Fashion Journalism

[prosperk]

Journalists by default should be able to write about anything - not just about fashion. Most fashion journalists don't start out writing exclusively about fashion or anything in particular... You can say that fashion is your niche, but as a journalist, you should be able to research and write about anything asked of you.

That's a dangerous statement! LOL! Seriously, you're absolutely right. A lot of writers - as opposed to 'bluffers' - whose bylines appear in fashion magazines and supplements can and do write about other things. Many have worked in other fields. I started out writing for motorcycle and skateboard magazines. That led to style. I also reported from various unpleasant places for agencies. Writing for fashion mags was something I did for relief to begin with and I only started doing it after a fashion magazine editor-in-chief saw an article I written in The Big Issue about John Galliano. Mind you, I have rarely written about fashion as such. But yes, fashion writers ought to be able to turn their abilities to any commission, within reason, but the reality doesn't live up to the ideal in a lot of case.

PK

 

[prosperk]

im a journalist and have always wanted to really work with with fashion magazines. basically to get started you need a degree in journalism and a heavy background in fashion. possibly even as a minor. also work on your writing and try to get an internship with a magazine or such and start your career from that.

Not true. Read my post above. As I said in an earlier post but will say again in blunt terms, a degree in journalism or media studies won't impress anyone. I wouldn't advise any beginner to wave a degree at any editor who lets them through the door for an interview. An interest in fashion is obviously a plus if you want to specialise in fashion or fashion-related writing.

PK

 

[tortoisie]

^ Thanks for the tip! It really helps!

I got an "interview".

and they asked me what I expect in terms of directions and payment?

Because I am really new, I really don't know what answer to give them and I don't want to scare them away.

How should I reply?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Marie_Carmelle]

what interview did you get?

 

[tortoisie]

^ It sounds a bit weird, but an interview on MSN.

Those questions are sent to me via an email though.

 

[Marie_Carmelle]

that's good!! you should be proud of yourself!!

 

[Marie_Carmelle]

I need some advice too!! Not on a fashion journalist but creating my own magazine.. You see I am a Christian.. I've been buying magazine since I was 12 yrs old but if there's one thing that's always bug me is the fact that I never grew up on buying Chrisitan magazine for teenage girls because they aren't any!! Now I am 23 yrs planning on doing a degree if I get accepted either on Communication, Creative Writing, Eng Litt, I told myself I I don't get accepted in any of these choices I'll study a B.A Human Relations and do a certificate in journalism. But my dream as always been on creating my own Christian magazine for teenage girls, other than writing poetry and I'm working on writing a novel I do not have any writing experience I will next year work for the University newspaper and I was going to take a magazine writing class nect summer but for building my own successful Christian magazine that one day I hope to find on a newstand next to Vogue...how do I start???

P.S Sorry if it's way to long!!

 

[BetteT]

I need some advice too!! Not on a fashion journalist but creating my own magazine.. You see I am a Christian.. I've been buying magazine since I was 12 yrs old but if there's one thing that's always bug me is the fact that I never grew up on buying Chrisitan magazine for teenage girls because they aren't any!! Now I am 23 yrs planning on doing a degree if I get accepted either on Communication, Creative Writing, Eng Litt, I told myself I I don't get accepted in any of these choices I'll study a B.A Human Relations and do a certificate in journalism. But my dream as always been on creating my own Christian magazine for teenage girls, other than writing poetry and I'm working on writing a novel I do not have any writing experience I will next year work for the University newspaper and I was going to take a magazine writing class nect summer but for building my own successful Christian magazine that one day I hope to find on a newstand next to Vogue...how do I start???

P.S Sorry if it's way to long!!

Two things ... first read this thread that's already going on ... they are talking about this very question.

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f90/founding-fashion-magazine-50582.html

Anothe piece of advice that I will offer is that you should start learning how to write in a crisper, more precise way. Your post was very hard to read because it contained one long run-on sentance after another. You probably speak that way when you get excited and I'm sure that you sound fine. However, it's completely different when you see it in print ... very hard to follow.

I see that you are planning on taking writing courses ... and I suggest that you do that as soon as possible, even at a community college.

Then, practice ... start blogging and perhaps submit articles to small local magazines. Does your church have a newsletter? Ask to write a column for it for young women. Get your feet wet and see if you have the talent.

 

[prosperk]

I don't want to curb your enthusiasm for something that might do very well as a subscription-based periodical but I think a Christian magazine for teenaged girls would ever find itself next to VOGUE or any other fashion glossies on any newsagents' shelves. It would probably be in the Special Interests section or amongst the titles aimed at housewives/mothers, if the distributors took it on in the first place. It's very much a 'Pinafore Press' contender. Religious values and fashion don't really go hand-in-hand. Fashion worships Mammon and represents many things against which Jesus Christ railed. There again, 'Christianity' as we think of it today doesn't really have much to do with the teachings of Christ but we're getting into dangerous territory here so we had better get back on topic...

