my life is a romcom part 1 - how to get a fashion job in the city
so i've just come to the realization that my life is kind of a romcom storyline, but add a little spice...and by spice i mean a young POC woman and classic work place abuse.
mixing this with some level of narcissisms, i've decided to write it out.
part 1 - how to get a fashion job in the city
here's the scene, it's 2013, i am a fresh 20, i just graduated from fashion school, i move back home from school and was job hunting. living in canada, there aren't as many job options like in new york or paris. i just got back from la from an interview a stone cold fox, my dream brand at the time. unfortunately, they said no.
so. dream internship to the wind, hunting for more, i remembered a brand, i won't name them so i don't get sued, but i heard of them from a girl i was in my college fashion club (i know, eye roll). so in between doing social media for this art/fashion magazine called Bambi, i found this brand's contact and dropped them an email.
fast forward, i go to toronto for my interview, my parents and sister and i book a room at the holiday inn on college street and my cousin comes by to take my to this interview. no i am ambitious so i also had 2 more interviews planned this trip, but i didn't get those, so we will ignore them.
we get off at wellseley station and walk down to st nicholas, down this weird creepy alleyway. i find the door, this mostly unmarked entrance with a little brand name on the mail box. i open the door and walk up 3 steep flights of stairs, walk in, start my interview. and it goes well. sarah, the manager interviewing me is nice.
then trip is over, go back home. a couple of days go by and i hear back and i got the internship!
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im so excited. again it's 2013, so paid internships are not even a thing to be considered, so i expected this. so what does a young fresh intern at a fashion brand do for money? become a waitress.
here i am, freshly moved into toronto, found a random room with a girl for $300/month. walking down the street from the subway, i see posted on the window of this best western, WANTED SERVER. perfect. here i walk in, drop off my resume and get an interview, amazing for my zero work experience. i can't even remember what i wrote on that piece of paper.
now was i a good waitress? hell fucking no. but i had work ethic and hustle, so this bitch was down for the challenge. to be quite honest, i am surprised i never got fired. i'll never forget:
- dropping dirty cutlery on a customer
- fighting with a man who yelled at me for "giving him his receipt wrong" (which FOR THE RECORD, I DIDN'T)
- dropping 2 trays of 30 freshly cleaned mugs on the floor (yes i broke them all)
- dropping a stack of plates in the middle of the dining area
- telling a woman who yelled at me that i make tea wrong that its just hot water
- slipping on juice and breaking my landing on the bags of creamer and milk i was holding (yes they also broke)
working in fashion, i wished we had cute outfits, obviously. did i get that? no. it was a long sleeve white button up, a black vest, black trousers and black shoes, with my hair tied back in a bun. i looked like a fucking butler. so hideous.
so here i was working as a waitress with the most depressing tips, like $10 max working 3 days a week and interning the rest of the days at this fashion house AND still freelancing for this magazine. BUT i was young and living the dream. so there is that i guess. i knew i wanted to get hired full time at this brand, it was my dream job after all. so i did everything i could, volunteered for everything they were doing, never said no to what i was assigned.
during their annual summer event, there was no waitstaff, so me being a waitress, volunteered, carrying around this mirror of apps to this pool party of rich and canadian famous. during set up, their model for the pool needed a floaty, but oh no, missing pump, no prob, i'll use my lungs. again, this was the fashion i expected. devil wears prada and all. all this keening did work out though, i got the attention i needed. eventually all the other interns left, they didn't want to stay around unpaid. but i had to hold out, prove my worth. eventually sarah was leaving, and i had my chance, i was offered an appreticeship, 3 days a week for 50$ a day. now was this legal? no, was this ethical? also no, did i say yes? i never said i was smart. plus i was young, i didn't know my worth and this is really easy for jobs to manipulate. get them young....gross.
but it worked in the end. i got an appreticeship, dropped the magazine job and paid for my living with waitressing and 50$ a day.
i'll prob write part 2 eventually. how to move up at a start up fashion brand.
mixing this with some level of narcissisms, i've decided to write it out.
part 1 - how to get a fashion job in the city
here's the scene, it's 2013, i am a fresh 20, i just graduated from fashion school, i move back home from school and was job hunting. living in canada, there aren't as many job options like in new york or paris. i just got back from la from an interview a stone cold fox, my dream brand at the time. unfortunately, they said no.
so. dream internship to the wind, hunting for more, i remembered a brand, i won't name them so i don't get sued, but i heard of them from a girl i was in my college fashion club (i know, eye roll). so in between doing social media for this art/fashion magazine called Bambi, i found this brand's contact and dropped them an email.
fast forward, i go to toronto for my interview, my parents and sister and i book a room at the holiday inn on college street and my cousin comes by to take my to this interview. no i am ambitious so i also had 2 more interviews planned this trip, but i didn't get those, so we will ignore them.
we get off at wellseley station and walk down to st nicholas, down this weird creepy alleyway. i find the door, this mostly unmarked entrance with a little brand name on the mail box. i open the door and walk up 3 steep flights of stairs, walk in, start my interview. and it goes well. sarah, the manager interviewing me is nice.
then trip is over, go back home. a couple of days go by and i hear back and i got the internship!
im so excited. again it's 2013, so paid internships are not even a thing to be considered, so i expected this. so what does a young fresh intern at a fashion brand do for money? become a waitress.
here i am, freshly moved into toronto, found a random room with a girl for $300/month. walking down the street from the subway, i see posted on the window of this best western, WANTED SERVER. perfect. here i walk in, drop off my resume and get an interview, amazing for my zero work experience. i can't even remember what i wrote on that piece of paper.
now was i a good waitress? hell fucking no. but i had work ethic and hustle, so this bitch was down for the challenge. to be quite honest, i am surprised i never got fired. i'll never forget:
- dropping dirty cutlery on a customer
- fighting with a man who yelled at me for "giving him his receipt wrong" (which FOR THE RECORD, I DIDN'T)
- dropping 2 trays of 30 freshly cleaned mugs on the floor (yes i broke them all)
- dropping a stack of plates in the middle of the dining area
- telling a woman who yelled at me that i make tea wrong that its just hot water
- slipping on juice and breaking my landing on the bags of creamer and milk i was holding (yes they also broke)
working in fashion, i wished we had cute outfits, obviously. did i get that? no. it was a long sleeve white button up, a black vest, black trousers and black shoes, with my hair tied back in a bun. i looked like a fucking butler. so hideous.
so here i was working as a waitress with the most depressing tips, like $10 max working 3 days a week and interning the rest of the days at this fashion house AND still freelancing for this magazine. BUT i was young and living the dream. so there is that i guess. i knew i wanted to get hired full time at this brand, it was my dream job after all. so i did everything i could, volunteered for everything they were doing, never said no to what i was assigned.
during their annual summer event, there was no waitstaff, so me being a waitress, volunteered, carrying around this mirror of apps to this pool party of rich and canadian famous. during set up, their model for the pool needed a floaty, but oh no, missing pump, no prob, i'll use my lungs. again, this was the fashion i expected. devil wears prada and all. all this keening did work out though, i got the attention i needed. eventually all the other interns left, they didn't want to stay around unpaid. but i had to hold out, prove my worth. eventually sarah was leaving, and i had my chance, i was offered an appreticeship, 3 days a week for 50$ a day. now was this legal? no, was this ethical? also no, did i say yes? i never said i was smart. plus i was young, i didn't know my worth and this is really easy for jobs to manipulate. get them young....gross.
but it worked in the end. i got an appreticeship, dropped the magazine job and paid for my living with waitressing and 50$ a day.
i'll prob write part 2 eventually. how to move up at a start up fashion brand.