'Marie Claire' and Bloomingdale's Bring Capri, Italy, to Manhattan

I’m turning 30 in October, and my ideal celebration sounds a little like this: I book a weeklong getaway to Capri, Italy. I travel with a pack of my closest friends, I sip on fruity spritzes and dine on fresh pastas, I dress exclusively in designers like La DoubleJ and Fendi and Valentino, and my tote bag is always filled with good reading material.

This fantasy all but came to life during fashion week. The only thing missing was the plane ticket.

On Tuesday Sept. 10, Marie Claire and Bloomingdale’s distilled a wish list South of Italy experience into a joint birthday part of sorts, toasting both Marie Claire’s 30th anniversary since its first US edition and Bloomingdale's’ From Italy with Love fall campaign.

The night started at Bloomingdale's’ 59th street flagship—except our corner felt more like an intimate, “if you know, you know” Italian boutique. In an exclusive area on the fourth floor, Marie Claire editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike and Bloomingdale’s fashion director Janelle Lloyd swapped fashion week stories while Olympian Jordan Chiles, artist Paris Jackson, and actress Liza Soberano flipped through three decades’ worth of Marie Claire issues at a pop-up newsstand. (Crowd-favorites featured Katie Holmes circa the early 2000s and this fall’s latest cover starring Halle Berry.) More than 150 other fashion insiders, like J.Crew creative director Olympia Gayot and jewelry designer Jennifer Fisher, sipped specialty cocktails inspired by the more than 150 Italian labels curated for the new campaign.

As teeny-tiny eggplant parmesans and tomato tartares circulated around the room, I heard more than one guest comment that this didn’t feel like a New York Fashion Week networking event—it felt like a relaxing evening out with the members of their favorite group chat. And they went home with party favors that put the usual cocktail napkins and matchboxes to shame. Each guest received a classic Bloomgindale’s little brown bag stuffed with goodies from Hanky Panky and Mac Duggal, plus the new edition of Marie Claire.

Because no party worth attending has only one part, the night continued at an intimate dinner at the family-owned Italian restaurant Isle of Capri. Just around the corner from the Bloomingdale’s flagship, Real Housewives of New York stars Jessel Taank and Sai De Silva joined stylist Sarah Slutsky, creator Tefi Pessoa, and designers Carly Cushnie and Gigi Burris in their Italian late-summer best. Over red gingham tablecloths and lemon-accented centerpieces, a group of the city’s 30 most influential women got deep into conversation about fashion, art, and business, while drinks by 21Seeds and Amaro Montenegro flowed. “Amore emblazoned” totes around the room and a vintage phone booth photo opp dripping in flowers could have been plucked from a quaint Capri town’s cutest corner.

Before the meal ended, New York City Ballet dancer India Bradley had draped her “Ciao” knitted sweater—a favor for every guest—over her shoulders, and guests in one corner were exchanging phone numbers. I wouldn’t have been surprised if some attendees were planning a girls’ getaway to Italy-proper together by the time Ogunnaike and Lloyd were standing to lead the group in one more toast to the magazine-department store linkup.

Of course, a room full of high-profile women and some on-theme fashion is an even better substitute that doesn’t even require boarding a flight.

Scroll on for more of an inside look at Marie Claire and Bloomingdale's night out.

Read more stories in honor of Marie Claire's 30th anniversary here.