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A Fashion Week diary, from sheer vintage Cavalli to backstage at LoveShackFancy and all the invisible things that made the looks work.

Before we get into it, a quick introduction. I’m Sarah, Marketing Director at Hollywood Fashion Secrets, lifelong fashion obsessive, serial hem-taper, and longtime HFS user well before I ever worked for the brand.

I’m one of those people who believes getting dressed is at least half the fun. I’ve always been willing to tape, tuck, lift, pin, or otherwise engineer an outfit to make it work the way I want. Because sometimes, the difference between loving an outfit and feeling slightly uncomfortable in one requires only a small styling secret.

So when I got the chance to head to New York Fashion Week with HFS as the Official Underpinnings Sponsor of LoveShackFancy’s Spring 2027 show, there was really only one way I wanted to document it: what I wore, what’s underneath, and what happened backstage. Fashion Week may be all about the finished look, but getting there involves more than what you see in the final photograph.

Packing For A New York Fashion Week 

Packing for NYFW is its own sport, especially when you're trying to fit several days of outfits into one suitcase while leaving room to inevitably change your mind once you get there. My philosophy is pretty simple: bring the clothes you're excited to wear, then figure out what has to happen underneath them. For this trip, that meant vintage Roberto Cavalli, LoveShackFancy, Levi's, an oversized tee, a few jackets, and what I had convinced myself was a very edited assortment of shoes. It was not.

Then there was the other half of my wardrobe: all the things no one was supposed to see. I packed more Hollywood Fashion Secrets products than any one person probably needs, but almost everything had an assignment. My Double-Sided Adhesive Push-Up Bra and Skip the Line Thong were earmarked for a sheer vintage Cavalli dress. Breast Lift Tape Roll was for LoveShackFancy, Lifting Silicone CoverUps handled some of my more casual looks, and our Original Fashion Tape went directly into my handbag — or, more accurately, handbags.

Looking at everything spread across the hotel bed, I realized none of these were really "just in case" products. I knew I needed them when I planned the outfits. And that, for me, is really the secret to getting dressed for an event: don't wait until you're standing in the outfit wondering what to do. Think about the neckline, fabric, silhouette, and movement before you leave the house.

What to Wear Under a Sheer Dress: My Vintage Cavalli Moment

I’d been waiting for the right excuse to wear this vintage Roberto Cavalli dress, and a Fashion Week dinner seemed like a fairly convincing one.

The dress was slightly sheer, body-skimming, and had absolutely no interest in accommodating a traditional bra. Which is exactly when the right underpinnings become part of the styling plan. For anyone wondering what to wear under a sheer dress, my first thought is always: start with the dress itself. Is it sheer? Fitted? Low-cut? Backless? Does it have an unusual neckline or delicate fabric that might reveal straps or seams?

For the Cavalli, I wore our Double-Sided Adhesive Push-Up Bra to give me the shape and cleavage I wanted without adding traditional straps or a visible bra band that would interfere with the silhouette.

I paired it with our Skip the Line Thong, because with something this sheer and fitted, your underwear becomes just as much of a styling decision—even when the goal is for no one to notice it.

That’s one of my favorite things about invisible styling solutions. They aren’t necessarily about covering up the clothes you love. They’re about giving your clothes the freedom to look the way they were intended to look.

And voilà! The Cavalli had her moment. At Odeon, nonetheless. IYKYK. 

Show Day: Getting Dressed for Love Shack Fancy

Show day started considerably less glamorously than it ended. There were coffee runs, hotel-room chaos, beauty prep, and the inevitable moment of staring at an outfit and thinking, "How exactly am I going to make this work?"

Once the eye patches came off, I had my rose-gold LoveShackFancy dress to figure out. With its plunging neckline, I wanted support without a traditional bra interfering with the dress, so I reached for our Breast Lift Tape Roll.

I always say: let the dress tell you where the tape needs to go. With a low neckline, open back, complicated straps, or an especially delicate silhouette, you can create support around the shape of the garment instead of trying to force a traditional bra underneath it. 

There was something appropriately full-circle about standing in my hotel room taping myself into LoveShackFancy before heading downtown to see HFS doing essentially the same job backstage. At that point, I was ready. Or at least I thought I was.

And because this is an actual Fashion Week diary: there's a lot more standing, running around, walking, and carrying things during Fashion Week than the finished photos would have you believe. The heels came off, the sneakers went on, and I have absolutely no regrets. Sometimes the most important fashion accessory is comfortable shoes.

