To be a successful fashion journalist, you will need to eat, drink and breathe all aspects of fashion, so the more that you can demonstrate your love of the fashion industry the better.
Fashion journalism is a highly competitive field of work and you need to make sure that your CV stands out amongst all the others - a full and varied history of work experience is one way of securing the attention of potential employers.
Why do I need to do work experience?
Work experience is essential for two main reasons. Firstly, in order to be a good fashion journalist, you need to know your stuff. That means that you need to have firm opinions and view points on all aspects of fashion, and these take time and experience to develop and mature. Secondly, in order to get a job, you need to have a solid background in fashion and a 'look at me' CV, so a full work experience history will help.
Where to start
Some aspiring fashion journalists are lucky and secure dream work experience placements with their first round of applications, but for most, you will need to work up from the bottom.
First Steps
Since the work of a fashion journalist is so varied, there are a wide range of skills and interests of which you may need to demonstrate an awareness.
High Street Fashion
Either as work experience, or as a full- or part-time job, working in one of the main high street fashion stores such as Zara, Topshop or Mango will expose you to current street trends and also the opinions of the buying public, who will also be the ones ultimately buying what you write. You may be asked to help with the layout of clothes in the store or the dressing of mannequins, which will give you experience of fashion styling. Yes, some of the work may be menial, but remember the words of Oscar Wilde,
'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars'
Perseverance, hard work and determination are all required for a successful career in fashion journalism.
Journalism and publishing
At this stage look for work, either paid or unpaid, in any kind of journalism or publishing - be it the student magazine, the local newspaper or a small publishing firm. Don't just restrict yourself to work which allows you to write (see Getting Published) or to purely 'fashion related' work experience - as a successful fashion journalist you will need to show an understanding of publishing as a wider industry, so any experience of this kind of work will look good on your CV.
The day to day work of a fashion journalist
As a fashion journalist you will need to establish a good working relationship with a large number of people in the fashion industry, including photographers, make up artists, stylists, designers and PR representatives, so it may be worth trying to secure work placements, work shadowing or part time work in these fields to learn about what it is that they do.
'Don't criticize what you don't understand, son. You never walked in that man's shoes'
Elvis Presley
Dream Work Experience
Dream work experience would be to secure a placement at one of the major fashion magazines or in the fashion department of one of the national newspapers. Be aware that competition for placements, which typically last anywhere between one week and three months, is fierce, but don't let that dishearten you.
If you are lucky enough to secure one such dream work experience placement, don't expect to be writing your own fashion column just yet - most people on these kinds of work experience placement spend their time making cuttings from the morning's newspapers and bagging and returning clothes and accessories after fashion shoots.
Likewise a placement with a major fashion house or a well known fashion designer or photographer will also look very impressive on your CV (Resources).