Motel Rocks Internship

Hello Everyone! 

I just wanted to share with you my internship experience at Motel Rocks, the online fashion brand, so far. 

Working in the Press Office Show Room on Great Portland Street, my title is Social Media Assistant and I love it, it's one of the funnest jobs I've done! 

When I started off there in January, I was collating imagery and writing the content to publish across all of the social media platforms which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Polyvore, Tumblr, Pinterest, the list goes on and on! 

I now act as Blogger Representative, dealing with all the 2000+ existing bloggers on our system, gifting them samples, finding new ones to collaborate with, and ensuring they feature anything we send them! So if you're a blogger wishing to collaborate with us, you'll most likely be in correspondence with me. Until April any way! 

What I look for in a blog to collaborate with: 

Well the main thing is the amount of followers. If you have over 5000 followers on one platform such as Instagram or Lookbook (they're the best for imagery) but I will look at Facebook and Twitter as well, then you've got through the first stage. However if your imagery is extremely good, but you've only got 2000 followers, I may be able to overlook this.

I then look to see if you wear Motel, or the type of clothing Motel sells. If you do, and you have a good look/ styling ability and the pictures are quite editorial and would look perfect across our social, then you're in! 

It's quite strange having this sort of power. Not saying I'm the bloody Queen, but when I'm sending out my endless emails to bloggers from all over the world, it's nice to know I've made someones day by offering a collaboration (A.K.A free clothes!). 

I do still dabble in the social world, I write a few tweets, maybe help out with Facebook posts and Instagram imagery, but the one I still collate everything for is Tumblr. The Motel Rocks Tumblr page is my absolute social baby, I LOVE finding the images and seeing the followers grow, it's become my favourite platform by far. If you fancy checking it out you can do here!

I also got to help out at LFW on behalf of the brand which was an experience to say the least! I was in charge of collaborating with brands to get samples for about 300 goodie bags we were giving away, organising the girls to work to give out the goodie bags, as well as contacting all the bloggers that were going to LFW and arranging to meet up so we could get a few snaps of them for the blog. 

It was hectic but a lot of fun! And I even managed to feature on the blog here and the Youtube vid which you can see here!

AWFUL picture, where I seem to have lost my eyebrows, but beggars can't be choosers!

Twitter Bio Disorder

"Starbucks obsessed, life enthusiast" 

"Blogger, tea addict, and hopeless wanderer" 

"Lover of dogs, fashion, lipstick, curly hair, and TV"

These are some fashion bloggers actual twitter bio's, I didn't make them up, this is literally what people think they want others to know about them. 

Am I the only one completely baffled by having to give ourselves some sort of weird diagnosis in the contents of our twitter bio?! I like to read and shop online but I'm not boring people to tears with it on my social media platforms in some weird phrase that sounds like I'm talking to a support group for the dull fashionistas club! 

90% of the population love TV. We are a tea drinking nation. And what the DICK is a hopeless wanderer?! I'm pretty sure that girl is just traipsing the streets with a distant stare in an indie trance, wearing dungarees, carrying a ukelele and shopping for a rocking horse... 

You wouldn't put this shit on a job description or your cv. Liking coffee and dogs surprisingly does not make you unique. You are bloggers of fashion, which is probably one of the most creative hobbies of the time, yet all you can come up with is that you like curly hair?! 

Please, I beg of you all, if you're going to choose some words which sum you up in a short sentence, make them interesting, make them original, that's what people will remember. Not what you eat for breakfast. 

Slogan Sweats

You can't sit with us. by emilyrodgers18 featuring nike shoes

I love a good slogan sweater. I have my own 'that shit cray' in burgundy, however I'm looking to invest in another as it is too explicit to wear out doors. I already frighten small children, I don't want to scare the parents as well. I love this outfit (above), simple yet stylish. Although I dislike 'sneaks' being worn for anything other than exercise, this ensemble screamed Nike. Monochrome and Mean Girls, it works! 

Midi Skirt Disaster

Midi Skirt by emilyrodgers18 featuring ballet shoes

You must have noticed the midi skirts at the moment, my favourites are in Topshop. There's something 50's Givenchy glamour about them. I tried a few on, but settled on this light pink one from Dorothy Perkins because of its price (£20) and its colour. In essence, this should be a cute little outfit for a winter dinner in a fur coat. In reality? It looks awful. 

The skirt was not at all what I expected when it came in the post, the colour is completely different from the picture, its a brighter pink, and the fabric is thin and cheap looking. I mean, it is cheap, but you can buy stuff in Primark, which when asked where its from and you say Primark, they go "OH MY GOD, WHATT?! I CAN NEVER FIND ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN THERE!"

So there was no excuse. 

In this day and age, where online shopping is so popular, and the line between bricks and mortar and websites is getting rapidly smaller, being able to see a product up close and know what you're getting for your money is a bonus. When it still doesn't look like the picture after zooming in and examining it on the web, and you've paid a good few quid to get it delivered, or schlepped through the shoppers to get it from click and collect, this is somewhat less impressive. 

But I guess there's an essence of mystery about it, hit and miss, and when you hit, you feel accomplished, when you miss, its just a ball ache to return. 

Has anyone else bought a midi this season? Where from? I'm still on the look out after this disaster! 

New Flat

Apologies for my recent absence, but with moving into a flat comes the joys of landlords, bills and no internet for three weeks. Thankfully we are getting Talk talk in next week so I can get back into posting! In the mean time, I thought I would show you a few snaps of my new pad, which I'm sharing with a girl I went to Uni with. I am very house proud with this one, its in a great location (right near camden and only 20 mins to work) and its really coming together with our little homey touches! These photos were taken just after we moved in, so its a little more lived in now, but you get the gist! 

