Styling Timeline

I feel awful for the lack of updates, but sometimes I struggle to find my words and instead resort to happily shopping online. I've spoken a lot about clothes recently, but not a lot about my shoots, as I haven't done one since the end of June. I have one coming up in two weeks, and it's going to be an exciting one (no spoilers just yet!). However, I thought it would be nice for me to post one image from each shoot that I've done this year, as a documentation of what I've achieved so far.

Styling Timeline

So there you have my entire body of styling work to date. It seems so little when viewed like this, but behind every picture is weeks of trawling the internet and shops, hundreds of exchanged e-mails, countless PDFs of outfit plans, and hours of braving the cold weather and changing models in public places whilst working out of a suitcase, which is why I'm adamant to use the experience to make my upcoming shoot the best I've ever done. These shoots will be showcased in full on my website when it hopefully materialises out of thin air, because Dreamweaver and I don't get along too well. I've taken to Gossip Girl marathons to avoid having to use it.

On another note, I'm back to university now and surprisingly excited for my final year. I've got plans to start a magazine from scratch, which will involve what I enjoy most: doing a million shoots, bugging people via e-mail, and going cross-eyed courtesy of inDesign. Joy!

Knitwear Obsession

I'm probably going to jinx the already heavily cursed English weather by saying this, but I'm actually enjoying the premature chill that has kept London company for the past few days. Wrapping up in lush knitwear is my favourite part of Autumn/Winter, and below is my list of gorgeous cardigans to cosy up. I won't be getting any of them soon as I've just dropped £99 on a Massimo Dutti piece, but there is another one on my list and I expect it to be mine by the end of winter! Teamed with jeans, boots, hidden fluffy socks and layers of Uniqlo heat tech will ensure a stylishly warm winter for me.

Massimo Dutti - £99.00

NW3 @ Hobbs - £79.00

Topshop £50.00

Topshop £40.00

Victoriana shoes

I find it so excruciatingly painful to sit down and write a blog post nowadays. Not sure exactly why, but it feels a chore again as opposed to a stroke of inspiration, which is worrying as it took me years to get comfortable with blogging. It could be because I'm not shooting at the moment and have less to talk about; because every thought formed in my head at the moment is about clothes and shopping and chunky cardigans and snuggly scarves and elbow patches oh my godddddd (pardon my loss of control); or more likely because I no longer like my blog layout. I'm in the process of building my website now (check out my err, oh so creative holding page over at www.aliyastylist.com), so may just build a new blog to go with it, most likely on Wordpress. Sorry Blogger, you've served me well but no longer tickle my fancy.

I've been at Fabulous magazine since mid-August, but switched from the fashion desk to Art desk last week and am loving it so far. Designing pages on Indesign is something I enjoy at university and would love to pursue so it's great to be getting practice and experience at a publication. Plus, I'll get loads of pages into my portfolio, which is why I do a silent squeal every time I'm given a fashion or beauty page.

Now, onto the shopping talk; I am obsessed with this weather. Despite having a blossoming cold and flu, the thought of snuggling into a warm, oversized scarf as my (yet to be purchased) blanket cardigan floats gracefully in the (bloody overpowering) wind has sent me into a fit of shopholicism. I love Autumn/Winter clothing with a passion, even more so since I mastered the skill of dressing appropriately for the weather (see my first ever blog post). Alongside this, I'm very much enjoying the Victoriana and heritage trends at the moment - the gorgeous shoes I've just purchased (pictured below) are a perfect example of the former, and the various elbow-patched items I have on my shopping list are inspired by the latter.

Suede slippers - £52.00, Topshop

In two weeks' time I'll be returning to university to for my final year as well as finalising a mid-October shoot with Faye Sampson, so expect lots of updates on that. Hopefully my website will be up by then too. For now, the only thing I have to talk about is shopping, so bear with me and my worrying antics. 

Leather obsession

I am absolutely obsessed with the leather and suede detailing trend of this autumn. For the past few months I've been darting towards every item that has been touched by either of the two materials in some way, whether it's a leather t-shirt or a jumper with elbow patches. I even forked out £40 on a plain white top from Oasis which is already bobbled but has 2cm leather cuffs on the ends of the sleeves. Fast forward a few days and a lot of expenditure, and with a mere £11 left in my account I'm searching for patches on eBay to sew onto my existing clothes.

