The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is slightly loosening up its tie with their latest Costume Institute exhibition "PUNK: Chaos to Couture," which opens Thursday and is on view through August 14.

"Punk began as an impulse, as a feeling," curator Andrew Bolton said during a press preview this morning. And it was Television's Richard Hell that first had the spontaneous impulse, in the mid-'70s, to shred his T-shirt, holding it together with safety pins, spike his hair, ultimately influencing the Sex Pistols, and introducing punk wear to the world.

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Angela Ashman

Grin and bare it: Sofia Coppola and Christina Ricci at Marc Jacobs

As people filed into the Marc Jacobs show at the Lexington Avenue Armory last night, there were more than a few concerned faces and audible groans. The trouble was a fiery golden sun hanging from the ceiling, which cast an unflattering sepia tone on everyone in the room. "I forgot to wear sunblock," joked an audience member to his friend.

Getting a tan in their front-row seats were Sofia Coppola, Jessica Stam, and Christina Ricci. (Alas, poor Miley Cyrus, dressed in a midriff-baring Mickey Mouse sweater and long candy cane-striped skirt, missed some of the show because apparently no one told her that when Jacobs says eight o' clock, he actually means it.)

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fabsugar.com

As fashion week comes to a close today, we'll take this opportunity to reflect on some of the things we've seen: A leopard print, ankle length cape. Black eye makeup coordinated to match Ash Wednesday smudges. People--lots of people--turn down free beer. Some really high, like suborbital high, heels. The quietly torture-stricken wearers of said heels, all sporting the same tense facial muscles and seasick wobble that most men rarely perceive but women can spot like a blimp. Fur, in unlikely neon hues.

And this was all before the runway.

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Steven Alan

Steven Alan has always been the man to go to for an expertly made button-down (see our Best of New York issue for Best Shirts to Steal From Your Boyfriend) and an unexpected take on everyday basics. Over the last 10 years, he's launched numerous stores in the city and California and has a cult following of young fans who adore his line's perfectly imperfect rumpled look. For those who love him, his presentation at Lincoln Center did not disappoint.

Shirtdresses over pants have popped up at several shows this week. But Alan did something different with it by throwing a short leather skirt on top and letting the shirtdress hang down beneath the skirt's hemline. At first glance, you might think it's a mistake.

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Style.com

Apparently, Friday night's Snowpocalypse didn't keep the fashionistas or the queens from coming out in droves to see Spanish designer Custo Dalmau strut his signature print and graphic designs down the runway at Sunday's Custo Barcelona 2013 fall/winter collection.

Known for his flair for the dramatic, Dalmau drew from a bejeweled tribal aesthetic at his show, aptly titled "The Beauty and the Beast." Inspired by feminine and bionic concepts that brought out "The Beauty" and voluminous materials that catered to Nordic winters to unleash "The Beast," the designer impressed us with what we like to call very "Aztec chic" designs. Rawrr.

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Araceli Cruz

Snow shoes: them (left); us (right).

Wearing snow boots to Friday's Fashion Week shows is probably the most humiliating thing we have ever done. And this is no exaggeration. Apparently we were the only ones paranoid enough to prepare for the blizzard that barreled down on us a couple of days ago. We felt even more underdressed as we followed the silver-studded platforms and miniskirts toward the shows of two beautiful American designers that had us seeing birds and stars.

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Angela Ashman

rag & bone

When we arrived for check-in at rag & bone on Friday night, the woman behind the table asked, "Are your hands cold?"

"How could you tell?" we said as we shook a layer of heavy snow from our hat.

And that was when she gave us a black squishy thing. Yes, it was a hand warmer.

Call us easy, but we were quickly being won over. And once we were inside the industrial space at Moynihan Station, things got even cozier. The room was exceptionally well-heated--tropical almost--with reggae tunes to tap your feet to, samovars filled with mulled wine, and a line forming for gourmet pretzels. Blizzard? What blizzard?

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Models have bigger things to worry about than snow.

The schools closed early, flights are being cancelled, and Mayor Bloomberg has suggested that everyone "cook a meal, stay home, read a good book, watch a movie, take it easy." But for all those involved with Fashion Week, there remains a healthy spirit of optimism (or perhaps denial) that the shows will go on as expected. Among the models backstage at the Tess Giberson presentation at Pier 59 earlier this morning, it was all still smiling faces and some fearless attitudes about what forecasters are saying could be the largest blizzard in a century for some cities.

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Concept Korea

Despite debuting right off the heels of the K-Pop phenomenon "Gangnam Style," Fashion Week's Concept Korea 2013 collective held its own on Thursday night with five new buzzworthy designers...and thankfully, they didn't play Psy's freaking song over the speakers.

As the show was running late and the traditional Korean music "gukak" was soothing me into Ambien mode, I was jolted by three fierce and pungently perfumed musketeers flanking my left side. The photogs went ballistic at their presence and publicists kowtowed to their every gesture...all the while, everyone else in the audience, including myself, was like: "Who the hell are these cats?"

At first glance, I thought the chick with the neon orange hair ensconced in Gaga-esque shades was Gwen Stefani and that sandwiched in between her was Vanessa Paradis and a chunkier version of Miss Lawrence from the Real Housewives of Atlanta...but alas, I found out their real identities after the show.More »

Araceli Cruz

The first day of Fashion Week kicked off with major attitude, and not from the fashionista wannabes trying to sneak into front-row-seating, but from collections that included chains, leather, anti-girly models in caps.

Gilded Age, known for their cool denim and sportswear, hosted a rumble, of sorts, at Chez Andre at the Standard. Normally we'll run in the opposite direction if a nutjob is swinging a chain or holding a baseball bat, but if they're sporting blue frosted tips and behold a brooding chiseled face then we'll hang out for a bit.

The Mad Max-inspired Fall '13 menswear presentation brand also featured a live musical performance by electro-rock, New York-based, duo Weeknight. The rugged pieces had a cool toughness to them, but with an accessible feel that would transform even the nerdiest dude into a bad boy.

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