At this time in my life, I'm actually finding it hard to make some quite important decisions based on my future. I'm a 16 year old girl who has a big love for fashion and as cliche as that sounds, it's true. I've always been focused on a career pathway into the fashion industry and in all honesty is a massive dream of mine. It's not like maybe other girls who say one day, "Oh, I want to be a fashion designer!". I know all too well that it's not that easy, trust me, the amount of times I have been told that the fashion industry is extremely hard to break into. And I know that, I get that. But I think that if you want something bad enough and strive to achieve your goals, then someday you will get there!
In September this year, I'll be going to college and I have a few ideas of what I would like to study, except I'm still not entirely sure. It's between taking a Vocational course which would be Fashion and Clothing and then potentially one a-level beside that, or taking 3 a-levels, non fashion related, without doing a vocational subject. The vocational fashion and clothing course sounds really interesting with lots of opportunities, but the only reason why I'm doubtful of choosing this straight away is because I'm still not sure on what I want to do in the future and what career path I want to take. I don't particularly want to be a massive designer name in the industry, I mean, obviously that would be amazing ha! But I want to think about realistic goals, maybe eventually gaining a job in a magazine, writing or even starting out my own business. Another thing I've been thinking about is stability and how long would I have a job in fashion for, compared to maybe a teacher.
I've recently been looking into lcf - London college of fashion, as a potential university in a few years to come after college. Not entirely sure what I would like to specialise in yet, but maybe things will come into perspective later on.
My main issue at the moment is deciding on what I would need to take for whatever pathway I want to go into and ultimately deciding on a job that I want to work towards. I've been thinking what other more realistic jobs I would like instead of going into fashion, but honestly, there isn't anything else I'm really as passionate about. Being a primary school teacher has been something I've been looking at, but I always just get drawn back to the fashion side of things. Does this say something?!
Does anyone have any help/advice that might help me in deciding on college/university/my future or what career path to go down? Would be really appreciated! :)
ohhhh dear I know your problem :)
ReplyDeleteI have the same & I don't know what I should do now :P
www.simplebutreal.com
It's really frustrating! haha, good luck :)
DeleteThere's countless of different ways you could enter the fashion industry. Try and narrow it down into one certain category. If you're into designing actual clothes, build up a portfolio of sketches of your own and start making mood boards. You could also be a fashion PR, you'll have to know how to juggle different clients (brands / designers) to be able to work with them. You can also do public relations in fashion as well as marketing. Get a job or internship at a fashion firm in your area. You'll be able to get some hands on experience of working in a showroom and displaying yout merchandise for clients. Who knows maybe one day someone from Elle magazine might walk into the firm that you intern in and she's looking for some new pieces for an upcoming photoshoot. There's also another branch -- fashion journalism. Do you enjoy writing about fashion? It seems so considering that you have a blog of your own. Try and submit articles of your own to fashion magazines or work as an intern there. A lot of the people in the fashion industry didn't start off with going to a fashion college or having anytihng fashion-related as a major. The fashion world is flexible -- they need writers, accountants, marketing experts, communication experts, graphic designers, designers, photographers, salesmans, public speakers, advertisers, interns, and so on. All of those I listed are actually separate and individual majors and are realistic as well. So you can definetly start out just majoring with a realistic major. After that, you can branch out into the fashion world because then you'll have something solid you studied/majored in already.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and work hard!
Christal,
fashion-forthesoul.blogpost.com
Thank-you so much, you've been so helpful! :)
Deletei know its not easy deciding and i totally agree with you, some people underestimate how difficult it is to break into it!
ReplyDeleteim 17, last year of college and off to uni this year. I'm off to study business, and after hopefully go into fashion because the amount of people with normal fashion degrees is huge! i recommend do the subjects you're comfortable with and dont narrow yourself down too much yet! Keep your blog going, it will give you so much experience that many wont have! (also might even get you into the fashion industry!) good luck! hope i helped :)
http://union-apparel.blogspot.com/
Thank-you! Yes you helped a lot :) good luck in uni!
