Friday, November 26, 2010

Press Day Madness

Wednesday, November 10th

I'm literally wrecked tired. However the excitement of the day got me out of my super comfortable bed in record time. I'm working with the creative team on a project for the press office, its the annual Spring/Summer press day, one of the only days were we get to go big with the budget and create high impact displays. The theme of the day - 50's, 60's and 70's vintage. By the end of the day the press office was transformed from a tranquil environment with dark wood floors and a neat desk at one end to a 1950's cream kitchen complete with vintage cake tins and all sorts of props. The floors were now covered with checkerboard lino and vintage vogue covers printed on canvas lined the walls. Customised breakfast and lunch menus on the tables and vintage print tablecloths made the room 'The Oasis Cafe'. Upstairs was a vintage 1950's room with custom made garments. Anything for the paps!

Press days and the goody bags that come with them are all about pleasing the press and making a lasting impression, in the hope that maybe, just maybe they might feature you in a minuscule section of their well read mag. However not one to moan ('smiles') this would be an opportunity for me to meet more members of the fashion glitterati from popular publications such as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Cosmo as well as other popular mags among young fashion buffs, such as Wonderland, Love, Dazed & Confused, Lula and not forgetting the gays - Attitude. Acting as stylist, it was my job to dress the mannequins in the new seasons S/S collections. A good chance for my styling to catch the eye of senior fashion editors and people in the know. I was also on hand to help the girls pick out their outfits for the following day as all eyes would be on what people were wearing. FASHION!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

It never rains but it snows...

Saturday, 23rd October

It's snowing but not in the common sense of the word. When I say it's snowing I mean in the Christmas window installation that the creative team worked so hard to perfect. The theme is similar to that of a winter wonderland, complete with rows of snowflake curtains. The main feature of each window is a wind infused snow globe (oh how I love a good wind machine), mannequin inside dressed in one of the new season exclusives, vintage jewels and hand made head pieces (my millinery skills continue to surprise me, maybe, just maybe I missed my calling or should I just give Philip Treacy a call, afterall I have him on speed dial). Madaboutme.com! Honestly though given the budget and taking everything into account, the windows look amazing and come Christmas week I'm sure they will feature in the strongest windows catalogue on London windows. Some of the high street competition is really high and the creative boundaries are being pushed further every year with external fashion influences like Lady Gaga clearly inspiring some teams. I have been asked to work on another window and have the theme planned out - it's in production right now and the photos will follow when it's done, however I can promise you this - it will be faboosh! Think big hair and plenty of tape. Lovehhh!


Saturday, 30th October - Sunday, 31st October

The day got off to a really bad start. I had been to the bank yesterday to make an appointment for this morning, only to show up (after being out the night before, eyes in the back of my head, dyyying) and be told that my appointment which had been scheduled for 11am was not on the chart, therefore I would be dealt with after the customers who were on the list. To say I flipped is an understatement, the poor fella - it wasn't even his fault "it was the one with head scarf from yesterday". Very bad! Anyway three hours later I finally got seen to by a personal banker, who apologised for not being full of conversation due to a headache (at this stage I was thinking, "bitch please, tell somebody who cares, I've been outside with ten screaming babies and a horrible hangover for the last three hours - capiche") Account sorted.
I then met my friend Caroline for a coffee and a stroll around now Christmas lit London, it was a welcome break to my day. She put me in good humour. When she was leaving, I gave her a hug, I thought she was laughing into my shoulder but when I pulled away I saw that she was crying. Please note we were in the middle of Oxford Circus and this was the type of out loud crying that grabbed peoples attention. All I could do was laugh and the more I laughed, the more she cried, mascara now rolling down her face. With Caroline gone and my night shift about to begin I thought to myself "I really missed my friends'.


The dreaded night shift:

Work began on the Christmas window installation at 7pm - the creative team were hard at it positioning the new scheme into the windows on Regent St and Oxford Circus. It was no easy task though - with a team of eight people and endless jobs to be done it was going to be a long night (and I was missing X-Factor). The snow domes proved to be a pain in the hoop and it was now 3am, the music playing in the background was the only thing getting me through. 4am, 5am, 6am - the clock was ticking. It was 7am before the windows started to take shape with snow domes being put in place. It was ten before we left and the hour had gone back. It was a 16hour shift. But the Oasis windows looked amazing and the team, as groggy as we were, were delighted with the result. We have already received rave reviews from the press.

"Avvv a loooook"





Over and Out!

D x