Philadelphia

#TBT New York Fashion Week, Celebrities, Crazy Fashion, Beyonce, Bowie & Lou Reed

February 11, 2016 by HughE Dillon

I realized in Jan that it had been 10 years since I started my first
blog, called “Confessions of a Paparazzi.” I was living and working in
NYC (2005-2007), as a paralegal on a high profile case and preparing for
depositions and eventually trial. After my 12 hr day of working the
case I went out on adventures in NYC. Eventually the thing that excited
me the most is finding where the celebrities were. For the longest time I
would just send the pixs in an email to friends, until Mike convinced
me to do this kinda new thing called a blog.  

Happy Fall 2016 NYFW, which officially starts tomorrow. Fashion Weeks always showcase fashion 6 months out. Interesting enough, here in Philly our Fashion Weeks showcase the current season, which is a smart selling tool to move your merchandise today, instead of planning for your wardrobe in the future. Who knows what size I might be in October.

 So here were are February 2006, when New York City entertained the world with it’s high fashion. Back then only people in the industry could get inside the tents and see the fashion. These days it’s as easy as buying a hotel package to get in to shoot.  I wasn’t a professional photographer yet, and I hadn’t ever been planning to be one, I was just doing at that time as a fan, and blogging about the experience.

NYFW, sure there are celebrities, but the fashion fans are fabulous. Publications come from all over the world to see what people are wearing to the shows. It’s really quite spectacular.
Did I mention how cold it can be during Fall Fashion Week. 

Usually the night before the kick off of the shows there would be
fabulous parties attracting some of the hippest, hottest models and
celebrities.


Then throughout the week there would be private parties, or after parties celebrating the shows.

I would usually get my information through the newspaper, trade magazines or word of mouth. Here’s Gwen Stefanie and her then husband Gavin leaving one such private party in the West Village. It was often easy to get shots of the celebrities at these events as the hoards of fans, and photographers weren’t on hand. These days its a much different story as Twitter is the big tipster.

Julie Andrews appeared at an event at The Rainbow Room. I waited for her to leave after the show. About 3 hrs later she popped out of the elevator, carrying her costume. I asked for a photo, but she said “Oh gawd no, my hair.” Then she agreed on these conditions.

One morning I caught Beyonce leaving the Good Morning America stage door. It’s always a fun place to go to see a celebrity. Note the camera in the girls hand. This is 2006 before cell phones took photos. Who ever thought to marry the two concepts was a genius. As if just having a portable phone wasn’t enough.

 This was a fun return to my days in NYC a decade ago. When I first started out. Every Thursday I’ll revisit my days in NYC, and the start of my career. If you’re a big fan of celebrities, I’ll be giving you tips on how you can travel to NYC and see the stars. In the summer I might even lead a tour. I thought that was the business I was going to go in, not being a paparazzo, blogger, columnist etc.
L-R: Delilah, Cara and Kenny were my friends and we would go out EVERY NIGHT to find celebrities.