MY BIRTHDAY!!! (and the Elie Saab show)

So, as the title says, my 22nd birthday was Saturday, March 1st, and it has certainly been a memorable one, to say the least!!!
I'm not if I had mentioned this or not, but a couple of weeks beforehand, Peter had told us that we'd probably be dressing the Elie Saab show that occurred on (you guessed it) March 1st. (Liz was immediately like, "That's your birthday!", which was good because it hadn't sunk in yet.) Elie Saab is a Lebanese designer who clothes a lot of celebrities for the red carpet. He first came to prominence for Halle Berry's dress the year that she won the Oscar for "Monster's Ball" (2002, I think). Friday afternoon, Peter had told us to meet at the school at 9:30 am (the show started at 11:30 am).
Saturday morning, I met Nisa, who was also coming out of her room and we walked to school together. (She also told me that I looked really good and I pulled off my red lipstick well. We were told to wear black, so I wore a fitted black v-neck sweater, dark-wash jeans, black flats, and a silver scarf around my neck.) Other fashion students trickled in, some of them wishing me a happy birthday. There were some girls there that we didn't recognize, and they were all from the Sorbonne. (It turns out that someone in the Sorbonne study abroad program is friends with Peter, and if Elie Saab needs more help for his shows, the Sorbonne girls were tapped.) There were 4 of them, and their names were Whitney, Jessica, Blessing and Rebecca. On hearing that it was my birthday, they were like, "Wow, what a great birthday present!" (I had to agree.)
Once we had all assembled, Peter passed out names tags, which had the Elie Saab staff logo and our individual names on it (!!!). We then got on the bus to the Carousel de Louvre. On the way there, I asked Peter something I had been puzzling over for a couple of weeks: On each of the street signs, above the street name, the arrondissement is listed, but it's always abbreviated, like 6th Arr. After the 2nd "R", there is a mark that I couldn't tell what it was. After trying to decipher it, I thought that the closest thing it looked like was an exclamation point. (I thought that maybe all the arrondissements had major pride and excitement for themselves, pepping themselves up. "Who are we?" "The second!") I asked Peter if this is what it was, and he said that it was actually a very small "e". (I prefer my theory, and so will stick with it.)
We got to the assigned showing space, and the first thing we saw was a bunch of men covering up what looked like a hole in the back of the set with paper with the Elie Saab logo running across it. I was confused and thought that they were covering up the area where the models would enter and exit the stage. I didn't have time to think about it further, because then a lady who worked there came up to us and briefed us on our duties as dressers. We were to have to models try on the shoes first thing, discern the front from the back of the outfit and make sure we could operate the closures. Then she assigned us our models and we went to find their specific spots. Their racks were set up in a square, with room to exit on one side. Each rack held space for about 4 models, and nearly every model had 2 outfits (1 had more, and a couple had less). My model's name was Erin, and the hangers with the outfits had Poloroids of how she would wear the outfit. She would be wearing a black sleeveless v-neck top with a sash around the middle and fabric made to simulate flowers edging the bottom, along with black pants. Her second outfit would be a strapless red dress, the top being rich red velvet, with a red sash at the empire waist, and the rest of the dress floating out away from her.
We got there while the models were still in hair and makeup, so we all walked around and looked at each other's outfits. I was talking with Whitney, Blessing and Sharon near the front of the room, when a lady walked in. She was really tall with blonde hair, and was wearing aviator sunglasses, and had a little girl in tow. Photographers were following her as she moved about the room, and so we figured she was someone famous. We heard some minutes later that she was the wife of a famous French soccer ("football" over here), a former model known for her insanely long legs (1 meter 20 cm, we heard), as well as possibly the host of France's Next Top Model.
And then: We had a sighting of Mr. Elie Saab himself! He was explaining the collection and showing the garments to the large horde of press who were snapping pictures and taking down his every word (presumably, seeing as we were too far away to actually hear him). At one point, he was joined by his wife (who we had seen earlier, walking around in a cure purple and black sleeveless dress) and son (whom we had also seen earlier, and commented on how well-dressed he was).
