Vidal Sassoon Photoshoot

It's about 8:30 on Wednesday when I finally stroll into my flat..... Some of the girls from the course and I went out to dinner after our last class to celebrate qualifying. When I was out... my phone died.  I didn't think anything of this.... I didn't need to get ahold of anyone, all my work was done, plus I'd be home soon...

When I finally got some juice in my phone it went nuts, I had about 4 missed calls, 3 voice mails and an email all pop up at once. Well this was a bit odd.... I check my email quickly and the subject line just reads:

 VIDAL SASSOON STYLING JOB TOMORROW.

When I read the rest of the email I realised it was from Wendy and she had been desperately trying to get ahold of me for the last hour - and I had 10 minutes to get back to her or she had to offer it to someone else. I figured she had already passed it on but when I rang her she immediately picked up the phone and just said 'Thank god you've finally answered your phone'. 

Basically she had a phone call from a contact who urgently needed an assistant stylist to help out on a photo shoot for Vidal Sassoon at the academy in Knightsbridge.... and she wanted to offer me the job, and would I be up for it........ Uh hello yes! Not even a question, of course I accepted. 

Wendy gave me a quick brief and some advice and tips for the day - really helpful as usual. Then later in the evening both the photographer and the head stylist got in contact with me about the shoot. While it wasn't a paid job - my expenses were covered. Happy days. 

After already on a massive high from all the great feedback and celebrations - I was now on another planet. I forced myself to get some sleep as I had a call time of 830....

8:30 on the dot I was outside Vidal Sassoon..... Bright eyed and bushy tailed I was the first one on set, but everyone else arrived moments after. When Amy (The stylist) arrived.. we got straight to work. As the location of the shoot had changed last minute we were missing a few things... hangers, rails etc... so we were a bit hard pressed for space and had to make do with what we could find in the salon. 

Vidal Sassoon Academy Knightsbridge

The day started with organising all the clothes, getting them hung up, ironed, steamed etc and grouping them by outfits so we could present the models with a number of choices. The shoot was show casing all of the recent Vidal Sassoon graduates work. Amy was given a brief that all the clothes should be black and white and fit into the following categories: Sporty, Sexy, and Androgynous.

This was my first live job, I mean I had had experience within the course doing photo shoots etc - but this was my first chance to compare and they really prepared us for what to expect. Nothing shocked me or surprised me. I just tried to be as helpful as possible. Amy had put in all of the work before hand, sourcing the clothes, coming up with the looks etc... and it was my job to be a second pair of eyes.. and help out where I could. 

I ran a few errands, went to TopShop and begged them for about 100 hangers - which they happily obliged and even stopped by Amy's flat to pick up a delivery of more clothes from ASOS that hadn't arrived for the shoot in time. But it was really fun... I got to give my input where needed and stood in on a few of the shots monitoring the looks and making sure everything was in place. 

Amy working her magic on a female model

In this industry it isn't uncommon to come across people that are difficult to work with - but luckily on this shoot.. my first one, I had the best experience possible. Everyone was so nice and very humble. These are all very talented people and they were all super friendly and helpful.

At the end of our 12 hour day we finally finished. All that was left was to sort out all the clothes... which was not an easy task. Amy had spent about 2,000 on clothes and we had to go through and check off hundreds of items, making sure that every item on the receipt was there as it was all being returned the next day. 

I exchanged numbers and emails with a few people, and parted ways for the day. 

I made some really good contacts and hopefully will be working with both the photographer and stylist again soon - whether it's on a test shoot building looks for my portfolio, or assisting Amy again for other shoots. 

It was so unexpected to get a job this quickly.... but it was great, it has given me that last boost I needed to really realised how much I want this - and how much I need to keep at it so I can make it in the industry.

So until the next adventure.... :)