FBLA Exclusive: Working For Their Gift Bags

Glam reporting can be one of the most, well, glam gigs for an Oscar-hound. But while luxury designers host "Gift Suites" to entice stars to wear their wares and show off to the media -- they do so in exactly that order. So even though journos manage to score great scoops (and gift bags) at these events, most are treated like flies at a Noka chocolate shop. Our fave fashionista, Stevie Wilson of Orange Coast Magazine and fashiontribes gives us the dirt on the dirty looks and dirty tricks of this year's hottest Oscar Gift Suites: Despite confirming her appointment the day before to interview the designer of a new British handbags and clothing line, Stevie was shut out of even viewing the goods by a snooty PR person at Soho House in a manse above Sunset. "I asked if I could see if there were other brands of fashion, jewelry, accessory people there but was told no. I could not. I had to have been there on Monday (I was on deadline on Monday) for the press day," she says. "I was offered water and a piece of chocolate," she says. "They were serving lunch downstairs and had an open bar but we were told we could not partake because we were 'just media' and not a guest." Then the PR woman told Stevie she couldn't send photos of the goods until after press time and sent her on her way. Insult to injury? "The next day I found out that we could have had lunch, that there were other brands who wanted to see me (colored diamond people) and that we could have had a drink too. "C'est la guerre. That brand isn't getting a thumbs up from me at all." Other Gift Suites were a little nicer to the veteran fashion writer, but Stevie didnâ€™t even make it to the Awards Suite Gifting Lounge in Santa Monica because the PR folks wouldnâ€™t spring for parking permits at Shutters. "My editor cancelled the coverage of that event. She didn't want to have to pay for potential parking tickets because someone wanted to skimp on parking for the media," she says. "Guess they didn't want the print and web coverage as much as they thought."

Fishbowl

FBLA Exclusive: Working For Their Gift Bags

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