BeautyCon and ELLE partnered up over Labor Day weekend to have the first ever New York BeautyCon summit. The summit brought together top digital fashion and beauty influencers, as well as their fans, at the trendy New York venue, Pier 36. BeautyCon and ELLE’s partnership in New York kicked off the 2014 BeautyCon event series, which will also take place in Los Angeles, Houston, and London throughout the year.

BeautyCon offered attendees a day long experience, which focused on the tech savvy, socially connected world that makes up the online beauty community today. From interactive presentations, panels, performances, shopping, games, and meet and greets, there was something for everyone to do at the event.

“As a leading multi-channel content brand, ELLE continues to align with strategic partners that not only extend our core editorial equities in beauty and fashion, but also offer relevant experiences for our readers and users. And we are excited to work with BeautyCon, a first-mover in the important blogger/vlogger space,” said Kevin O’Malley, Senior Vice President, Publisher & Chief Revenue Officer of ELLE.

BeautyCon brought in celebrity fans throughout the weekend as well. Stars like Whitney Port, Jesse Metcalfe, and Cara Santana stopped by to join in on the festivities. Joe Zee, Jay Manuel, Kandee Johnson, Johnny Wujek, Dulce Candy, Carli Bybel, MakeupByMandy24, Fleur De Force, Weylie, Coco & Breezy, Wendy Nguyen and many more fashion and beauty influencers also took part in BeautyCon by holding panels and meet and greets for fans.

Brands like Bare Minerals, Boohoo Clothing, Uberbliss, Tarte Cosmetics, Wildflower, Crown Brushes, Coco & Breezy, H0les, NYX Cosmetics, Revlon, American Apparel, Tattly, Square, StyleHaul, The Platform, Stack Wines, and RYB Apparel amplified the BeautyCon experience by giving fans a taste of the latest and best products in the industry.

With more than 4,500 fans in attendance for the first ever New York BeautyCon summit, the event was a great success. The event set the bar high for what’s to come with the BeautyCon series in the upcoming cities throughout the year.

Photos by Getty Images.

While many of us enviously look online getting recaps on this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, some of our favorite stars were in attendance looking amazing as always. With so many fashionable looks being seen, it was hard to pick just one person’s closet to raid. But, it was fashion It-Girl Olivia Palermo who continuously stole our hearts show after show. Her flawlessly chic look at the Delpozo show was magic and one we had to recreate for fashionistas on a budget.

1. Refined Envelope Satchel
2. Essential Oxford Shirt
3. White and Black Colorblock single-Button Tuxedo Jacket
4. Lucky Brand Sofia Jeans, Skinny Destroyed Dark-Wash
5. Square-Frame Sunglasses
6. Classic Stiletto Sandals

Over the past twenty years Kate Spade New York (KSNY) developed a formula for pop-culture meets upper east side chic that epitomizes their brand recognition to fashionistas in the know. In honor of their 20^th anniversary Kate Spade has dedicated the month of August to the location of their flagship store in NYC simply titled KSNY x Darcel.

KSNY x Darcel hot dog coin purse (courtesy of Kate Spade New York

If Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Takashi Murakami were to hypothetically walk into a bar in New York, the punch line would be the artist behind the new collection, Craig Redman. His design aesthetic is reminiscent of the pop-culture greats, many of which share a similar admiration to all things NYC.

The seamless collaboration, KSNY x Darcel, sings true to the brand’s quirky design sensibility and celebrates the day in the life of the modern NYC downtown gal on the go named Darcel. In the words of Redman, “Darcel is a downtown gal who’s not afraid to scarf down a hot dog while swigging champagne she’s snatched from an opening. She’s cute, self-aware and in control.”

While the collection may not be suited to all tastes, Kate Spade fans will find delight at every turn while exploring this collection. Specifically campy and kitsch, the designer collaboration fully embraces the melding of his pop culture aesthetic with a brand that does not shy away from its culture of a visually analogous product line.

Standouts in the  latest collection include the donut bangle and the hot dog coin purse. The resin bangle is dripping with a pink enamel glaze that will suffice as a guilty pleasure placebo for those who don’t subscribe to an actual cheat day in their diets. While the hot dog coin purse is irresistibly popping with brightly colored patent faux leather colored red in yellow that will compliment a summer baseball game at your favorite park.

For the tech savvy fashion forward set, you can get in on the latest collaboration without having to purchase a single item. KSNY has paired with the app Snaps which allows you to pose with virtual versions of your favorite brands.  Now you can pose with Darcel anywhere you can take your smartphone. The collection and the Darcel photo booth are now available online.