I will be back to posting about fashion-y things next week!

How times change

I wrote this little exert back in May when I had just finished Uni, had no job, living in Jersey and was feeling pretty sorry for myself. I am now living and working in London, for a major designer, with so many exciting opportunities and projects coming up. Looking back on this has really made me appreciate how lucky I am to be in the position I'm in now. Its funny how times change isn't it?!

"Right now its may, which means the hoards of newly grads are going to haul themselves back to the island any minute and snap up every available job going. The good ones get the best roles first, and then what’s left for the rest of us is pretty slim pickings, so I’m attempting to act fast.

As you can probably tell, I’ve had no luck as of yet, although I think I’m punching a bit above my weight as I refuse to go back to shop floors, and I hope I’m not the only one struggling.

As soon as I say Fashion in an interview people tend to switch off before they even let me finish with marketing. "Oh, I suppose you want to be working for Chanel with the fancy bags and the fashion shows or a pretty magazine." Well, no. My course involved logistics, accountancy, internationalization, the economy, consumer behaviour, however all anyone ever hears, is dresses, shoes, designers. It was no easy feat. 

As much as it’s a dream of mine, I highly doubt I’m the next Carrie Bradshaw, mainly because she’s fictional, and also because that’s a dream. We are all encouraged to dream, it gives us goals. But the reality is, most of us are destined to be the next admin assistant in the photocopying cupboard saving for months for that amazing trip or a gap yah.  I’m also way too cynical, as this rant might have already shown, which is why I can look at the people who say “chin up” and “dream big” but the reality is, if you want something you have to work for it, so I guess I should stop complaining and get to it, because although I might get stuck making little penguins out of blue tac, its experience at the end of the day, and I should be grateful for any sort of job.

What makes it worse is that, whilst sitting at home, perfecting my eBay selling skills (not one to put on the CV) and watching the dreaded day time TV, my Facebook newsfeed is filled with the lucky ones who’ve managed to nab their dream jobs. “OH EM GEE, starting the new job today, eekk!” really?! That’s fantastic, please keep reminding me of your amazing success and your super duper organization skills, while I slowly but surely slip into the realms of bum-hood.

I’m not judging those who got their dream jobs, seriously, congratulations. You are the talented, smart ones destined to achieve greatness, as Will Shakes said, however, for the rest of us? The mediocre, run of the mill types? We’re lucky if we have any greatness thrust upon us. But that’s just it, its not lady luck who’s stopping you from getting these jobs, its someone with better skills and more experience, don’t wait for the greatness and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Yes, that is a quote from Will smith in the pursuit of happiness, going for a will theme here.

At uni they make a big deal of telling you of all the things you can achieve with this course, all the opportunities that are going to open up for you, you leave with a sense of hope and a lump of giddy excitement in the pit of your stomach to get out there and start a new chapter as a proper grown up. Turns out the hope is actually naivety and the pit is pure fear. Naivety of the fact that the reality is you will probably not get that dream job for a while, and your going to have to work bloody hard to get there, this has then made you think if that’s what you really want to do, contemplating the rest of your future, with all its choices, decisions and problems ahead, there’s the fear. So we can either bite the bullet, or dream on.

Now that’s been said, its time to get back on the job site, maybe a new position has been posted in the last 5 minutes."

Its funny because despite saying I didn't want to end up back on the shop floor, I worked for most of the summer in Next, the irony! It also turns out a bit of luck was sent my way to get to where I am now. It may not be my dream job but its a lot closer than I was back then! 

Try writing down a rant, or a story of your day, then read it back to yourself months from now and see how things have changed. It can go both ways in how it will make you feel, but the outcome is always interesting!

Vivienne Westwood Internship

You have probably guessed, I've got some rather big news! 

I decided a while back to take the plunge and move to London. 

With the pursuit of getting a job in the fashion industry in mind, I started applying for internships and such, but after a failed interview at Motel Rocks I wasn't having much luck. 

Pretty much the same day, my dad rang me saying "how fast can you get to London to work for Vivienne Westwood?" 

After a bit of explanation, it turns out my Uncle knows someone who's daughter is Viv's right hand woman, well for Press anyway (Laura McCuaig). As reluctant as I was to accept help from others and to make it on my own, this was one contact I just couldn't turn down! 

She put me in contact with Jess Moloney, who also works in the Press Office, and after a few exchanged emails and a phone interview, I was offered the three month internship! 

From what I could gather I will be dealing with samples, helping to organise press days and keeping the showroom neat and tidy. 

I start this wednesday and I am so excited! 

You may have seen what's been said in the news about her supposed exploitation of interns. Well I say, if you want something bad enough, you have to be willing to work for free for it. In such a saturated and competitive market such as fashion, what do you expect! 

And not only that but work hard whilst working for free. 

I am baffled by anyone who goes into a job and does it half arsed. You're there to work, to make an impression, so why not (for want of a better phrase) put 110% into it? It doesn't matter if you're getting 1 mil a minute or tuppence a day! And that also means being more than happy to make the tea, run half way across London for a sample and of course, the photocopying. 

You will only be rewarded for your efforts surely? Instead of being known for your laziness and unapproachable attitude. 

I started out picking up dog poo as a volunteer for the Animal Shelter, just so I could play with dogs. So I am very willing (if not privileged!) to work for an iconic British Designer just so I can get a proper job in fashion! 

I will be working here, at the Press Office on Conduit Street. I will be blogging about my experience there and the things I get up to, and I really hope its a great experience. I have all the faith that it will be! 

Finally, here are some of my favourite Looks from the S/S 14 collection in Paris.