It had occurred to The Shophound that if we dragged our 2½ year old nephew to the tents and put him on our lap, we could sit in the front row. There is an alarming new abundance of children at Fashion Week, and they are all perched on the laps of front row audience members. We don't think that these children belong to editors or buyers, who are there to work. In fact, we don't know whose kids they are. We're beginning to wonder if they are rented. There were four or five at Saturday's packed Sass & Bide show, at least four Sunday morning at Lela Rose, and even a few down at Adam by Adam Lippes in Chelsea. Is a runway presentation really appropriate entertainment for kids, or perhaps some New Yorkers are simply creating a generation of jaded urbanites who will grow up to say things like, "Oh, I've been doing Fashion Week since before I could read."
Ugh.
Also at Sass & Bide: the entire cast of "Make Me A Supermodel" appeared only a couple of seats away from us. They commandeered a prime block of seats and slowly instigated a flashbulb frenzy. This show is a sleeper. It's the new guilty pleasure, and Tyson and Niki are promoting it like gangbusters. The model conestants have not yet become self important reality show stars (at least not more than before) because they are all still in danger of being booted.

It really is all about the seating.
Sunday morning we easily made our way to our assigned seat (thank you Sidney) at LELA ROSE with plenty of time to get a shot of that show's token celeb, Mariska Hargitay, still beautiful (pictured above with Jennifer Creel). The real question on most minds was whether or not first family favorite Rose would dress any or all of the upcoming wedding party. The lovely white finale gown was potentially worthy, but perhaps not quite the requisite showstopper. The Texan designer's southern graciousness was demonstrated by the gift bag on each chair (not just the front row) including Body Mousse and Scrub from Pink Sugar , Ted Gibson Hair Sheets and a large canvas tote blaring "I Love Shoes" provided by Payless for whom Rose designs a shoe line. It would have come in handy throughout the day for toting around other swag had we gotten any more.

Later at ADAM by ADAM LIPPES we found ourselves directly across the runway from La Wintour herself. This time we can thank Bergdorf's Jim Gold for blowing off the show giving us a better view of of our first Anna Wintour sighting this season. Frankly, it's not like she does anything special beyond sitting and watching the show and directing her security detail. Somehow, famous TV stars like Hargitay can make it through a fashion show without a bodyguard, but the Vogue editrix can't.
As for the clothes, Lippes' sportswear gets better and better, though the show was not quite as exuberant as his spring outing, the closer quarters of Chelsea's Lux Studios gave us a better look at subtler details like the back pleating on a gray ombre striped coat or the draping on an eagle print evening gown. His clothes continue to look more expensive than they are, which should keep his new Hudson Street boutique humming next Fall.
After the jump, reports from TULEH and MISS SIXTY

A poky check-in table slowed the start of the TULEH show until PR opened the floodgates to anyone holding an invite, which made us happy we brought ours. That put us in Bernadine Morris's second row seat near the end of the runway, our favorite position. Again, thanks to the former New York Times fashion reporter for presumably choosing the Superbowl. You knew designer Bryan Bradley was in an offbeat mood when he included Nirvana's "Come As You Are" and Madonna's "American Life" on the soundtrack. This was not the frilly version of Tuleh, but rather the funky variation, this time filtered through the 1970's, and by that, we mean more "Starsky & Hutch" pimpiness than "Charlie's Angels" froth. Hello culottes! It was a tricky balancing act that somehow worked out intrguingly as the show progressed.
Getting into MISS SIXTY was an even more miserable affair. was Since our RSVP was magically not recorded at the check-in, we wound up in standing which was tolerable until the wait went on and on, and we wondered, what we were doing there, and debating simply walking away. After all, we have plenty of material, and by 8:35 PM, we figured the show would be starting any minute, and we would surely be shut out along with a few hundred sure to be pissed-off people. Suddenly, the standers were ushered into the big tent bit by bit and we were reminded that that cavernous thing can hold the masses. Inside, a phanlanx of flashbulbs surrounded a star powered front -row block that included Anne Hathaway, Chlöe Sevigny, Ashley Olsen and Milla Jovovich all in a row. Again, we spied a sole empty seat in a good spot. How quickly the tide turns, this time for the better.
Miss Sixty reminded us that foreign brands, particularly Italian ones, will really lay out the cash for fashion shows. Note the elaborate psychedelic bus decoration. That sort of thing doesn't come cheap. Obviously, the '60s and '70s were at play here too, a well Miss Sixty goes to a lot. Their customers love that kind of decade surfing, though we wonder how it will look in their Jetsons-styled boutiques.
And with that, we ended our day. We had an invite for the next show (sorry Terexov), but frankly we were beat, and there's still a full week to go.