From a Flower Shop to the Green Shows: Amanda Pearl and Samantha Pleet

I wish I could say that Amanda Pearl’s presentation featured lots of pearls and Samantha Pleet showed lots of pleating. Unfortunately, neither of these things is true. And the two presentations had nothing in common other than the fact that they both occurred Tuesday evening and featured an abundance of cute things that I wanted. Both were also very green, but in very different ways.

First, we stopped by Amanda Pearl’s presentation at Matles Florist. Strangely, it was the second presentation I’ve been to this week that was held in a flower shop. For Amanda, this venue choice was very deliberate and they kind of genius-ly made the plants and floral arrangements part of the presentation–or made the jewelry and accessories part of the plants and floral arrangements, depending on how you looked at it.

Amanda Brotman’s designs are fun and whimsical enough to, well, be presented in a flower shop, but elegant and high-end enough to be walked down a red carpet. In fact, one of Amanda’s signature roll clutches recently was, by Chloe Sevigny. The roll clutches were my favorite. They came in a variety of colors including this amazing leopard print with a turquoise gem closure. There were also chic little pouchettes with interchangeable handles, gorgeous costume jewelry made with vintage crystals, and a bridal collection that wasn’t the least bit cheesy.

After that, I headed downtown to the Metropolitan Pavilion to check out Samantha Pleet, who was one of ten designers to show at The Green Shows, an event focused on environmental and fair trade responsibilities. The sponsorship at this presentation rivaled that of Lincoln Center, which felt odd, and all of the featured products were very green, from fair trade vodka to organic perfume samples. The space was huge and packed with people mingling and guzzling “coco-tinis,” a mixture of vodka and Vita Coco (surprisingly good). Few people were actually paying attention to the clothes, which were very cute. There were mesh midsections, polka dotted blazers, big floppy hats, tons of cute shorts, and bows that looked cool instead of silly. Here’s a video from the show, courtesy of Elisa Hyman:

There wasn’t a single thing I wouldn’t wear. Click through for our faves from both presentations, starting with Amanda Pearl.