Reach reporter Sarah Ledesma here and follow her on Twitter.

Honor Society took Serendipity: The Tour to Stanhope House in New Jersey last Thursday, March 28th. The three guys, (previous keyboardist Jason Rosen left the band earlier this year), played a fun set which included music from their latest EP Serendipity.

Photography by Rosemary Vega
[See image gallery at hollywoodtimessquare.com]

Clearly, I’m a fan of Honor Society. I’ve seen them perform countless amount of times, and last night (November 13, 2012) reminded me why I keep going. The band began with “Empire State of Mind”- which is only appropriate since it was at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. The band began with high energy, and maintained it throughout the show.

The band played songs from their debut album “Fashionably Late”, as well as songs from their ep “A Tale of Risky Business.” After a surprising cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City,” Honor Society played “Living a Lie” which had an incredible instrumental ending that truly showcased each members talent. The boys played a song called “House on the Hill” off their new ep “Serendipity,” (WHICH WAS GIVEN OUT TO EVERYONE…FOR FREE!!!), before covering a bit of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” “Hurricane” was slowed down and I was, as always, impressed with Michael Bruno’s smooth, velvety voice (really, only way to describe it). The band ended with a mash up of “Smells like Teen Spirit/99 Problems” and their own song “Nobody Has to Know.” Yep, that really happened. They left the stage, and quickly came back for an encore, “Wherever You Are.”

As always, all four of the guys (Michael Bruno, Andrew Lee, Alex Noyes, and Jason Rosen) had incredible stage presence, really putting all their energy into giving a good performance. Their energy is infectious, and you really cannot not have fun at one of their shows, which they like to call “parties” anyway. (Accurate). The covers, which also included Prince’s “Purple Rain”, not only allowed people who aren’t too familiar with their music to enjoy the show, but showcased their knowledge and passion for music in general. After the show ended, the boys invited all their fans to the after party at Idle Hands bar via Twitter. A great band that likes to have a good time with their fans? Honestly, what’s not to like about Honor Society? (SEE WHAT WE DID THERE?)

If you live on the east coast you can catch them this week: November 15 – The Note – West Chester, PA & November 16 – The Space – Hamden, CT.
(http://honorsocietymusic.com/)

With hot summmer weather already taking over New York, what better way to cool down than with ice cream? Emack & Bolio’s SoHo, known as ice cream for the connoisseur, has become my favorite go-to place for ice cream, smoothies, and coffee!

Emack & Bolio’s opened in Boston in 1975. The store was named after two homeless men that the owners, who were lawyers, did pro bono work for. Each individual E&B store is slightly different, putting their own personal touch and creativity. The one thing they all have in common? Incredible, unique, ice cream. With flavors like Deep Purple Cow, Pumpkin, Mud Pie (Coffee ice cream with Oreo’s and chocolate pieces!), the choices are endless.

The Emack & Bolio’s SoHo is located at 73 West Houston. The store carries the E&B ice cream (Grasshopper Pie is a must try!) and coffee, but also has amazing smoothies (the Get Off Your Acai is my favorite). What stood out to me though, were the specialty waffle cones. I’d never seen a Rice Krispie cone until I walked into E&B. Famous photographer Terry Richardson had to stop to take picture of the cones (which you can see here).
If you’re in New York City, make sure you add Emack & Bolio’s to your to-do list.

HTS went to the two-day taping for Taylor Swift’s Thanksgiving Special “Speak Now” which will air on Thanksgiving (November 25) on NBC.

On Monday, Taylor Swift was surprised to see fans surrounding her piano and strings section in the middle of Central Park in New York City. She came out jumping up and down, saying “Wow,” a countless amount of times. She sat down on the piano and told the audience of about 250, “I’m sorta losing my mind right now.” She had no idea anyone would be there to celebrate the release of her album.

She sang “Back To December” three times, and talked to the audience in between every take. At one point someone yelled that they loved “Better Than Revenge” (a song that is thought to be about Camilla Belle). Taylor stood straight and said slyly, “Oh, well thank you.” CHeck out our video of her leaving here.

Tuesday night was an intimate short concert on the rooftop of a building in New York City. Taylor came out and ran through a tunnel of fans, shaking hands and signing some autographs on her way towards the stage. (Video) She began with her first single off her new album, “Mine” (Video). She continued with “Sparks Fly” (video). She asked for permission to take off her high heels before going on to the next song, “Story of Us” (video). Taylor then left for a quick costume change. When she came back, she finished off her show with “Enchanted” and finally, “Speak Now.”