Finale Pt. 1

Well, yesterday was my last day of work–I’m no longer a fashion industry slave. Part of me is really sad that it’s over but another part of me is just really missing San Diego and everyone there! I didn’t have anything to do on the last day so I just spent a lot of time on the computer feeling bored and kind of sad at the same time.

Taiwan was typhooning all day today so I didn’t get to hang out with Vivian at Taipei 101. I’ll probably be seeing everyone in like, less than a week anyway, so whatever.

I still have like, 40ish more pictures to download from my camera, but I did manage to get these resized and ready for posting. They include the Bella Beauty Awards, my first outdoor photoshoot, another dinner with the Director, and a photoshoot with a beauty editor. (She ended up giving me a bottle of Benefit’s “You Clean Up Nice” facial wash and a compact with eyeshadow that is TOTALLY my palette. It was so nice of her to do so too… she really didn’t have any obligation to give me anything.)

Me looking foxy for the Bella Beauty Awards. As you can see, my hair is starting to straighten out.

The Bella Beauty Awards was held at a place called “Bando 8.” Sounds kind of ethnic, no? Maybe it’s just because it reminds me of banjo…

The award-winning make-ups and skincares.

The giftbags that I had to assemble. In the back, you have the giftbags for journalists. On the left, the giftbags for visitors/guests. They got different kinds of swag. The lucky journalists got my favorite Calvin Klein perfume.

Me at the podium!

They had little like, vanities for people to try the make-up. I didn’t get a chance to.

Booze. No wonder rich kids who go to a lot of functions get wasted young–it’s so accessible!

The display that showed all the winners.

I had to help set up the welcome table. Notice the business cards oriented in an artistic, staircase manner.

Everyone was starving by noon, and our caterer was late so someone else went down to buy food. Unfortunately, all the editors came in around that time and they were ravenous. Upon seeing numerous paper bags of food, skinny Asian girls pounced. It was kind of scary but really funny, as you can imagine. Luckily, I got a bowl of noodles before the frenzy began.

Schmoozing post-awards show.

Me and one of the beauty editors. She usually has really heavy eye make-up on. She recommended me a facial place.

The girl who sits next to me with the decked out desk. Her name is Nana.

Strawberry KitKat. It’s really not that good–in fact, it tastes kind of medicinal.

First outdoor photoshoot with Fashion Editor. It was RIDICULOUSLY hot and humid. I know it looks like a beautiful summer’s day, but it was probably like, 98 degrees.

The photographer, Armani. Hehe, his name really is Armani.

The model trying to balance on the giant birdcage housing a tree. In Taiwan, you only have to be really thin to model. There really are no other qualifications.

AIN’T SHE FIERCE?!

SO FIERCE.

After each change in outfit, the Fashion Editor looks at an uber-high quality polaroid that shows what the final pictures will look like.

My destiny as everyone’s bitch was fulfilled when I was instructed to haul bags of beverages from multiple locations to the photo studio. The only bright side was I got to pick what everyone drank. So everyone was stuck with water, orange juice/soda in really cute bottles, lemonade in really cute bottles, or tea.

There was a really gnarly photoshoot about shoes and there were boxes EVERYWHERE. EVERYWHERE. There was this really adorable pair of Marc Jacobs flats that I was sure I a took a picture of, but I guess not.

The EIC got a shipment of Fendi stuff, including shoes, boots, and bags. We got to walk around the studio holding the bags and I liked this one. The picture is kind of blurry but yeah. LOVE Fendi. Though sometimes they get a little crazy with the leopard print…

The Director took us to this weird place for lunch. It was very arty, as indicated by the building.

Mom and me and the crazy interior. It was kind of… cave-y.

They had weird statues with HUGE ginormous tatas.

Another day, another photoshoot. The model was tiny, but of course, she was thin.

She was getting her hair curled whilst on her cell phone. The make-up artist was this Japanese woman who lived in Taiwan. It was kind of weird hearing her speak Mandarin–she definitely had an accent, but it wasn’t necessarily “Japanese-sounding.” I have no idea how to describe it…

Photographer with his interns adjusting the lights and setting up for the next group of pictures.

