Round 2

Ok, so I admit that it might have been exactly one month to the day since I last posted.. But in my defence I am more used to a life of leisure, what they say about students is mostly true, and this getting up at 8am malarkey is wreaking havoc with my body clock! It is definitely true though, that when you have a lot to do time flies- I can honestly say that every single day absolutely flew by. This is what I'm using as an excuse for my poor show. In an attempt to make this enormous delay seem less obvious I'm going to upload a series of posts over the next couple of days covering the rest of my time at InStyle- just go with it- while trying to avoid creating a massive backlog for when I start at Glamour on Monday. 


If I thought I had a baptism of fire at Red magazine I must have been delusional, and the missing jewellery episode on my second day was just the tip of the iceberg. The consequences of having more than one intern at a time, and at such a rapid turnover, has its positives and negatives- I'm not sure whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Putting four strangers, effectively, in a room lacking both windows and air conditioning and pitting them against each other in a race to see who can be the favourite for the day and recover the jaw- droppingly expensive item first is a recipe for disaster. In some ways it was, and in others not so much (although the benefit of hindsight has slightly affected my perception of the escapades that went on). Adjusting to being at the very bottom of the ladder, and I mean the VERY bottom, is made harder because the people you are below are also interns who have been there longer and therefore automatically have the upper hand. This seems a cynical way to look at things but I did find myself constantly worrying whether everyone else was doing more than me- in the case of one intern I can at least comfort myself with the knowledge that they definitely weren't- and whether they were liked more than me. Not being a competitive person (honestly) I admit that I find this side of the fashion industry unpleasant.. It brings out the worst qualities in everybody, forcing them to forget the fact that we all need a little camaraderie, especially at a fashion magazine! 

However, it's not all paranoia and competitiveness- let's add mystery to the mix! Something I have never encountered before happened at the end of my first week that put the cat among the pigeons. After an exciting photoshoot in New York for the cover of the October issue (it's a good 'un!) the sheer joy of doing returns was brought to a halt when a Moschino catwalk look appeared to have sprouted legs and run off. Leading back to the issue of several interns, with all of us once again staring blankly at each other- fear lying just behind the defiant gazes- all hell broke loose. The positive side to the, frankly terrifying, realisation that you've lost something worth hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds is that while we experienced more of the fallout from this it is only because we are given more responsibility. 

Since the goal of this blog is to chart my progress (and maybe entertain a few people), dealing with irate PRs calling every hour of every day are completely worth it when I can see that I've been given more responsibility in my role and am gaining in confidence. Dealing with people is literally just as important as having an eye for fashion, and I know many of you will be shocked to hear that I'm not usually the best people person, but I am learning that what I consider to be overly friendly is normal for everyone else and this observation is paying off! Being on first name terms with people is invaluable, you never know when you might be [further] at the bottom and will need to call on a contact for help. I think we can all take a little snappiness with a pinch of salt and see that it's not the person, it's the job- in the words of Robyn "I'm really a nice person when I'm not at work!" I must say I agree, not that she hasn't been anything but lovely at work, but that it does force all your insecurities and paranoias to the surface so it's no wonder we're all griping at each other constantly.

Honestly, I think I've done really well remembering all these details (an exact quote, no less!) considering it was three weeks ago. For the next instalment of the mystery of the Moschino skirt and so much more, just hang on a couple more days- obviously this will be difficult, but try your best to remain calm.