One of my favorite Fashion Week activities is chatting up my seatmates at the shows. Most of the time it leads to nothing but a 30-minute conversation where I meet some of the most fascinating characters, like yesterday when I talked to Nancy Reagan’s makeup artist and she filled me in on White House protocol. Or earlier in the day when my seatmate — who was dating the CEO of the most luxe shoe company in the world — had all sorts of interesting tidbits about designers and industry players. Then there was the fashion school instructor who brings students to the shows (and scores some sweet invites from biggies like DVF). All of these interesting people are part of the rich diversity that makes up the fashion industry. And none of these people carried a business card.

Occasionally, I meet someone who I really hit it off with and we strike up a real friendship. Such was the case last week with Joseph Cassell, who happens to be Taylor Swift’s stylist. It was thrilling for me to see firsthand how a stylist chooses things for a huge celebrity, but mostly I just like Joseph because he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I really loved the dresses he chose last night for Taylor and think he’s done a lovely job glamming her up over the past year.

Of course, once the show starts, I stop the chitchat and focus on the clothes. Day 4 of FW saw an enormous variety of divergent looks: pretty feminine frocks at Lela Rose, sophisticated pieces from Derek Lam, edgy at Alexander Wang.