Work Experience at Mudpie/Mpdclick

We currently have work experience placements available at Mudpie, and they usually last between 1-2 weeks or more. If you are interested in gaining knowledge about fashion design or wanting to get experience writing for our trend forecasting site Mpdclick, then please feel free to e-mail stacey.starr@mudpie.co.uk. For more information on our location etc visit www.mpdclickcom or www.mudpie.co.uk.

(source: Mudpie)

How to become a fashion editor – by Fashion.net

I am going to post two really good articles written by fashion.net. The first article is giving the reader advice on how to become a fashion editor…

Live and breathe fashion? Looking to join the sorority of stylists and fashion editors? Pat Steele gives you an insider’s view of what to expect.

Invitations to the best fashion shows and parties, discounted designer clothing, champagne on tap… A fashion editor’s life may sound heavenly, but the journey to front-row Nirvana is no easy 8-Path Guide to Entitlement.

Unfortunately for tear-sheet-deprived aspirants, the journey is fast-tracked for those with a very different portfolio: a good number of the cliquish coven of Blahnik-wearing fashion editors owe their jobs to the old-girls’ network. In Manhattan fashion publishing at least, the right private school and a debutante’s pedigree are never out of style. However, don’t be discouraged if your blood doesn’t run to various shades of blue and your ambitions are larger than your bank account: sheer determination, originality, a steely stomach and drop-dead style are also required to make it as a fashion editor. Though no meritocracy, in fashion as in life, talent always wins.

I love your work – What do you do again?

There are two distinct jobs in the fashion editing game. In-house fashion editors and stylists, like Harper’s Bazaar’s Melanie Ward, are usually the inspiration for the theme or narrative – “couture denim,” “vive le rock star!” etc. – which runs through every fashion story. Like many of her styling sisters, Ward is also a hired gun for designers and photographers. In addition to conceiving shoots for Bazaar, Ward moonlights as a freelance stylist and as Helmut Lang’s muse, helping the designer edit his collection and advertising images. Meanwhile, market editors’ responsibilities include having an expert knowledge of their beat. This entails traveling to designated cities, cultivating relationships with showrooms, choosing the right clothes for the story and making arrangements for the delivery and return of garments. Both positions are highly sought after and come with glorious perks, but in most cases the stylist’s job is more creative and prestigious. It’s no surprise then that a lot of market editors would like to be stylists. In any case, everyone starts out as an assistant, or at a less-than-divine publication. Even Anna Wintour cut her teeth at House & Garden.

(Source:http://www.fashion.net/howto/fashioneditor/)

Top fashion editor, Anna Wintour for Vogue

(image: flickr.com unknown exact source, Luca Rome)

A passion for fashion – from the Times Online

I read this article today on the Times Online website and I thought it gave some great advice for a career within magazines….

When Claire Sacré decided to go into journalism, she did what many press recruits have to do — work for nothing, taking the chance, at her own expense, that she could prove herself. “I was one of the lucky ones,” Claire says. “I did a two-week internship at a men’s magazine and then started a six-month spell at Elle. Halfway through, I was taken on staff.”Three years later, Claire, 27, combines writing and researching features with being PA to the Editor-in-Chief, Lorraine Candy, above right, who started exactly the same way in journalism.

“I left school at 16 for an unpaid internship at The Cornish Times, which then offered me a job,” says Lorraine, who went to a comprehensive school in Liskeard. “I don’t regret not doing A levels and university, and I don’t put much store in academic qualifications. At Elle we have five or six interns at any one time, and I can tell within a week whether they are going to succeed.“Claire reminds me very much of myself. She’s hard-working and passionate. She’s probably the best intern we’ve had.”

What does Lorraine think of a system that, while widespread, is open to charges that it allows publishers to exploit would-be journalists? “You just have to accept that it is a fact of life,” she says. “But I do recognise that some interns will work for a long time for nothing, and the sad part is that as an opening to journalism, it’s really available only to those who can afford to do it.”

