Kitty Power

Would Be Fashionista Blues

Make me feel like paradise
Give me what I'm missing
Send me to the highest heights
Take me up and away

Yesterday started off with good music and a nice view as I was crossing the Broadway side of Times Square on my way to work. Damn. What I would give to be that panther!

Q: What do you call the temp assistant to a freelancer?
A: Candice.

Another week, another stint at steadiest yet inherently frustrating thing I do. The fashion world is kinda interesting to me, if only because it's pretty new and strange, but it also has its appeal. Even when I was the tomboy extrordinaire, I had my "girl" dreams. I remember the phase when I designed clothes for the Barbies and was convinced that I was going to be 5'9" and I'd be the next Naomi. The first one was dashed when I realized I couldn't draw or sew and the second when I ended up being a big boned 5'5". Still, I've always been about the fall issues of magazines where they have the big fashion spreads -- but I'm not that clothes-obsessed where I can't read some articles or take a stupid quiz or two. Jay once thought I'd like Lucky, but I'm sorry, all clothes and no text is boring to me. I could feel my brain cells dying. Basically, I'm lay fashionista. I like knowing what's out there, I can generally get a feel of the season's styles, but I'm not particularly interested 80% of the time.

Until I started doing this. I'm finding working in fashion to be like crack. If I wasn't already broke, believe me I would be. Between Bluefly, Yoox, and all the sample sales I just know about by being Miss Websurfer/Too Many Mailing Lists Subscriber, if I had any money it would be killed post haste. It's because I'm around the stuff the designers send all the time. I'm gaining "an eye" and it's harder to keep my "4 inch stilettos as a must" disdain when everybody's doing it and dammit, they're so nice! It's kinda nice being sent off as a rep for my boss. It's almost like being a regular old editorial assistant, but we're both kinda outsiders. She's genuinely cool and we get along great. I've also worked with some of the big editors and such on the floor, so they know who I am...which leads me to the problem.

I'm not really what you call a "schmoozer." I mean, I know how to get along, be cool/nice, do my job, etc., but I don't have the slightest clue of how to get ahead in a way that I get a real job out of this. Damn Connecticut dulled my New Yorker hustling skills! I'm at a loss about how to even indicate to my boss that I'd like her to keep me in mind when she goes perm. I suck. *sigh*

Posted by Candicissima at November 14, 2003 09:22 PM