Trip Down Memory Lane: My Ridiculous Fashion Stories

My internship experiences have ranged from ridiculous to surreal. Some stories are like scenes straight out of The Devil Wears Prada, others from Mean Girls. While the fashion industry is nowhere near as glamorous as it's portrayed to be, the personalities within the dog eat dog world are every bit as nasty as you would imagine. Hundreds of girls fight for the same limited, unpaid internship positions. They work hours on end in hopes of scoring a full-time, paid position- not an easy feat. At one internship, I couldn't get anyone in the office to acknowledge my presence. A week went by before someone pulled me aside to give me a warm welcome and a pep talk. He was the mail man. At another internship, the constant praise I received from my supervisor sent ripples of jealousy across the intern team and only encouraged them to be nasty to me. You would think those bitches would surgically remove their Blackberry's from their hands and get shit done. But no, one intern found a more efficient way of spending time at work: writing herself post-it reminders to starve. At least I didn't have to look far to identify the source of her bitchiness: insecurity.


I've highlighted the best and the worst of my internships as I take a trip down memory lane. Hope you enjoy these absurd and hilarious moments from my time as a fashion minion.

At one of my first internships, I vividly remember hiding behind a mountain of folders as my team took the heat for my "incorrect" method of hanging clothing samples. The bipolar department head dropped profanities like she had Tourette's. I made a mental note to steer clear for the remaining weeks of my internship. She was like a ticking time bomb. Nobody ever knew what was going to set her off. At an internship my junior year of college, I found myself hauling ass from 57th street all the way downtown to buy a fancy cheese platter in the blistering snow. The occasion? Hungry colleagues. Weeks later, I was pulled aside by a flustered supervisor who berated me for taking sick leave. She snapped, "We don't do things like that around here," as I tried to explain through whispers & mime that I had laryngitis. The scariest incident was when I accidentally slammed the toilet door into the face of the editor-in-chief. By far the most FML moment. I expected an outburst of criticism to follow her death stare (which lasted for what felt like centuries). I held my breath and ran back to my desk and was grateful I never saw her again. I hadn't forgotten about the intern who failed to microwave her soup to the "right" temperature. His terrified look as he ran to and from the pantry was deeply embedded in my mind. I'm surprised he made it out of the office alive.


Of course, there were some great fashion moments. Like catching a glimpse of Anna Wintour with Oscar de la Renta in his office, even though she glared at me for doing a double take. 

"Bitch, what you looking at?"

Or the time I tiptoed past Hilary Clinton's bodyguards when she came in for fittings at Oscar de la Renta's office. My supervisor encouraged me to take multiple trips to the bathroom so that I could check out how hot her bodyguards were.

Natalie Portman in the Lanvin dresses she was fitted for. She wore them to Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

Then there was the time I opened the door for Natalie Portman the day she came in for fittings at Lanvin. I stared at her like a starstruck idiot before inviting her in and scurrying off into the closet (aka my temporary office). I kept sneaking glances as I pretended to arrange samples. And yes, I was bitched at for not unwrapping, wrapping and rewrapping samples properly. You can't win!


Saving the best for last, my favorite memory was when I shook Alber Ebaz's hand (my all time favorite designer), before taking notes on how to style my model for Lanvin's press presentation. I was on cloud nine the rest of the day. As I pranced around with joy (in my head of course), I was delighted my last internship ended on such a sweet note.