Around that time, the models started coming out. Sharon's model Eniko came out before a lot of them. She talked for a minute, and then took her computer and lounged under a nearby table until it was time to get ready. The models had some pretty intense vibrant blue eyeshadow, and their hair was coiled on one side, and gathered into a bun at the back of the head. (It reminded me of the 1940s hairstyles we had to wear while doing South Pacific sophomore year of high school. I wondered if the models had cylindrical pieces of foam-albeit very, very thin ones-in their hair too.) The standard backstage look for most of them seemed to be big jacket, skinny jeans and boots, either ankle-length or knee high. (I really liked one model, Julia's look. She was wearing a Def Leppard baseball tee, dark skinny jeans, thick gray socks, red high-top Converse shoes with dirty laces unlaced, a kelly green-and-black scarf with fringe, and a gray winter coat. She also had this amazing flaming red hair, she looked like such a rocker. Added to which, she was one of the really nice ones, really easygoing about posing for pictures with us at the end.)
My model Erin came up, and I asked her if she could try on the shoes for me. She curtly informed me that she already had, and that they had fit. Walking away, she asked me to watch her stuff (which I did across the room, since I went back to talk to Sharon and Whitney). On returning, she told me that the models got to keep the shoes at the end of the show.
Getting her dressed wasn't hard, a professional was there to help us. It seemed the models knew what to do, letting people move them as they chatted with their friends nearby. (It was funny, it definitely reminded me that these girls are pretty young. My model was talking with the one next to us, Lindsay, who was Ashley's model. They were talking about a mutual friend-presumably a model-who was "obsessed with sex"-in their words-, and apparently had a lot of sex books, and would hide them under Lindsay's bed when others were over. It was really all I could do to keep from laughing at that as hard as Erin was.) I also helped Liz get her model, Vivianne's shoes on.
So the show started about 45 minutes late, and the models lined up to go on. Once they were finished with their first outfit, they came back and we got them into their second outfit. After my model came off the stage, I looked around for her and saw her bent over the chair, still in the dress, frantically stuffing something into her bag. I went up to her, helped her get the dress off, and then pointedly asked her where the shoes (that I needed to return) were. She then reminded me that they were allowed to keep them, and quickly left. (Andrea later told me that she was definitely one of the bitchy models. She said that she had asked if they could keep the shoes, and was told no. She later was heard to be complaining that she had worked for Elie Saab for the past x-number of shows and should be allowed to keep something.)
(Maybe she was just cranky because she was hungry. Rebecca and Blessing overheard one model tell another that she hadn't eaten anything in a week, save for champagne and cocaine. Let's not shatter any stereotypes here, shall we?)
(I will say this, though: If I was going to steal any shoes, those would be it. They were these slick, black snakeskin, sky-high Mary-Janes. They were hot. So at least she had taste, and didn't steal the lace-up ones.)
Oh, in the aftermath of the show, Ashley came up to me really excited, and told me to follow her. I did, and guess who I saw? I saw Ms. J. Alexander, runway dive extrordinaire from America's Next Top Model (who is really tall)! (A few of my friends now have Facebook profile pics of them with Ms. J. I actually obeyed the rules and didn't bring my camera. Learned: Always break the rules!)
It was interesting, some of the other girls were talking about how they felt physically inferior and didn't want to have lunch. I didn't feel that at all (OK, I felt a touch like a Pygmy), I just felt that they were exercising their talents, and I have different ones. I guess for them, it's like belonging to an exclusive club, one where only the luck of the genes gets you in. (Although seeing them all together in the same place, they're kind of plain...and I was certainly not stupid enough to say this out loud.)
After that, I walked with Rikard, Ashley and Liz, since it was such a nice day outside. We stopped and had Starbucks (a first for Rikard), with Liz proclaiming that it "tasted like America". We then hopped next door to Monoprix, where Liz and Ashley decided to make a cake for Sharon and I, and I got some raspberries.
We all went back to our respective apartments, and I did some more evening wear sketches for Susan. Ashley came over later to back the cake (since they don't have an oven), and we talked about what we want to do for spring break (mostly Italy and Greece). We then split up to get ready for Sharon's party, and met up again later.
Sharon's party was held at La Fonda, a tapas bar. Ashley and I only recognized Nisa and Redzarul there. Sharon showed up soon after, and we all introduced ourselves and said how we knew Sharon. I got a caipirinha (similar to a mojito) and had some calamari rings (mmm, I hadn't had those in awhile). Later, the cake was brought out, and the table sang Happy Birthday to both of us!
The 4 Sorbonne girls came later, and I said that I was interested in seeing a fashion show Sunday morning, and asked if a few would like to go (since Ashley wouldn't be using her ticket). Blessing was interested, so we decided to message each other to make further plans for the following morning. On that note, Ashley and I left, each going back to her respective apartments.
It was an absolutely AMAZING 22nd birthday for me! I couldn't ask for anything more!