My Intern Experience at More! Magazine

Being an 'intern'. The connotations of the job title are somewhat contradictory - some picture a glamourous, fashion assistant, attending glossy showbiz parties and receiving free samples (think Lauren Conrad in The Hills). Others, however, see the position as a form of accepted slave labour, working 9-6 (staying late if necessary), 5 days a week, doing your utmost in an attempt to impress those around you.... all for no wage.

Well, whilst my experience as a fashion intern at More! didn't have me rubbing shoulders with celebrities, it was certainly far away from slave labour! Yes, the work was hard (there were endless piles of clothing returns to be sent) and the days were long (I'd leave the house at 8am, return home at 7.30pm), but it was so rewarding at the same time. I didn't want to leave....ever!!

The magazine is prepared 3 weeks in advance, so this is the issue I interned on - in the shops now!

My main duty was returns - which basically involves sending back all the samples More! receives to the PR companies who sent them. It really surprised me just how much garments they would get sent - for a single shoot, with e.g. 5 garments appearing in the magazine, there would be about 150 items! When they arrived, we would pick them up from the courier room, then hang them up in the fashion cupboard for the stylists to come and choose what they thought would photograph well. Walking into the fashion cupboard was like browsing the shops.... only it had all the best bits in it!

I also had to do callouts, which involved phoning and emailing brands to ask for specific items to be sent for the upcoming shoot. My call out included sheer kimonos, side split maxi's and graphic printed leggings. One day I was told to go out to the street, find attractive guys to speak to (about high wasted shorts), and take their phone numbers and pictures. Job done! Another day, I was asked to phone around model agencies to request model packages (photos and details of girls to model the clothes). I must admit, I got a bit nervous when phoning up Sisi from Premier Models (featured on The Model Agency ,Channel 4's fly on the wall documentary)!! But, of course, she was lovely :-) The only other time I got a bit star struck was on my first day in the lift with Lucy Cave (Heat Magazine editor). But by the end of the two weeks, I'd seen her so often, we were like best buds ... (no, not really!!)

Page 93 of this weeks issue -  i got to rate some beauty items! And I got to keep them.... it's a tough life :P

One thing I did learn, is that you have to make yourself noticed. More! have different girls coming in every 2 weeks, and it can be hard to make yourself stand out when your main job is sealing packages! At one point, a stylist came up and asked if any of us knew where "[insert unknown london location here!}"was. One of the interns piped up that she knew, to which she was told "Great! Be there tomorrow at 9am to assist on my fashion shoot".

Dam! I thought, from now on I'm going to speak up...even if I don't know where it is, I'll find it!

So later that day, another stylist approached us, asking if we knew how to get to the station at Covent Garden.

"YES! I do!" I lied.

"Great!" she replied, "could you go to Boots to get me a brownie, orange juice and painkillers?"

Ahhhh, so perhaps I had missed my chance. But I gladly went and fetched her things - another thing I learned- as an intern, you have to be upbeat and willing to do any task you're asked. After all, you are there to help out and experience ALL that goes on - including coffee runs!

But my hardwork paid off, and on my last day I got to assist on a photoshoot. It was held at Holburn Studios, where the likes of Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen and Cindy Crawford have been shot - nice! The day was amazing, such a nice way to end my two weeks, and it really made me interested in becoming a stylist. I could never have imagined the amount of work and preparation that goes into a single shot.... but it also seemed so rewarding and such good fun. The stylists, hairdressers, photographers.... everyone had such a good relationship and worked so well together.

So by 6pm that night it was time for me to end my interning experience :( I was gutted to be leaving, because I had met so many lovely people (Sarah; the fashion intern, Emma; the fashion assistant, Surita; the stylist...and everyone else!), and I had learned so much. It was definitely an invaluable experience...
hopefully I'll get a chance to return!!!

So yes, perhaps working for free as an intern isn't ideal, and perhaps it isn't right that its simply expected of those trying to get into the industry. But it's a tough industry, and there are so many people fighting for simply a look in. So if it means saving a little extra money to do a summer internship, my advice would be 100% go for it! Especially if they are all as rewarding as my experience at More!

Of course, I made the most of my evenings in London! Here I visited
the secret pop up shop in the Topshop flagship store. I couldn't get any
photos inside, but here's a couple of the outside.

The secret store featured designers including Meadham Kirchhoff, Nasir Mazhar, Emma Cook and Pamela Love.

And something you have to in London....see a West End Show!
We chose the Lion King, which was AMAZING! Hakuna Matata...