Shooting Stories for a Stylist's /Fashion Editor's Portfolio

[RedRach]

Help! I've been living in Eastern Europe for almost 2 years and it seems that I'm finally getting my break into the fashion world. A friend of mine has been hired as the photo editor of a new western European magazine which will begin syndication here soon. It seems that I will be interviewed for the position of Fashion Editor, but other than modeling a little myself, I have MINIMAL experience. (The people at the magazine seem more interested in my western fashion taste and the fact that I can read fashion magazines published in English than that I have lots of experience.)

They need a portfolio of my work in 2 weeks-YIKES!

So my main question is where should I concentrate my efforts? I need to get at least 3 strong, mass-market shoots in the book.

*I've got one scheduled for this weekend called "Special Delivery" where a blonde model will be trekking across the city with a giant bouquet of purple or orange flowers as if she were a delivery girl. The clothes will follow the flowered theme with solids layered for variety. Blouses, cropped sweaters, breezy skirts, etc. Chunky jewelry. Natural light. The photographer is good.

*I also plan to do one shoot in studio highlighting summer wear, capitalizing on 4-5 different trends from last month's Vogue (US). Basic white wall, maybe with some "hot" lighting to set the mood, same photographer.

*If you could choose a 3rd shoot what would you reccommend? There is a nice bar that I could use with simple, square, red furniture and gold walls but I'm drawing a blank as to what trend to highlight there...

sigh...

Basically I thought that I had 2 months to pull it all together and now I find out that I have 2 weeks. This doesn't even touch the language barrier that I have to deal with when borrowing from the shops.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind that this isn't the most avant-garde market and the book will need to appeal to a wide audience.

Ahhhh!

 

[RedRach]

I have all the clothes for the "Special Delivery" shoot with the flowers... So excited to shoot it now!

Am I alone or as a stylist are the rest of you tempted to "over style" for your shoots? When I go out I usually pile on jewelry, layer clothes, etc. This look is in now, but it's hard to not mentally think of your shoots as that put together. My photographer would rather just shoot a girl in a dress and nothing else most of the time.

 

[purplelucrezia]

*If you could choose a 3rd shoot what would you reccommend? There is a nice bar that I could use with simple, square, red furniture and gold walls but I'm drawing a blank as to what trend to highlight there...

I'm no stylist, but the answer to this one seems fairly clear, at least to me.
What about doing Asian trends, which have been present this year?
http://www.style.com/trends/trend_report/021205/asia_bestofrunway/index.html
Style.com has some ideas... I can see a lot of embroidery being used, luxury, long cigarette holders (tsk, I know), 1920's, very Marlene Dietrich.
You could also make use of your desire for lots of ornamentation here, and pile on the beads and jewelry and dark eye makeup. I think that that would set off the simple, yet richly coloured background just perfectly. Good luck!

 

[softgrey]

hi redrach...
welcome to the fashion spot...
good questions...

i likek the two shoots you have lined up...
the special delivery is very 'lifestyle'...
which you will want to show you are capable of...

the second is also good because it shows you can identify and portray trends...

for the third...
suggesstions...
a-a colour story...
you could play it really safe and just do a colour story...
which is always nice...very strong visually and will just look 'good' in the book...
**maybe red-it always photographs well...
you could just show accents of red..how to incorporate it into your wardrobe...
**black and white is also always very strong graphically...
and good because it's always easy to find the pieces...it's also seasonless...
so it works for a long time...

b- you could try do do something more edgy just to show that you have a more creative side....but this might not be the point here...

that's what i came up with off the top of my head..
hope it helps somewhat...

would love it if you would share some images in the stylists lookbook
once you have some...

2nd question-
it's is a natural impulse to 'overstyle' in your early days...
you have so much great stuff and you just want to use it all...
don't...!!...this is a sure sign of an amateur...
use accessories...but don't pile them on...
sometimes less is more...

actually...the red story could turn into an accessories story and give you an excuse to use more than usual..
or at least highlight them more...
this could be a good showcase...

just some ideas..

 

[RedRach]

Thanks guys for your advice. I consulted with me friend at the magazine and she really likes the flowered clothes I pulled.

She sugg that I ditch the summer trend idea because she wants me to concentrate on early fall now so it looks like I'll be doing an Edwardian story...very dreamy...diffused backlighting....in an orchard near the castle. I'd like to play it up for the dramatic with big hair (ala McQueen) and dark berry lips.

I like the red story idea. Originally I was going to do a white story but this trend is passing too quickly. That will be in studio against a white drop. I'm really in love with simply red beads right now worn with black camisoles...very Spanish...very sexy. I bought a strand at the shops for 80kc (like $3US) and get complements on them all the time.

I'll keep you updated! (...and will post the pics.)

