New York Fashion Week Spring '13 Front Row Fashion: Sarah Jessica Parker, Christina Ricci, Kate Bosworth, Jessica Chastain, Ashley Greene

What’s a New York Fashion Week without a stellar front row and this Spring 2013 season, there were just as many A-listers as B-listers lining the aisles.  And the week isn’t even half over yet! Wearing bold colors, leather, lace, and prints, Second City Style rounded up the best dressed of the week showcasing everything from sportswear chic to sexy siren.

The Hills Reunion

We knew Whitney Port would come out of the woodwork. After all, she’s a devoted Mara Hoffman follower and she is going to be showcasing her own show during the week. But we didn’t expect her to make an appearance as quickly as she did, showing up to the BCBG Max Azria on the first official day of NYFW. Ironically, the fashion designer, who is prone to wearing bold fashion statements and prints, uncharacteristically dressed down for the event wearing ankle boots and a drapey royal blue pleat skirt.

While Whitney seems to be a fixture in the fashion week front row, her pal Lauren Conrad typically isn’t. That’s why it was surprising to see The Hills’ LC making appearances at not one but three shows during New York Fashion Week.  Wearing eye-catching looks at each, she showed up to Kate Spade, Lela Rose, and Tracey Reese. Ironically, Lauren and Whitney haven’t crossed paths yet.

Black and White

Alicia Keys has turned up at a fashion week in the past, but it’s still a special occasion when she does. Perhaps she liked the military tough green on the runway, or the fact that the label was founded by Bono and his wife. She told the Associated Press that she liked the sexiness of the clothes, and of course, the meaning behind the label, which promotes a relationship with Africa. For her own look, she chose a trend of the Spring 2013 season–black and white.

Lace

Rose Byrne got her pulses racing with this sexy lace Jill Stuart number. Something we love about Rose Byrne is that when she gets sexy, she does it in a tasteful way–sticking to just a bit of skin but not a whole lot of cleavage. Remember that disco-inspired Elie Saab sequined jumpsuit that went down-to-there but only highlighted her breast plate? Yea, that was a unique moment in fashion. This dress, also placed black straps (or were they harnesses) in appropriate places with the rest of the top a nude color. Lace is a cool trend this season and Byrne, of course, wears it well.

Leather

Another popular trend on this season’s runways, is leather for Spring.  Leather is obviously the must-have fabric of Fall/Winter 2012 but when it becomes a fabric for warmer months, its a whole other story.  At the Rebecca Minkoff show, Kristen Chenoweth wore this fabric well cut into panels (another trend) and with an eye popping jacket! Yes, it’s September so it isn’t exactly the time to wear leather for Spring, but Kristen pulls it off at the shows without problem.

The Girls stars have been all over the shows this season with a very pregnant Jemima Kirke showing up at Zac Posen and Lena Dunham and her new cropped hairdo at designer Rachel Antonoff‘s show. Another fixture in the front row has been Allison Williams, who showed up at Peter Som in this unique burgundy leather sweater with oversize linebacker sleeves (a trend from Fall 2012) and a ruffled peplum hemline skirt.  Was this trend overload in one dress? You decide.

Color

And now for the color. It’s been bold and bright at the shows this season, with just the right amount of prints.  But we know that’s highly likely for a season that’s showcasing the best in neon, digital prints (in shiny fabric), and happy colors of Spring.  While so many of the celebs in the front row of Monique Lhuillier are prone to wearing one bold color of the designer (last season Camila Alves wore neon yellow and Nina Dobrev wore bright blue) we like that Padma Lakshmi went for prints this time around.  You can never have enough bright floral prints!

Someone that always gets our hearts racing in the fashion department is DJ and fashionista Leigh Lezark, who managed to wear a ball gown to the Zac Posen show! She’s the kind of star who can wear a potato sack minute and a colorful floral dress with a leather jacket the next.  And of course, at Nicole Miller, the colorful print was in abundance, with a twist! The sculpted peplum at the waist did wonders for this number.

One celeb not making a statement with her clothes, but more with her gorgeous gams, is Twilight’s Ashley Greene, who is currently the spokesperson for DKNY and Donna Karan. And perhaps her easy black dress speaks volumes to the women who love Donna Karan for knowing a woman’s body and dressing her with easy but stylish basics.

Altuzarra’s Spring 2013 collection was a hit as was the front row, which paved the way for two A-list fashionistas who were decidedly dressed down for the occasion. Jessica Chastain wore a boring khaki dress while Kate Bosworth looked less stylish than we’ve seen her in the past, though she chose a cream dress with a sheer top and a ruffled extension on bottom. Unfortunately the belts did more for us than their entire outfits–but lucky for us, the ladies made up for it at Fashion’s Night Out and shows like Prabal Gurung.

No one was more surprised (or thrilled) than us to see Christina Ricci in the front row at Elle: Fashion Next,which featured 19 Fashion Institute of Technology fashion design finalists for the 2012 Fashion Next Design Award. Christina Ricci, along with Peter Som, Wes Gordon, Erin Wasson, and Alexa Chung, was one of the judges, and she looked the part–opting for a colorful, floral Valentino dress that shows this actress can look good in something other than black or a pencil skirt (we haven’t seen enough color on you, girl!) Could it be? Yes, it is! THE Carrie Bradshaw in the flesh! We thought it was enough that she turned out at the Couture Council luncheon to honor pal Oscar de la Renta and that she was there at his boutique for Fashion’s Night Out, but we have yet to see her in a fashion week front row! She turned up at the Diane von Furstenberg show wearing what could be her most stylish outfit to date–yellow cap toe heels and a green and white print DVF dress. Sarah Jessica Parker shared the front row with Bravo’s Andy Cohen, designer Oscar de la Renta, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and more!

Other big surprises at New York Fashion Week included British model Liberty Ross walking in the Alexander Wang show, Carolyn Murphy opening the Jason Wu show, and the return of Naomi Campbell and other fashion model greats to the runway at Zac Posen.  While Naomi Campbell opened the show, it also featured Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Alek Wek, Coco Rocha, Angela Lindvall, and more! In the front row, we thought we heard about a Kim Kardashian sighting, but alas, it was merely Kelly Osbourne and Madonna‘s daughter Lourdes Leon.  Still, there’s something about the punky fashion of Madonna’s teenage daughter that we just adore! (Is it possible to adore punky fashion?) While we weren’t too happy about their looks (you don’t dress down for a glamorous Zac Posen runway) we do like that they made appearances to support the New York designer. There’s more where that came from! Stay tuned for more celeb sightings from Second City Style at New York Fashion Week Spring 2013! –Simona Kogan Photos: Tom & Lorenzo, People.com, Style.com, Instyle.com, Just Jared