I spent most of the afternoon outside of the tents and in the showrooms of European designers who were showing their pre-fall collections before the shows in Milan and Paris. The buyers at Wynn Las Vegas let me tag along to Alexander McQueen and Gianfranco Ferre while they bought from the collections. Look for more on that in the Feb. 23 issue of image.

In the morning, though, a red carpet favorite took to the runway. Badgley Mischka returned to a high-end favorite for fall — sportwear. So even while you’re dressing casually, you’ll look like a million bucks. Their evening gowns showed some restraint, and I learned about five new ways to describe charcoal and light gray. And understated sparkle accompanied many of the gowns, so expect to see a bit of Vegas fashion on the red carpet.

Cynthia Rowley let me backstage with the hair stylists from Redken to see ponytails transformed into braids for fall. The end of the show at Gotham Hall featured a long braid carried by all the models as they did their final walk down the runway. Look for information on Rowley’s new line of paints soon.

Custo Barcelona showed fashions that had the young girls next to me ooohing and awwwing. Look for young looks here with lots of sparkle, short skirts. patchwork details and wide sleeves. You can find Custo Barcelona at the Forum Shops at Caesars.

I did plan to try to get standing room passes for the Zac Posen show, but it turned into a mob scene. Photographers pinned Nicole Richie behind a Mercedes Benz in the lobby of the tents to snap her photo.