Best Prom Line and Store...
Yesterday, I had the honor of judging the FIDM FashionClub.com Prom Advice 2011 Scholarship Competition as part of my duties for the FAB PromAdvice.com site this year--which also included blogging on Prom Dresses, What Not To Wear, and How to Take a Good Prom Photo, as well even admitting what Prom Outfit Mistakes I made, back in the day... I was also enlisted as the "Celebrity Judge" to chose the winner of the Scholarship Competition. High School Students from all over the country submitted their entries for two separate contests: The First, more geared for students wanting to go into Fashion Design, were assigned to Sketch a Prom Fashion Line of your own creation--three sketches, including fabric swatches plus a "Theme Board" for Inspiration.
And the Second, more for students wanting to go into the Merchandising or even Visual Display Majors, were tasked with designing an Imaginary Prom Attire Boutique, again using Mood Boards, showing layout of the store, special "Giveaways", maybe how the website for the store would look, and so on. The winners of each would get a Full Year Scholarship to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM--my Alma Mater and the school which I am the Spokesperson for.
I took my job as Celebrity Judge very seriously since I knew that the future of TWO students' lives---or the next year of the life--was at stake. I arrived ready to take a look at all the entries, all the boards, all the sketches and finally narrowed them down to my Top Faves.
Then, after about an hour of deliberation--and some support from my two FashionClub.com girls at the office, I did it! I chose the winners!!! In the end, it was pretty obvious who the two Winners would be and I "signed off" on my decision. Soon enough the winners will be receiving "those" phone calls and/or Congratulatory emails Yeaayyyy!). Congrats to the Winners--I'm not telling you now but you'll find out soon enough!---and Hope everyone had a great Prom Season 2011!!!!

Prom Perfect!
This past Sunday, I did a fun and very FABULOUS TV segment on KNBC-LA, Channel 4 "Today in LA: Weekend" News Show. It was ALL ABOUT Prom Dressing! Yes, kiddies, it's "Prom Season" and I, your faithful Style Guy, is here to show all the lovely Prom Princesses--how to get the best deals in Prom Fashion--via the FIDM Scholarship Store.
As you know, I am the Official Spokesperson for the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM (as well as an Instructor and Alumn) and when I found out that the FAB FIDM Scholarship Store had a whole lot of new Prom Dress options donated by TOP DESIGNERS, well, I just had to "Shout it to the LA TV World"!
On Sunday, I filmed a LIVE "Prom Dress" TV segment with Anchor Ted Chen, who--by the way --was looking very "Nick" in his bright turquoise blue shirt and striped tie! I showed three Prom Looks--all from the FIDM Scholarship Store and ALL from UNDER $40! In case you didn't know, many Big Name Designers and Manufacturers donate their clothing to the store and then, the store sells them at DEEPLY discounted prices with ALL proceeds creating FIDM student scholarships. So, yes, I LOVE the FIDM Scholarship Store! I brought three beautiful girls from LA Models Agency to show the looks:
First up was the stunning Aleah--This look I dubbed "The Individualist": This was the perfect option for the girl who doesn't want to go the dress and/or gown option for the Prom. So, I put her in wide-legged black pants, a silver lame top and accessorized the look with fingerless lace gloves and a FAB fascinator. The Total Look: $19! (Hello!)
Katie was the next model, and I put her in a "Short & Sassy" purple party dress with side shirring and cascading ruffles. Lace fingerless gloves--a la Madonna circa 1985--and a Camelia flower and ribbon hair adornment finished off her look. The Total Look: $30!!! ( The dress is only $24)
Next, it was all about "Hollywood Red Carpet Glamour". Kaela wore a one-shoulder "Grecian Goddess" mauve-colored side-shirred gown that is priced at only $35!!! This is a big-name designer gown that would retail for $500! (Get OUTTA here!!!)
Finally, Martha finished off my "Nick Verreos Presents Prom Looks" KNBC-LA segment, showing a baby blue-and-white strapless ball gown that--wait for it--was priced at $24! Not kidding. Of course, I styled her on the "funky side"... And gave her red Converse "Chucks" high-tops, so she would be that "funky" Prom Princess!!! I was inspired by Academy Award-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld from "True Grit" who showed up to the Vanity Fair Party wearing her Custom Marchesa tea-length gown---and her Converse "Chucks". Thanks Hailee (or her stylist) for that inspiration! All in all, it was a fabulous segment and it was great to have the opportunity to show these four very chic--but still "budget-priced"-- Prom Looks, just in time for Prom Season. Mommies and daughters: Get thee to the FIDM Scholarship Store and shop shop shop!!!

Win a One-Year Scholarship to FIDM! How? Keep on Reading... It's Prom Season!! (in case you didn't know), and just in in the "nick" of time, FashionClub.com is announcing its 2011 Fashion College Scholarship Competition as part of their PromAdvice.com sister site. And guess who is their Celebrity Judge?
Yep! Me!! (Yeayy!). It's the most exciting PromAdvice.com Contest EVER!! Enter to win a full-year Scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM. As you may know, I am the Official Spokesperson of FIDM, as well as an Instructor and Alumn. Also, several years back, I designed an entire line of "Nick Verreos Prom Dresses" which were exclusively carried by Windsor Boutiques across the country! So, needless to say, I am so excited to take part in another Prom Season! The Rules: Do one of the following: 1) Sketch a Prom Fashion Line of your own creation, OR... 2) Design an imaginary Prom Attire Boutique All entries must be postmarked by May 16, 2011 (and that's soon!!) Click HERE for more details and all the information you need to know. And I look forward to looking at all the entries and choosing the WINNER! Oh, and GOOD LUCK!!!

