First day interning.

I had met for my meeting on Saturday and by Tuesday I was having my first day interning. I was overly excited for the internship and was grateful I only had to wait two days before I started. I don't think I'd be able to wait long, I was to excited! That night I woke up at midnight having a dream my mom was yelling at me to get ready to go and then at four and five thinking it was six. I am attacked with licks by our dog meaning it's time to get up and for my big day to start. I had this vision of my hair being twisted back into a low messy bun. Of course my vision was squashed and my hair was not cooperating. After much frustration, it was slicked back into a bun. At this point she had begun to yell at me from her nerves. The mix of nervousness and it being six am with a barking dog was not in our favor. For my first day my mom wanted me to look official since I thought we were going to be having meetings all day. I put on a ruffled white blouse, black slacks, and black blazer. I had on 3-4in heels which I realized was a bad idea especially since I never wear heels, only sneakers and flats. I felt a bit cocktail waitressy and wasn't a fan but it looked "professional" as mother said.
Due to my mother's OCD, we arrived at Convent Station extremely early. I had no idea who I was meeting, what she looked like, or where I was going. Our train was supposed to leave at 8:34 and there's no sight of this women. I had this sinking feeling that I wasn't going to be able to get into the city to work at my internship. Mother's nerves were acting out again while we waited in the car for someone to arrive and she started to get a huffy attitude. My dad met us at the train station and being on duty he came in his police uniform. He waited with me on the train dock and held up the train until Dianne came (the lady that was meeting me). She came running up and we jumped on the train as the doors closed right after us. Our next stop was Penn Station! I had never ridden on a train before without my parents and they were freaking out about this. Their baby girl was A) going on a train without them, B) going to the city, and C) going to the city without them! Being overprotective parents they were having a hard time with this, especially my mom. Dianne is my boss's good friend and is a mother so I felt pretty comfortable going in with her, plus she's a city pro and knew exactly what she was doing. I was getting out my jitters and talked almost the whole way to the city which is unlike me to talk so much to someone I barely know.
We got to Penn Station and Dianne was like a champion speed walker. I on the other hand, could barely keep up in my heels. We took a cab to the studio. It's in this huge building that they rent out specifically for Market Week. We take the elevator to the 9th floor and you're greeted with the Giambattista Valli logo and jacket. The room is large and mostly all white with huge windows that overlook the river. When you turn to the left there is twelve racks of just the Pre-Fall collection with the gowns at the top.  I got to meet everyone and they were all really sweet. I was the youngest one by far which added a bit of intimidation. Everyone has a very striking look and are very stylish and chicly dressed. This added to the intimidation and by this time I felt like my outfit was wrong and I was out of place. The doubt set in along with the nerves for the first day. It's like going back to the first day of school except more intense and high fashion.
After the initial introductions, Brittin explains what I'll be doing. Tuesday was supposed to be a meeting day but we were expecting a huge snow storm the next day so the clients were switching their times. In the morning we had no clients so there was nothing for me to do except look around in awe. It felt like there was a nervous energy in the office and that there was a lot going on. I assumed this was just the pre-jitters before the clients came in and Market Week was starting.
The first client came and I got the basics of the job. The other two ladies in the back with me were dressing the models and getting outfits ready. I wish i could of helped more in this aspect but I made some mental notes on outfits that I liked and wanted to recreated (in my budget!). We had to make sure that all the models looked perfect and get them into the next outfit as quickly as possible. I was to hang up the clothes after the models wore them, bring the clothes to the client and see if they wanted them, and then put it back on the rack. It sounds easy but it's extremely challenging to make sure every hanger is facing the right way and all the dresses look perfect. Along with the zippers being zipped, hook and eyes hooked, buttons buttoned, and snapping snaps.
At first I was so slow and trying to make sure every detail was absolutely perfect. Then came the mass amount of clothes.. I was so flustered and my fingers just wouldn't move fast enough no matter how hard I tried. There were racks of clothes to get on and I couldn't get the buttons or hooks in eyes together fast enough. In an attempt to rush to get a model dressed, I accidentally pinched one of the models with a zipper! I was mortified especially since it was one of the first few models I got to dress. Luckily, we did get a few breaks in between our clients and a chance to chill.
By the last few hours my feet were killing me and you could hear me dragging my feet across the floor. I didn't want to ruin my pants but we rolled up my pants and I put on my flats. By this time my feet were tingling to the point of being numb. No shoes would of helped the pain I was in. Then I was asked to go to the other office, which is the real office, to get some books with the other intern. Wow, what a view! I was so mad I didn't bring my camera, the NY skyline was beautiful. When I got back it was the end of the day and we got the look books in. We had our model, Dina, try on clothing options to see what pieces we liked together. Then Angela let me sit right up front to see all the photos of the outfits put together from the line that we looked at on the iPad.
I took the train back with Dianne to Convent Station. We didn't get in till after 8pm and I could of fallen asleep on the train. As soon as we got off the train these huge snowflakes were coming down. It was a magical moment to end the day. From my first day I learned not to wear heels and how the clothes are supposed to be hung up along with making sure they look good quickly.