I know I'm about a week late but I've finally got round to writing up my experience from the Company Fashion Forum.
All in all it was a good evening, I wrote 6 pages of careers advice that all the members shared with us, which was really helpful. Unfortunately I arrived late as I was faffing around getting ready and then I got lost, oops! So I missed the champagne and photos and things, but at least I made it to the talk!
The Speakers were:
Kathryn Kenny – New Look – Senior Digital Content Manager
Victoria White - Company Magazine's Editor
Oonagh Brennan - Company's Associate Editor Fashion
Karen Jones Russell – Stylist
Jen Holmes – Blogger at A Little Bird Told Me and Freelance Writer
I read Jen's blog and she always make me laugh, and it was so weird seeing her in real life, and she made everyone laugh during the talk as well.
The girl's all had different stories to tell and different pearls of wisdom to impart on us, and I'm sure I'll use a lot of it in my future career!
Some of the best notes I took from the night were:
1. Never say no to an internship, never turn down an opportunity because at least you're out there, learning new skills and finding out what you like and don't like. Basically, always say 'yes' and be open-minded.
2. If you live and breath fashion, it will come naturally to you. All the hard work and long hours will be worth it, and at the end of the day its either going to make you or break you.
3. A degree is not important, what matters is work experience. (This one did not sit so well with me, I hope I haven't just wasted three years of my life!)
4. Never change who you are because of the job you're doing or who you're working for.
5. Always have a positive attitude (no diva's!).
6. Always have confidence in yourself. There's always going to be people more talented, with more experience or a better degree than you, just believe you can do it.
7. Learn admin skills in any experience you get, they are so important and you will carry them with you for life.
8. People in the industry talk to each other, so being with a company for just one day can really boost your chances, if you make a good impression.
9. Be different/innovative. This is a creative industry, if you want a job, show how creative you can be. Some examples are making them laugh just by what's in the 'subject box' of an email, or sending them funny post such as a fashion survival kit.
10. Learn to manage your time- the hours are long and the pay isn't great at first, but its fun and you're doing something different everyday.
11. And finally, sorry to end on a random number, but I'm sure this one applies to a lot of you. Bloggers are now like partnerships to fashion companies, if your's looks good, if you have a big fan base and good content, that will get you noticed.
For the evening I wore my cropped Topshop monochrome jumper and leather skirt. I was surprised to see 2 extremes of pure caj and major stylin' ladies at the event but each to their own I guess.
Above are the nails I did for the event, although I doubt anyone noticed!
I was not only too chicken to go up and speak to the ladies afterwards but there was crowds of fashionistas around them trying to shove business cards in their faces, so I didn't bother. They also basically said in the talk that its near impossible to get a job with them so I didn't take the chance.
To top the night off we were all given a fab goody bag with lots of fab goodies!
My favourites which I cant wait to try are the nail wraps and nails tattoos, of course.
I'm also loving the right guard (smells lush!) and the blue hair spray which gets everywhere but its so fun to play with.
I would definitely of recommended going if you were on the fence, but if you're cash-strapped like me, and made the same mistake of not making the most of the opportunities there, it probably wasn't worth the money.
