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Happy New Year! With Throwbacks to 1994 and 2004.

December 31, 2014 by WendyB

On Dec. 31, 1994 — 20 years ago today! — I rang in the new year with my gorgeous sister and friends at the re-opened Studio 54. I have never been a big fan of crop tops, but I made an exception for a cropped, silver twinset by Cynthia Rowley. I might have gotten it at a sample sale. I did a lot of sample-sale shopping back then.

throwbacksdec.jpg

Terri Berry (left) and me (right) on NYE in 1994.

The patent-leather Jill Stuart mini skirt I wore that night was definitely from a sample sale. You can see a little bit of its waist in this picture.

studio54skirt

Blowing my own horn.

You can see all 14″ of its length below, because I still have it!

patentleather

I had to get rid of the cropped twinset long ago because the Lurex got weird stains, but I’ve hung onto the skirt. I can still squeeze into it, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to wear it except as part of a Halloween costume. Maybe my niece will wear it someday. Right now, I’m keeping it for sentimental reasons. I wore this skirt a lot in 1994. That was a great year — my friend David Chang, a DJ, took a little group of us with him to lots of his club jobs, like this one.

1994 1

Dave usually had Thursday gigs, which was perfect for me because my days off were Friday and Saturday. I was working at the Wall Street Journal and the paper didn’t come out on the weekends then, so my work week was Sunday through Thursday.

Dave also took us to a fashion-related party on April 24, 1994, where the photo below was shot by Bill Cunningham.

nytimesleopard

Click for more information on the leopard jacket and how I feel about getting rid of old clothes.

I was wearing either the patent-leather skirt or a suede Jill Stuart skirt I got at the same sample sale. That was an official “end of fashion week” party … in April. Nowadays, New York’s fashion week for fall collections takes place in February! The cycle has really accelerated. And here’s a look at the length of the suede skirt — as you can see, I did wear it for a Halloween costume. I think this is from 2002.

halloween

Devil in a suede mini.

Anyway, back to the ’90s! Another job that Dave took us to was — as you might have guessed — Studio 54 for New Year’s Eve. I kept the invitation as well as my skirt.

studio54invite

Here’s a photo of Dave hard at work that night. See the crates of vinyl records? We used to help him carry those.

studio54 dave

There was a good crowd there.

studio54crowd

Ten years later, in 2004, I was married to MrB and celebrating New Year’s with friends at Rosa Mexicano.

nye 2004

One of the guests that night tried to catch my gorgeous friend Stef and me doing something scandalous in the bathroom, but, to her disappointment, we were just fixing our lipstick.

newyearsbathroom

I don’t have a photo showing the full-length of the red Versace I wore that night, but I wore the same dress to a party in London in April 2007. That was the night I met my one true lipstick love — Lasting Lust by MAC.

redversacecrop

In London, wearing my old dress and new lipstick, in 2007.

I felt extra-glamorous that evening. Having a whirlwind romance with a new lip color will do that to you.

red_dress

Red lips and a faux-ny tail. What more could I ask for?

Do I still have this dress? Take a wild guess!

Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you wear tonight ….

best wishes for a healthy and happy 2015!

You might also like
Proud as a Peacock
Wanderlust 2015: What Wendy Wore in Paris
What Wendy Wore: Dresses Through the Years

Filed Under: new year's eve, parties, pictures of me, versace, vintage WendyB photos

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathy says

    December 31, 2014 at 9:03 am

    Happy New Year, Wendy!! I have a ticket at one of the tables for “Cabaret” at Studio 54 when I visit NYC the end of January! Will send your warm regards and your thanks for the memories 🙂

    • WendyB says

      December 31, 2014 at 4:39 pm

      I’m going too!

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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