INTERNSHIPS .. part 2

Here are a few more opportunities too good not to share..

MOMA
 Museum of Modern Art, NYC

This is not just for artists. There is a little something for everyone here..



http://www.moma.org/learn/courses/internships

Summer internships are a minimum of three days per week, one of which must be Tuesday (big day at the museum???) and run June 7 through August 12.  They are for college credit, or not, and are offered in a huge variety of areas and disciplines: Curatorial Affairs (media, performance, design, photography, print, etc); Education and research support, Exhibitions and Collection Support, External Affairs, Marketing and Communications, retail, IT, etc.  If you don't know what these mean exactly, there is a little better explanation when you click on "departments".

Into Sports?? Sports management, leisure industry? Entertainment?

I admit to not actually knowing what kind of a team the Baltimore Ravens are... but it looks like they hire a bunch of interns in operations, hospitality, community relations, event assistance, fan development... LOTS of stuff.  As you may have already guessed, this is at the Ravens Training Camp in Baltimore.  Go Ravens.. ahhhh whatever you are ....

http://www.internqueen.com/content/Internships/baltimore-ravens-training-camp-marketing-intern-summer-2011

OKAY, I googled them and from the look of the photos on the site, they play FOOTBALL.. once again, woot! Go Ravens!




Final one for the day.... this came in A's mailbox from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars who want to Honor, Inspire and Engage you.. in their Live Learn Intern Summer Institutes.

Though I poke gentle fun, their offerings actually look pretty good. Note: The deadline for applications is March 3; the internship runs from June 5-July 30.

Internships are offered in: Public Policy & Economics Journalism, Communications & Public Relations Corporate Business & Government Affairs Community Service & Nonprofit Sector

WHERE??  Georgetown University in D.C. with the opportunity to earn up to 9 credits.

So, here is the link..

http://www.dcinternships.org/

Internships...

Recently I have been asked by both college students and mommas of college students about internships.  The students are juniors: sort of the "last chance" summer for a great resume-enhancing internship. Summer, 2011.

Here are some resources and some suggestions.  I may not have a lot of photos to work with here, so this could be a little dull on the visuals.

First, there are new guidelines issued by the Obama camp for internships.  These are designed to accomplish two things:  1) help prevent students who are interning from taking paying jobs from those in the marketplace who are in need of employment and 2) help prevent exploitation of students as a source of free labor.  Well, the students are still "free" labor, but they must be eligible for college credit so at least they get something out of it.  There are rules: the internship is supposed to actually provide training similar to what is provided in an educational environment; it has to benefit the intern; the intern does not displace regular employees, etc.  You can read all about it here in the April 2010 circular issued by the US DOL, Wage and Hour Division.  Last summer, employers were sort of ignoring this, to a large degree.  This year, it seems to have caught on.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm

There was an article written about this last summer in the NYT Fashion and Style section.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/fashion/04Internship.html



 There is a lot of controversy about these new regs. FIRST, and most importantly, it favors the wealthy.  Many students do not have the funds to spend a summer in an unpaid internship- even if it is for college credit.  And the interpretation of these new rules seems to be: don't pay interns, (taking a job away from someone else), offer college credit (not everyone who could benefit from an internship is in college).  As a result the less affluent student ends of schlepping coffee somewhere to make ends meet and the kids whose families can afford it get the prize internships.

So, that's the lowdown on the rules.  Some companies have backed down on the internships offered, others are beefing up their programs to make them more "educational".  Schools seem to be a bit pokey on finalizing their requirements for an internship and distributing to students so that students know what elements they need to have in place for their internships.  Most of them seem to consist of: You have to write a paper about it.

Now: How to find a great internship...?  I recommend TWO approaches.

