Emerging from my shoots

Despite my oath to update after every shoot I did, I felt like I owed myself a cheeky and well-deserved break after my hectic but very productive week. The "break" wasn't as therapeutic as I'd hoped; I did manage to have a lie-in until 11am yesterday, but then set off to Oxford Street carrying four enormous shopping bags full of things to return. The weight off my shoulders was a huge relief, but unfortunately that was only a third of what I need to return! I need to make a big trip to the post office and at least two more trips to the shops, but I'm aiming to get that cleared by the end of week, in anticipation of being able to see my carpet again.

Sunday's shoot went very well again, despite a very shaky start for me. On the night before the shoot, the zip on my suitcase came off just as I was shutting it after packing everything so carefully (unfortunately the second zip had already come off in a similar incident a week beforehand). I ended up having to re-pack everything into a very small luggage trolley and enormous travel shoulder bag, the latter of which has resulted in large green bruises on my thigh where it hit me as I walked. To top it off, I missed my train to Cambridge in the morning, and arrived at the ballet studio rather late. Thankfully my bad luck ended there, as the two beautiful girls from Sapphires Model Management were providing killer shots from the very first outfits. I was very happy with the results of this shoot, and all three I did with Sophie Ellen last week. I'm quite sad that it was the last shoot of ours together for this series, but I know we will be working together in the near future. For the moment, I can't wait to see the results of the shoots, and hopefully get more published!

On a very exciting note, I've landed myself a placement at ELLEuk.com in the advertising operations department for the whole of April! I have no idea how I got so lucky, but I cannot wait to start on Monday morning. From what has been described, I'm going to be involved in a lot of exciting tasks in my time there, and whilst I do feel like I'm being thrown in the deep end, opportunities like this come for a specific reason, and I plan to do everything I can to shine whilst working there. My biggest dilemma is currently my wardrobe: I know my dress sense isn't what I'll be assessed on, but appearance is a huge part of my confidence and performance, so I'm currently in the process of spring-cleaning my wardrobe. As soon as payday arrives on Thursday, I'm going to attack the shops and pull out some key pieces (gently, as to not harm my bank balance too much).

Theatrical ballet

Another amazing shoot with Sophie Ellen today! This one was shot in a theatre in Cambridge, which didn't blow our minds in a Royal Festival Hall-eseque way when we walked in, but making use of the backstage and hidden areas is what gave the shoot a creative edge. Before the shoot, Sophie and I walked around and decided on a shooting spot for each dress, which is probably my favourite thing to do as a stylist. I'm sure other stylists enjoy improvisation and spontaneity, and if it works for them then it'll all good, but I absolutely have to know the agenda in advance so I can plan everything accordingly. Anybody who has witnessed me frantically taping the bottoms of shoes or trying to zip up an overpacked suitcase will know that I don't work well under pressure.

The model was today's shoot was a lovely girl called Egle from Sapphires Model Management, who is probably the nicest and most down to earth model I've ever worked with. She created some stunning shots today, and travelling between London and Cambridge with her was a pleasure. Best of all, she made my job easy by fitting perfectly into each of the ten dresses I put her in - for the first time, I didn't have to use a single safety pin!

On the topic of dresses, I'd like to give a huge thank you to Fabryan London and Agnes Mira Rose for lending me dresses for this shoot - it's always great to have designer input, and today's shoot was successful because of that. A special thanks also goes to my wonderful friend Gulnit at http://www.admireme.co.uk/ for letting me use her jewellery for the shoot.

My final shoot with Sophie for this series is on Sunday, and tomorrow I plan on blowing all of the money I got back in refunds on crazy accessories for wardrobe, as I'd like this to be the killer shoot. People ask me why I spend so much time and money, but I'd like to be known as the reliable stylist who'll do anything to make the shoot spectacular - hopefully one day this will come back to me in the form of a blessing!

Shoot explosion

Behind the scenes from floral ballet shoot

I'm currently sitting in the middle of an explosion of clothing that all needs to be packed out and away from an empty suitcase, but felt a sudden urge to update this. Now that I'm shooting constantly, I feel like I have no excuse to neglect my blog! After all, this is not, and never will be a fashion blog, it's a documentation of my work, and from now on, each shoot I do will be followed by a blog post featuring a cheeky behind the scenes snapshot taken from my iPhone.

So, today I shot at Adrian Pini Studios with the lovely Sophie Ellen for the second time, as a continuation in her ballet inspired series. Our first shoot together went so well that I couldn't resist jumping on board for the rest of the ones she had planned, which has somehow ended in us scheduling three shoots in the space of five days! It's been stressful, overbearing and financially destructive, but the success of our shoot today has reminded me that I'm in very good hands.

Today we shot two concepts with two gorgeous and talented models, along with a brilliant creative team. I can happily say that for every shoot I've done this year, I've gone home bubbling with glee and satisfaction with the outcome, and this is no exception - there was a little hiccup in the middle with lighting, but the addition of a backdrop and a fog machine completely saved the day. I have to say, despite my love for location shoots, I am getting quite comfortable shooting in Adrian Pini's studio - he has me on his database, so I'm hoping to get some paid work through him in future. Fighting with my overdraft has reminded me that I can't work for free forever, but I love the people who I'm working with at the moment, so an ego trip is not on the agenda yet.

