Living My Real “Devil Wears Prada” Moment
So, I had a fashion internship this summer.
You’d probably think that it was the most glamorous experience in the world.
It was at times…. but on some days, it was far from it.
Being a young college student working in the fashion industry is not all that it’s shaped up to be. Don’t get me wrong, I really loved every moment of it. But, it’s harder than it looks. I always looked up to the clichés of the fashion world;
Vogue, InStyle, designers, brand names, expensive items I wouldn’t even dream of being able to afford, but I never thought I’d ever truly be a part of it. I was happy to just be a poser in fashion and stay in my bubble forever. I didn’t even go to college originally as a fashion major. I originally went to Virginia Tech to study interior design, but after a couple of excruciating studio classes and a lot of self-reflection, I realized that my predetermined passions weren’t what I truly wanted. I talked to my advisor and swiftly changed my major to FMD (Fashion Merchandising and Design). I had ultimately realized what I wanted to do in my future. I still had doubts, of course. Who wouldn’t? I was an 18 year old trying to decide what I should do for the rest of my life! Who wouldn’t have doubts about that? But, I put my uncertainty aside and went to my first fashion class. After rushing my sorority and finding my big, Chloe Ross, also I had finally found who and what I wanted to be.
I know it sounds corny, trust me, I am the first one to call myself out when I sound so painfully basic. But, sometimes the cheesy parts of life are cheesy because they are reality.
Chloe asked me if I wanted to apply for an internship that she did last year to get field study credit, which is required for graduation. It was with a celebrity stylist, Lindsey Evans Studio. This company offers personal styling and she has worked with countless high profile clients. I jumped at the opportunity, nervously interviewed, and eagerly texted everyone I knew when I got the position. Needless to say, I was enthusiastic.
My first day was beyond exciting. It somehow lined up perfectly that we had a fitting that day with a huge client. We packed all of his garments - two full racks of blazers, pants, tee shirts, and everything in between - in the trunk of Lindsey’s car and drove all the way to the client’s house. It was a beautiful mansion, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking an infinity pool. I quickly snapped out of my fascination because it was time to get to work.
My first lesson of the day was that I needed bigger muscles.
I’m as scrawny as they come, and my idea of a workout is a long trek up a flight of stairs. But for this job, I needed to carry heavy garment bags and suitcases tightly packed with shoes back and forth all the way upstairs in a timely manner to make the process as simple and convenient as possible for the client. After the fitting was over, we packed all of the garments that weren’t kept by the client in their original packaging and returned them to the stores they were purchased from. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and watch myself struggle to walk from my car to the UPS Store with endless boxes of returns teetering over each other. All in the name of fashion! It’s definitely not pretty. To make matters worse, it was the peak of cicada season. Those massive, blind arthropods were jumping all over me any time I stepped foot outside. I’d come home every night and collapse on my couch, tired, sweaty, with my tongue still stinging from anxiously biting it all day.
But, like clockwork every morning, I’d wake up excited to go back to work. If you know me, then you know that’s RARE. I would not consider myself a morning person in the slightest, so I knew I was doing something right to be the kind of person who jumps out of bed cheerily and gets ready for an exciting day at work. My parents and friends would all comment on how much I was working and how it must suck, but I’d always have the same response. “Honestly, it’s kind of fun!” I romanticized the hell out of this internship. I really did picture myself as the main character in a stereotypical teen movie, getting my first look into the reality of the fashion world. It really was “The Devil Wears Prada” coming to life. Even the grueling, fatiguing days would be a positive to me because I knew I was accomplishing something actually significant in my life. I’d be singing at the top of my lungs during my commute, drinking my daily iced matcha latte as I hightailed it down I-66. I was honestly really having fun with myself every day, no matter how drained I was feeling.
This experience honestly taught me that there will always be things to complain about in life. Working as a fashion intern is known to be difficult, but we all have to start somewhere. I am so proud of myself because I know that this is just the start of my career, and one day I will have my own interns, look back and see just how far I’ve come.