The owner of this photo studio had the most adorable dog ever called Nono. I pet him once and he liked me so much he came up to me and hopped up on my leg. He was sooo cute and quiet and wasn’t scary. Awww…

So many photoshoots! And much love to the Fashion Director!

Ahh, it kind of scares me how long I haven’t updated! It scares me even more how many pictures I have yet to upload and share!

Anyway, the last two weeks of my internship have been really fantastic and busy. I think the last time I updated was some time before I went to the Bella Beauty Awards, which is this ceremony/show that honors the best brands in various make-up/skincare categories. There are awards for like, best mascara (Maybelline VolumeExpress or something like that) and which “whitening” product is the best (I believe it was something by Clarins). It was fun kind of seeing the whole event go down, I had to go there early to set up and stay a little while after to help clean up. The journalists got the awesome giftbags! They were given like, large bottles of Calvin Klein’s Eternity Moment (which is one of my most FAVORITE scents ever) as well as a Cittá Bella bag, Olay moisturizing facial mask, free copy of the magazine, and some other stuff I really can’t recall. Nonetheless, I REALLY wanted a bottle of perfume. The whole event wasn’t huuuge but the host was someone pretty famous from Taiwan… her name is Tian Xing (literally Sky Star) and she was really thin and quite pretty. The event also honored a model (I think it was a model) who got the annual Bella Beauty Award or something along those lines.

The event has LOTS of wine and cute finger food, as is commonplace for these kinds of events, but nothing as cute as the finger food from Chloé! I didn’t drink, again, but it’s all good.

I know this is out of order, but in order for me to go to this event, I had to buy a black dress. Everyone from the magazine had to wear black and since it was kind of formal, I definitely didn’t bring anything to suit the occasion. Fortunately, I found a dress somewhere at Zhongxiao Dunhua and I matched it with my patent leather plum Lacoste flats. Not the best ensemble, but it worked. I got my mom to curl my hair the morning of, but my extremely straight (and sometimes frustrating) hair was only mildly wavy by the time I got back to the office which was like, 4:00 PM or something.

Let’s see… somewhere in between the Bella Beauty Awards and today, I went to five or so photoshoots.

The first one had a model that was born in Japan and spoke with a honey-sweet lisp. She was reeeeally petite (maybe a bit shorter than I am) and of course, much much tinier in frame. I went with a Beauty Editor that day, her name is Tina and we were mainly taking pictures of skincare, I believe. I felt the make-up artist was a little unfriendly but it’s possible that my first ever photoshoot with a model was more awesome than the average photoshoot… in the first photoshoot, both the model and the make-up artist were really talkative and really nice. Eh. I really can’t remember anything particularly amazing about that day but I remember at one point the model had to lie on the ground and look up while maintaining a kind of… loungey pose. The photographer (who is like, over 6 feet tall) then climbed an industrial ladder to take the pictures. That moment really reminded me of ANTM.

The third model photoshoot I went to was was with Sophia (Fashion Editor) and it was also my first ever photoshoot where some shots required outdoor scenes. We went to a really pretty part of Taipei where there were some trees that shaded both sides of this sidewalk. The model was a little… I dunno. I kind of felt like she was wooden or something. Not very… expressive? I guess being a judge on ANTM is harder than it looks, I can’t even describe this model’s on-cameraness. >..< The EIC also borrowed some Fendi bags and shoes which were so delicious. The Fendi boots were very very nice as were the bags. Kind of heavy, but a lot better than some of Fendi’s remixed Spy Bags which are plain fugly.

