The models! The shows! The stars! The freebies!

Most people think fashion week in New York is really glamorous. But for buyers choosing the styles that will appear in stores in a few months, it's hard work. They usually don't get anywhere near the tents at Lincoln Center, where many runway shows take place. Instead, each day is a blur of showrooms and taxis, as the buyers dash through Manhattan to make their next appointment.

For more than 24 years, Tootsies senior buyer for American and European collections Penne Weidig has seen the inside of the showroom of just about every major designer in New York, Milan and Paris. During her most recent trip to New York in February, I tagged along for one afternoon.

I met Weidig at the Versace showroom, above the glittery Fifth Avenue boutique. The showroom is not nearly as glamorous; it's a stark white room with clothes on a rack and a model who quickly changes outfits so Weidig can see how they look on a human figure. "Some (of the outfits) don't have hanger appeal," Weidig explains.

Immediately upon entering the room, she plugs a charger into the wall (she uses her camera so much snapping photos of each garment that the battery invariably dies out, so she keeps three) and plops her purse on the floor near the socket.

"I might forget the charger, but I never forget the handbag," she explains.

It's a trick she picked up after leaving a charger in an out-of-the-way showroom one too many times.

At each showroom, Weidig takes dozens of photos — more than 1,000 during the week. She has images printed out so, upon returning to Houston, she can sift through the photos and move them around — dresses from all the designers in one pile, slacks in another, and so on — while discussing what to purchase with Tootsies owner Mickey Rosmarin.

"I don't travel with a laptop. I'm a little more old-fashioned," she says. "I like to compare the photos, side-by-side."

As soon as she gets settled in, the parade begins. As the Milan shows have not begun yet, Weidig is looking at the pre-fall Versace collection that can be in stores as soon as June. It contains many of the items that Tootsies' Houston clientele will go for. Leopard print-and-baroque pieces (a Versace trademark) and jewel-tone dresses are high on the list.

"At Versace, it's usually about the dresses," Weidig later explains. "They are so form-fitting and colorful."

Many of the store's clients want a little flash; it's no secret that Versace will always sell better than Marc Jacobs in Houston. "Last fall was the first time we had Versace again," Weidig says. "It was one of my best-sellers. I sold almost every piece of it."

She appraises each item carefully, considering what works for the Houston customer. She pronounces a blue knit dress with a ruffle V-neck to show a hint of decolletage, at $1,195, "perfect" but considers a shift with a zipper in the back, at $1,395, too plain. She suggests a long black dress would look better if shortened and is enthusiastic about a body-hugging dress with long sleeves because "for somebody with a really good body who doesn't want to show her arms, it's a winner."

She's not sure about a quilted velvet jacket, although the Versace rep insists it's one of the best sellers. But she really likes a chic black motorcycle jacket, even though it retails at a prohibitive $5,995. "We got a nude color one in last season and sold it the first day," Weidig says.

While choosing favorites in her mind, she doesn't make the purchase until she's back in Houston. "I need to digest everything," she says. Making the final cut: Jewel-tone dresses, some of the classic Versace baroque pieces and that black motorcycle jacket.

A short walk later, we arrive in the Michael Kors showroom, a gigantic space that takes up most of a floor in a midtown skyscraper. With burnished tan wood walls and luxurious clothing neatly displayed, it resembles an upscale department store. Two days after Kors runway show, which celebrated his 30th anniversary with a glittery, disco-twinged collection, the showroom is full of buyers. Around a dozen from Bergdorf Goodman occupy a large space next to us, as Kors and his mother, Joan, pop in and out.

Weidig plugs in her charger, plops down her handbag and gets to work as Kors rep Amy Schlesigner shows the line. "There's a lot to see. It's a big collection and colorful," Schlesinger says.

"The only color I can't do is that," Weidig says, pointing to a mauve/purple color that is a staple in this collection.

No problem, because the collection is marked by other colors too, including camel, which the Kors team called "suntan," and beige or "nude" in Kors-speak. But, thankfully, black remains black.

Weidig later explains that the store always does well with Kors because the collection is always luxurious, with signature pieces that last a long time.

She likes a black shirt and white blouse with a keyhole opening at the bust line. "These blouses will be closed up slightly," Schlesinger explains. (Oftentimes looks in a runway show are more daring to appeal to fashion editors of the major magazines; in the showroom, they are tailored to buyers' needs. In the Kors collection, a sweater dress will be 2-1/2-inches longer than shown on the runway; a jump suit will be sold with a belt.)

A cashmere jump suit with a sleek cape catches Weidig's eye. "We typically do well with jump suits," she says. "It's definitely something the glamorous Houston woman wears."

She admires a beige pantsuit shown over a beaded blouse. "People have been asking for pantsuits a lot," she says.

She thinks of the Houston customer's lifestyle, noting that a double-faced wool gown gathered at the waist would pack easily for somebody who has to travel.

And, like all buyers, she is drawn to color. "Does that cardigan come in red? I need a touch of red," she says.

It does.

Kors seems to think of everything. The red shade featured in the fall collection mirrors the same color in pre-fall. "So it will be a seamless transition (for the customer)," Weidig says.

She later explains that about half of just about every fall collection is too heavy for the Houston climate; on the bright side, it narrows the many options down. She will purchase between 20-30 Kors looks for the store. If it's a distinctive, super-expensive look, she might buy one item; if it's a staple, perhaps four to six. (A signature Kors shift retails for $1,795; a jump suit with a plunging neckline goes for $3,495.)

Once back in Houston, Weidig's Kors order includes daywear in camel cashmere — "it's so luxurious and classic," she says, plus the jump suit, the beige wool crepe jacket and the great travel gown. She also purchases a number of slacks. "People love them and replace them every year," she says.

Before departing the showroom, Weidig makes plans for Schlensigner to come to Houston for a Michael Kors trunk show at the store. (It's happening Thursday and Friday.)

Trunk shows are great because the customer can choose whatever she likes, Weidig says. "And it also gives me an insight into what people are looking for."