Twice a year, I head to New York City to attend runway shows and presentations by the top fashion designers in the world. Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is all about ideas sharing where fashion is going and what we may or may not want to wear in the upcoming year or decade. The thing that always impresses me the most is the joy all the participants have in this weeklong tribute to sartorial splendor and in pulling together the outfits they wear for themselves.

Whether outside of Lincoln Center where the main “tents” are located, or inside the various venues around the city where the runway shows and presentations are held, these are real people just like us. Everyone puts forth so much effort in their quest to be recognized for their fashion passion that they command your attention, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. They seem to have so much fun with what they put together that I would be a scoundrel to put them down for any of their choices.

Having just returned from NYC, I wanted to share my own pictures of the folks who inspired me to take pleasure in the image I put out there for the entire world to see. As we know the Goodwill Store & Donation Center provides ALL of us with an opportunity to invigorate, explore and challenge our own fashion sensibilities, while saving money at the same time.

I find it very difficult to pick out who is wearing “designer” items and who is just doing their own thing with what they find here, there and everywhere. As famous fashion designer Bill Blass once said, “Style is primarily a matter of instinct.”

My challenge to my readers is to take your own inspiration from some of these adventuresome folks and translate their enjoyment of fashion into your own personal style. Keep them and their creativity in mind the next time you’re out shopping at our favorite store!

Follow the words of Gail Rubin Bereny (1899-1935), “Above all, remember that the most important thing you can take anywhere is not a Gucci bag or French-cut jeans; it’s an open mind.”