One piece of amazing news that arrived today is that my last shoot with Sophie Ellen is being published! I am so excited at this, as being published has been a recent objective of mine, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. The magazine is coming out early next month, and I will most definitely be obtaining a copy and scanning the feature in.

For now, it's constant planning and organisation for my next two shoots which are on Friday and Sunday, both taking place in Cambridge. My bedroom is an explosion of shopping bags and I've lost count of the amount of pick-ups I have to do tomorrow, but hopefully everything will come together. If it doesn't, this blog probably won't be updated for a while.

Adventures of the man-bag

Behind the scenes snapshot from my menswear shoot yesterday

Yesterday I styled my first ever men's shoot, and despite experience difficulties and throwing several pity parties over the wardrobe, it definitely won't be my last. Menswear is so much more exciting in the sense that it's like a foreign territory to me; womenswear is fun and frilly and glamorous, but putting together the wardrobe normally puts me off shopping and clothes for a little while. Menswear is inspiring and stimulating, because I can incorporate the styles and quirks into my own wardrobe without feeling like a mannequin in the Oxford Circus Topshop (albeit a short and oddly proportioned one).

The shoot itself was probably the most tiring one I've done, but was also thankfully my first ever shoot on a day when it wasn't getting dark at quarter to four. We shot in three different locations, including an exploration of Brick Lane and a failed attempt at trespassing into an abandoned shopping centre (a booming voice through a CCTV camera put us in our place), and the day went pretty smoothly. Two fantastic models from AMCK, a brilliant-as-always photographer, great make-up artist who I'd definitely like to work with again, lighting assisting, styling assistant and myself: together we all produced an excellent result which I cannot wait to see.

The lovely brown bag in the picture above made an appearance in two different looks, and in the space of a few hours, has worked its way into my wardrobe. I have officially given up on women's bags, and am now a self-proclaimed man-bag enthusiast. I was even thinking about doing a man-bag-centric photo shoot, but might be faced with the lack of enthusiasm from photographers about trading their agency models for bags. One day I'll find someone to do it with me - if not, I'll do it by myself!

Menswear on my mind

It's been such a long time since I've updated this! My mind has been in several places, most of which include styling, university and internship applications, so sitting down to write a blog post seemed like a lower priority.

I have a shoot next Saturday with my favourite photographer Faye Sampson (www.fayesampson.com), and it is officially my first ever menswear shoot. It didn't ever occur to me how difficult it is to style a man if you aren't one; it's impossible to work out how things will sit on the figure unless you haul a male around Oxford Street to try everything on for you. I always assumed that men have less complicated figures than women, especially the narrower silhouettes of male models, but now a manic world involving scenarios of models not fitting into skinny jeans and tearing shoulder seams has manifested in my head. Thankfully I have a trusted and wonderfully stylish male who is assisting me on the wardrobe for this shoot, and will also be there on the day to take on my job role.

From Shortlist Mode Issue One: Women Don't Come Here

Despite the difficulties, styling a menswear shoot has given me an opportunity to release my own cravings. I am obsessed with ridiculously oversized brown bags, and normally make a bee-line for every man-bag I see which fits this description. I have yet to purchase a man-bag for myself, as the ones I pick out are usually met with a lot of sighs and criticism about my strange taste, but this shoot has given me an opportunity to buy many, and possibly keep one for myself. For a very small and feminine girl, I do have an odd taste in bags, and possibly subconsciously asking to get mugged, but one day I'd love to own a bag in which I could potentially fit myself. There is one candidate, a brown Barbour travel bag which I mentioned in my Bag of dreams post, but unfortunately I cannot afford this beauty after blowing my budget on the three other shoots I have coming up, which I will mention in a later post.

Another fashion obsession I want to incorporate into this shoot is leather detailing. Elbow patches, wallets, belts, gloves, leather look trenches (inspired by Burberry): I'm going to go all out to make sure my models look slick and stylish as hell. And after this shoot, I'm going to merge some of these styles and trends into my own wardrobe to not only help my upcoming 'women in tailoring' shoot, but to aid my own attempt to look super fashionable.

When I wake up in my make-up

(L-R) NARS Orgasm Illuminator, MAC Brow Gel. MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC30, MAC Lipstick in Please Me, MAC Lipstick in Russian Red, MAC Plushglass in Power Supply, MAC Eyeshadow in Copperplate (for my brows)

So, I went a little crazy last month and spent over £100 on the make-up pictured above. Even if I did suffer my biggest financial crisis to date (going past my overdraft by £5, not earth shattering but pretty bad for me), it was worth it for all of the divine things up there. The lovely pink lipstick is carried everywhere with me now and re-applied every hour, and filling in my eyebrows has made a huge difference to my appearance, as well as adding an extra layer of slap on my face.

March is looking to be a very busy month for me. I have a very small shoot coming up on Tuesday, three (possibly four!) big shoots later this month, with two photographers whom I love working with. This will all take place around a presentation, a huge deadline, the development of two assignments and the process of creating a brand new magazine. Normally in situations when I have too much work, I sink into a state of depression and stop eating/sleeping, but the fact that I'm actually excited about tackling my massive workloads has set it in stone that I'm finally happy with what I'm doing. I love magazine publishing, I love styling. I cannot wait to get into the magazine industry, but let's see if I can actually get myself an unpaid internship before I start dreaming too big.