Aspiring fashion stylist struggles to enter the industry

As an aspiring Fashion Stylist, 21 year old Lauren Aherne from Derby, is up against one of the toughest industries to achieve her dream.

Lauren left school knowing what she wanted to do, and plunged straight into a Fashion Design college course at West Nottingham College, achieving a HND qualification. Equipped with this, she went on to find work and soon employed as a Shop-floor Assistant at high-street giant, Marks & Spencer. After 4 years with the company, Lauren has earned a promotion to the Visual Merchandising team, a step closer to the dream.

The day-to-day job, as part of a team of 5, involves: outfit styling, window dressing and the general merchandising of the store. Although this isn’t her ideal role she knows she has to do it to get where she wants to.

Example ofM&S mannequins & displays

“The job role I have at the minute does get repetitive, but I understand it’s what I need to do to pursue a career in the industry.”

Working to tight deadlines, is something that is helping her skill set, and a quality she will able to take through the industry with her. Also the dedication to learning new stock quickly and a willingness to work early or late in order to get tasks finished, are all skills that will help her progress in a fashion career.

Unfortunately for Lauren, as a creative, she is unable to show much flair in her current position. She cannot implement much of her own style on the window-dressing, as she has to follow strict company policy.

“What I would personally wear can’t always be used within displays, or on mannequins, but that is because Marks’ have a very obvious customer profile, that is translated through the merchandising.”

Lauren enjoys the ‘department store’ element of the job, and she is able to switch from male to female styling, as well as doing homeware displays. And the variety within the ranges helps enlarge her job role. This includes the Limited collection for the younger generation, the Autograph range for the conservative business woman and the Upper range, which suits the higher budget.

Lauren at work

Recently, Marks & Spencer have taken on a new window policy, in order to keep up with other high street competition. This will see a regional team visiting to do the window displays, removing more of Laurens chance to show her ability. This has prompted her to look for opportunities elsewhere in the industry.

“I understand how ruthless Fashion is but I am going to do what it takes to get to the top, one day I will work in the Styling team at a Head Office, whether it be Marks & Spencer or not!”

One applying every minute

With the current phenomenon of the Television show ‘One born every minute’ and the recent hit BBC drama ‘Call the midwife’ applications for midwifery have increased.

These successful TV series have caused a mini-boom in the industry with applications in 2012 increasing by 20 percent from last year.

BBC drama ‘Call the midwife’

‘Call the midwife’ gathered an average viewing audience of around nine million, proving to be very popular. The drama highlights the plight of mums in London during the 1950s and shows a newly qualified midwife who begins her career alongside other nursing nuns. The series shows the harrowing, poverty stricken times and the complications midwifes faced. However, there is a light-hearted aspect to the drama that shows the joyous roles within midwifey.Kathryn Ratcliffe, a community midwife in Long Eaton has been in midwifery for nearly 30 years. Working in hospitals and on the community as well as being a part of many new projects, Kathryn has seen many changes to the job role of a midwife in the past 30 years.

‘There is a lot more paperwork as with many other jobs these days, we are involved in the social aspects of midwifery a great deal and there are much more obstacles we face as a public service. For example the multi cultural communities we work in mean we face language barriers effecting our communication with patients and obviously birth rates have risen since I first began. This means there is a lot more pressure on midwifes and there simply isn’t enough midwifes to meet the targets.’

The NHS are constantly battling with the health issues caused by drinking, smoking, drugs and obesity is a huge problem in this country. Midwifes also face the battle trying to warn their women of the dangers and there job is made harder due to health problems such as obesity.

‘Times have changed and technology has developed so we have better equipment and the standards of the health service are better, but the job is no longer about simply delivering babies and looking after pregnant women. We have to identify deviation from the normal and refer our women to the appropriate consultant. Making sure the right person gets the right care.’

Equally, although times are tough for midwifes in this country Kathryn highlights how there are advantages to the depths and extents of their job expentancies.

‘There are more policies in place to keep staff, mums and babies safe and although we deal with a lot more as midwifes these days it brings a variety to the job. Each day is not the same, and on the community we help families from all cultures, backgrounds and positions.’

‘Call the midwife’ shows through it’s storylines how the art and science of midwifery has progressed over the last 50 years but the basic needs of women and their babies has remained unchanged.

Kathryn shares her views on the show

‘One born every minute’ is a reality show which shows footage from inside the labour ward. Although the programmes very popular to the public and supposed to be a ‘reality’ show, the show isn’t as appreciated by midwifes themselves.