Prom Memories...

I was so excited when I received an email from Mollie, a fan and a young lady with exquisite taste I might add. The email contained photos from her prom , in which she wore one of my fabulous Windsor dresses that I designed for Prom Season 2007. She had chosen the style appropriately titled "Summer", which was a bit of a hit with the girls when I did my in-store appearance tour of several Windsor Stores a couple of months back.

The dress was a version of the style I designed for the My Scene Barbie Challenge back in Season 2 of Project Runway. It was a light lemon yellow stretch satin, featuring ruching at the waist and midriff , twisted gathered bust and a high-low hem. Mollie said her friend loved it so much, she also bought it and wore it to her prom! Here are the photos. And if there are any more of you girls out there who wore one of my Windsor original designs for your prom and have photos, please send them to me and I will also post them up! Let everyone see how gorgeous you looked!!!

WWD is the ultimate newspaper for all things fashion. It is the industry standard and I always tell all my students to put down the Gossip rags and pick up the WWD's!
When I created my clothing line several years ago, I started subscribing and learned more from their articles than I had from any textbook!

Last week I grabbed a few days worth of newspapers (these things come everyday and they are hard to keep up with!) and I was excited to see an article on myself and my Prom Dress Line for Windsor. I met the writer, Khanh Tran, at the Fashion Show I did a few weeks back for my Nikolaki line and I was excited to tell her all the details about the collaboration. I was thrilled that she felt it worthy of printing! Although my Windsor Tour is complete, the dresses are still selling like crazy and the Justina and Ariel have been selling like Bagels (thanks Heidi)!!!
Click on the picture of the article to make it bigger to read.

Prom Season Y'all!!!!

My Windsor Tour of the US has concluded right here in Southern California, after brief, but fun stops in Chicago, Orlando, and Phoenix. Along the way, I met hundreds of young kids, their parents, their cousins, as well as "old folk" like me who took the time to come out and see me.

To celebrate my visits, I decided to make a "Windsor All-Stars" collage with some of my favorite and most memorable people who I met along the way. The first is a young designer-hopeful, Tito, who wrote in my blog the most heartwarming letter about how "I inspired him to break free of a motivation block " he had. After reading his letter, I had to post his photo with me as a "Thank You".

The next is an 11 year old girl, from Arizona, who loved watching "Project Runway" but didn't have other friends who watched the show, so she would come to school the next day and dish about the episode with her art teacher(the only other "Project Runway"-watcher she knew). I thought that was the cutest thing I have ever heard!

Also in Arizona, the cutest group of high school students (even though they looked as if they were in college!) had been waiting at the Windsor Store before I had even arrived. They were all dressed as if they walked out of the hippest boutique on Robertson Blvd. The boy in the group was wearing the fiercest Cavalli jeans with a saucy leopard-print. At this point , I have to say something about Chandler/Phoenix Arizona: It must be one of the fittest and best-looking populations in the US! It's as if all they do is rock climb and drink healthy Vitamin Water all day long! I saw so many 16 year old, 6 foot tall, size 4 future models, it was unreal! And the boys all looked like they came from an Abercrombie & Fitch billboard. If I was a model scout, I would get on the first plane to Chandler/Phoenix and do some scouting!

Next up, in the Riverside location, I was visited by a threesome of fans, who drove up from San Diego to see me. They were all led by my Official Nick Fan Stalker Extraordinaire, Brett (he is the Nicole Ritchie-skinny boy in the white thermal long-sleeve tee and super skinny jeans). I first met Brett at the FIDM Debut Pink Party last month where he officially declared himself my stalker! Another group of three (this time girls), also came to my appearance, and were searching for Prom Dresses. The Blonde girl in the Turquoise dress wanted a little bit extra up top. The dress she tried on has pads already attached inside the dress to give you that extra help! And the girl in the Champagne colored dress was worried about her tummy. I recommended the Ariel Dress (a top seller!) that is ruched across the stomach which is great for hiding any little flaws you might have.

At the last Southern California appearances, I met two fans, one of whom was dressed in the classic "Nick vest-and-tie outfit". So you know I had to get a photo with him! And to my surprise , they also brought their prized "My Scene Project Runway Barbie" for me to sign.




In the Glendale location, I reconnected with an uncle and HIS niece, seen here in black shirt and glasses, who were so incredible that they had already gone to one of my other previous appearances , where they took photos with me and now they were back to have me sign them! They get extra "Uncle Nick" points for that.

