We always hear that the fashion field is full of glam, richness and elegance. Besides that, fashion allows you to show the world a little more about yourself. After all, the first thing that people look when they see you for the first time is your style. But when it comes to fashion journalism, there’s always the image that this area is the best of both worlds: the glam of fashion with the versatility of journalism. But does this match up with reality?
There are many movies that kind of reinforce that image, while show that, to be glamorous in this area, you have to get to the top. And this is never easy. For example, we can see that clearly in the film The Devil Wears Prada. The story is about Andy, a journalist who hates fashion, but ends up working in one of the biggest fashion magazines in the world. While she’s there, she has to deal with a lot of pressure, coming from her co-workers, her boss and even her friends. The more time she spends there, the more she understands that things in that field are not as easy as she thought.
Image Source: Flaunter
This movie is what inspired Beatriz Pansani, a journalist student at Cásper Líbero, to study journalism, and not fashion. “I always loved to pick my clothes alone, since I was a little kid. I used to buy my dolls because of their clothes, and not their houses”. But, as the years passed by, she realized that, maybe, the field of fashion was harder than she thought. “I had friends that had graduated years ago, but couldn’t get a job.”
“It sounds really cliché, but one day I was watching The Devil Wears Prada and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do that: I wanted to do what Andy did.” That’s when she chose journalism. Now she is in an internship in fashion consulting. When asked about her experience, Beatriz told us that “Yes, people are dazzled about that area, and yes, there is a lot of glam in the fashions shows and that stuff, but we have to fight for our jobs here. It’s a very busy field.”
About that, we talked with Zeinab Bazzi – Nana – a journalist student at Mackenzie University. As well as Beatriz, she’s in love with fashion since she was a little kid. “My mother owns a store at Brás and I always had contact with that. When I grew up, Harry Styles became my biggest inspiration. Through him, I realized that fashion is way more than just a passion, is way of expressing yourself.” Nana decided that she didn’t want to study fashion because she’s more into writing about it than making it. “Working in this field is really dynamic, but we have to work really hard. And people from top are pretty inaccessible.”
Image Source: Anete Lusina
So yes, the field of fashion journalism can be very glamorous, but only if you work really hard to get on top and stay there. Beatriz said that “People are kind of workaholics here, because of the fear of the concurrence and the passion that we all have for fashion. It’s a combination that makes us work really hard. But, in the end, it’s all worth it. For me, the real glam that people always talk about is when you see that your work is giving results.”
Nana told us that “you are always surrounded by fancy brands and well-dressed people, fancy parties and a lot of ostentation. But we always have to keep in mind that, to stay there and ensure our spot there, we have to keep working, without ever getting off the heels.”
After all that, we got to the conclusion that every story has two sides. The fashion journalism is really nice and fancy, but only if you are willing to work hard and to never give up.