Yesterday, I went to a photoshoot with a different Beauty Editor, her name is Nesha. I think she’s SO pretty. She has a really short haircuit and really pretty eyes. (She later told me that her eyelashes are actually permanently glued to her real eyelashes, giving her this really lush doe-eyed look.) Anyway, we went to a different photo studio to shoot her stuff, which was bright/candy-colored make-up. I thought the model was kind of ehh for this photoshoot, but she was marginally funny and kind of outgoing so I guess I can accept her. (Yes, that’s right, every model wants to be accepted by me!) I thought her face was a little weirdly shaped and the only reason why she’s a model is because she’s THIN. She’s not even tall (my height) or strikingly beautiful. The worst part of photoshoots I think, is waiting. So much time is spent in between make-up/wardrobe/light adjustments! It’s pretty aggravating, but not much can be done about the whole process. Random anecdote, but on the way to this photoshoot, I had to take a taxi and my driver was soo sketchy. His car was old and smelled weird, plus his license picture made him look like a pedophile. I guess I’m being rude, but he REALLY sketched me out. I made him stop like, a block early because I couldn’t wait to haul ass out of his creepmobile. :/ By the end of the day, it was POURING and so I took a taxi back to the office and whipped out my umbrella, which I now carry everyday. I have also picked up the really Asian habit of using an umbrella to block sunlight.

AND. TODAY. I WENT WITH SEAN ON A FULL DAY PHOTOSHOOT.

IT WAS AMAZING.

He is soooo adorable. Like, now that I’ve spent more time on the job with him, my crush has lessened somewhat, but I still think he’s sooo cute. He’s really like a big kid. The great thing about going on a photoshoot with Sean is that he ONLY deals with designers. And if he doesn’t the stuff is still decently high-end. Today’s photoshoot was a great experience. He took me, the photographer (whose name is Armani, by the way…), the photographer’s helper, the model (named Liv, she’s half-Asian), and the make-up artist/hairdresser to this boat on Danshui River for about 4 hours to take pictures of 7 different outfits. I got to handle fabulous stuff from YSL (clothes and shoes), Gucci (clothes, shoes… more like boots, belts), Louis Vuitton (shoes and clothes only, unfortunately), Prada (shoes, bags, clothes), Miu Miu (shoes, bags, clothes), and Dolce & Gabbana (shoes and clothes). There were SO many Prada/Miu Miu bags. I was in heaven. The bags are glorious. There was this one greyish-brown Miu Miu tote that is SO heavenly. And Prada’s shoes. My god. I’m so in love with the stuff. Anyway, it was pretty awesome how there were just bags and bags of this stuff, it was like… coming home from Costco. It sucked that I had to help move these huge and extremely heavy bags from the van/Sean’s car to the boat (the walk took like, 7 minutes too and back seriously) but it was worth it just to pretend that I had all these fabulous bags for a few hours. Being a model DEFINITELY sucks though. Because publishing magazine-stuff is always a month ahead, we had to take pictures of Fall fashion… which is usually heavy on the wool, knits, and leather. At one point, the model had to wear a cotton long-sleeved blouse (Gucci), wool capris (Gucci), a heavy knit sweater (Gucci, and this sweater was GIGANTIC), stockings, and knee-high leather boots. Sean also wanted her to wear two knit scarves (for color, of course) and one of the scarves had a little hat. His theme for that particular page was “knits.” Lucky model. The humidity was definitely at 100% today (if not more) and it was REALLY hot. She had to wear a lot of knits/wools and knee-high boots as well as stockings. I guess I would feel bad for her, but I was the one that had to fetch bags, shoes, clothing, pick up after her, and help Sean choose what to wear for the next set. The great thing about working with him is that he’s always positive and really happy. He’s definitely kind of disorganized and indecisive, but I’m pretty much the opposite so we worked well together. I even got to pick which outfits to take pictures of, which shoes to match, and best of all, WHICH BAGS went with WHICH OUTFITS. It was lots of fun. It was like playing a really deluxe version of Barbie. The polaroids of the shoot came out really really nicely. I can’t wait to see them in the magazine! It was pretty funny because at one point, Sean needed me to move his car (he was parked somewhere illegally) and after freaking out about his request 20 minutes prior, I agreed and moved his car for him. I was SOOO nervous, since I haven’t actually sat behind a wheel in like, 2 months now. I even have pictures of his car and the steering wheel. After the four hours or so on the boat and frantic cleaning up/loading the bags onto the car, we headed back to the photo studio to take pictures of just outfits/clothes. Again, Sean and I worked very speedily. He is seriously the best person to be an intern with. The whole day, I felt busy and needed and it was just so amazing touching all that yummy designer stuff. We actually managed to finish before 6 (which is the time I’m supposed to go home) and I have a feeling that I’m going to have an amazing night’s sleep.