Lorraine’s own career has been meteoric: from Cornwall she went to a newspaper in Wimbledon, and from there to the nationals, including The Sun and The Times. She has also worked on Marie Claire and edited Cosmopolitan before going to Elle in 2004. “I’ve worked on broadsheets and tabloids, but what I like about magazines is that they are so creative. News is fascinating, but has a rapid turnover. With Elle, I’m creating something new and more lasting with each issue.“When I arrived, it hadn’t had an editor for six months and had rather lost its way. But its DNA is fashion and we’ve been going back to our roots: fashion is fascinating, glamorous and fulfilling.

The world of fashion journalism is often portrayed as being spectacularly bitchy, but it isn’t, and we all recognise that there’s more to life than bags and shoes. Fashion may not be about world affairs, or life-or-death issues, but how you look is important. “I have to look stylish in my job and so does my team. I tell them to look as though they work for Elle — that’s not a chore but a joy.” Still only 39, Lorraine juggles working life with raising three children, aged 5, 4 and 1. “They wake at 6am, so I’m constantly exhausted,” she says. “But I manage because I have a lifestyle contract: I start work at 9.30am after the school drop and leave at 5pm. I do go to evening functions as part of the job, but only after the children are in bed. I also cope because I have a superb PA.

“For example, we’re preparing for the Elle Style Awards next Tuesday — the Oscars of the fashion industry,being held during London Fashion Week \ — with 300 people for dinner and 1,000 at the party. Claire will have researched all the guests and I’ll know something up-to-date about each one.”

Claire, who has a psychology degree from Newcastle University, says: “I have an extremely busy job, with responsibilities across the features department as well as being a PA. Managing Lorraine’s diary is the biggest task because it’s constantly changing — I have to be both reactive and intuitive. Everyone wants to have some of the editor’s time, whether it’s readers, PRs or staff. I’m always the first point of contact.

“I was nervous about, but not intimidated by, the thought of working on a high-fashion magazine — everyone was so welcoming — and the dress code is anything and everything. I usually wear jeans and tops, but you do see people wearing some fab outfits in the office.

“At some point, I want to be a full-time writer or editor, and Lorraine is a good mentor. She’s totally dedicated and inspiring.”

(Written by: Rosalind Renshaw)

Link:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/secretarial/article3313715.ece)

(image: times online)

3rd year – Dissertation – top tips

I cant stress to you how quickly your 3rd year will go, and the best advice I can give you is…enjoy every moment because it won’t be long until you’re working and feeling regretful that you didn’t do more with your student life. I’ve now entered the big bad world and I spend my day time stuck at my desk for up to 9 hours a day, sometimes I never even see daylight! So please, do me a favour and use this example (or excuse) to party as much as you can before you leave uni )

Now on to the hard work – Your 3rd year will be jam packed full of assignments and this will mean you have to do a rather infamous project that you’ve probably heard about many times before- THE DISSERTATION- ahhh the dreaded dissertation – but don’t worry, it can actually be the best project you do because you are mostly in control of what subject you choose etc.

My top tips for doing well in your dissertation…

• Go to all your private tutorials – these sessions are very useful in making sure you’re on the right track. Your tutor may mark your progress each week, to make sure you are completing a steady work load. If you go to all your private tutorials and your tutor knows that you have worked hard throughout the year, but by chance your dissertation isn’t up to scratch, she/he can take your progress into consideration for your final mark.
• Start planning in the summer – before you start the 3rd year take a few moments in the summer to plan and think about what you want to achieve.
• Buy a note book – keeping a dissertation diary is a great way to record your research, thoughts and times and dates of when you did certain things. The diary will also help you in private tutorials, so your progress is at your fingertips when you meet your tutor.
• Back up your work – it’s no fun a week before hand in to discover your computer has a virus and all your project is lost.

Work Experience – my top tips

I can’t stress to you how important work experience is to your future career, especially if you are wanting to go in to the creative industries. With my Writing Fashion & Culture degree you had to gain work placements with magazines, PR & marketing agencies, buyers etc which I did.

If your lecturers can’t help with getting your placements, you gotta go at it alone. This means copious amount of phone calls, letters and e-mails, be persistant. The magazine industry is a tough one to crack as there’s usually waiting lists. I remember contacting Glamour magazine in 2004 and their waiting list was about 1-2 years! crazy.

My tip is: Try magazine’s that aren’t as popular. Any work experience in the right environment is good experience and in smaller magazines/newspapers you may find you’ll get to do a lot more.