Today I went round the shops with an even more feeble £4 in my account (not to worry, pay day on Wednesday and no particular need to eat food) and alas, managed to find around £1000 worth of clothing which will be making guest appearances in my dreams for the next few weeks. In fact, I found so much stuff that I am actually compiling a list of what I've seen and will narrow the candidates down to what I absolutely cannot live with. At the moment my head is swimming with gold buttons (an lifelong fetish which has nothing to do with trends), elbow patches and tiny tiny strips of leather which manage to make a plain jumper worth £50. Having said that, I'm still buying elbow patches on eBay, but am now failing to find the perfect red jumper to sew them onto in order to recreate the beautiful but expensive Massimo Dutti jumper I saw today. Damn this exclusive elbow patched world.

Above is a small fraction of my current lust list; Massimo Dutti unfortunately do not have an online store, or this post would be flooded with the elbow-patch heaven that I encountered from the door to the changing rooms in store today. I have however found out that there are 300 Massimo Dutti stores in Pakistan, where I spent the entire month of July, so am currently in a state of shock and regret that I didn't stock up this delicious collection for a fraction of the price whilst I had the chance (that is, if they had it!). I'm going back next year and now fully intend to return in a chic, Massimo-Dutti-clad fashion.

Starting my third week at Fabulous next week, it's going well so far and I'm getting a chance to assist the fashion director on a shoot or two! Very excited about this, so expect lots of tweeting about it. In the mean time, I'm organising my own shoot with Faye Sampson in the next few weeks, and it will be featuring some of the leather adorned garments featured above: I will most probably have to be physically wrenched away from this clothes when it comes to returning them, so self-control my exercise for the time being!

Fabulous

I'm about to wrap up my first week in the fashion department at Fabulous magazine, and it's been going really well so far. My daily routine consists of organising and packing up clothes from the fashion cupboard to return to PR agencies and stores; it sounds like a mundane job, but I get to see and touch press samples from my favourite high street stores which haven't even been released yet, which is alone is a treat for a shopaholic like me. I also get to watch the fashion editors (who are really lovely) prep the wardrobes for shoots, and I've already picked up a lot of inspiration and tips for my own upcoming freelance shoots. I'm hoping for the chance to assist a shoot or two in my remaining three weeks and get valuable first hand experience of working under professional stylists, which will no doubt provide me with guidance for my aspiring career as an industry stylist. Exciting times!

One big downside of interning for a fashion magazine is that I am even more obsessed with clothes than I was previously, yet my funds are running extremely low due to an extravagant splurge on the 'new wardrobe for my internship' (funnily enough I still struggle to find an outfit to wear every morning). Thankfully Fabulous fashion is made up of high street brands including some which I would generally overlook completely (Love Label, Peacocks, New Look etc), and in the four days of rummaging through thousands of items, I have fallen in love with the high street (and it's hidden online gems) again. I have tried to steer myself away from 'cheap' fashion over the past few years as I believed it would be wiser to make investments into more classic, 'luxury' items, but unfortunately I've found that even when I spend £50 on a top, I am bored with it by the end of the week. As a result, I have decided to embrace the throwaway culture of today's fashion and start buying on the high street again, because no matter how much I spend on it, it'll be in my charity bag within six months anyway.

The same doesn't go for bags, as I am currently lusting after this Sophie Hulme box tote, and feel that an outfit that costs under £20 can always be justified by a £400+ bag.

Finally, I have purchased my domain: http://www.aliyastylist.com. There is nothing on there at the moment, but in the next month or so I will have launched my online portfolio and am also considering a daily fashion blog, as I would like my online presence to remain as active as possible. We shall see what happens over the next few weeks!

Return to London

I touched down in London ten days ago following my four week holiday to Pakistan. The trip was absolutely amazing and reuniting with my relatives from all over the world whilst celebrating my cousin's wedding was worth the insane heat and humidity. I also picked up a real vibe for Pakistani fashion whilst there; floor length dresses with contrasting pleats in the skirts strangely reminded me of London fashion, albeit covered in sequins and embellishment that brands would charge £100s for here (not that they come any cheaper over there, as my bank balance sadly discovered). I have yet another wedding to attend there next year, so there now is another line of clothing added to my shopping list on top of the usual monthly wardrobe makeovers and random splurges that I generally treat myself to. Definitely predicting bankruptcy by Christmas time.

