Teen Vogue's Fashion University (a very late post)

Hey guys! How are those resolutions going? I personally fell off a little bit once I came back to Columbia (greasy college food was calling my name) but I started Zumba with a good friend yesterday and I'm headed to the gym tonight and Thursday as well. I've even made it a point to prepare lunches a few days in advanced so that I can ensure I won't buy something terrible and overpriced on campus.

But that's not what this post is about. Last year, in October I got the opportunity of a lifetime. Those of you that have been following my blog for quite some time, know that NYC is the city that I have dreamed of for as long as I can remember, and Conde Nast is a company I was dead set on interning/working for.

My good friend Darion (he's a stylist for a boutique downtown, check him out) had been talking about Teen Vogue Fashion University (TVFU) for a few months and I kind of blew him off because I was so sure my sketches and this blog weren't good enough to make the cut.

Despite my doubts, I found myself in Hilton Head, South Carolina trying to submit my portfolio the night it was due at minutes to midnight.

After I pressed submit I kind of forgot about it, school had started and I was focused on getting my GPA up, making money and enjoying my last two years of college.

Well, one day, I woke up in the worst of moods, I was running late for class, my boss was on my case, it was ridiculously hot and I was so frustrated. I decided to come home for lunch and this is what I saw:

I was ECSTATIC. I couldn't believe what I was reading and my friend Darion got accepted as well. I was in complete disbelief. 

TVFU took place the weekend of October 18-20. For those of you that don't know it's a weekend where aspiring fashionistas and fashionistos gather together in NYC to participate in workshops taught by designers, business owners and bloggers in the business. This year some of the names included Eddie Borgo, jewelry designer, Amy Astley, Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief and Thakoon, fashion designer.

As if that wasn't awesome enough, each student got a bag full of swag from all the sponsors that helped make the event possible.

My favorite session was probably the bloggers panel because it was the one I could identify with the most. Creators of Into the Gloss and The Couveteur both shared advice and their journeys on making it in the fashion industry, it's what made me realize that if I kept up with this, made it better and better over time, this blog could be next.  

I even got to meet a follower from my personal Tumblr blog! Him and his friends took me all over the city, it was truly amazing and I even met Diddy (on total accident).

Being in New York for the weekend and surrounded by so many like minded individuals made me realize that it truly is a city I would love to be in after graduation. I've definitely been looking at internships there for the summer as well, but it's so difficult when you don't have free housing (and you definitely aren't getting paid). 

For now I am doing everything I can to finish up school and apply to internships that will hopefully lead me to the city that I love so much. It was such an amazing weekend and I cannot wait until I can go back again!

The City

I'm not sure if anyone that reads this actually wants to make a fashion a career choice, but I still figured this post would be worth it.

I've always loved fashion, more so the styling side, I liked putting things together and in high school I liked giving my opinion about the latest trends in my school's paper. It actually wasn't until college that I realized what little I know about fashion. Now, I still don't know everything, but honestly a great place to start is the hit MTV show The City.

Now if you ask me, I think they ended the show too soon, probably because ratings weren't where they needed to be, but honestly this is one of the shows that MTV should've fought a little harder for. It didn't come with the petty drama we saw on The Hills or Laguna Beach, where a whole bunch of size 2 blonde haired "bimbo" type girls ran around LA and Orange  County in bikinis yelling "Ste-phen" and crying over boys that didn't deserve their tears. The City was a lot more real, it showed the fashion industry in a very realistic light, in yet doesn't make it seem negative or fake like the media tends to do.

For those of you that don't know The City was Whitney Port's spin of from The Hills. Whitney an intern at Teen Vogue and People's Resolution, had finally realized that she had done all the growing she could do in LA and decided to chase after her dream in the city where fashion reigns: New York.

Here she meets a boy, gets into some drama and lands an awesome job styling for Diane Von Fersenburg (DVF) only to wind up back at People's Revolution in New York where the queen bitch of them all, Kelly Cutrone helps her start her own fashion line Whitney Eve. In between all of that you see what kind of mind and perseverance it really takes to work in the fashion industry, not only that, but I learned a lot about designers and even how magazines work, things that will be quite helpful as I begin to find my place in the fashion world.

Anyway, I say all this to say, if you want to know a bit more about fashion, specifically the inner workings of fashion magazines and designer names, but don't feel like reading (or you just want some drama thrown in to spice it up) consider watching this show. It's only two seasons and it's on Netflix Instant. I know all you students out there have a few more days before you have to head back to school, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!