‘I have seen it, but I wouldn’t particularly sit down and watch it, firstly it’s too much like being at work! I just feel shows like that are somewhat unethical. I know the women agree to be filmed and it’s great to show people what the birth process is like, but they chose the women that are most entertaining to watch.’

TV depictions of birth can be annoying for midwifes as the drama of giving birth has to be contained to short episodes with as much excitement, alarm, noise and agitation as possible. The advantage to these shoes is they have definitley increased peoples interest in the job.

‘It’s great that shows like these have influenced people to want to join midwifery, I’m not entirely sure they understand how much of a demanding job it is, from just watching ‘one born every minute’ but it’s great people want to. It is a very rewarding job, meeting the women and families and supporting people is a great feeling.’

To become a midwife there are more requirements than there used to be, you must hold a pre-registration qualification in midwifery at degree level. It’s great that entertainment such as these shows can have a positive effect on our country, an increase in people wanting to do a worthy, respected job is always a success.

 

If your interested in becoming a midwife there are some relevant links below

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/midwife_entry.shtml – NHS careers

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/midwives/midwifery-training/how-to-train-to-be-a-midwife/ – More info on being a midwife

http://info.britishjournalofmidwifery.com – All the best info

Why second-hand clothes shops are booming

Where most high street shops are fading, charity and vintage shops are thriving. Whilst it is miserable that we are losing some of our favourite high street stores because of the recession, it is giving charity shops a boost.

Charity shops used to be knitwear, bric-a-brac and hand-me-down clothes maintained by elderly women. However the abandoned shops are now in full swing and sweeping profits due to the shops closing down frequently on the high street. There has also been a return of vintage clothing, and where else better to pick up a bargain and get yourself a fashionable item that isn’t worn by the majority of shoppers?

According to Charity Retail Association, there are 7,700 charity shops in England which raise around £200 million per year. They get tax concessions because all the profits from a charity shop go to fund the work of the charity, which provides public benefit. They serve a charitable purpose so they benefit from exemption from corporation tax on profits. They receive 80% mandatory non-domestic relief which is funded by the central government, with a further 20% relief available at the discretion of local authorities.

Amanda Silkstone, 40 from Chesterfield works as a sales assistant at Age Concern in Chesterfield. She said that Age Concern hasn’t increased in business because of high street stores closing because “we can’t compete with Primark.” She thinks that the economy will pick back up again and that it’s just going through a slump.

High street music and DVD stores have suffered the most, as people can now get the same products online for a cheaper price; GAME and HMV have been affected by the recession. Fashion retailers such as; La Senza, Firetrap, Azendi, Pumpkin Patch, Peacocks, Barratts and T J Hughes are just a few of the popular chains that have either gone into administration or have closed due to the recession.

Charity shops have now caught up on ‘visual merchandising’, they now have shops on eBay and stock trendy up to date fashionable items that appeal to the younger generation. It’s not just elderly women hunting for collectables in charity shops; it’s also youths on the search for one-off individual items that the high street doesn’t offer. It’s no longer embarrassing to shop in those kinds of shops, quite the opposite in fact.

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Au revoir high street stores, charity shops have made a comeback. Boutiques, independent stores and good old-fashioned bargain hunting is back.

Revevant links

Find your nearest charity shop – Charity Retail Association charity shop finder

Age Concern – About the charity

Search eBay for charity items – eBay charity shops

Tulisa awarded ‘Sexiest Women In The World’

The female boss, Tulisa Contostavlos leaped into air for FHM’s cameras and was crowned the sexiest woman in the world this week.

After the rollercoaster years that she’s had she made it to the top, beating two-time winner Cheryl Cole in second place. The X Factor judge is at the top of her game after putting the record straight with rumours about her personal life in the press, and she now has a single out called ‘I’m young.’

The girl of the moment has got peoples tongues wagging at the fact she came up number one, some people say that she doesn’t deserve to win because she isn’t a good role model.

Do you think that Tulisa should have won? Let us know.

“I’m not going to sit here and be violated” said Tulisa after her sex tape leaked online

Day’s after the sex tape emerged N-Dubz singer, 23, Tulisa denied rumours that it was her performing a sex act on somebody. The tape got on to the internet on 19^th March, charging viewers £3.90 to download it. The tape was suspended just hours later.

However, she was forced to come clean after the sex tape circulated the internet and released a confession and apology to her fans via YouTube two days later. The video was linked to her Twitter account, during the video she holds up two photographs of her and the other person in the video. The X Factor judge said that she feels ‘ extremely betrayed’.

The apology consists of Tulisa publically identifying the man in the video as her ex boyfriend Justin Edwards AKA MC Ultra. She says: “This isn’t unexpected for me; I got a call from a lot of mutual friends, people that know me that know him saying that apparently he has this footage of me that he’s been threatening to bring out for whatever reason to make money or to ruin my career”.

 

MC Ultra used his Twitter account @officialultra to deny her claims. He tweeted: “It’s nothing to do with me. #backtowork.”

The whole sex tape saga got even messier when Tulisa wanted payback by suing her ex boyfriend for breach of privacy and confidence at the High Court. DJ Ultra appeared in court on 26^th March with Tulisa demanding £100,000 for the leaking of the sex tape, he strongly denies the claims. He also released a written statement saying: “Tulisa persuaded me that we should film ourselves”, and was implying that the footage was taken on his mobile phone.

The Pick and Mix crew discussed the leaking of the footage:

Meanwhile Tulisa has released a new song days after called “Young”.

Blood, sweat and threads: the success of a determined young designer

Corin Campbell

“I knew it’s what I wanted to do so I worked ridiculously hard.”

Assistant childrenswear designer, Corin Campbell is ready to take on the world of print design just a few months after graduating university.

22-year-old Corin, studied textile design at Birmingham City University and has burst into the competitive industry, achieving her dream position in design.

A month ago, she was employed as a  designer for the company ‘FG4’ who specialise in childrenswear. She tells us all about her journey, shows us some of her designs and gives us an insight into the process of creating prints.

“I could not believe it when I got the job! I thought there was a mistake, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do from a young age.”

FG4 is a recently established company that is owned by George Davies. Who previously worked as the designer for ‘George’ at Asda, ‘Per una’ at Marks & Spencers and the childrenswear at Next. Last year he decided to break off into his own business and now Corin is a part of the design team.

“I was so excited! I know it sounds so cliché, but it really is what I have always wanted to do. All my friends got cars, holidays, shopping trips for their 18th birthday presents, I got  a new state of the art sewing machine.” She laughs

Corin has always had a creative spark, “Studying embroidery at college and then textile design at university has meant I’ve always been working on some kind of project. I wouldn’t want to do any other job. I’m so lucky, although I have worked pretty hard for it!” She smiles.

We see clothes and other products in shops and unless you’re a designer or work in that industry yourself, you don’t necessarily appreciate the work behind the designs and prints. Corin gives us a brief idea of the development process.

Example of design process

One of the designs Corin used at her interview for 'FG4'

The 22-year-olds drawings are quite unique, “ My way of drawing is freestyle and lose, I think that’s why it suits the look of childrenswear so well. My drawings are never rigid and commercial, they give a more boutique like feel to the design.”

When asked who inspires her Corin sits forward and instantly calls out in an excitable manner “Orla Kiely”. Orla is an Irish fashion designer, now based in London. Her signature designs are patterns, colours and textures with a 60’s twist.

“I love the colours Orla uses, she has a great eye for colours and places such simple patterns to create an amazing look.”

Orla Kiely’s collection is a very simple, yet distinctive look. The 60’s feel and often repeated patterns makes her work recognisable to the eye.

“I’m also inspired by Marimekko designers, I like the bold prints and the unique ideas they create.”

Marimekko, is a Finnish textile and clothing design company that established in the 1950’s. They produce high-quality clothing, interiors, bags and other products and are renowned for original prints and colours in their designs.

Some of Corin's designs printed onto fabric

Corin achieved her dream job just months after graduating, proving hard work can get you where you want to be.

 The determined 22-year-old achieved her new position as assistant childrenswear designer by showcasing a portfolio of designs she created especially for the interview.

“My style is quite different and I was unsure I’d get noticed or anyone would appreciate my work.”

The design industry is a huge and competitive one, Corin was successful in breaking through. Proving hard work and determination gets you very far. She thought of changing her style to fit into a more commercial category, widening her opportunities; But is thrilled she didn’t as her dedication paid off. Corin’s success is an inspiration to all young people with a dream.

” The lady after the interview told me I was really talented, I was so pleased that someone valued my work. If you’ve got a dream follow it. Don’t expect anything to fall into your lap.”

Follow some of Corin’s work at: http://corincampbell.blogspot.com/

     Follow her on twitter: @printed_pattern

Related links:

http://www.orlakiely.com 

http://www.marimekko.com/

All Photography – Jessica Hassall