My quietness on Twitter and here have been due to my month of absolute luxury and disconnection from the fashion business, but next week I'm starting a four week internship at Fabulous magazine and intend to be back in the swing of things by lunchtime on my very first day. Looking the part is very important to me, so the first thing I did when I arrived back was empty out half the clothes which I've been wrinkling my nose at for the past few months, and promptly went shopping. Usually I have a lot of difficulty finding clothes but this time I appear to have struck gold (at the supposed price of gold unfortunately but never mind); in the past 10 days I've built myself a new little wardrobe and cannot wait to start wearing it next week. I'm working seven days at my retail job this week so have been sporting a look consisting of a white t-shirt, jeans, military boots, dishevelled state and permanent frown, so it will be extremely refreshing to put effort into my appearance again. I may even consider doing a few outfit posts, though this will most likely drive me to buy more clothes for variety.

In terms of shoots, I'm currently on a mini hiatus as my suitcase is still filled with holiday clothes, but I'm expecting to be back at it by September, when some more of my pending shoots will be published! I'm also looking to launch a portfolio website soon, so this blog may well relocate within the next few months. But until then, expect constant updates about my various expenditures, shoot plans, internship diary and the upcoming London Fashion Week.

Last one for a while

This will be my last post for a long time, as I am flying out to Pakistan for a month tomorrow. I will have access to the internet but most likely won't be active as there is only so much I can update about there whilst remaining relevant. In my absence, I will be having editorials published in both Turn magazine and XO magazine, as well as one or two more upon my return in August. I expect I'll be shooting pretty soon after landing so watch this space nearer the time for more updates on exploding suitcases and mad adventures on location.

My biggest excitement for August is the four week internship I have managed to secure at Fabulous magazine, beginning in the middle. I have been dying for work experience there ever since attending Pepperhaus's 'So you want to work in fashion?' event at London College of Fashion where the fashion co-ordinator was a guest speaker. This was half a year ago, and I'm glad my perseverance with applications in that period paid off. I'm looking forward to going on mad shopping trips in the two weeks between my arrival in London and the start of the placement, as I will definitely need some new attire to fit into the fashion department. My philosophy is that you cannot be the part without looking the part, and as shallow as it is, I feel a million times more confident and bubbly with an amazing outfit on.

Until August it is; I leave you with the cover image of soon-to-be-released summer issue of XO magazine. Photography by Faye Sampson, styling by myself.

Seaside shoot

Saturday saw one of the best shoots I've ever done. I say almost the same thing after every shoot I do, and I'm happy to say it's always true because they get better every single time. This one took place at the seaside in Brighton with Faye Sampson, involving a team of eight travelling down from London (2 models, 2 MUAs, photographer, creative director, myself and my styling assistant). The wardrobe for this was a mixture of structured and flowing fabrics, but all followed the theme of very very bright colours. As always with my styling, a few sheer pieces were tossed in and prompted the requirement of nipple covers (£5.00 for seven pairs at La Senza, best discovery ever!)

The models were Tia @ Leni's and Diana @ Sapphire; both were extremely bubbly and pretty much the life and soul of the shoot. Between getting changed in public behind towels and using a reflector to block the horrific wind at the pier, the shoot was challenging but also heaps of fun. We shot a total of five looks including some killer dresses by Aqua, cape shirts over bikinis and a lot of gold jewellery - my speciality!

This shoot is my last until August at the earliest as I'm flying out to Pakistan on Monday for four weeks. I may have also bagged myself an amazing internship for the end of August and beginning of September, so the weight on my chest has lifted a little at the prospect of having no worries on my holiday. I've also managed to pack up and return everything from the shoot already, which leaves my holiday packing to be done: I haven't started, so wish me luck!

Brick Lane Boy

This shoot took place months ago alongside the one featuring James Cox which was published in Etoilee magazine. It features Will, also from AMCK Models, and has just been published in Thirst For Vision magazine (can be viewed online by clicking here), which means that the images can finally be released after months of secrecy. Most of my shoots are currently under the radar while they await publication, so I can't wait till everything is released and I can release my website in August!

I leave you with my favourite shots of Will from the shoot.

