As most crew would know, back In August and September there was a lot of hype and build-up for an upcoming US tv show called
'Pan Am', based on the actual airline of the same name that operated from the 1930's up until the early 1990's. With more and more information being released in the lead-up to the show, it was exciting to see the pictures of the cast in their blue uniforms, and wondering what kinds of details and set-dressing we'd get to see. The dawn of the Jet Age was a nostalgic and glamorous time in aviation- at least we think so now. It would be interesting to see how this period in aviation history would be portrayed to a modern audience.
As a fan of vintage fashion also, this show was a dream come true! Not only was it set at an airline, but we'd be getting 1960's era uniforms, offices, aircraft and more. I'd been wasting time on Facebook (instead of doing housework, naturally) and noticed an event in New York called 'Fashion's Night Out' (FNO). It's held every year in NYC (and 250 other cities in the US) to showcase designers and stores both large and small. For the 2011 FNO, a designer called
Lisa Perry was hosting a 'Pan Am' themed event, and even better, two of the stars of the show would be attending- wow!
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| Pan Am posters everywhere. Wish I'd thought to 'liberate' one & get the stars to sign it! |
Imagine how excited I was when I saw that my roster coincided a trip to New York with this event! I emailed right away to rsvp and ask to attend, I got a reply telling me that I could go. Yay!! Since Pan Am is set in the 60's, I thought I'd 'dress the theme' as suggested. Since I didn't have a lot of time before my trip, and none when I arrived, I chose a brightly coloured dip-dye dress (vaguely 60's) and black kitten heels (very 60s, lol). As I'd be coming right from my flight I decided to just wear my hair down and touch up my makeup before going.
Needless to say, taking the Subway to Madison avenue was kind of a bad idea, I could hardly walk by the time I got back to my hotel. But enough about that- on to the party! I arrived at the Lisa Perry store, only to see a long line of people stretching around the corner. I found a PR person and explained that I'd rsvp'd and what was the procedure. She said, join the line. Hmm okay, I guess rsvp'ing works differently in the U.S. While I'd been talking to her, a few more people had joined the line, so I went to the back and waited. It turned out, that they were handing out these "boarding pass" vouchers as they went down the line, and these were to be redeemed for one of the hard to get 'Pan Am Explorer' bags. No way!! As luck (or not) would have it, the last voucher was given the the person in front of me. I was a bit upset, because I'd RSVPed and then wasted time trying to find the person to 'report in' to. Anyway, nothing much to do but wait to be let in. I got talking to a few people in the line, one being a German guy who was working as a journalist in NYC, and some ladies who were Delta crew, one of whom was ex-Pan Am.
The journalist told me that he was really only there for a story, so I could have his Explorer bag. I said no, because it was too cool a thing to pass up, but he insisted. Awesome! :) Soon it was time to go inside, we were ushered in and those with coupons for bags lined up to collect them. The bags are pretty darn cool and worth over $100-something each so definitely an envy item! Didn't put mine down the whole time for fear of it disappearing. We were greeted at the door by the 'Pan Am' promo girls who had been doing events that whole week all around NYC, and also in LA earlier in the month. They said it had been pretty crazy and of course would only be worse once the show had actually started.
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'Pan Am' promo girls hired by ABC to promote the show.
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While the lucky ones holding coupons for bags waited to collect them, I had a wander around the store. Everything was 60's themed, but aside from just clothes there were also some cool coffee table books & toys. If it were my store, I'd have been worried about drinks getting spilt on the books, but no one seemed to mind.
One really cool feature was this aircraft-shaped 'drinks cart'. I totally would have wheeled it out of the door if I could have! You could get soda, juice or water (just like on the plane), and the promo girls were walking around with baskets of pretzels and peanuts. There was also a drinks station serving sparkling wine and even spirits! Despite being very jetlagged, I decided to enjoy a vodka & lemon.
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| I chatted to most of the promo girls, they were really nice & very happy to have gotten this gig. One said it was the most fun job she'd done. |
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Totally wanted to get this book! Can't recall the title just now but I know I've been looking for it online without success.
While exploring the store, I got chatting to a few of the other guests. One lady was a PR manager for ABC; she was taking photos of the event. I know we discussed airlines & marketing but in my jet lagged state I forgot to take any notes or ask her questions for this post. D'oh!! I also met a group of Delta flight attendants, some of whom worked for Pan Am in the 80's. They were very curious about my job and asked me loads of questions. They mentioned that they were planning a big screening party for the first episode of Pan Am and invited me to come. (Sadly, roster was already finalised and swapping wasn't possible)
Then it was time for the 'special guests' to arrive. We weren't sure who it would be but thought definitely some extras and maybe one of the cast. By this time, there were some photographers and TV people there, and suddenly camera flashes started going off. We all got our cameras/phones ready and crowded around the doorway to see...
Christina Ricci & Karine Vanasse (Maggie Ryan & Collette Valois)!!!
Of course everyone wanted photos but first the ladies had some tv interviews to do. We all stood around gaping and taking photos like fangirls... |
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| Christina Ricci |
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| Christina Ricci & Karine Vanasse |
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| Designer Lisa Perry |
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| Delta crew took this pic of me with my bag, and Christina in the back :P |
Of course, the girls were in high demand and everyone wanted to talk to them. Not being used to the NYC way of things, I politely waited y turn, only to have a few people push in front of me I figured it was okay, as celebrities probably get sick of being mobbed, so thought I would leave it. But the Delta girls told Christina that I had just landed from Dubai (I think she thought I'd come just to the event, not that I was working as well!) Anyway, she was nice enough to take this photo with me. She's so tiny and pretty, like a little doll. Being jetlagged, I said something really dumb, she must have thought I was such an idiot!! Lol. Oh well, such is life! I manged to get my wits together enough to ask her if doing the show gave her new perspective on travelling, and what she thought of the job now she'd played a stewardess on TV. Harder than it looks, apparently! :)
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| Omg it's Wednesday Addams!! :P |
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| Karine, Lisa & Christina with the Pan Am promo girls |
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| Check out Ms Ricci's heels! |
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| Close up. I'm totally jealous of Karine's awesome haircut. |
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| Cuteness. |
My only regret was getting so caught up talking to Karine that I forgot to ask for a picture with her!! :( Since watching the show, Collette is definitely my fave character, and Karine herself was just so lovely to meet. We talked with a guy who was a former Pan Am mechanic, she ended up asking us about our jobs in the end. Seriously, the screen does not do Karine justice, she is even prettier in real life *insert anime starry eyes here lol*
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| I had to do it... |
More of the 60's themed decorations in store...
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| Want. All. The. Books! |
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| Limited Edition Pan Am Explorer Bag & Pan Am branded gum |
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| Uniform in shop window. (Promo girl uniforms different to cast) |
Overall, it was a really fun event and I'm so glad I got to go. (Thanks, Roster Gods!!) A while later I got an email from the journalist with a link to his article about the Pan Am/Lisa Perry event. You can see it
here: (Scroll down the page- if you want a translation use WorldLingo or Google Translate)
As a big Twitter Fan, you can also follow for updates on the show with
@PanAmABC and keep in touch with
Karine Vanasse. She regularly tweets back her fans! :)
Hope you enjoyed the photos, I know a few of you have been waiting for this post. Let's hope that Pan Am returns for another season.
