The End Is Nigh

I realise I've been lagging lately with updates, there are so many of you I'll have a full scale riot on my hand if I don't post something soon! It's my last week with Red and despite the early starts, late finishes and hectic days I'm really sad to be leaving all the girls.. Let's not get too sentimental, but it's genuinely like saying goodbye to a little temporary family. Lauren told me Hearst magazines have a company policy that only allows interns to stay at a particular magazine for a maximum of one year. Koulla's time at Red finished about two months ago and soon Alice and Lauren will have to leave too; I can't imagine what it must be like to leave all the people you've become so close to. I already feel like one of the team, after just a month, so it's a cruel rule that means even though they are so much more than interns they still have to leave despite what a good job they do. And they really do an incredible job, watching Lauren run from cupboard to cupboard and person to person, helping out as many people as she physically can, and Alice rush from press day to appointment, actually leaves me speechless. Both girls are usually there before me when I arrive at 9.30am [having cycled from Old Street and Stoke Newington, respectively, no less!] and are still there long after I go home exhausted at 5.30pm. 

I won't begin lamenting or reflecting on my time at Red just yet, I'll save that tearjerker for the end of the week- so if you fancy a good cry don't bother watching Titanic 3D, just read my blog. I will, however, mention what dawned on me this very afternoon- organisation is key. Honestly, that is what will keep you sane amid a mountain of rapidly increasing clothes and shoes and be your saviour when an angry press rep is sending irate emails looking for an item you thought you had sent back but has apparently disappeared. After a frighteningly close call with a biro on a pristine, white Jil Sander Paris skirt I have realised that samples doubling up as shop-stock should be guarded with your life! Lauren and Alice are constantly making lists; lists of items to call in for a photoshoot, lists of items that need to go back at a certain date, lists of things they need to do tomorrow.. The list is endless!
This is beginning to sound a bit like a tribute to Lauren Franks, but the best way to learn is to observe someone who not so long ago was in your position. Lauren is able to make basic but nonetheless important decisions after a mere moment and, perhaps most crucially, anticipate what people need before they've even asked. I have lost count of the number of occasions I have witnessed the junior fashion editor, Alex Stedman, or the shopping assistant, Lucy Reber, ask her to do something only to be met with the response that she's already finished it and done a bit of reorganising to boot! I'd like to think that with further experience and a little more confidence in myself [at the moment I am partially paralysed through fear of losing an insanely expensive item] I could also be as efficient and effective as Lauren.. Needless to say, though, I have my doubts. For me, even the most simple decisions result in a rush of blood to the face, gabbling and, inevitably, the wrong decision. The number of times I've been lost and rather than ask someone where to go, picked a road at random and just kept walking! Inexplicable, I know. Still, I've got three days left to master this art so I'm keeping the faith. 

So finally, to keep things light, and to prove that no matter how much thought you put into an outfit you can still be caught out, here's this little gem.. 

Embarrassing you say? I like to think we make it work

Week 3

Now I know it's been a while since I last updated and even though I'd love to regale SOMEONE with thrilling stories of packing clothes [the brutal papercut I got the other day had me itching to write a post] I realise that's probably not the kind of thing anyone besides my mother would want to hear about. Those of you who know my mother will also know that even she's hard pressed to care! The thing is, a lot of working as an intern at a magazine is waiting around for something, anything, to happen.

I managed to spend a colossal, and surely record breaking, 5 hours sending items off to their respective PR houses today. Worry not though, I spent my time wisely- pondering what Millie Macintosh of Made in Chelsea fame was doing that very same moment in the Glamour office. Selecting an outfit for her next TV appearance from the fashion rail perhaps? Because we all know that's what being an intern entails.. Just in case though, I did check with Alice and Lauren and they assured me [or rather crushed my dreams] that that's not the case. Once again, I'm straying dangerously close to moaning territory and while I have bad days where I dread the thought of giving up my gloriously carefree student life for the real world- goodbye midday rising and extravagantly long lunches- there are twice as many good days where I feel as if I'm finally getting somewhere with a career in fashion. While I am prepared to wait for a magazine to provide me with an opportunity to assist on photoshoots the opportunity might have presented itself to me in the form of Koulla Sergi. Koulla is a freelance fashion stylist who also cut her teeth at Red magazine and occasionally returns to carry out features shoots. Not only has she proven that each and every member of the Red fashion team really is completely lovely and helpful but also shown what a small world it is after all. Koulla and I attended the same primary school, live five minutes down the road from each other and share mutual friends but I would never have met her had I not been at Red at the right time. A little bit of serendipity at work I like to think. Koulla's fashion styling website is now up and running and I have made my services as a fashion assistant available to her should she need any help- I am quite hoping that my version of networking and forthrightness will pay off! You can find Koulla's work here: http://www.koullasergi.com/

On a final, optimistic, note the freelance fashion assistant from Marie Claire got in touch with me today, after months of pestering her systematically with emails begging for a placement, potentially offering just that. Slap bang in the middle of my exams. Bugger. I have attempted to negotiate a September internship instead [in the desperate hope that I won't feel unemployed and nostalgic when all the freshers make their way to university for the first time] but so far I have had no response. Let's all keep our fingers crossed it goes well or I may end up packing clothes in a factory instead to make ends meet!