Photographer: Faye Sampson

Assistant: Stuart Berham

Model: Will @ AMCK Models

Stylist: Myself

Styling Assistant: Zain Khan

MUA/Hair: Alicia Samuels

Stylist dream

Having popped on the River Island website for a spot of innocent afternoon shopping, this image on the homepage has immediately jumped out and captured me. I have now decided that I want my ensemble at every shoot to look exactly like this; therefore, my stylist list now consists of a vintage suitcase that can accommodate what generally turns out to be twice the amount needed for each shoot, and an extravagant gold rail with red carpet lining for me to curl up on with a cup of tea during shooting breaks. It has to be foldable to fit my suitcase of course, otherwise an additional item on my list will be a transit van.

Dreams can come true...

Career pathway ramble

Pictured above is a collection of all of the page designs I've done this academic year. They all follow a cutesy theme which probably wouldn't help my case if I decide to be a page designer, but considering how lazy and unimpressive I was during my graphic communication degree, I'm pretty damn proud of myself. Accomplishing this result as well as doing around 12 twelve shoots and getting good academic grades is something I never thought I'd achieve, so I hope I can do the same in 3rd year and create a stellar dissertation.

But reflecting on everything I've done this year is pecking away at my brain, because I still do not know what I want to be when I "grow up" (22 years of age and still in the mindset that education = childhood).

I love being a stylist but am enjoying the freelancing side of it, as it allows me to pick and choose what I want to do. I don't know if I could ever be a full-time stylist for a company, unless it was owned by Faye Sampson of course (because then I'll know all my shoots will be fun and explosive and planned months in advance).

I do love design but know that I am not talented enough to be a designer. There is a harsh reality to these things, and being capable of using Adobe InDesign is nothing compared to those who have degrees and vast amounts of experience in graphic design.

I'd like to consider myself as a capable writer but unfortunately I'm not a natural; I take forever to write, I write backwards, and despite believing that my English is good, I found out the other day that I've been spelling 'happened' as 'happend' for my entire life, which has resulted in loss of belief in my spelling, grammar and writing abilities.

Lastly, I've always fancied myself to be an art director, as I have developed leadership qualities despite not being born a leader, and like to be a catalyst and manager of creative projects. The problem here is that I lack innovation, and generally prefer working to briefs.

So what will I be? A page-designing styling art director?

Only time will tell, as I still have thousands of internships to apply to before I find my 'thing'.

Summer begins

The past two weeks have been dedicated to putting together a magazine as the final project for my second year. I was working in a team of nine people as the art director, so the last stage of the project was the most stressful for me as it was mine and the production designer's responsibility to visually execute the magazine. After many sleepless nights of designing, Amigo magazine is ready.

Open publication - Free publishing - More beauty

Amigo magazine has been designed as a free lifestyle publication to be offered onboard on coach journeys, the categories being culture, current affairs, entertainment, fashion and beauty, sport and technology. As a fashion enthusiast, I took on the design responsibility for the fashion section (along with sport, entertainment and the opening pages), and the lovely Faye Sampson provided photography tailored for the fashion features which we sneakily shot in between scenes during our shooting weekend. I can give her most of the credit for making the fashion pages look amazing - they can be seen from page 29 onwards, or in the images below. Among them is the one feature I wrote myself, titled 'The Denim Shirt', of which I'm very proud; I will probably write more articles for the Amigo website soon, so keep an eye out.

Now that I've got lots of free time I'm going to apply to thousands of internships until I have something sorted for August and September, plan the seaside shoot Faye and I are doing in two weeks time (SO excited for this one), and start preparing for my trip to Pakistan in four weeks. Top of my list? Wide-brimmed sun hat.

Weekend of shooting

I had two amazing shoots over the weekend with Faye Sampson, and am still recovering two days later despite them being absolutely worth it. This was the first time I've ever shot back to back; I think I handled it in a very organised manner, but unfortunately my room is still jam packed with boxes of clothes that need to be re-packed and sent away, as I stepped straight out of the shoots into a 3,000 word report deadline at university. My suitcase hasn't been emptied out yet; I will need an entire evening to undertake that mission.

