Astrid Stawiarz/Getty ImagesWhere the heck were the A-listers?
That's was the buzz from the organizers of New York's Fashion Week, which wrapped Thursday night. Although celebs showed, and plenty of 'em, they were mostly reality TV stars. And although we did see some big names in music pop up all week, the New York and New Jersey Housewives seemed to rule the tents alongside them.
"It was all Housewives all week, this year didn't really have any huge big name draws," one staffer groused to E! News. "It's all reality shows now. Matthew McConaughey was the only A-Lister who came to see his girlfriend walk the in Red Dress show. And you had your actresses, but where's the Charlize Therons? Or the Julianne Moores? Now it's Alex [McCord] from Housewives."
So, including McCord, who were the five biggest fixtures in the Fall 2011 Fashion Week? We give them to you here...
1. Vanessa Hudgens: The newly single actress was spotted at Diesel, Marc Jacobs and the Jeremy Scott show where she told us about her style and laughed off questions about Zac Efron. The cutie popped up all over town, running from the tents to offsite shows, and in betweem even found time to get some new ink. She made her way down to the East Village, where she got a butterfly tattoo on her neck in the middle of her hectic schedule.
2. Kanye West: Causing chaos wherever he went, the rapper dissed the Grammys in favor of Fashion Week. First it was the Tory Burch presentation at the Lincoln Center tents, where Kanye caused such a stir, fans had to be told to not crowd him with their cameras. Then he hit the Jeremy Scott show, where he rolled 12 deep with bodyguards. Uncalled for, really. Then he managed to cause a near stampede outside the Modrian with his presence at the his V magazine cover party in SoHo, where his face was printed on the invites and money was spit into the air in a "Make It Rain machine." He also attended Alexander Wang's Belvedere Vodka party and caught a performance by Lauryn Hill. You'd think he was a castmember of Real Housewives of New York City. Speaking of...
3. The Real Housewives of New York/New Jersey: Yes, we're lumping them all in one group. From Alex and her oddly dressed hubby, Simon McCord, at Cyntha Steffe telling us this season of the show is insane to Jill Zarin sitting front row at Betsey Johnson, they infested the tent like reality bedbugs.
Zarin chatted her way through Johnson's show, telling E! News she loves new castmember Cindy Barshop and plugging her new line of shapewear called Skweez. Zarin even marched in the Zang Toi show, saying she was a nervous wreck. Caroline Manzo hit the Tracy Reese production, where she also plugged the upcoming season of the show, telling us there are plenty of fights that go down. And the godfather of it all, Bravo honcho and Watch What Happens host Andy Cohen sat front row at Diane Von Fürsetnberg laughing at it all and telling us the buzzword for this year is "Keep your hands off, Andy!"
4. Fergie: The singer looked smokin' hot all week, first sitting at DVF in a green coat and colorful scarf, where she eyed a red sequined number and smiled as it went town the runway. She caused such a stir with her entrance extra security was called in to stand near her while she sat front row. She was then hustled backstage in the blink of an eye. But not before she told us she loved the "blues and greens" and Diane herself. The Black Eyed Peas frontwoman also hit the Marc Jacobs show in a short red number by the designer, and brought gorgeous hubby Josh Duhamel along as the best accessory.
5. Gabrielle Union: The pretty actress had amazing attendance this Fashion Week, showing her face all over the tents. She hit the Christian Siriano show looking beautiful in an aqua printed dress, then she was spotted at Carolina Herrera in a bright yellow number, then over to Nicole Miller in a one shouldered jumpsuit (and great, flowing hair). She also popped a squat next to Julia Stiles at the Tracy Reese show, where the two gossiped ad chatted throughout. We almost put Stiles on here, but Union had her beat by a few shows. We'll call her a runner-up.