As promised I dually bring you some words from an insider, the words of a Voguesita!
Sophie P is an up and coming stylist and having worked with her before on a few of my shoots, most recently ChildsPlay, I know she has a good amount of talent rolled into those wet look leggings. Currently doing an internship @ Vogue she offers her insight into the famous fashion mag and her predictions for the coming months and what to look out for on the high street.
So, Sophie, you are currently an intern at Vogue magazine head office. What were your very first impressions of the offices, the staff and the mag? I was very nervous and the prospect of working at 'Vogue' was daunting. But as soon as I got there the girl I was assisting was really friendly, she showed me around & introduced me to anyone and everyone which made me feel at home! Seeing Kate Phelan and Lucinda Chambers was eye opening as I have admired their work for years for Vogue. The offices are filled with the most amazing pieces of clothings and accessories. It really is a luxury to see all these wonderful pieces laid out to look at! The offices are cramed with beautiful book's and pictures for reference. It is a cosy and inspirational place to be working.
Do you read Vogue anyway?
I always read Vogue whenever i can afford to buy it! But i am a regular reader or should I say viewer as i do find the volume of the issue's sometime's too heavy to get through. The picture's are my main interest and seeing the new season's item's displayed by the talent's of the fashion director's and the assistant's is something as a stylist I like to keep my eye on.
How many hours did it take to decide what to wear the first morning!?
I think the key is Black! You can't go wrong with black and it seems to be the staple diet of the fashion elite! It didn't take long but I washed pretty much everything I owned so that what ever I felt like in the morning i could throw on. Although i did sideline a theme for my dressing. Black, black and white striped t-shirts and dresses, baggy t-shirt's and legging's with a blazer to make it smarter, shiny legging's and of course high heels to make more of an impression! Brogues my choice for the work place!
Any inside gossip that you can give away....
The place is a lovely and unsurprisingly non glamorous atmosphere. But the people that work there are sweet, elegant, well spoken and do float around the office! They all dress incredibly well with a style i would describe as smart casual. All age appropriate and they all have their own individual twist on their outfit's to suit their personality.
I have been lucky enough to go to a few show's; Bernard Chandrand off Schedule, Olanic and Osman Yousefzada which was On schedule. A part of my job role was to dowload the show's from NY and london from Style.com and collate them for the assistant's. From this i was able to get a great look at all the show's up close that i wasn't able to go and see!
I would look out for electric blue seems to be a key trend for the next few month's along with alot of tassel's and stud's staying through until winter. The Latex/PVC look is here to stay through until A/W '09. Alot of good thing's are headed our way from Topshop Unique which is exciting as it's affordable!!!!! Haven't bumped into anyone famous although i have 'overheard' a couple of convo's to Kate Moss, Vivienne Westwood's people! But all the fashion director's and Alexandra Shulman all have a great rapor with their regualr models and photograhers hence why they return to work with each other.
How valuable would you say your time at Vogue has been?
My time at Vogue has been so valuable, i have learnt alot and become alot more confident in what i am heading towards. The contact's that i have made have also mean that I have set myself up with people to get in contact with in the future.
Name three things that your experience at Vogue has taught you?
1) Be incredibly organized! Thing's are always on a tight schedule especially when you are arranging schedules for the entire office to attend fashion week.
2) To be more confident when talking to people on the phone ( talking to stranger's was never my favourite!) but when you have to call Milan you have to call Milan!
3) Remain focused on achieving a job in this industry because there is nothing else that i would rather be doing.
What do you eat for lunch everyday or are you nibbling at an envelope like the models?
No! i am not a model and never will be! So i eat what i want, fruit and cereal bars, soup salad or sushi my new favorite place is Itsu sushi . . yum!
Any invites to after parties or exclusive snog’s or fumbling’s with the other staff members or better that.......the designers!!?
I did get an invite to one party but after a whole day commuting and on a wage of a a Fashion intern (Nothing!!!) i didn't attend. Nope no snog's or juicy gossip as of yet but i will keep you posted if i hear of anything!
Are you the only intern or are there others?
There are two department's Fashion and Fashion Features. i am in Fashion and there are three other Fashion interns with me there. Two are sorting the cupboard and all the returns. Another who has come in to help with a supplement coming out in the summer. And me who is assisting the fashion coordinator with the fashion week schedule's but when it get's busy we all chip in with the work load. The other three deal with fashion features and they have very similar roles.
Would you recommend assisting / work experience and what tips can you give to others trying to get into it?
I would recommend it if styling or fashion journalism is somthing that you want to get into. Be aware that there will be times when you are waiting on a list (at Vogue the waiting list is 200 people long) and once you are in you can't come back again unless they pay you. But keep it up it's a fantastic part of the industry to work in and you learn so much from different places. The experience you gain from people who are at the top is invaluable.
Where now for you....what's coming up in your schedule that we should look out for?
I finish at Vogue in two weeks and then i take a little break in thailand. But after my break and a couple of months to build the overdraft up again i will be back on it. After these two weeks i will be sending my CV off to other places including Glamour, Times, Brides and GQ s finger's crossed i might get something more long term with a little bit of money too!
What Sophie obviously missed off the list there was to work with me again!! No seriously, I hope you have enjoyed hearing what she has to say and look out for her as she is soon to be a regular contributor on The Fat Blog!
