Were Back!!!

you may have noticed we have been absent from The Assistant's Wear Primark for quite a while, well it's been a very busy time! We are back to upate you on ur everchanging lives and give you plenty of gossip from the fashion world.....

A long awaited post!

I'm sure you will have noticed that I have been absent from The Assistants wear Primark for a the last few weeks! What with summer arriving and an incredibly busty time at work I've barely had a minute to myself!

When I wrote my last post I had just got back from Mauritius. So the week that followed that I spent writing up all the credits of the clothes that we used for the six shoots. This was a mammouth task as we used so many different pieces and all the prices must be correct. Most of the fashion shoots from mauritius have now been published and the look amazing.

The Nautical story was my favourite layout, (pictured below). I love the bright blue sky, and the boat, it was definately worth going all the way to Mauritius for!

The second shoot was boho beach, this looks great in the mag, and it was definately worth all that effort of getting a horse on the beach!!

The Tuesday after we arrived back I had to dress the celebrity chef Anthony Warrell Thompson. Anthony is the celebrity chef for S Magazine, which includes his article and recipes each week. The interiors and food editor was shooting at his house and I had to go along to style Anthony. He was lovely and so friendly.

This week I have been prepping for two shoots that the fashion editor is doing. The first is a 1950's camping style shoot. It is going to be quite glamorous and Prada style. We have hired an airstream which will look really retro in a cornfield. I cant wait to see how it comes out!

The second is an underwear as outerwear/nude story. This is going to be shot in an old style car and will be quite sexy and raunchy, it will be a really exciting shoot for the magazine!

On Monday I was asked to go along to an interiors shoot to dress five children that are being featured in the shoot. I was really nervous as I haven't styled many children before, and there was going to be a lot of important people from the magazine there on the day so I wanted to make sure I did a good job. I took two suitcases of clothes in the end just to be safe! there were four girls and one boy and they had to be dressed in a folklore style. The shoot was based around an old gypsy caravan, (pictured below). The caravan was amazing and looked fantastic in the meadow. I was really pleased with how the pictures came out and hopefully I did a good job!

This week I have also been house hunting. I spent the afternoon with my friend yesterday looking around Clapham for a four bed house. It was very stressful, and some of the houses were not that great, but after a long day we found one we love so we are waiting on a decision of whether or not we can have it! So watch this space I could be living in London very soon!!

Although I shouldn't have been I have made quite a few purchases recently!! My favourite is a blue maxi dress from ASOS. I saw it ages ago but have only just managed to get hold of it! It is perfect for sunny days! (picture to come soon!!) If you don't know what to do this weekend head down to Topshop. I brought some shorts two tops and a dress from this week. They have an amazing sale on right now, all of those purchases came to less than £50, that is what I would normally pay for one dress alone!

This weekend I am off to enjoy the sunshine! We are hopefully going to sort a house out on Saturday, and I am relaxing on Sunday by going to a beer festival in my local town and watching England play in The World Cup!

I promise it wont be so long until my next post this time!

2 weeks worth!

I have been mainly in the office for the last 2 weeks so I thought I'd save up what I've been doing and give you all a double whammy!

The first week was a 4 day working week woohoo! So after a mammoth birthday weekend I was still feeling the effects on Tuesday back at the Express towers. I soon got over it and focused on the plans for my Ice Cream Shades shoot, so much preparation is involved because it's not just the styling and clothes I deal with, I have to create the whole shoot. I plan everything from where to do the photo shoot, props, choosing models, photographer and make up artist as well planning how everyone will get to the location and pulling together hair/make up/lighting ideas that I think will work and of course styling the clothes.

Thursday I had a breakfast meeting with the PRs from Mission PR, they look after Kew, Jigsaw, Cherry Chau and Fashion Union. We went to the Dean Street Town House which was so lovely and great to finally meet the PRs I have been speaking on the phone to for so long.

After breakfast I had arranged several store appointments so that I could pop in to choose clothes for my photo shoot. I went to Urban Outfitters, Topshop, Zara and H&M. Then back to the office for the afternoon.

For such a busy day with a lot of walking up and down Oxford Street involved I had to wear flats (I chose my new Office studded sandals and complete Jimmy Choo rip offs) although because I had the breakfast meeting in the morning I wanted to still look presentable so I went with this outfit:

White vest-1971 at Reiss; Pink trousers-Zara; Sandals-Office; Grey woven bag-Zara

So do you remember me saying that over the bank holiday weekend my friends and I were snapped by the ASOS Street Style team? Well all the pictures were uploaded onto Facebook and the top 25 people with the most 'likes' on their photo won Capital FM Summertime Ball tickets and....I won! So I went along to that on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, was a great day. I didn't have the best seats in the world but the atmosphere definitely made up for the fact that Cheryl Cole looked like an ant to me.

This week has been more of the same preping for the shoot. I was suppose to shoot on Thursday although because the weather has been so bad, I decided to move it up to next Tuesday. Shooting on Brighton beach in the rain would not have been fun or looked good.

Here is a sneak preview of my rail in the fashion cupboard. It's jam packed full of pastel and ice cream colour clothes.