In other news… my role as the resident Ugly Betty has officially been fulfilled with the Fashion Editor and Director both asking me to buy beverages/food for everyone while shooting. I was given company money to buy lunch and drinks from Seven-Eleven and some coffee place on two occasions. I had to haul like, 20 bottles back as well as a few boxes of food to feed everyone. I’m so proud!

Anyway. I know this is a long update and chances are you won’t read all of it, but I need to get it all down so I don’t forget say… a year from now.

Pictures will come eventually and boy do I have a lot of them!

Picturing Photoshoots, Press Conferences, and People

Yay, I finally bring you pictures. I was going to show you guys my awesome giftbags from agnès b and Ballys, but yesterday, mom packed everything in a paper box. :/ Lame.

Remember how I was complaining about packaging make-up and skin-care products into their right bags? Here is a little sample of all the packaging/sorting I had to do.

When we went to agnès b press conference, they had this woman do Henna on guests. This is the EIC of Cittá Bella getting her hand done. I didn’t because I don’t think my mom would’ve been too happy…

agnès b is a luxury travel brand. Here is some of the stuff you can buy when you go and brave hot sub-Saharan Africa.

And after your long trek, you can set up your own tent and pretend that you are Aladdin/Ali Baba and lounge on silken cushions drinking from decorated copper and bronze vessels that truly indicate your familiarity with foreign culture.

They also had two hookahs there, but I felt too sketched out to try a puff or two.

Here are the lights you are supposed to set up in the ceiling of your expansive teal tent.

Me listening to the sounds of Morocco on this cool vertical wall-mounted stereo with really comfy headphones.

Awkwardly enough, they had Taiwanese girls dancing like, Arabian dances (is that PC?) complete with swords and Aladdin-esque costumes. They also did a lot of ululating.

The hostess of the event asking them about their extraordinary dancing. (It was rather mediocre, in my opinion.)

On the weekend, we visited my uncle’s apartment a little bit outside of Taipei. His place is really pretty and they have an exercise room and an indoor pool as well as a movie theater all on the property.

That’s right, you heard them. NO BIRDS ALLOWED ON THE BUSES.

I went to the opening for Folli Follie’s new store near Taipei 101. Folli Follie specializes in watches and jewelery, but I think their clothes look really cheap. :/

British VIP talking about how awesome Folli Follie is.

Lots of people like Folli Follie apparently.

Folli Follie had REALLY cute waiters. One of them insisted that everyone take champagne because the photographers wanted a photo op of everyone raising their glasses to toast Folli Follie. 

Outside, they had this ice cream cart that gave out free ice cream. It was REALLY good ice cream. In the background, you can see a YSL bag that I LOVE. It’s the Fashion Editor’s and I have a smaller version of the same bag that is all pink. I’m totally saving up for the polka dotted version though.

Afterwards, we went to Taipei 101 to borrow clothes. Kookaï!

In my opinion, their clothes are very… prairie girl meets Ann Taylor.

The awesome Chloé finger food!

Blurry picture of people waiting for the show to start with their orange Chloé bags. *jealous*

I love their shoes this fall.

Except this pair. This model is wearing hooker/dominatrix shoes. :/

THESE shoes are cute. But probably ridiculously painful to walk in.

The Ballys show. They were seriously lacking places to sit which is POOR event planning.

Model.

All the models they used. The men are old. I feel like they are like, past-their-prime models.

The make-up artist’s gear at my first photoshoot with a model.

Some of the clothes I ironed.

Shoes. I actually didn’t set these up–the photographer’s interns did.

Model (on the left), make-up artist (background), and Senior Fashion Editor (right) discussing the metaphysics of the which handbag best suits the model’s outfit. These discussions last SO much longer than you can imagine.

Testing the light on the model. I’m a little shorter than the girl who’s testing the light, who is standing next to the model. Gives you some idea of scale.

Me and the EIC of Cittá Bella.