Both shoots took place on location in Epping Forest, and we all know I adore doing location shoots. The sheer excitement of setting up a 'base camp' for my suitcase, chasing after plastic bags being blown away and watching the models work my outfits with a killer backdrop is something that can never be replicated in a studio. Despite the difficulties of unpredictable weather and fighting with the wind for the ownership of my suitcase's contents, I would not trade location shoots for all the cups of tea, clothes rails and big sofas in the world.

The first shoot was a summery, feminine and floral shoot with the beautiful Anna @ Gingersnap models. The weather was glorious and we shot in the forest areas of Hollow Ponds before venturing off to hire a little boat to shoot in. My first experience in a boat taught me that I have absolutely no upper body strength, and two people should never, ever row a boat simultaneously. Between the wobbling of the boat and shrieks of fear from myself, some killer shots were born. Some of these will be used in the magazine I am designing at university, which makes me very proud and lucky to know a photographer like Faye; her editorials are wanted by every publication that sees them and I get to feature some in my own!

Photograph taken by Stuart as we frantically rowed back to return the boat by its deadline.

The second shoot on the weekend was much less relaxed and intimate, as Faye and I had been planning this one together since late January. There was a team of ten (10) people assembled for this shoot, which is the largest I have ever worked in, but it proved to be effective on the day. The team consisted of the photographer, three models, two MUAs, hairstylist, stylist and two assistants. The models were Ellen @ Profile, Isabel @ Confidence and Ollie @ AMCK. I am close friends with the hairstylist and we drove up to the shoot together which was brilliant because I had two suitcases and a huge bag to accommodate the wardrobe. This was the biggest wardrobe I had generated to date, consisting of roughly five looks per model with lots of extra material to work with. I was very lucky with the wardrobe for this, as the talented designer Arisa Fukumoto leant me three outfits to use, and boy did they steal the show. There was a slight hiccup at the start of the shoot when it began to pour with rain the minute we stepped out of our cars, but thankfully luck was on our side because the shower released a stream of sunshine that had been hiding behind the clouds, and the rest of the shoot went swimmingly well. The female models looked like beautiful angels wandering around in huge white dresses, and they definitely did the outfits justice.

Photograph taken by Hannah Elizabeth. Pictured: Isabel @ Confidence wearing Jones & Jones, Ellen @ Profile wearing Arisa Fukumoto.

I am already missing the excitement and anticipation of an upcoming shoot, but will most likely be found scampering around on various locations again in June. The next week will be fully dedicated to completing production of my university magazine; I have just under a week to nail the design, so the only friend I'll have this week is Adobe InDesign. The next post I make will probably feature some pages from the magazine, as well as the beautiful photography that Faye will be providing for some of the fashion features. The sleepless nights will definitely be worth it!

Fleur De Ballet in INK magazine

My last post about getting published was pretty brief as I was in the midst of meeting a really difficult deadline, but over the same weekend I got news that another one of my shoots had been published in INK magazine! This one was shot at Adrian Pini Studios with Sophie Ellen (http://www.sophieellen.co.uk) as part of her ballet series - this was part two of our five collaborations, so I'm definitely hoping to see the remaining three get published. They got better as they went along, so I have high hopes!

The issue of INK magazine can be read here (pages 26-29), and purchased here.

Photography: Sophie Ellen Lachowycz

Styling: Myself

Model: Gina Negus

MUA: Rachel Bromage

Hair: Kasia Fortuna

Photography assistant: Christine Xuan 

Below is a very low quality video of behind the scenes: at some point I'm going to make a video of all the snippets I've filmed during shoots, but until then, low quality it is.

Published editorial: 'Just a city boy' in Étoilée magazine

My published shoot in Étoilée magazine - can be viewed online or ordered here

Credits:

Photographer: Faye Sampson

Model: James @ AMCK

Styling: Myself

MUA/Hair: Alicia Samuels

Styling assistant: Zain Khan

Lighting: Stuart Berham

Ramble

As I'm about to enter a Bank Holiday weekend of hell revolving around a 2,000 word essay that I had the whole of Easter to do but have two days to do, this is a very brief update. There are some things that I want to reflect on, and this will hopefully aid me in releasing my writer's block.