I’ve had some good and bad experiences regards work experience. I’ve completed a whole week of photocopying and coffee runs with the most childish women you can imagine. My favourite was when a certain journalist at a reputable fashion magazine said, “…is someone talking to me, or is it just the wind,” when I tried to ask her a question. But then the local and some national magazines have been fantastic. Many have let me go out on fashion shoots, assisting the stylist or interviewing and writing features.

I’ve completed about six different work placements and every time i’ve attended an interview they have always commented on how much experience i’ve gained and how good it is to have done it. I also advise to try and do as many as possible, you may even be offered a summer placement or one day a week to go and work for them. The quicker and longer you have your foot in the door the more chance you have of being employed there.

Work experience is also a great way to try different area’s and test drive whether you want to really work in that sector- you really have nothing to lose.

graduate101 – about this blog

You’ve done the hard work, you got the result you wanted, you’ve graduated…now what? Get a job I hear you cry, hmmm yes, I wish it was that simple…

I’ve decided to write a blog to give undergraduates and graduates some advice, tips and ‘real life’ accounts of how to prepare yourself for the ‘real world’ and what to truly expect once you leave the security of University.

Let’s start from the very beginning – university tips

Do you remember the first day of Uni? You get your campus card, with the worst photograph ever on it…even worse than your passport photo. It’s usually been taken after the ‘Big Night Out’ when all freshers are hungover and looking a bit worse for wear. Yes, that photo will stay with you for the whole three or more years you’ll spend at Uni. Unless you accidently ‘misplace’ it like some people I know, just so you get a second chance.

You start the new chapter of your life with fresh thoughts and feelings, almost like that New Year feeling when you’ve made all those pointless resolutions. And from that moment, all the fun, blood, sweat and tears (literally) begin. Every assignment comes rolling in at once and the deadlines come along sooner. I found my three years at Uni studying Writing Fashion & Culture BA (Hons) at Southampton Solent University flew by so fast, before I knew it I was up on a stage accepting my 2:1 award wearing my cap and gown.

Here are my top tips for getting the grade you want at Uni

First of all you’ll probably roll your eyes at some of my tips because you’ll hear your lecturers telling you the same. But believe me, like your parents are always right, so are they.

“I wanna 2:1″, “I wanna 1st.” First you have to work for it. You can scrape along at Uni for the first two years, but by the third it all catches up with you. I’m afraid, to get the grade you want you have to quite simply work for it. Which links to my next tip…

The key to being successful with your assignments is organisation. As soon as you get your assignment, start working on it. Sounds straightforward? Yes it does, but preaching this tip is a lot different to doing it. If you keep on top of your work load and do a little bit each day, the little bits add up to pages and when the deadline is looming you’ll feel a lot less stressed (and feel quite smug when your mates are doing all nighter’s and you’re at the union.)

Be friends with your lecturers/tutors. Ok, you don’t need to start hanging out with them down the local, but talking to your tutors instead of running out the door at the end of a lecture is rather useful. You have a chance to ask questions that you were to afraid to ask in a lecture room and clarify or get ideas for your assignment.

Keep a note book and record everything you do regarding the assignment. Write down the book, author, publisher or the website, why you looked at it and when. This saves you hours of time because you’ll have it at your finger tips when it comes to writing the bibliography or the appendices.

Work experience- I will write a whole section on this later because it’s VERY important.

Research outside the ‘box’- To push your marks towards a 1st, extend your research and findings to another level. Always consider the future and where the subject area will end up.

Always attend the one to one tutorials with your lecturer, they’ll note down your attendance and effort which they could take into consideration when they mark the assignment.

Pick something you enjoy-Ok I feel you’re rolling your eyes again but picking a subject, especially for the dissertation, is something you need to spend a long time thinking about. Spending nine months on one subject feels like ages, and you’ll probably end up hating it.

Your computer is your best friend. Nurture it, love it and look after it. Back up your work every time you save something. Adding two minutes to your work load each time to save is extremely valuable. Take this advice from someone who is a saving addict. My laptop decided to pack up two months before the hand in of my dissertation. I cried, I threw it across the room (which probably didn’t help) and my dissertation disc went walk about.

(They’ll be more tips on here when I think of them)

If you are a graduate, please add any tips you think will be beneficial to this post.