I've had a pretty quiet weekend. Girlie night in on Friday and then watched the first World Cup England game at my friends house on Saturday whilst eating lots of food from the BBQ. Today I have had the biggest clothes/shoes clear out ever. I was completely ruthless and got rid of everything I haven't worn in the last few months, although my clothes are still rammed into my wardrobe and I still own about 50 pairs of shoes (and that's not even a joke)! But at least it is all in some kind of order. Now I feel a car boot sale coming on!

An exciting trip to Mauritius

It’s been a while since my last post, and there is so much to tell!

Firstly happy birthday Simona for Sunday!! I’ve hardly had a chance to see her this week, and you will see why…

A couple of weeks ago I found out that we would be going on a trip to Mauritius to assist the fashion editor on five main fashion shoots for the Sunday supplement. Anyway, at the beginning of last week we realised we would have to fly out on the Sunday if we were going to be back in time for deadlines!!! This was SO exciting but we also had a lot of work to do if we were going to prep five shoots in four days! I spent the week helping the fashion editor to call in clothes and get everything for the stories we needed. On Friday we almost ended up not going when at the last minute our flights still weren’t booked! The finally got booked at 7pm on the Friday, and on Sunday afternoon we flew off to Mauritius….

The island was amazing. As we drove into the resort the beach looked like paradise. We stayed at The Sugar Beach resort and it had everything we could ever need. It was situated right n the beach and I could look out over the sea from my bedroom!

The beach at our hotel



Gorgeous sunset

The fashion editor decided on five shoots that we would be doing out there; block coloured swimwear, beach cover-ups, nautical, summer wardrobe, and tennis. The tennis shoot was the most important as it has to coincide with the start of Wimbledon. The hotel had fantastic tennis courts that were perfect for the shoot.


Beach Kaftans


Nautical

Although they all came out so well, my favourite shoot of the week has to be beach cover ups. The kaftans were styled with lots of jewellery, and we even had a horse on the beach, given the impression that the model was stranded on a desert island.

There is so much I could write about the trip but for me these were the highlights. It was hard work but well worth it, and we even got a little bit of time off on the last day to sunbathe!!

I arrived back in England on Saturday night and as so tired!! I ended up having quite a chilled out weekend, even though I had planned for it to be much busier. So a very busy week, and I was back in the office today writing up everything from the shoots and returning all the clothes to the PR’s.

Shoes, Ray Ban and my birthday weekend!

This has been the first chance I have been able to sit down and write my blog for last week. It was a pretty busy week but so much fun.

Throughout the week I was organising permits and finding models for my forthcoming 'Ice Cream Shades' shoot as well as shooting my 'Must Have' flat sandals page.
Wednesday night I went to the Ray Ban Aviator party. It was such a great night, they had some amazing bands playing like The New York Dolls and The Big Pink. Went home with a fab new pair of metallic blue Aviators which I absolutely love.


Thursday I went out to two press days in the afternoon. Schuh have a great selection of shoes and boots for A/W 10 and they had my favourite nail art company, WAH! Nails, on hand as well. I had a really cool orange and yellow leopard print design. The invite to this press day really caught my eye when it got sent to me. The details were printed on an old school record, such a great idea.


Then onto the Kurt Geiger press event aka shoe heaven! So many amazing pairs over two floors, set out in a winter wonderland.


They also gave out the best press gift of the season so far. A pair of knee high riding boots, so I'm all set for the snow before summer has really kicked in, but they can be put in the back of my shoe cupboard until they are ready to make their debut!!

Friday in the office was relatively quiet, I was researching for my main fashion shoot and doing returns. That evening my boyfriend met me from work and took me out for a pre birthday meal in Covent Garden, which was lovely. I didn't know where he had booked so I went for an outfit that was fit for a day in the office as well as any restaurant he chose to take me!

Cream leather jacket-Doma; Stripe top-Land's End; Cream chinos-New Look; Lace up wedges-ASOS; Bag-Mulberry

He went off on a stag weekend on the Saturday which meant I could have a girlie birthday weekend. A few of my friends and I went from brunch at The Luxe near Spitalfields Market on Saturday morning, followed by a full on day of shopping. We hit the Reiss sample and warehouse sale where I bought some shorts and vests and then onto pretty much all of the other stores on Oxford Street, my poor bank balance! We even got snapped for ASOS street style which was quite funny.
This was my outfit:

Cardigan-Limited Collection at Marks & Spencer; Denim jumpsuit-Urban Outfitters; Pink pumps- Topshop; Belt-Vintage.

Saturday night we went for a few cocktails before watching Sex and the City 2. Was a slight disappointment but I love SATC so I can't say too many bad things about the film!