Yesterday I wrapped up my four week placement in Digital Ad Operations at Hachette Filippachi, and I was very upset to leave but also pleased with my experience there. I've come away with good knowledge of digital advertising and how it works, and this isn't something I'll ever be taught in university, so I'm glad to be a step ahead. Having a taste of digital publishing has also inspired me to pursue it further; it's an evolving industry in stark contrast to print, which is over-saturated and hideously competitive. As a very technical and digital-orientated person, I enjoyed the insight into how user activity is measured in advertising and learnt techniques on how to push campaigns to users. The team I worked in was golden and I couldn't have asked for a more supporting and inspiring boss - definitely a good starting point for my interning career. I can't wait to finish off university for the summer and do more internships - I'll be applying as of next week, once I get this nightmare assignment out of way.

My shooting time has been quiet recently, though I'm still burdened with returns which I've been too lazy to send back and consequently have an available balance of £0.38 in one of my accounts. My next shoot is coming up in three weeks' time, and has been developing for months, so I'm very eager to get cracking on the wardrobe. It will be my first ever commissioned shoot for a magazine, so I'm determined to outdo all of my previous ones: though that's an objective I carry forward for every shoot. Having seen previews of the images from the shoot in St Paul's with Faye Sampson, I am so pleased with the result and can't wait till it's all ready to be released so I can create my website and online portfolio.

Until next week it is; I'm going to have an an awful but self-induced nightmare this weekend, but will hopefully get through it and be able to function like a regular human being again next week!

Birthday dress

Topshop, £45

After ordering LBD after LBD on ASOS and continuously feeling disappointed with each one, I finally found my perfect birthday dress - on the day of my birthday and literally hours before my celebratory dinner. I'm never usually a last minute person in terms of dresses; I can always be seen rushing around to buy earrings/tights/shoes on the day of the dinner, but the dress is always decided weeks if not months in advance. I think my recent shoots had a huge influence on my relaxed attitude this time - 80% of the wardrobe is generally purchased one or two days before the shoot, and I tend to find what I need when under pressure. Plus, knowing that I had four not-ideal-but-functional dresses waiting at home in the worst case scenario was a slight comfort! Having said that, I did try to squeeze into one of the dresses featured in my last post, but thus realised that 1) I am not a 5ft9+ agency model, and 2) I will end up poking somebody's eye out, if not my own.

I snapped up this gorgeous white dress from Topshop after spotting it on the website, and am so in love with it. The back is V-shaped with a big black zip running halfway down - at first I was apprehensive, but it definitely gave the dress a nice edge, and also made it a partial LBD! I wore it with a huge gold necklace, dark red lipstick and got my hair done in a half updo at the Hersheson's Blow-Dry Bar in Topshop - the experience was questionable, as it involved no washing or actual blow-drying, but I was happy with the result, even though I most likely won't return. £24 for a hairstyle that I could've created myself (albeit in two hours as opposed to ten minutes)? Thanks Topshop, but no thanks!

My birthday night out was lovely, I had a lovely evening at Gilgamesh in Camden (huge and amazing, the pictures on the website do not do it justice), followed by shisha in a very questionable spot in Stables Market (the shisha was rubbish but my friends made it fun!).

Now I'm unfortunately back to reality; I'm going back to university in a week and two days, I have a 2,000 word report to tackle but always seem to be interning when my university library is open, and the plethora of Bank Holidays means that all of my usual study spaces are closed - lovely. It's going to be a stressful week, but I will try to find time to update, especially after I finish my internship this Thursday - it will be quite sad for me but I'm looking forward to reflecting on my experience.

Dresses that could poke your eyes out

Behind the scenes in St Paul's

Saturday was the day of my best shoot to date, with the wonderful Faye Sampson of course. The theme began as 'girls in suits', but the cliche eventually translated into something along the lines of 'powerful women'. That's the idea I kept in my head as I discarded the awful trouser + top all-in-ones that I bought  (Faye and her assistant were disdainful to say the least). Instead I began collecting sharp, structured dresses along with leather and sheer fabrics, all accessorised with men's jewellery and killer, killer heels. I was primarily very happy with the wardrobe, as I like to keep everything organised and write down outfit plans as well as deciding in advance which outfits will be shot together. But that satisfaction was nothing compared to what I felt during the shoot: the two models worked brilliantly together and worked the outfits amazingly well - it felt like everything had magically fallen into place. The chemistry between the models was so natural that we ended up shooting them together for every look, and we managed to get eight looks in total, of which I couldn't possibly choose a favourite. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the final results of these.