Me and the Designer

Me and the Fashion Director. Yes, this is Sean. He’s making a weird face, but I have some ninja photos that I *may* share discreetly that truly show his girlcrushworthiness.

Me with the Fashion Editor, also owner of fabulous Fendi and YSL bags.

Me with the Senior Fashion Editor.

And that concludes my picture post! My last day of work will be next Friday. I’m actually pretty sad about that…

Lots to say…

Let’s see… I haven’t exactly been abandoning this blog, but my time spent in the office staring at my computer have been few and far between now that the people around the office know that I am like, the best little intern ever. I don’t complain, I don’t tell them when I’m hungry or thirsty, I’m willing to do anything, and I always answer affirmatively. I also have what they call a “cute” foreign accent when I speak Mandarin. I guess it’s like the French, when Americans butcher French but still make the attempt to speak the language.

Yesterday I attended press conferences/fashion shows for Chloé and Ballys. It was totally amazing. At the Chloé show, they gave out tiny desserts with Chloé kind of printed on the chocolate. They also gave out orange plastic Chloé bags to go with the press info, but apparently, there weren’t enough bags to go around, so I didn’t get one. I TOTALLY wanted one too, I could use it for school since apparently, orange is SO in this fall. It also says “I ♥ Chloé” on it, which definitely ups its value by like $200. It’s really just a cheap plastic bag though.

The Ballys show wasn’t as cool as the Chloé one, but still pretty nice. I got a gorgeous leather photo album from this show. It’s soft and smells like nice leather. I felt like the models at the Ballys show were kind of old-looking… especially the male ones. So far, none of the male models can compare with the male model from the Prada press conference. YUM.

At the Chloé show, I was sitting next to the Fashion Editor who was sitting next to the Editor in Chief of Cittá Bella. A few seats down was the totally adorable Fashion Director, Sean. I looked over briefly and saw him waving at me in like the cutest, child-like, enthusiastic wave ever. I didn’t realize at first that he was waving at me so I looked him kind of oddly and slowly waved back, just in case he was really waving at someone behind me. (I hate it when that happens–especially at school!) But he WAS waving at me and thank god for dim lights because my ears/cheeks were probably pink.

Today I went to a full-day photoshoot with a model. I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but this was my first photoshoot with a live person–all the other ones have just been clothes laid out. The model was pretty cool and SO FREAKING THIN. She wasn’t anorexic or anything though, like she came in with this giant Taiwanese sandwich thing and for lunch she had this unagi don with hella rice. She’s so thin that when she wears a belt, the hole for the smallest size still fits loosely around her. :/ Nothing else really happened for the rest of the day, but it was A LOT of picking clothes for her to wear, trying out different accessories and shoes, ironing/steaming clothes, folding clothes, looking at pictures, etc. etc. The whole process began at around 9:30 AM and I left the photoshoot place at like, 7:30 PM. I’m becoming more and more like Ugly Betty… it’s kind of weird. And like, I know I’m not “ugly” like American Ferrera is supposed to be on the show, but I’m definitely more heavy-set than those tiny Asian girls that inhabit this country. We shot a total of 10 different outfits with like, 4 hair changes for a 6 page spread in the September issue.

Tomorrow I’m starting at around 9ish too. I’m not sure if tomorrow will be as stressful/tiring as today was because the person I’m going to be hanging out with only does make-up/beauty so we’re going to be primarily doing faceshots and like, no full body shots. Should be pretty fun though…

I do have pictures to share of the Chloé show, the Bally show, and today’s photoshoot. But I have a headache and I have to wake up early tomorrow…

It’s going to be sooo exciting next week–on Tuesday, Cittá Bella is having some HUGE event that only occurs once a year. I’m supposed to go there really early with the rest of the advertising staff to help set up. Hopefully I can score some more awesome swag!

Anyway. As you can tell, I’m enjoying my internship a lot more and I’m more excited to go to the office every day.

I can’t wait to see all you guys on the 22nd though. (My mom didn’t realize our flight was on the 22nd instead of the 20th… >.<) Senior year is going to be AMAZING!