Vogue Fashion

So after an unprecedented length of silence, even by my standards, I am making an effort to reignite this blog- if only for my own satisfaction. 
I'm going to do a little overview of the last couple of months just to set things up and then will go into more detail about everything. I spent a couple of months at GQ working in fashion features, which was amazing and a welcome change from women's magazines, before heading to Vogue in November and finally landing a paid 3 month position as a fashion intern with The Outnet, the sister company of Net-A-Porter, in December. Having covered that, let's start at the beginning:

If I cast my mind back to October, which seems like a light year ago now, when I was at GQ and didn't have any placements lined up in front of me and I felt fairly desperate, I still find it hard to believe that everything that followed actually happened. A big part of wanting to work in the fashion industry is learning to accept that you can't have everything planned out. It just won't work. As someone who is virtually allergic to living moment to moment I am still finding it hard to "go with the flow", but I am slowly realising that a little bit of uncertainty can open up opportunities that wouldn't have happened otherwise. I had my interview for Vogue a week before my time at GQ ended, likewise I secured my place at The Outnet a few weeks before I was due to leave Vogue. Things have a way of working themselves out, but it's still hard to let go. 

Going to Vogue felt like the pinnacle of my interning "career", especially because the interview was suddenly decided on a day that I'd woken up late and put on a pair of horrifically laddered tights and a dress that I hadn't worn in ages- only to realise why when I caught sight of myself in the mirrors in the lift and could practically see my underwear. Not gonna lie, it was hugely intimidating- the big white double doors leading into the Vogue offices are flanked by stunning editorial images of Freja Beha Erichsen and Daria Werbowy and then suddenly.. You're in. You've reached the holy grail. That being said, I was interviewed by the very friendly Maya Zepinic, senior fashion assistant and right hand woman to the legendary Lucinda Chambers, and left unscathed thinking "what a lovely chat!" So first impressions aren't everything- and my experience of Vogue was genuinely very pleasant and rewarding. It was certainly A LOT of returns, call ins, packing for exotic shoots abroad that I forlornly knew I'd never be going on and watching the Vogue fashion girls get beautifully dressed up for parties I wasn't invited to but really it most definitely set me up for my next opportunity. 

It doesn't matter what job you're given, of course it helps if it's wildly exciting and important, as long as you do your best and put 100% into whatever you're doing. That sounds cliché but it's just common sense really, isn't it? If you work hard, do a good job and are appreciative for what you're given then you're more likely to be remembered if they need someone again or are looking for an assistant on a shoot. Whether you are able to take them up on these offers is a matter of availability, which I have found out painfully a number of times since October. While at Vogue GQ got in touch with me as they needed a fashion assistant for a cover shoot with Idris Elba, star of The Wire and all round hottie, but it clashed with my last day at Vogue and I eventually decided that current commitments must supersede new offers. Whether this was the right thing to do is questionable, and I do sometimes regret not going as I would have a credit to my name and you never know what may happen or who you might meet on a shoot. However, I completed my time at Vogue fully and after I left was offered two opportunities to assist on shoots with Maya, both in a freelance capacity as she was shooting for Tank magazine and for Vogue. Sadly, once again, I was forced to turn these down as my job at The Outnet took up all my time during the week and I had shoots going on, often every week, that I was required to be on. I felt it would be unprofessional to make up an excuse to absent myself from a job I was being paid to do, no matter how badly I wanted to assist Maya- though I would have loved to be able to say yes, believe me! 

Only time will tell if I'll be presented with another chance to assist; I do hope she keeps me in mind, as I begged her to do in my apologetic email, and eventually Ill be able to reap the rewards of my time at Vogue. Even if I don't, while I'll be disappointed I can't say that it wasn't amazingly beneficial and perhaps the first place I've been to where the name alone can open doors. I went through four applications, numerous emails and one interview over a period of a year and a half to finally get there- and the people who work in fashion know that. 

More on Vogue and my time at The Outnet next time. In the not too distant future!