Regarding my other shoots, I got published in Turn magazine at the beginning of April, have one commissioned shoot in June, and am possibly getting published in about three to four more magazines in the next two months. I don't want to say anything until it's all 100% confirmed, but there is a strong possibility that every shoot I've done this year will be published. All of the effort was already worth it for the portfolio alone, but this has topped everything!

I'm having a bit of a break from shoots for a few weeks, but am having a stylist-related breakdown at present due to the fact that I am turning 22 on Friday and have not yet found a birthday dress for myself! I'm very tempted to wear one of the numbers from my most recent shoot, but might look too 'outrageous'. I will be celebrating at a very gorgeous restaurant in Camden, so my desperation to blend with the location is causing me a lot of hassle. Hopefully I will have found something by the end of the week; I have three more days at my placement this week, and then the entire weekend off to celebrate and treat myself to some long and well-needed lie-ins. Until then, I will leave my lovely readers with some more behind the scenes pictures from that oh so exciting shoot.

Studio preparation #1

Studio preparation #2

Our base camp in the back streets of St Paul's

Off-duty model

Weekly ramble

It's one of those days where I've come home, sat down and opened up my laptop to update my blog while I'm still wearing my shoes and have just thrown my earrings on the bed to join the mess of packaging from parcels. It has been a while since I've updated, possibly because I've been shoot-free for two weeks, but that nagging guilt has finally caught a hold of me!

I've just finished my second week at my work placement. I am learning a lot about digital advertising, which is great because it's a lot more complex than the print advertising I've been learning about at university, and I feel like I'm getting a good head start in it. It has got me very interested in advertising sales, but at the same time, I've had insight into how difficult it can be to cater to people's needs and wants, especially when trying to balance different sets of brand values. As somebody who has no clue what she wants to do but wants to do everything at the same time, I'd definitely love to try my hand in everything. As I mentioned last week, I'm at a very good company, so my objective is to impress as many people as I can to create opportunities for more internships in future.

I have a shoot this Saturday with the lovely and clearly very patient Faye Sampson; we were supposed to shoot last week, but all of the models dropped out at the last minute. The bright side of that story is that I had the wardrobe ready a week in advance, so the manic last minute shopping trip that I normally have after work on Fridays will instead consist of a calm stroll around to buy some accessories for my kit, including nipple covers. I'm also going to start packing now to avoid that awful feeling the night beforehand; organised Aliya Stylist is much better than all over the place Aliya Stylist!

On the topic of shoots, I might be getting published a few more times this summer. I'm not going to reveal too much just yet in case I jinx myself, but all of the craziness I go through for each shoot will be entirely worth it to see myself in print! I also plan to set up a website, and will hopefully be putting my entire body of work under 'published work'. I love it when hard work pays off!

Internship + getting published

What an amazing start to my week! Today was my first day at Hachette Filipacchi in the advertising operations, and I can already tell I'm going to gain enjoyable and valuable experience in my four weeks there. This isn't your standard tea-making, cupboard-cleaning or errand-running internship; I've been treated very well and am being trained up to look after campaigns and communicate with clients. It's nerve wracking for me but also very exciting, because the entire department is very lovely and relaxed, and I know I'm in good hands. I'm definitely looking to break out of my shell and step up to the job to make a good impression, because I'm very blessed to be at a company like this at my stage. I will be doing work for ELLE UK online, Red Online, Sugarscape and possibly Digitalspy. Already looking forward to my second day!

The second element to my brilliant day is being published with Sophie Ellen in Turn Magazine!  I have bought myself a printed copy which is arriving in a week or two from the U.S., but frantically obtained the digital copy upon purchase and squealed when I saw that it had really happened. I owe Sophie a lot for getting me published after my public wish to achieve that by the end of this year - it's only April, and I'm hoping this happens again throughout the course of the year.

The cover was styled by the very talented Marianna Mullings, and her fashion feature appeared right after mine in the magazine - it's a small world, but it's great to share success!

I have a big shoot coming up with the lovely Faye Sampson this Saturday, involving two gorgeous girls from Bookings Model Agency. Currently filling up my basket with structured pieces, leather, suede, and dreaming of a hair stylist who can create something spectacular for us. Frantic updates about my broken suitcase and lost ASOS orders will most likely pop up in the next few days, but I'm expecting this shoot to be another success!