1).  The Direct ASK.  If you know of or can find someone or some place that you would like to intern, send them an email.  For example, last summer A. wanted to do a dance internship, so she just emailed Limon, Ailey, and others.  (as an aside...Ailey has a formalized internship program and she went to interview with them.  They met with her and graciously showed her around and never actually sent her a confirming email.  She accepted another internship.  Then in April, they emailed her with the schedule for when she would start, etc. etc. Eh?  Anyway, just a sidebar. )  Switching to photography this summer, she went the direct ASK route as well as the formal internship program application process (see number 2).  For this method, first find the most likely contact within the organization. Search their website for Careers, Internships, or Contact info.  Write an email with Summer 2011 Internship in the subject line. The email should: state what you are looking for, (paragraph 1), state your skills (paragraph 2) and state why you want to work with THEM (paragraph 3).  As attachments, add your resume, as well as any relevant websites.  For example, in A's case, she linked her photography websites (she has two).  On the resume, include your email and phone and references.  Also mention your contact info in the cover letter.  If you don't hear from them, check back in 10 days.  If you DO hear from them, answer promptly.  I mean, immediately.  Some folks insist on a face to face interview, other will settle for a phone interviews.

2. The Website Application.  Some of the larger companies have formal internship programs.  Conde Nast is a great example of this.  Check out this application, which I think is actually due February 11.

http://www.condenastcareers.com/internprogram.cfm

They are not notifying candidates until MARCH.  A little late...

There are other sites to check out. Here are a few:

HFM U.S. Internships. They publish ELLE. Search for HFMUS.com and look for internships.

Hearst Magazines also offers an internship program.  Apply at:

http://hearstcareers.silkroad.com/hearst/Employment_Listings/Applying_For_Internships.html

Just so you know, Hearst owns Cosmo, Bazaar, Marie Claire, Esquire, O, Seventeen, Veranda, etc.

There are many, many more.  How do you find out about them??

The Greyest Ghost.  This is an old posting, but has a lot of good info about companies that offer internships and some great contact information

http://thegreyestghost.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/spring-2011-fashion-and-editorial-internships/

You can "like" InternQueen on Facebook and you will get all of Lauren Berger's updates. These internships are across the board, all sorts of fields, different locations.  She also gives tips for interviews, resume writing, etc.

http://www.internqueen.com/12210/index.php

Fashionista is also one to watch, tho this is not primarily an "intern" blog.. This particular link tells you that Page Daily is looking for interns.

http://fashionista.com/?s=internships




Fashionista has a whole page devoted to Careers, with several internships listed.  They are in a broad range of areas: technical designers, sales/marketing interns, visual merchandising, social media, public relations, editorial, broadcast, photography.  There are DOZENS of great ops listed RIGHT HERE.

Check them out! There are some fantastic ops here.

http://fashionista.com/fashion-careers/internships/

So, if you think these internships are only for Blair Waldorf, Serena, and Dan, WRONG.  Yes, you have to live in NYC (for many of them, or LA) but no, they are not just reserved for those who reside in the Upper East Side or who study at Columbia.  Go for it.




A BIG POSTSCRIPT!!


 If you think that a 20 hour per week internship is a piece of cake, think twice.  We just got the Appalachian guidelines and they want the intern to do: 1) keep a daily journal 2) every two weeks do a paper to submit to the university summarizing the work and the journals, and 3) complete the internship with an 8-15 page paper. Also there are a number of criteria that the employer must evaluate you on: teamwork, interpersonal skills, kept agreements, judgment, dependability, punctuality, appearance, dress, integrity, knowledge of subject matte, communication skills, initiative, time management, ability to teach others, etc.  It also requires written evaluations in several areas in addition to the aforementioned poor >excellent rankings on qualities.  Not to mention, no part time "job" ever really stays within the lines. There are events, work assignments that do not occur within the 9-5 parameter, staying in touch after work hours, sending work related emails after hours, etc. Also, transportation in a big city like NYC can be a little more complicated than driving up the street, depending on where you live, where the internship is.

To work or not to work?  This is also tricky. If you want to maximize your internship experience and be able to go wherever the employer wants you to go (industry parties? after hours shoots or social events? ) and also be available to go to off-work hour stuff like .. dance classes? the gym? the very tempting night life scene? .. then you want to be careful not to jam yourself up with 20 hours per week of an internship and then 20 hours a week of work, or another internship.. It all depends on how organized you are..