What do you think of the Edwardian story? Any ideas?

 

[softgrey]

edwardian?...
wow..you guys really aren't following current trends...
i guess it works if i think about it in the monastic terms of YSL...

and black is very big for fall...so that works...
it doesn't strike me as very 'mainstream' or commercial...
when i think edwardian i think very 'dark' and moody ...

maybe in a park or an old house....
very 'english'...charles dickens...jack the ripper....
that sort of thing...

 

[RedRach]

I need something to make the portfolio pop and the Baroque/Roccoco thing will be big this fall. You can already find a lot of the jackets here.

You don't see it as a "trend" now?

 

[softgrey]

i guess i just wouldn't call it 'edwardian'...
there are elements of edwardian...
like the jacket you mentioned...and some black beads...and some lace...
i think it reads more 'clerical' (monks/priests/nuns etc...)...imo...

edwardian just screams early 90's to me...
when it was REALLY edwardian...almost a costume...
with top hats and canes and all...

i think the modern way to do it is to show how to incorporate edwardian elements into a wardrobe without having it look dated...or costume-y...

just my opinion...

 

[RedRach]

Hmmm...so anything too costume-y might hurt my book? This is just like me to think of something too over the top.

What about lovely flow-y dresses with minimal/no accessories? I'm stressed to the limit pulling these 3-4 shoots together in a week.

The good news is that I was able to get all the props for Saturday's shoot today. Found an awesome silk flower shop and have a huge faux bouquet that won't wilt in the hot weather. I'm not sure we can expect such results from the model and the team though! It should be 32'C!

Saw soo many red pieces at the shops today...so I think the red story is a def.

The summer trend story got canned for being too summer and "over".

So the shoots stand as:

the "Special Delivery" story,

the red story,

the debated Baroque shoot,

and still something yet to be decided at the great green cafe downtown. Will try to find a pic of the cafe and post it for ideas.

 

[softgrey]

'lovely flowy dresses' doesn't really sound like a 'story'...
unless there is something special...

how about 'party dresses'...

 

[RedRach]

Fair enough. Don't think I can really do party dresses outside though.

Off to do the flowered shoot now.

 

[RedRach]

First shoot finished! Hot day and a "new face" model...which makes me point out that I never want to work with a new face again. It was really tough to get expressions out of her: she had two faces, smiling and "lost".

But all in all I'm sure that I'll get the 4-7 shots that I need. We shot 10% digital and the rest on film (which will be developed Monday). I'll post a few of the digi shots here after the post-production is done.

Just to be certain we got it, I'll shoot it all again in studio Monday night with a more experienced model.

Notes after the first shoot:

-get pants a size larger than the agency suggests
-we could have used two assistants to carry everything
-ziploc bags for each look's accessories is a MUST (they were lifesavers!)
-bring something to snack on and plenty of water

I'm sure most of this is common sense but it might help someone else in the future.

Cau cau!

 

[softgrey]

good notes..
always drink plenty of water...
so easy to get dehydrated from all the running around and carrying stuff...

and bigger clothes is always better...
you can always pin...but there's not much you can do if you can't even get it on...
*short of cutting the whole sample up the back...

congrats!...can't wait to see some images...

 

[mishahoi]

congrats redrach!! im off on my first shoot EVER here in 5 minutes... all free work...no pay but i need portfolio shots... its for a menswear japanese street brand... horrible clothes, but you gotta do whatcha gotta do right? we only have the model for a couple hours and it looks like it might rain... wish me luck!!

 

[RedRach]

Good luck mishahoi! Post when you're done and let us know how it goes. I hope that the weather stays dry for you!

 

[softgrey]

good luck misahoi...
let us know how it goes!!...

 

[RedRach]

How did it go Misahoi?

Here is a shot that we did in studio on Monday night with a different model. I still don't have the prints from last Saturday...

We shot outdoors with a different team yesterday. I hope to get the disk tonight...we used a 10 megapixel camera! It was lovely.

...and if anyone has any doubts, this is tough work! My feet are killing me after a week of pounding the pavement borrowing clothes and doing shoots. Hopefully it will all pan out into a job afterall.

 

[RedRach]

Pics

Oops...here they are. From Monday night. Just playing with my clothes. Too big for the model but pinned within an inch of their lives!

 

[softgrey]

congrats on your first shooting...
hope you are happy with the results...

 

[RedRach]

Urban Angels

Here's a few of the shots from our "Urban Angels" shoot last week where I played on the styling from the Alexander McQueen S/S 2005 collection. We used the same dress the next day for a model's test, so I'll post that too.

I'm extremely pleased with the riverside shoot. The team was very professional and I got just what I needed. (More attachments forthcoming...)

What do you think?