Show Styling: Stylists, Welcome To Management by Reemé Idris
SHOW STYLING – STYLISTS, WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT
Have you ever wondered what exactly happens behind the scenes of a buzzing, cameras flashing, wild and hectic catwalk? If you are reading this as an experience-seeking stylist, please let me forewarn you how little styling itself has to do with your potential role as one of the key members of a show team!
As a stylist, there are many points of entry where you may have been asked to be involved in the production of a fashion show. But let’s presume you have total control as head of wardrobe and begin with how you source brands and designers.
Top Ten Tips - To Email Etiquette When Contacting Someone You’d Like To Collaborate With For The First Time by James Lightbown
First impressions count, they really do! The first time someone sees your work, your website, your portfolio they will make a judgement on you. So sending that first email is very important, get it wrong and you are very unlikely to get a second chance.
So here’s a “Top Ten Tips” guide to writing that first email.
1. Introduce Yourself!
When emailing for the first time be sure to introduce yourself. Your name and what you do, just a brief introduction, it seems obvious but I have received emails that were missing some pretty basic details that rendered the email unanswerable.
Making Sense Of Your Archives & Invoice Numbering by James Lightbown
When I was starting out I picked up a really simple tip for numbering your invoices. It made such a difference to my invoices that I have adopted as my way of organising all my shoot archives too and I swear by it!
It’s based around reversing the date so that everything becomes listed in chronological order.
Show Assisting For Make-Up Artists by Carol Brown
Following on from the previous article on producing show make-up Carol has written an article about assisting on shows.
The best advice I could give to anyone looking to assist would be to persevere with emailing make-up artists and agencies. Most agencies keep a record of good people (a very good ex-assistant of mine was on an agency “help register” and they now represent her). I appreciate, and always try to answer emails sent to me but by contacting an agency you increase your chances of getting work; I am represented by DWManagement and have been very fortunate to have had some exceptionally talented help through them.
It’s my responsibility to organise a team so that we have enough time to get the make-up done in the time allowed.
The more complicated the make-up x how many models = size of team.
Producing A Make-Up Look For Fashion Shows by Carol Brown
Fashion Show make up design
I recently blogged a summary of the Spring Summer 2010 fashion show make up looks which you can see on the following link (see the article here). Shortly after completing the article I asked myself why go to all that trouble when it’s just as easy to look on Style.com and get backstage photographs. Especially when, in the case of something like the Galliano show, there are times when only a picture will do the look full justice.
Self-Employed With No Strategic Plan? - Are You Mad? Pt 1 by Cat Watson
Where do you see yourself in five years time? In ten years time? Shooting ad campaigns for Gucci? Fashion editor of Vogue? Head make up artist for Vivienne Westwood at fashion week? Or perhaps a more modest dream of steadily making a living doing what you love, shooting regularly, having a book and website you are proud of, a list of regular clients and bringing in a steady income? Ok, to make it a bit easier where do you see yourself in one years time?
No idea? Just going with the flow? Or you have a bit of an idea in your head, you have an idea of a shoot that is going to blast you into mega stardom and all your worries will be over? Or just planning on networking crazy and at some point you’ll get a break?
Right! So basically, no idea of how you are going to get to where you want to be? Being self-employed is essentially running a business, your skill set is the product you are selling and yet you have no strategic planning? Even scatty designers have a business plan, yet self-employed creatives generally don’t have anything remotely plan like, and we wonder why our bank managers hate us so much. It generally goes against everything we are, we spend our time thinking of the next shoot, networking or just plain wondering how we are going to pay our rent this month yet the thought of sitting down and righting a strategic plan doesn’t even enter your mind. But it should. Every single one of us should have some description of a business plan and it should be updated every single year.
