpiling — so check back soon for more shenanigans (and/or find me @stylespotting & the facebook).
Since we shot video at the event, Kendall’s photo is © 2010 Jeff Frank / ZUMApress.com
