Blog: Georgia Lazzaro in New York

I always knew New York was going to be wonderful. But no degree of anticipation, anecdotes from others, television shows or films can possibly prepare you for the sheer brilliance of the place.

It is so utterly incredible, that any kind of description falls miserably short of capturing its intensity. When I first arrived, due to the combination of excitement, jetlag, and having to sleep on a couch beneath a window that faced onto Broadway, I didn't sleep a wink!

So I spent my first week in New York walking around in a daze, giddy with excitement just taking everything in and coming to terms with the fact that I had actually arrived, it was really happening and I was starting work on Monday!

The strange thing about New York is that as a visual landscape, it is oddly familiar; the yellow cabs and school busses, the inner city basketball courts, the painfully chic men and woman - Scott Schuman images in motion, the incredible ethnicity, constant sirens, masses of people and the glamour and grit sitting side by side.

Aside from the general thrill of walking the streets for the first time, my first New York "fashion moment" occurred in Bergdorf Goodman, which I visited on my second day. I knew it would be luxe and I knew it would make me swoon, but nothing can compare you for the grandeur and magic of seeing those garments in real life. The Givenchy prints! The sharp edges of Celine! The textures at Balenciaga! The sculptural curves of the Calvin! The leather at Anne D! The cut of the Narciso! The crispness of YSL! The liquid silk at Lanvin!

All these garments that I have seen flattened into pixels on style.com were there in the flesh and are so much more beautiful than you can possibly imagine. I had to stop myself from turning to the sales assistant and exclaiming "this is just amazing!!!"