This week was not very eventful, I must say. On Thursday Emily had me pack up 5 dresses to ship, and then run errands to pick up lining at Guide Fabrics, beading at Rehka Beading, and buy more flowers from Lasting Art. I also spent time printing out various resumes in emails that had replied to Pesavento's new ad for finding a freelance patternmaker. I took a quick peek through all the 4 different resumes and saw a range of expertise and education. While a couple applicants had very impressive resumes with 25 years of experience both in China and America, another one included only a few years of experience at some place called "DJ Fashion". The way they worded their cover letters also revealed that some had forgotten to spell check! I listened to Emily and Jamie as they perused over which applicants to interview and which resumes to throw out. I learned that experience really is everything.
On Friday, Emily had me send swatches out to Hartly's, a store in PA, I believe. The girl who had purchased a dress was asking for a swatch of the gown fabric so that she could go and find matching shoes and bag. I cut out two swatches for two sheets, one to be sent out and one to be kept in our records. I named the fabric manufacturer, color, style, and price. Then I found Hartly's address in Pesavento's master list of patrons, copied it down, added a stamp, and stuck it in their "to-go" mailbox. Then Emily sent me to Rehka Beading again, this time to drop off 1 yd of tulle to be beaded. Upon my return, Emily did not know what else she needed help with. I ambled around for 1/2 hour before the long lightbulbs burnt out and Jamie sent me across the street to buy 2 (they were taller than I!). Thank god the store was only across the street, I was so afraid of cracking the light bulbs! Finally, Jamie gave me one last assignment, and boy was it nerve-wracking! He pulled out a few magazine clippings with names and faces of the top senior vice presidents and fashion directors of various department stores, including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, etc. He then asked me to make a chart of their name, title, address, phone, and email, by "gathering information". That was all he said and since these people are high profile I was not sure how to call and ask. Emily suggested I pretend that X Director had sent us an invite to show our pieces for the Fall 2009 collection and could I get a contact number. Dumbfounded, I nervously called X Dept Store first, sure that they were going to find out I was lying and cause me extreme embarrassment. However, nothing of the sort occured. I was first hooked up to the customer service lady, who put me on a 3-way connection with corporate. The lady was very nice and asked if I needed the showroom's phone number. Then I politely said "actually, we were looking for _________"? And the lady immediately said "Ohhhhh ____! He's not in NY right now you see, but hang on, let me get his cell, would that be okay"? Totally amazed, I replied that that would be great, and just like that I was able to get his number. Then it was 1:30 pm and I had to go to class, but I left with a sense of accomplishment that I could in fact follow thru with this tricky business. Even Emily was suprised that her idea had actually worked!
Next week Emily let me have the week off since it was spring break and I asked for some extra time to catch up on sleep and schoolwork. Check back 4/16 for new experiences!
-la vie en rose
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