29 Rooms Review

Interestingly enough, the concept of 29 Rooms started basically as an office party. In 2015 Refinery 29 (a publishing company) wanted to celebrate its ten-year anniversary…little did they know that their small shindig would turn into a cultural keystone. After the first year, Refinery 29 opened the event to the public and started collaborating with other companies. The pop-up affair, which just completed its fourth year, has seen monumental success. In 2017 tickets were $19 a piece, and this year they were $40. Clearly, there’s a demand for this millennial dreamland.

I’ve been wanting to attend this cultural cocktail of an event for years now, but this was my first time at the rodeo. The best way to describe it all is essentially a millennial playground. Equipped with an endless amount of photo ops and food for thought, 29 Rooms is a surefire hit for anyone who enjoys fashion, zeitgeist, or anything that has a lot of “hype”. Some rooms this year included “The Idea Incubator”, “Know! Your! Rights!”, “Reality Rendered”, “The Moxy Play House”, “Money Mantras”, and “Teen Bedroom” (all pictured in order clockwise from the upper left).

Overall, the experience was a blast, but of course I do have some tips that I’d like to share! 

1. Pace yourself
Your ticket allots you three hours to explore, which seems like an abundant amount of time to go around and take pictures, but keep in mind that there are 29 rooms. If I take a second to brush up on my math skills, that would mean that you’d get about six minutes per room, NOT including the wait time to get into the room. It’s all about strategic use of your time, ladies 👏.

2. Dress for the part
I find it very clever that this event is deliberately plopped right amidst New York Fashion Week. Think about it. You follow the brands, see the street style, maybe even watch the shows, but there’s no opportunity to actively participate in fashion week festivities. 29 Rooms swoops in just in time to offer you a platform to wear your funkiest outfit and show off your style!

Image via @lauriseirl

3. Beware of cell phone-addict syndrome
My last comment is for those who are perpetually horrified by the Instagram culture that has pervasively swept over our society. 29 Rooms is an event designed for people to walk around with their eyes glued to their screens and receive the oh so gratifying feeling of getting likes. We’ve all witnessed this wonder, but as I looked around and observed, I was in shock at the sheer concentration of people vying for the perfect picture…myself included in the madness! It’s easy to lose yourself in your phone and not be in the moment on daily basis, but especially at this event. Make sure you actually enjoy your time there and think about some of the prompts that are posed.

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Did you also attend 29 Rooms? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought! Didn’t attend? Still comment with your thoughts 😉.