There’s a lot more standing, running around, walking, carrying things, and generally moving during Fashion Week than the finished photos would have you believe. The heels came off, the sneakers went on, and I have absolutely no regrets.

Backstage at LoveShackFancy: What Happens Under the Look

Once we got backstage, the whole idea came into focus. Fashion Week is obviously about what you see, but backstage is about everything required to make that final image happen. There are stylists, dressers, makeup artists, hair teams, models, racks of clothing, accessories, last-minute changes, and tiny adjustments happening right up until the models walk out — a neckline that needs to stay put, a strap that needs securing, a garment that needs coverage without adding another visible layer, a silhouette that needs a little extra support. Sometimes the smallest detail can make a huge difference to how a garment looks and moves.

With a collection full of delicate fabrics, lingerie-inspired details, body-skimming silhouettes, and plenty of skin, what goes underneath matters. Seeing HFS among the racks, stylists, dressers, and controlled chaos felt incredibly natural — we weren't backstage as decoration, we had a job to do. For a brand that has spent more than 25 years helping women with the behind-the-scenes details of getting dressed, it felt like exactly where we belonged. And honestly, there's something fascinating about seeing these products used in the environment they were made for. The finished look can appear effortless; backstage, you see just how much thought goes into creating that effortlessness.

How to Style a Sheer Dress , Plunging, and Backless Dresses

One of the biggest things Fashion Week reminded me of is that there isn't one universal answer to what to wear under a dress — the right solution depends on the garment. If you're wondering how to style a sheer dress, an invisible thong can help minimize visible underwear lines, while an adhesive bra can provide shape and support without traditional straps showing through. For a plunging neckline, breast lift tape can offer support while letting the neckline remain the focus. For an open-back dress, traditional bra bands and straps can compete with the design, so adhesive solutions or silicone coverups worth considering. For a casual or lightweight look, lifting silicone coverups can provide coverage without adding the structure of a traditional bra. And for those little wardrobe emergencies — a slipping hem, a neckline that won't stay put, a strap that needs securing — there's always Fashion Tape.

The point isn't to use every styling trick with every outfit. It's to have options. When you understand what your outfit needs, getting dressed becomes much easier.

And Then You See the Clothes

After seeing the collection up close and watching everything that happens in those final minutes backstage, I finally got to stand back and see the finished looks. There was fringe, lace, silk, sparkle, and skin, with lingerie-inspired silhouettes that felt feminine and romantic, but also confident and a little undone. Suddenly, you weren't thinking about Fashion Tape, Silicone CoverUps, or what was happening underneath any of it — you were just looking at the clothes. And maybe that's the biggest compliment you can give an invisible styling product: you don't notice it.

What felt interesting wasn't necessarily a return to "sexy" dressing, but a more visible celebration of the body as part of the silhouette — lower necklines, sheer fabrics, lingerie references, and clothes designed to show a little more skin. For HFS, that's an exciting direction, because giving women more freedom to wear those clothes is exactly what we do. We're not here to dictate what you should wear. We're here for the moment when you find something you love and want to figure out how to make it work.

What Fashion Week Reminded Me About Getting Dressed

Somewhere between getting myself into vintage Cavalli, taping myself into LoveShackFancy, changing into sneakers, running around backstage, and finally watching the finished looks come out, the reason this partnership made so much sense became pretty simple. Hollywood Fashion Secrets has spent more than 25 years helping women wear the clothes they actually want to wear. Sometimes that means securing a neckline with the Original Fashion Tape we created back in 2001.

Other times, it means choosing Silicone CoverUps instead of a bra, using Breast Lift Tape under a plunging dress, reaching for an adhesive bra to create exactly the shape you want, or choosing invisible underwear to work with a fitted or sheer silhouette. The clothes change, the trends change, and what we wear underneath them changes too — but the idea behind HFS has always been the same: the best styling solutions give you more freedom to wear what you want without becoming part of the outfit themselves.

That's what made seeing HFS backstage at New York Fashion Week feel so fitting. After watching all the little things that happen behind the scenes, I got to see those details disappear completely once the finished looks came out. And ultimately, that's exactly what they're supposed to do.

Fashion should be fun. Getting dressed should be fun. And if a little tape, a clever adhesive bra, or the right invisible layer helps you feel more comfortable and confident in the clothes you love, I'm all for it. So here's to great clothes, invisible secrets, comfortable sneakers, and always packing the Fashion Tape.