Considering Your Career Path

Fresh out of high school, everyone pegged you as a stiletto shoe-in for a degree in Fashion Design because you were a young and bubbly Elle Woods type who was always up to speed on the best designer clothing. 

Now you're finishing up a program in psychology and wondering if maybe your friends were right. Should you pursue fashion writing as a career? You know your stuff. You love to shop. You've been to New York for Fashion Week. Is this even a question? Aren't all signs pointing to "YES"?

Well, hold on a minute. Just like any other field, fashion is one that is broad and complex, not summed up by surface level interests. Maybe you have what it takes to follow through with the grueling process of another degree and the work that is required to climb the many rungs up the ladder of success. Or, maybe you don't.

If you ask us,  there are a few things that aspiring style columnists always assume are good things to get their foot in the door, and their ideals constantly end up being sorely misaligned with reality. To help you out, we've created a list to separate the weak from the strong. 

You're probably not cut out for the job if....

You'll wear anything that's "hot" right now 

Before it hits the mannequin, your credit card is being charged for it at check out. Whether you actually like it or not, look good in a certain colour or don't, you'll die if you're not wearing the latest trends within a week of their retail debut.

You think the best decision ever made was UGG's collaboration with Jimmy Choo

You won't hear otherwise and you don't regret a single penny spent on their Spring 2011 collection. How are your moon boots treating you, by the way?

You call yourself a "fashionista"

Because that's what all the celebrity gossip magazines say.

Knowledge of the industry is limited to Cosmopolitan magazine and Coach, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi hand bags.

Once your Cosmo subscription is over, so is your knowledge of the fashion world. Fashion blogs? Photography sites? Who has that kind of time? Besides, they're not at all credible, it's just the Internet. 

You're the next "Carrie Bradshaw" 

Everything you've ever learned about Manolo Blahnik is of course credited to the fabulous TV series, Sex & The City. You and Carrie are exactly alike.

Courtney Gilmour
		About the author:
		Courtney is a published writer, stand-up comic, and shameless Internet enthusiast. She holds a double bachelors degree in English Literature and Communication Media Studies, specializing in semiotic theory, however she doesn't get Shakespeare and has never won a game of Scrabble. Currently she lives in Toronto and works as a writer for WOMAN.CA.
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