Jenni Kayne at New York's Fashion Week

So September may signal the start of school, but in NYC, it can only mean one thing: Fashion Week. I’m lucky enough to be a fly on the wall, with the help of Beauty.com, who let me go backstage today at the Jenni Kayne show in Soho. (I’ll be covering more shows too, so keep checking twitter and the blog for updates.)

 Unless you’re a diehard fashionista, you may be saying, who’s Jenni Kayne (trust me, I was at first)?  But then I started to see her cool, streamlined fashions everywhere, most notably in the October issue of Lucky, and on the Hollywood set like Demi Moore, Jennifer Garner and Kristen Bell.  Her look for Spring 2010 is American Classic Toughens Up. I noticed lots of navy, bright yellow, vanilla butter soft leather and thin stripe long sleeved shirts of the most beautiful sky blue. The silhouettes were sleek, with cropped shirts and mid-length cuffed shorts, skinny capris and high-waisted pencil skirts. Very relaxed, cool and clothes that you could wear anywhere. Nothing was too fussy or formal.

Of course, half the fun was checking out what the fashionistas, models and stylists were wearing. Even though it’s still summer, with the slight breeze, suede boots and booties were out. So was lots of black, especially in tight fitting knit pants and leggings. If they weren’t in a leggings (with blousy shirt belted over them or layered long tee and vest) then it was black dresses, with zippers or sleeveless shifts punctuated by eyecatching studded belts at the waist. It’s definitely the eighties all over again this season, but with a sleeker feel.

What did I wear? After stressing for days, I ordered this Ann Taylor black ponte cowl neck dress with an exposed zipper up the back. They recently launched a whole fresh fashion-y attitude with the help of a new designer, who produced better fits, fabrics and fashion-forward designs. It fit beautifully and looks a lot more expensive than it is. I toughened it up (tough touches are the new cool) with a leather studded cuff bracelet and a suede black booties (no tights, too warm right now). The perfect outfit to wear in this fashion-forward crowd that a frugal fashionista could afford.

While I was there I was able to interview the lead makeup artist from Stila–Sarah Lucero, Ted Gibson the hair guru to the stars and Nonie Creme, a British manicurist with the most beautiful nail color line called Butter London.  Want to hear their tips and what’s hot for 2010? Stay tuned to shop.com in the next 24 hours. I’m writing up the insider’s look at beauty trends and tricks of the trade, plus new products and how to use them right now. Look for more pictures, a video and twitter updates. Until then…