Net A Porter

If, like me, you are a consumer of all fashion- e commerce, magazines, blogs, street style websites- then you will be as excited to hear about my time at NAP as I was when I first found out I'd got the job. More than anything it gave me a huge confidence boost, something I really needed by the time I'd reached my.. Sixth placement, to believe that I was good enough to secure a paid position and that I could do something different. Just because your experience isn't in the exact field that you're applying for it doesn't mean you're not capable and that is the most important lesson- Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Not getting a job can sometimes lead to better things.

So let's cut to my first day at the NAP headquarters in Shepherd's Bush, London. The space is intimidating- think sleek monochrome furniture and plasma screens playing videos of chic women discussing their personal style, I felt suitably scruffy to say the least. I turned up for my induction along with fifteen other people, the only differences between them and me being roughly a 10 year age gap and the fact that the majority of the women were wearing heels with their outfits, so turning up in denim cut offs and biker boots probably wasn't my finest hour.. Gradually I realised there was genuinely no dress code for the office but I didn't get the common sense memo about dressing appropriately for your first day on the job- you live and you learn!

I was certainly thrown in at the deep end on my first day, half the fashion team was away in LA shooting the chic chat videos for the website which left myself and the Styling Director for The Outnet, Eve Thomas, muddling along together. It's always a tricky time starting something new, particularly your first ever paid placement, and being unsure of where everything is, who anyone is or what you should be doing. For me, it was the first time I was given sole responsibility for the fashion cupboard, returns and samples etc- in previous placements I always had the support of other interns to rely on. Add to this the fact that I had also never really been left to my own devices before, with the luxury of not being monitored constantly and being handed specific tasks, and I was basically a nervous wreck. The pace of working in e-commerce is the thing that struck me the most. It is a very different thing to work for an on line company than to work for a traditional print magazine; while stories are shot months in advance for magazines such as Vogue, at The Outnet there are shoots virtually every week for the site's homepage as well as themed stories such as luxe traveller and work wear. I went on my first shoot with NAP in my first week which was fairly frightening- knowing everyone's rhythms and the way they like to work with the photographers and hair and make up is so important to how smoothly the shoot runs that it was a little intimidating to be prepping for a shoot right off the bat. However, it all went smoothly and seeing the images appear on the site the next week definitely boosted my confidence that I could do it all over again!

More on my solo shoot next time, and below some snapshots of my first shoot on the job!

Cheeky snapshot behind the scenes

The photographer's dog Lucille in her Security hoody

Her little face is so damn cute!