Sunday 4 October 2009

Running In Heels


This summer I returned to do work experience at Vogue House, and this year I felt much more prepared for what was going to be thrown at me. At the tender age of 16 I almost had a mental breakdown in the middle of Bond Street in the snow, trying to balance myself, 3 bags and 6 shoe boxes trying to find yet another hat shop in a pair of heels that were making my feet bleed. Yes it really was that bad. But by the end of it, I felt proud that I hadn’t ran crying all the way home, and strangely, I wanted to it all over again.

To me, Vogue House is a magical place made up of exciting people and rails and rails of all the clothes by all only best designers, old and new. My heart races each time I walk through those doors. An exceptionally large Vogue and Tatler front cover will be the first things you look at ither side of the receptions gold desk and a greeting of, “Good morning sweetie, make sure you have yourself a nice day” will probably be the first thing you hear from the happy chaps on the desk.

The building is made up of all different advertising departments and editorals for a variety of Conde Nasts publications such as World of interiors, House and Garden, Tatler, Vogue, Vainity Fair. Level 2 is in my opinion the most exciting floor, GQ and GQ style buzzing with a vartiety of people and music – wall sized GQ magazines plastered down the corridors.

Walking through the corridors of Vogue there is a much more intense atmosphere, the carpet is thick under my feet and 6ft beautiful, immaculately dressed women fly past me. Everywhere has that rich smell, a mixture of expensive perfumes.



I’ll never forget standing very awkwardly once in the lift with 2 of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. They had cheek bones that would make their face stay young forever and a mysterious Russian look about them. I was munching on my crisps, in almost slow motion in the silent lift, “anyone want a crisp?” the long silence made me hot and uncomfortable, “no thanks I’ve just had a salad, I don’t want to spoil it”. I quietly carried on crunching in slow motion.

This time I made my way up to Brides Editorial to work for the shopping editor, and boy did I work, but it was worth it to see the stunning, spectacular wedding dresses that sometimes took two people to lift. I loved listening about all the exciting locations they got to go to and the people they get to work with, Gok Wan being the most talked about during the week. A flurry of models and photographers coming and going, I couldn’t help but dream of the day I am no longer sitting on the work experience desk.

No comments: