Monday 28 February 2011

Working in the industry / Future Plans


 To progress my career in the fashion industry i wanted to further my studies from the foundation degree to carry out a top up year at MMU university studying a ......


BSc (Hons) International Clothing Technology and Design top-up course


Gene Hunt on flickr
I have been told i have a conditional offer for the course so as long as i pass this year i will have a place.
When i went to speak to the tutors about what the course has to offer they said because a big proportion of the course concentrates on the business element of fashion she said it would be very helpful do have a job in the fashion industry so i had a stronger understanding as i have never done business before as a subject.

As i have always worked as a waitress i started to hand out my cvs to the near towns in my area, firstly starting with warrington i applied to TOPSHOP, Zara, Warehouse, H&M, and then to the shops at Cheshire Oaks such as Levi's, Jane Norman and many more.

A few weeks went by and i did not hear anything from the shops, iv applied to many shops like this but always found it very hard to get a job in a clothes shop as so many people want those sort of jobs as lots of young girls are interested in clothes and not to mention the discount you would get if you worked for some of these brands.

Not giving up i noticed there was a job being offered for a sales assistant in a boutique in Stockton Heath which is a small village near my house so it would be perferct for me. I handed in  my cv and a few days later the manager got back to me and asked if i would like to come in for a formal interview next tuesday.

I was so pleased that a clothes shop had actually got back to me! As the interview was going to be formal i dressed smart and tried to make myself look as fashionable and edgey as possible so i would stand out and leave a good impression so that they would remember me.

On the day of the interview i was taken to a room up stairs and met the manager of the chain SOS and the manager of the shop Amanda who i would be working for. They started off the interview by saying thank you very much for coming and asked me why i would be suitable for the role and what experience id had in the industry? I began by saying i was a confident person and good with customers as i had worked as a waitress in a number of different restaurants, hotel and pubs.  I began to talk about my work experience were i worked for a jewellery designer in London and helped design, make and exhibit her jewellery at TOP DRAWER. As it was a sales assistant position i was applying for i said that i had got her a deal with the shopping channel QVC to show i was good a selling a product.  I also expressed how passionate i was about fashion and that i had got a conditional offer for my course to further my studies and that they wanted me to have a good understanding of the business side in fashion.

They asked me a number of questions after that and i tried to sell myself as much as possible as i really wanted the job! The following day they rang me back and said they had chosen me out of 15 other girls which i was over the moon about. The position was just for a Saturday but they said the longer i am there and prove myself then the more opportunity i will have to do more shifts. They were also talking about having me come in on a Wednesday so i could see and organise all the stock when i came in.

I went in the following Wednesday to talk to Amanda and the sort of jobs i would be doing, she said if i wanted to i could start that saturday or next, and to show i was keen i agreed to work that saturday.

On my first shift i came into the shop at 10.00 and Amanda asked me if i would like to dress the window! i was rather nervous at first  but wanted to show my skills and there was a gorgeous Cheryl Cole replica gown that she wore for awards so i decided to put that in the window. As it was a browny colour i picked a shorter day/ night wear style leopard print dress to contrast the colour and then used accessories such as belts and jewellery to compliment the garments. I also had to think about the style of shoes as well.

This is a picture of the replica dress that i put in the window





The window display worked well as everyone was stopping and staring at the dress so i felt like i did a good job. I then had to go around the shop and make sure everything was on the hangers the right way and all tags were in the garments as Amanda thought this made it look more professional. I also had to ask customers if they needed help with anything and then ask them if they would like any garments they were holding taken to the changing rooms. If they did decide to take something to the changing rooms e.g a wooly shrugs with holes in it i might have suggested they take a vest top with them so they can see what it looks like underneath and then they might buy more. Also if a larger lady was trying on a dress with no sleeves and they were a bit concerned about there arms for example i would ask if they wanted to take one of the shrugs/ cardigans through to try with it and then they might want to buy that as well. The same goes if a young girl was looking for a prom style dress i would get her some heels to go with it so she could get the full effect of the dress.
I really enjoyed my first day as it was new and exciting however the shop was very quiet so there was not always that much to do but Amanda said it can be very hit and miss like that on a Saturday. But on the whole it was fun and i am just waiting to here back today if she needs me to come in tomorrow to help organise the new stock and see everything that has come in.

Development in Photoshop

Starting to think about the layout for my design boards
I first of all started of with four on a page but then realised they would look too squashed especially with back views as well and as there are six designs it makes sense to have just three on a page so they are not all squashed together.

The back views are going to go to the right hand side of the front views and i will probably make them a little bit smaller so you can easily notice the difference.

Illustration Board
This is my garment the jumpsuit that i am firstly making with an artists sketch drawing of a face which i had to erase out all of the shadings so that it looked like it was all part of the same image.
I love the sketch drawing of the lady holding the cat/ tiger as this fits in with my theme o leopard print i thought it would be useful to use.
I also edited the fu hat on top so the illustration tied in moor with my collection.