Thursday was my last day interning *sad face!*. Today, I was going to take the train from Dover to Convent and meet Dianne there and then finish the commute with her to Penn Station. We weren't sure which train I was supposed to be on since my train came early. By this time I didn't see a conductor and was about to freak out that I'd miss my train on the biggest day of Market Week. I had overheard the clients that were coming in and there was NO way I was going to miss meeting them. Luckily, I was on the right train and met Dianne at Convent Station like scheduled. We arrived at the office at 10am and the office is a sea of clothes, clients, and pictures being taking of the models. Neiman's was one of our clients today and I was warned that they buy the most clothes and they want to see a lot of the collection on the models.
The back room didn't have a system of organization so it was chaotic to say the least. We had four clients in at once and two full racks of clothes to put on the models to show the clients. People were not very happy with how slow it was taking to get clothes out and I kept to myself in my corner hanging up my clothes as quickly as possible and running them out to clients. The stress level was through the roof and people were getting yelled at left and right. It reminded my of how my mother gets "hyper" with my brother and I. I was putting away the discarded clothes from the clients and my hang-up pile was getting to big. In this industry you have to have a thick skin. You'll get yelled at plenty of times and you can't take it to heart. Trust me, I got yelled at quite a few times. At first it bothers you but then you just have to brush it off. I've gotten yelled at much worse by my Russian coaches so by end their scolding it was like a regular conversation. Luckily, I never got yelled at by my boss so I was happy to stay on her good side.
Finally, Angela came in the back and got our butts back into working shape. We had more of a structure and things went from a ten to an eight on the crazy scale. She asked me if anyone was helping me hang up and bring the clothes to clients, which no one had. I'm not really sure what transpired but I was getting help hanging up the clothes and I was no longer allowed to bring clothes out to clients. I did both those jobs for the time I was interning and thought that was my specific job. I was the lowest one on the totem pole and the newbie so I knew I was going to be working my tail off. I didn't mind though, I had fun seeing the clients and being able to see what each company was interested in. The only downfall was that my feet hurt by the end of the day from walking back and forth but this was good exercise since I couldn't skate.
We had big name clients in and they are a lot of work. I worked for five hours straight with no breaks. It was a little after two before I had lunch and I was so excited to sit down, get off my feet, and eat. The work is exhausting but being able to interact with these department stores and boutiques is exhilarating. In this high fashion world, my age didn't matter and I worked as hard as I could and enjoyed every second. After lunch we had a long break before the next clients were to come in. May (one of our models) was playing a game on her phone and we got talking after I asked what game it was. She was so sweet to me and I had a fun time chatting with her.
We had a slow rush at the end except for our last client or two that wanted to see a lot of the collection. I felt bad for the models who were exhausted from our morning and had to wear those killer shoes. We were just about to clean up when Dianne and I had run to be able to catch the 6:54 train to Convent and I'd continue to Dover.
Today was a much better day then yesterday and I actually had fun. It was very chaotic and intense but I always felt calm inside and that there was nothing that could rattle me. It was awesome to meet some of the boutiques and Neiman's. Today, I learned that you have to have a thick skin and let what people say roll off of you. Also, I finally mastered every hook, zipper, snap, and button and memorized where they were on the garments.
Angela was out of the office the next day since she was flying down to Palm Springs for a fashion show for hospice. I was very jealous of her but she didn't want me to be in the office without her. When I emailed her she didn't say anything about coming in again but said I was a very hard worker. I cherish people saying that because I know that as long as I tried to work as hard as I could then that's all they can ask. I might not always be the fastest to get the clothes on the hangers or putting the clothes on the racks but I tried my best and had fun. I can't believe this opportunity is over and wish it never ended. I had such a fun time and learned so much from it. Most people never get the chance to meet people from Neiman's, Vogue, Style.com, and be able to see designer clothes before they are even out. I got to do all this by the age of fifteen. I am truly honored for this and I hope to be able to intern and work for Giambattista Valli and his company in the near future.
Thank you Angela for this opportunity, I am so grateful for everything!
Here is some of the 2011 Pre-Fall Collection I saw and got to work with found on Vogue: http://www.vogue.com/collections/pre-fall-2011/giambattista-valli/runway
Here is the amazing article done by Style.com that came into the office while I was interning: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/2011PF-VALLI
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