Welcome to Gaia! ::

I was once a fashion design and merchandising student who quit after a few semesters. My reason was that I realized fashion was not my true calling ...well not necessarily something I was confident in and wanted to do as a living. I did really well in my courses and I still admore the artistry of fashion..I still have my favorite designer, I still like to sketch, work on colors and patterns, check out costumes, etc. But I knew I couldn't handle the work (plus I'm not a good sewer..heheh)..On my last day, the dean told me, "You know it wasn't going to be all glamorous." And she was right, I could feel the intense competition, the cat fights, the fast-pace and so forth. Fashion is amazing and full of wonderful creativity. So I was just curious to all of you who aspire to make it in this field, are you aware of what can really go on and you think you can handle it? Thanks

i'll try and fail and try again. i have a great friend to fail. and imagine when you fail then succed. how it must feel.

I guess that's really what I'm afraid of... it being too difficult for me. I'm the same way, sort of. I'm really proud of my ideas and my sketches, but sewing isn't one of my strong points. I've wanted to go into fashion since I was eleven or twelve, but as much as I'd love to try, I don't think I will... at least not for awhile. I think I'll turn to my other dreams for now.

i'm out there working in the industry now..and i can say, its very fun but the hours are long. Some how I expected all full time jobs to be 9-5..but fashion design jobs are 9-6 at the very least..often 9-7 with over time and everyone tries to make you skip your lunch break.. x.x (its still very fun and i wouldn't want to be doing anything else, not to scare anyone)

another major downside (that you'll probably encounter at least once in your career if you are dealing with smaller companies) is that everyone tries very hard to make excuses not to pay you in the end. If you're doing freelance and have no written contract and are paid through invoices, its rather easy for them to tell you the project has been stopped halfway and you won't be getting paid for all the work you put into it. You can argue but if they don't give it to you, you can't do much else... i've even been on the payroll with a company and on my last day there, they said they'd be mailing me my check but 3 months later i'm still trying to get it from them...really, all i can do is wait and hope the department of labor takes my claim....a lot of fashion people are not nice people and will try very hard to get one over on you for no reason..i just wanted to get that out there as a little bit of advice to anyone entering the industry..don't trust anyone and never leave without your money because despite how legit a company seems, once you are out their door there isn't much you can do legally x.x