What to wear to Fashion Week!?!

We get this question quite often. Everyone wants to know what to wear to Fashion Week and more importantly where can you find it?

We recommend anything you feel comfortable and spectacular in; but, the lean is always towards cocktail attire for our events.

Going fancy takes some effort and sadly it is not the norm to get super dressed up in this town. But good news! If you aren't up for online shopping and road trips to the nearest shopping meccas Gainesville has a reasonable list of boutiques you should get to know.

One of them in particular is Mesh Boutique in Union Street Station downtown.

We met owner Muna Shadeed as a participant in the 2010 season, she joins us for another round this Spring. Muna gave us some great suggestions of pieces anyone can wear to GFW and beyond; because who likes forking out a ton of cash for a "one time only" dress?

She suggests this layered chiffon look; perfect for this warmer weather we're seeing. The dress is simple, but the silhouette is always stylish.

The rouching details (seen below) can cover up any "jiggly bits" you might be self conscious about. Plus the fun zebra pattern is flirty enough for evening, but not inappropriate for other occasions say...date night, brunch or a Spring/Summer wedding - we think it's a win!

Her other suggestion is this haltered, jeweled, lace number (you can see the detail in the top photo). This look is really effortless: the jeweled neckline eliminates dressing up that area, thicker black lace keeps it from being too sugary sweet. Pair with something sparkly on the feet and a great clutch (why not a bold red lip) and you're done!

Hope this gives you first-timers some direction. Check out this video on Muna and her store Mesh from our pals at CMC Apartments and catch them on the GFW runway Thursday April 7th at Villa East.