PK

 

[kimberwyn]

I'm really surprised that there's not more of a ruckus being made over fashion journalism here on tFS! Anyways, I wanted to ask a few questions. Fashion Journalism is one of 3 routes in fashion I'm considering (actually i'd like to do all of them!). I'm a pretty good writer and I do some freelancing. I do blog about fashion, and I even got a fashion article published in a magazine called Dollar Stretchers. Currently I've been asked to do a series of fashion columns on a site I write for regularly called Associated Content (http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/9783/kimberly_lawson.html). Most of the writing I do is about celebrities, but I've really been wanting to get a gig blogging on a fashion site or something. No such luck...

That brings me to my question about Freelancing. Ive done so much research on magazines you can submit queries or manuscripts to, and I RARELY if ever find fashion magazines. How do we find magazines and newspapers that will consider our stories? I dont even know how to submit to newspapers, or which ones accept freelance stories; I've never come across that information.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[twilight fairy]

I know that University of the Arts in London offers a Fashion Journalism degree..hm..

 

[Bella_Lass334]

Fashion magazine writer?

What should I major (and maybe minor) in if I want to write articles in magazines about fashion? Sorry if this has been asked before.

 

[prosperk]

Avoid any degree course related to journalism or media studies. If you want to have a degree under your belt, do something unrelated. If you want something slightly related, do English Literature with one or two foreign languages. Hell, do Spanish and Latin American literature at an English-speaking college. Just don't do a journalism degree. Get out there and write. Persuade editors to commission you. Less than 5% of the writers and editors I know have journalism or media-related degrees. Check this post out: click here

 

[Fabulyss]

^Wow, I never knew that statistic...quite surprising actually. I think as long as you have a superior ability to write than your major is irrelevant. Of course, you'd get a hell of a lot of practice with a journalism/english major. Keep in mind -- getting a job like that, especially if you're only keen on fashion, is very very coveted and rare.

 

[soozq]

wow, thanks so much for that article. really opened my eyes.. i always thought an MA in it would be good to get u out there for experience (and entrance to shows n fashion events in the first place!) but i guess not..

 

[prosperk]

Writing for the Catsfart Herald or www.fashionbore.com is more likely to get you into fashion shows and events than telling them you're studying journalism. The press department need to justify media invitations in some way and column or webpage inches win every time. They don't mind that you're writing for the Nowhere Times because they're prepared to gamble that you might actually make it into the pages of an important publication one day. Studying journalism is all very well but tear sheets and clippings of published work say more about you than anything else.

PK

 

[Rach01]

I've found that to be true in my limited experience...

I am halfway through my journalism degree and as I want to write for a fashion magazine in the future I feel like I have learned hardly anything with relevance.

But over the past 2 months I have been doing work experience at a magazine and have learnt so much. I have compiled alot of work and I will be getting my first beauty feature published in the next issue.

If you want to become a fashion journalist dont wait until you've finished your degree...just get out there and do it...you wont be getting paid but a getting a portfolio out there is worth it.

 

[Ianastar]

Ive thought about this too.

There are some mags that list how to submit articles. I guess you could just do one general article and submit it to several mags and see if you get published.

It would be a good way to at least get some feedback and maybe make some connections.

My problem is that I can't think of anything to write about that I would submit.

 

[Dezzydez]

Start a blog, seems like everyone is doing and getting "influential"..ahh, don't you just love the worldwide web!!

 

[prosperk]

A few bloggers have struck chords and been taken seriously but the vast majority never show up on the fashion industry radar. One problem with the 'democratisation' of media through personal computers and the internet is that every tube who imagines he or she has something worthwhile to say and the talent to say it is putting themselves out there, making it harder for those with merit to stand out amongst the crowd.

You have to be very good, very funny or very controversial - preferably all three - to be noticed and read. Declaring war on, say, a major fashion house or publisher is one of the various possibilities but you need to have excellent contacts on the inside to make an impression. A couple of fellows I know started a blog-cum-gossip webpage out of NYC a while back. It made Page Six look very tame. No holds barred! In the end, they were both 'incentivised' to close it down with plum jobs in print and broadcast media. It was made plain to them that if they didn't take the bribes - for that is what the propositions amounted to - they'd be very sorry. However, it is a risky career advancement strategy. You could end up bankrupt and living under the flyover in a cardboard box if you don't get your facts right.

It is far better to publish your stuff on someone else's website. Otherwise it smacks a little too obviously of vanity publishing...which is what 90% of blogs are. Unless blogging from some infernal warzone or publishing insider secrets and washing people's dirty laundry in public for them, nobody's going to read you.

PK