Temperley London

I did it! I have officially survived my first day as an intern in the high-end fashion world. A friend of mine friend predicted that I would be like Whitney from The City; and another texted me asking how the internship was going and I told her I felt like LC on The Hills…minus the computer.

However glamorous that sounds, it did not start out well. First off, my train buddy Lindsey’s phone died in the middle of the night and she didn’t wake up in time to get to the city with me, so I start my journey alone and magazine-and-iPod-less. I meet someone from San Diego on the train (small world), and proceed to venture to the ACE subway and get off at Canal St. This, my friends, is where things go awry. I’m so turned around when I exit the subway station and have no sense of direction as to where to walk to. So I try to wander around and find W Broadway—ding! So I follow it about 4 or 5 blocks when I finally realize that I don’t recognize any of my surroundings. I resort to asking for directions and luckily the woman had a map and pointed me in the right direction.

Temperley London is located in SoHo among art galleries and stores like Kate Spade. The second floor showroom and offices are surrounded by 16 foot ceilings and huge photographs of models in the offices. The sales floor is beautifully lit and decorated with chandeliers, quirky-yet-chic art and racks upon racks upon racks of gorgeous clothes. Even the bathrooms are beyond glamorous with red walls, and an antique white sink and matching clawfoot tub. What kind of store has this? One that serves clients Moet & Chandon diamond encrusted champagne, that’s who.

I have my own desk and Virginia put me straight to work. I quickly became familiar with the design catalogue and how to check sample sale lists and pack away the samples. I did this for Spring/Summer 09, PreWinter 09, and Autumn/Winter 09, with a sneak peak at Cruise 2010. (It’s all gorgeous, by the way). I also found out that my boss (?) Virginia was used to be an intern there too, which is inspiring. It was a good day and I felt like I had made a good impression on everyone, at least I hope so.

Of course once I arrived at Penn Station to go back to South Orange, I got on the wrong train: for some reason the Dover train was an express, ugh. So after deboarding just in time, I sprint back to NJ Transit to learn that the next train back to SO was not for another half hour. After miserably waiting for that train knowing I would now be late to my night class, I arrived back in South Orange to find a lovely little parking ticket waiting on my car.

So while everything else in my day went wrong, I still had a great experience as a new intern—the only intern, might I add. Even though it was not the most exciting day ever, I’m just glad I didn’t have to start out with anything over my head. Virginia said that she would set me up my own e-mail account soon and that I should have a computer by Friday! Take that LC.