Sunday was my 23rd birthday, woke up to a Barbie birthday cake opened lots of fab pressies and then went off to the Hilton on Park Lane for afternoon tea with all of my friends, my sister, mum, great aunt and my boyfriends aunt. It was the perfect start to a great birthday and something really different.
After our very sophisticated tea my friends and I headed to Hoxton for one of the most fun and extremly drunken birthdays I've ever had.
I wore loafers during the day with my outfit and changed into killer heel wedges in the evening

Pink blazer-Miss Selfridge; Silk vest-Urban Outfitters; Shorts-Zara; Loafers-Linzi; Bag-Vintage

I was so glad to have Bank Holiday Monday to recover.
I had a really great week and an amazing birthday weekend, and now ready for another busy week ahead.

London in the sun!

The London Underground is one of the worst places to be when the city is as hot as it has been this week. Although, the Express towers are in the perfect spot along the river Thames to help me forget about the hot & smelly commute to and from work and make me appreciate just how beautiful London is drenched in sun shine.

This week I was given my next main fashion photo shoot, which means my first one must have gone down well. This time instead of shooting in a studio, I need to shoot on a beach! Was freaking out inside when my editor told me that he wanted me to do the photo shoot on location, but I'm up for the challenge. The theme of the story will be 'Ice Cream Shades' so I have chosen Brighton and will give it a very traditional British holiday feel. I won't be shooting until the 2nd week of June although I have started organising permits, photographers and hair and make up already. I am really looking forward to seeing all my work come together.

Other than preping main fashion, I shot my 'Must Have' kaftans this week and have started calling in for my next one, which will be Flat Summer Sandals.

Again this week I went along to a few press events. I went to see the A/W 10 collections from Flax PR, House of Fraser and Reiss.
I absolutely loved the Reiss collection, especially the 1971 range which they have expanded for the coming season. When it first launched, 1971 was a small collection mainly made up of denim but for Autumn/Winter they have brought in so much more the sequined 'trophy' jacket and leather paneled T-shirt were my favourite.
These will be mine by the time Autumn hits (well...I'll decided for definite when I find out how much they are)

Apart from the 1971 range, the rest of the collection is, as ever, beautifully designed in great fabrics.

I think the camel cape is great and will be a key piece of every fashionistas wardrobe next season.

Friday night I went to the G-Shock party. Great BBQ and lots of free drinks at the presentation in the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane and then onto a slightly odd after party at Cargo.



This weekend all I have done is chill out in the sun with my boyfriend. I actually have fully on bikini tan lines from the good old British sunshine. Although, it will probably be nothing in comparison to Lindsay's tan by next week, as she has jetted off to Mauritius today with her editor to assist on 5 photo shoots. Can't wait to hear how it all goes.

Stacey Solomon, press days and my first test shoot...

I’ve finally had time to sit down and write this week’s blog entry! So much has happened…

Last Tuesday I assisted the fashion editor on a shoot with Carol Vorderman. This was for a feature in the magazine to coincide with the release of Carol’s new book. She wore some amazing dresses and looked great.

As Simona was away in Cyprus this week it was quite quiet for me in the office. I got to interview for new interns which was really surreal as this time last year it was me being interviewed! We are going to have an intern all the time now which will be great to have someone else to help.

Last weekend I went on a spontaneous road trip to Nottingham with two of my friends. It was so nice to be back in the city where I went to Uni and see lots of my old friends but it really made me miss it!

Back in the office on Monday and it was going to be a very busy week. The first couple of days we were preparing for a photo shoot with Stacey Solomon. Stacey was really nice and so photogenic. She was someone that I was really interested to meet. It was amazing to hear her story of X Factor, and to see how she was such a normal person. The shoot itself was 1940’s oriental style. The set looked fantastic, we borrowed authentic Chinese furniture from a shop in Stoke Newington, and it really gave the image we were looking for.


Set for Stacey Solomon shoot


One of the outfits on the set


Dresses for Stacey


Me with Stacey

On Thursday I went to a couple of press days with Simona. We went to Office first which was in an amazing location. The theme of the press day was that it was a shoe factory. The location was an old factory style building called The Painting Rooms. The walls were covered in paint. The collection itself was really nice as usual from Office. There were lots of vintage inspired shoes, lots of boots with low heels, which I love being tall. We then went to Land’s End which was on the 31st floor of a building in the centre of London. The view out the window was fantastic. The collection was much more fashion forward for Land’s End and there were lots of nice prints and pieces I could see myself wearing.

Thursday evening and I was styling my first test shoot. This is a shoot that I can use in my portfolio, and is great practice for me. I was really lucky to get a great experienced model, and I had a photographer that I know quite well so it was really easy for us to get some great shots. The theme to my shoot was nude colours. I enjoyed styling so much, and it was so good to see the pictures after. I’m really pleased by them I can’t wait to do my next one now!Here is a taster of the shots we did, thy're not retouched yet so they're not perfect!






As we are so busy in the office at the moment I had to work Friday which is usually my day off. We are planning for a 1960’s style shoot on Tuesday, so we spent the day looking for a male model and 1960’s mod style clothes. Later next week I am also assisting on an Underwear as Outerwear shoot. This one will be really interesting as it is being shot in a vintage car.

I planned to have a chilled out weekend this week, but I ended up going out locally on Saturday night. Apart from that it was quite relaxing, I needed some time doing nothing after the busy week I’ve had!