DeleteI felt the same way at your age, I was very 'artsy' but didn't want to study art at university so I took a Fashion Styling degree. I soon realised the course was too specific for the kind of work I ended up wanting to do (fashion writing) but the one very important thing I learnt and took away from it, was that it's all about who you know, not what you know. You sound very passionate and sure about working within the fashion industry. Don't worry if your dreams don't seem "realistic", nothing worth having comes easy. You can achieve anything with a little bit of hard work. Maybe, if you need help trying to whittle down what you would really like to do, why not try doing some unpaid work experience? Various companies are keen to take on young people like yourself, and this is a good way for you to see what it's really like to work in the fashion industry. Get in touch with some small house designers, online magazines, blogs, print magazines, retail, PR..there are endless opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI wish you luck hun! =]
www.jexandthecity.com
Yeah that's very true, you've really helped me, thanks so much! :)
DeleteI totally agree with you, if you truly want something you can make it happen!
ReplyDelete4 years ago I was in a very similar situation to you, I was struggling to decide whether to do something sensible or follow my heart! I applied to LCF and despite being offered a place in a very specific fashion based subject, I turned it down in favour of a more broad course that could lead me down several routes at the end! My advise to you from someone who's been there, choose something broad now and specify later! Personally, I'd like to end up doing something in fashion magazines, and so instead of studying fashion magazines now I chose to study Publishing. That way, I have several options for my career path and I'm planning on doing a masters degree in something more fashion related later. I'd advise you to do something similar, it'll give you a lot more options in your life later on :)
Sorry for the waffle, I hope I was remotely helpful! x
No no it's fine, you were really helpful! :) Thanks a lot!
DeleteGood luck with your choices! I'm having to make the same ones, trust me. I have so many different paths and don't know which to take! I've decided to go for a Media & Comms degree, and work my way up in a magazine starting as an intern. Hopefully that'll get me to where I want to be.
ReplyDeletex Michelle | thefeatherden.net
Good luck in your degree! :)
DeleteI'm currently doing a Fashion related course at uni, and when I mention it everyone automatically assumes I'm going to be a fashion designer. But the truth is, there is so many different jobs within the fashion industry and designing is such a small role. If you're not completely sure what you want, try some work experience. Try a few weeks over the summer in a company helping with their buying, or maybe pr or events. You might find something that you're really interested in. If you have such a big interest in fashion and want to work in the fashion industry, don't let yourself think that it's an unrealistic goal. I didn't take a fashion related subject at college because I didn't believe that I could get anywhere with it, but now I'm at uni and hoping to become a fashion events organiser when I leave and it was the best choice I've ever made. If it's something you want to do, do it or you'll grow old wishing that you'd explored that option.
ReplyDeleteI hope I've been a little helpful? :) xx
I'm definitely going to be looking for some work experience in the summer which I agree would be really helpful in the future! Thank-you so much, you've really helped a lot! :)
DeleteLoved this, I have gone through many a similar feeling and phase. If you're willing to live and breathe fashion, I say do it.
ReplyDeleteYou have plenty of time to decide what area yet so think the main thing is to not put pressure on yourself.
I've written quite a few things on my blog about the fashion industry and interning. May be worth a read.
Hope this helps! x
That is very true, I agree. Thank-you, I'll check it out :)
DeleteI'm in the almost exact same position as you, in my last year of school, absolutely desperate to work with fashion and indecisive on how to go about it. Ideally, I'd like to do fashion journalism so I'm taking 4 a levels which I feel are a good basis and back up the choice of journalism but also are open enough to lead me to other careers too. I'm choosing English, French, Politics and Textiles to study at A level and then go on to University after taking a year out on work experience. I can't give much advice, but I can relate to you and would recommend getting so academic A levels to give you a good basis of qualifications. :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thank you so much for following my blog - I'm following back!
Thanks for your advice! It's so frustrating trying to decide and I just get stressed out haha. You said about taking a year out before uni, I was just wondering what your plans/ideas were about that? would be interesting to know! :) Good luck in your A-levels!
DeleteNo problem, thank you aswell!