My time at More! magazine was a.maaaazing & I learnt so much! I worked with two other girls on work experience (workies) & our main duty were returns. For every page, every feature, every shoot, clothes, shoes, accessories etc are ordered in from all over the place, therefore someone has to return the finished with & unwanted products. That's our job. Every day there were bags & bags & piles & piles & suitcases & suitcases, you get the gist, of stuff needing to be returned back to the brands or PR companies they were sent from, so that was our main priority, and I must admit we tackled the mound amazingly & was complemented on it frequently! :-D We also had to do endless photocopying, tidy the 'shoot' cupboards & once I had to organise a pile of like 100 shoes into a line against the wall! Long, but I got the chance to talk to the head stylist, Sophie, who's been with the magazine for 11 years! Turns out she studied the same course as me at a Uni I even looked at & worked up to where she is now! So looks like I'm on the right track to be just like her! :-p
Other little jobs I was sent on were running up tracksuits for the male models at a location shoot in a diner up the road, popping down to Office to collect some shoes & grabbing a ham & cheese toastie for one of the stylists who couldn't get out for lunch! All rather 'minion' like but I loved feeling important, & enjoy mini missions!
By far the most memorable & amazing part of the whole two weeks were the photo shoots!
Every workie gets to go on atleast one shoot but I was lucky enough to be asked to attend two & was by far the coolest thing I've ever done! I assisted Sarita Morales the junior stylist on studio shoots for her feature, 'More for Less' which high lights bargains from the high street each week. As soon as I arrived at the studios I felt like I was on holiday, the sun was beaming & blue skies surrounded the crisp white building, entered to through a courtyard all situated at the side of a canal! It was a lovely yet rare Summery day & it all made the day more glamorous! It was my responsibility to steam the clothes & organise them into the stories in order & with what accessories. I had to keep note of the credits, for example what was worn for each outfit including all jewellery & then type it up the following day. The tricky part was when some garments are sent in without prices or labels so it's my job to phone around & find out so the magazine can publish all the right info. & guess what? My name should be in both issues as the Stylist's Assistant! Eeeeek! Even if it's in teeny tiny small print it's still there :-D
It was such a fun atmosphere all day, chatting & sharing stories between myself, the stylist, the hair & make-up artist & the model - whom, may I add was really nice & laid back even if she made me feel like an ugly fat munchkin! Lol. The photographer & his assistant were really cool too & it was nice when we all sat down for lunch & mingled together. Now, let me tell you about lunch! At around 11o'clock Sarita asked me to go on the computer & pick what I wanted... Basically a website where you click 'add' to whatever you fancy eating & a guy on a bike whizzes it across town & turns up with all of our meals boxed up at 1pm! A true "this is the life" moment. Sooo cool! Apart from the minor stresses & dramas like lighting, make-up issues, making sure the 'big bosses' back at the office liked what we were doing, it was a really fun, relaxed day so I was so excited when I was asked to attend another.
It was the day before my last day & I had turned up to the office only to discover I should of checked my voicemails... Emma, the fashion assistant had left me a message asking me to make my way straight to the studios at 9am to assist on another shoot for Sarita. It was 10:30 when I arrived after a stressful tube journey & hike from the tube station to the studio - my sense of direction is awful & took me forever to find it again. I felt slightly nervous being late & was very apologetic but Sarita was so relaxed & fine with it & straight away she asked me if I fancied anything for breakfast as she was ordering a bacon buttie! Another amazing day, although a lot 'stressier', & we over ran by like an hour. But hey ho, it's not all glitz & glamour ;-) & I loved every minute of it.
Actually, maybe not the minute when I was on a drinks run, had a tray full of hot coffees & teas, the model was trapped in the toilet, I attempted buzzing her out whilst still holding the tray & laughing... You can guess what happened next. Funny as it was, I had to blow dry my dress & walk around with nasty stains all day, but then again, Sarita did purchase one of every chocolate bar to cheer me up! Lol. Every grey cloud... Haha.
I was quite emotional on my last day, loved the routine of the last two weeks, loved being in Covent Garden every day & enjoyed the excitement. My goodie bag was an amazing surprise though! Gifts are always that much better when you least expect them. & this one was filled with lovely goodies - toiletries, make-up, nail varnishes, hair stuff etc. So chuffed I kept all the contents inside the YvesSaintLaurent bag for weeks :-)
I've always been interested in working for a magazine & really felt like I could truly fit in there, my plan is to get as much work ex. in so that I can be the next Fashion Intern! It's so true when they say it's not what you know but who you know, in the Fashion world more than any other, so contacts & leaving your mark is the most important thing. I hope I return.
Love.
Daniela Dee
More! workie 30th June - 10th July :-p
...! Xx