Real Talk

Nothing particularly exciting has been going on in the fashion cupboard of late, although I'm kept more than busy every day sorting the clothes [particularly painful as I spent today packing up what I spent last week unpacking!] and generally making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. As they say though, every cloud has a silver lining and not being presented with the opportunity to frequent Hermès, liaise with Patrick Demarchelier and visit the editor's luxury abode- à la Anne Hathaway- has given me the chance to consider what exactly I am letting myself in for.. 
This is an unforgiving and relentless job, requiring extra effort and extra hours- no complaining allowed. Unless you truly love what you do it's unlikely you'll survive unscathed. For some, the prospect of working at a fashion magazine conjures up images of espressos sipped over a celery stick or two, alternated with bitchy comments about the other women in the office- in fact, half my friends seem disappointed that my reports don't match up with their viewing of The September Issue. The reality, however, is that little time is spent eating or drinking [not for want of hunger or thirst] but rather sifting through bags of clothing in a panic stricken state searching for a missing earring! 


I am fortunate enough to live in London, rent free, and am well aware that this is what makes interning possible. So while I may wish for the sudden onset of illness to allow me an extra hour in bed in the morning I know that it could be much, much worse. I spent a month at Fabulous magazine, when it was part of News of the World, a couple of years ago and Penny, the long term intern, is still the most dedicated person I have met in all the publications I have worked at. Penny lived in Norfolk which meant a three hour commute every morning and evening, and with zero wages this was no mean feat. On top of all this, in order to fund her dream job she also spent her weekends working in a shop to pay the rent for her flat. I can only hope that after five years of hard graft I am still as dedicated to pursuing this career as Penny- though if I'm hoping, it'll be for a job within five years! 


I want this blog to be a no holds barred account of what being an intern is all about. Even though I wish it was as simple as "playing with clothes all day", which is what the other half of my friends think I do all day, it actually consists of the more mundane tasks that enable a magazine to appear as professional and stylish as it does. This isn't to say that there aren't rewarding aspects to the job; when you look around the fashion cupboard at the end of the day and see the progress you've made through the mountain of shoes you were meant to return or the one hundred dockets you were told to file in alphabetical order, it's important to take notice of these little achievements. They are what will get you through the day! So cheer up, it's not all doom and gloom and, as is becoming customary now, here is a little preview of what is to come in future issues of Red.. 

These Erickson Beamon necklaces cost almost as much as my tuition fees for one year! 

Easter Bunny

I've now had my first full week at Red [Bank holidays aside] and am really getting into the swing of things. Although I'm still mainly in the fashion cupboard dealing with the huge amount of returns generated by the S/S '12 photo-shoots, soon to be coming your way in the upcoming issues, I've had the chance to delve through rails of spectacular clothes I could probably never afford as well as get a first hand look at what it's really like organising a shoot and putting together a fashion story.

The girls in the office work incredibly hard to make every story featured in Red look effortless and chic- the image of the serene swan paddling furiously beneath the water comes to mind.. At the moment we're working on a shoot for a certain someone who can't be named just yet [sorry!] and we've called in literally hundreds of items- including clothes, shoes and accessories. Like I did, you might think this is excessive considering the whole spread is likely to be around 5 or 6 shots, but speaking to Lauren made me realise that a stylist's job is to prepare for every possible eventuality. All the items on the rails had been carefully selected and edited out of an even vaster number of clothes sent in by PR companies and fashion houses. The chaos in the cupboard is unbelievable, even before the shoot's begun.

It's not all doom and gloom though, two things have brightened up my week..

1) Emmanuelle Alt Does Wham is definitely worth a watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pw4R8yy3fo

Proving that fashion editors have a sense of humour, and what better way to immortalise herself as the new editor of French Vogue! The plethora of models in the background acting as backing singers, including Anja Rubik, just go to show high fashion isn't always so serious.

2)

The real life Easter bunny came to the office today, complete with his basket of creme eggs! 

Have a lovely Easter everyone and enjoy receiving a visit from this Donnie Darko-esque character..

Baptism of Fire?

Had my work cut out for me this morning

This Chanel dress would put my own wedding dress to shame.. 

SHOE HEAVEN!

                                       

Winter's on the horizon already in the fashion cupboard, but this lovely coat more than makes up for it 

First day done and dusted, and not only was I thrown in at the deep end but I survived! I arrived at Red Magazine and was greeted by the fashion assistants, Lauren and Alice- both absolutely lovely. The Red office is as far from The Devil Wears Prada as you could possibly get!
Introductions over with, I got on with the day's job.. Packing and sending off every piece of clothing from a previous photoshoot. No one said being an intern was glamorous, despite the pictures!, and with some help from the girls I finally got everything sent off. I must say, it's difficult to make sitting on the floor of the fashion cupboard surrounded by packing paper and returns slips sound exciting, but it's all part and parcel of working in fashion. And with the help of an iPod dock and some gorgeous clothes to distract me, the day flew by.

Sorry to disappoint, but the most exciting thing that happened to me today was getting totally lost on the wrong floor and being personally guided back to the correct place by the binman. Not my finest hour but hopefully things can only get better! For now, hope you're all satisfied with a little preview of some of the exciting clothes coming your way.

Hello everyone, this is just a quick introductory blog post to explain what this blog's all about. On Monday I'll be starting my placement in the fashion section of Red magazine- it's such an exciting opportunity I thought it would be useful to record the ins and outs of it all. It's my first chance to work at a monthly magazine and I'm hoping what I'll be doing will be helpful to those of you also in the same position- if so, please follow my blog. I'll be documenting my upcoming internship at InStyle this July as well!

As well as charting my progress at my internships I'll also be using the blog as a space to post about the items, places and websites I love. I'm hoping that using it regularly will inspire me to keep it up, even when I'm not interning!

I've previously been an intern at The Observer and Fabulous magazine, both of which gave me a great foundation to the daunting world of fashion magazines. I'm ridiculously excited and nervous about starting at Red but here's hoping being thrown in at the deep end will make me rather than break me!