Finally, I almost broke into "Terms of Endearment" tears, when at two separate locations, standing in line to see me were two former co-workers of mine. Back when I was at UCLA and I was a political science major I worked part-time at a government agency in Westwood where I met these two great ladies!! This was way before I had aspirations of being a designer. I would draw all these fashion sketches at work for fun, and they would say to me "One of these days, you're going to be famous! And by the way, you need to graduate from UCLA already and go to fashion school!!" I had not seen them in over a decade!!! It was heartwarming to see Keshia (in green wrap dress) and Brenda(in Lacoste tracksuit). Brenda , in fact was my unofficial boss at the agency. Seeing them again just made my year!

A HUGE Thank You to everyone who came out to see me , and especially to those girls (and their mommies) who actually bought my Windsor dresses for their upcoming proms, formals or sweet sixteen parties. Sorry if you didn't "make the cut" for this collage, but it doesn't mean that I didn't love you also, it was mainly because of the limited space we had here. You can click HERE, and see the complete "Photo Album" from my Windsor Appearances and see your photos that we might have taken of you! A big "Congratulations" to the winners of the "Win a Nick Verreos Dress" contest. And a final "Hollah" to all the Windsor employees who made it so much fun for me.
Also, look out soon on the TV Guide Channel, in their Fashion and Style Show, because we filmed a special segments showcasing my dresses just in time for Prom Season 2007.

As I type, I am in my hotel room in Orlando, Florida for my second stop of my Windsor Fashions Appearance mini tour. I will be at The Florida Mall Windsor Store making an appearance from noon-2 PM today , March 17Th. If you happen to be in the "neighborhood", please stop by , say "Hi" and take a look at my dresses!

Last weekend, I began my "Prom Dress Tour of the United States" for my just-released "Nick Verreos for Windsor Fashions" mini prom dress line. First stop was Chicago. I made two appearances in the "Windy City", one at the Chicago Ridge Mall, the other at the Windsor's Lombard location. This was my third time in Chicago (I was there for "Project Runway Season 3" casting/judging and for an ALMA Fashion Show Fundraiser Event) and I was excited to return and enjoy the sights and tastes of this fabulous city.

Three things I noticed about Chicago this time around:

1) Lots of Toll freeways!!(we spent over $10 in 2 days!);
2) Lots of condos, and
3) Some of the most expensive parking lots in the US!

On our way to the first location, David and I got lost and ended up in some forest with a frozen lake! I am not even kidding. After calling Mayra, the lovely--and helpful--manager of the Chicago Ridge store, we were re-routed to the correct destination (Note to self: Get the GPS Navigator option whenever renting a car!) Mayra had warned me to "hurry up" because of the line of people that had been waiting to meet me for over an hour! I hugged and greeted many moms and their daughters who had come to the Windsor store, to check out the line, plus to get a hug from "Uncle Nick". One mom even brought her "Project Runway My Scene Barbie" for me to sign. There was a raffle in which we gave away a free "Nick Verreos Windsor dress", which was won by the beautiful (and perfect size 3) Molly , shown here wearing one of the most popular styles, "The Justina". The gorgeous crew of the "Windsor gals" at the Chicago Ridge Mall store were the BEST! Not only were they all "working it" with their outfits, but they were the sweetest, most professional, most accommodating bunch of young ladies. Mayra and her girls ROCK!!!!

The next appearance at the Lombard location was just as fun. Not so many people came out but the ones who did got 110 % of me!!! There was a St. Patrick's Day Parade occurring that Sunday, which was where most people were. Nevertheless, I was just happy to see anyone who stopped by and wanted a photo, an autograph, and hopefully try on one of my dresses! Again, the Windsor gals at this store also were "working" their ensembles, with matching necklaces and earrings and shoes!

While in Chicago, we had one of the best dinners at WILDFIRE Restaurant , in the Oakbrook Center. Casey, the restaurant's manager,is my new BOYFRIEND!!!! I know that if he reads this ,he will be so teased by his buddies , the staff of the restaurant, plus half of Chicago population who might know him BUT, Casey and his staff were extraordinarily gracious, helpful and treated us like Chicago royalty! He even brought us a delicious lunch THE NEXT DAY, at my second appearance! That's when I almost proposed to have him move in with me!

Subsequently, I ended my weekend in Chicago hanging out with my friend Drew, a stylist, who took us to several places on Halstead Street, plus the JBar at the stylish James Hotel in Downtown Chicago. Thanks Drew!

Lots of news on the Prom Dress front!
First off, if you haven't checked out the dresses I designed for Windsor click HERE. And after you've finished picking out your favorite head on over to PromAdvice.com to WIN your very own Nick Verreos Prom Dress and a slew of other goodies worth $1,000!

I will also be appearing in Windsor Stores every weekend in March. I will give complete details in a few days. But so far it looks like I will be at two stores in Illinois, Ft. Lauderdale, FL., Arizona, Glendale, CA., Cerritos, CA. and Riverside, CA.

And keeping in the spirit of the Prom, I recently attended the Hollywood Prom Party thrown by Niki Shadrow with "The Hills" Audrina Patridge being crowned Prom Queen. Click HERE to read all about it.

Several things peaked my interest last week: a "Hollywood Prom 2007" event and the Haute Couture runway shows in Paris. I attended one, but regretfully watched the other via the Internet!