Finally, Appalachian's guidelines are:  40 hours of work = 1 credit hour, with a minimum of 6 weeks in the internship.  So if you work 20 hours a week for 6 weeks, that's 120 hours or 4 credit hours. Remember, you need to REGISTER in advance for the appropriate number of hours at your university, so that's a consideration. Do you want to register for 8 hours and bind yourself to 40 hours a week for 8 weeks.. ahh probably not.  So the most sensible sort of commitment would be something more on the order of 20 hours a week for 8 weeks for 4 credit hours, or some version of that..

A caution, I guess.  Beware the overcommitment possibilities..

Shopping the Sales...

Okay, it is no secret that I like to shop. The most frequent beneficiary of my shopping is my daughter because, hey it's much more fun to shop 20 year old fashion than.... ahhh mom fashion (or lack thereof).  Size 4 is just cuter.

Having said that, here are some goodies out and about..

Groupon just sponsored a lovely little deal whereby you spend $30 and get a $60 "groupon" at Gena Chandler.  I love to shop at Gena Chandler. They know us by name, know what would look good on A, and don't act all irritated on the few occasions when I leave without purchasing something.  Here is what I bought with my Groupon.. the dress on the left.  It's gray and sort of sweatshirty.. I was able to slip it to A when we met her at the airport as she was off for a mental health weekend in NYC (dancing, singing, playing, fun). It will look great with her tall black boots and a black tank under it (or, something lacy/black..).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gena-Chandler/147133077816

The dress on the left is sort of sweatshirty, loose on top,
elastic at the waist, slim on the bottom. 

I also got this little dress, in navy, on sale at Uniquities at Cameron Village last week. It is made by Three Dot. It was difficult deciding what to get as they had a great sale.  After an internal debate of about 30 minutes, I decided that this dress, made from cotton jersey, would work great in the winter and fall with boots, as shown, and would also work in warmer months with sandals.  I think it can also dress up with some funky heels (red? yellow) or some booties with maybe some bright yellow tights.

Three Dot from the Uniquities sale at Cameron Village

Oh OH, a lucky find at Fleur in North Hills.  I don't often actually buy anything their because it's just too expensive.  But they had a ONE day sale and everything in the store was $100, at least everything that was fall/winter merchandise.  I like to make my sales count, so I gravitated to the most expensive stuff, the stuff that I normally would not take a second glance at. 

Okay so after a search I could not find the exact Chloe Jacket (See by Chloe).  It's similar to the one below, but has a different collar.  It is a contemporary take on a Chanel style.  Dress it up or funk it up.. 

The original cost was $575. I got it for $100. 

J Crew is having a "final sale" online and here are a few finds: (though I didn't purchase them.. )

This is the Chalet turtleneck sweater. However, it looks like a
cowl neck sweater to me.  It is $39.99 and comes in about 5 colors.

Jayne Platform heels from J Crew.
Reduced to $129 from $228. 

Anthropologie has a lot of their winter stuff on sale now.  Here is an interesting sweater coat the "Stitched Borders Sweatercoat".  It is $119 reduced from $198.  I personally prefer my sale items to be at least 50% off, but hey....

Anthropologie 

Urban is having a sale with lots of stuff at $29.99 or below.. You have to watch your Ps and Qs with Urban for quality, frankly. The footwear is usually pretty good, and its great for stuff like scarves, gloves, boots.. I'm just saying, some of their brands are a tad cheesy, even for the 20 and under set.. 

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/category.jsp?popId=&navAction=&isSortBy=true&navCount=&pushId=SALE&id=SALE_W

Finally, not on the sale order but worth checking out is the link below. It seems Anthro is announcing a wedding line to open on February 14.  I don't have a bride, but I did like the little video presentation below.. 

http://www.bhldn.com/

All About Men.. Do's and Don't of Fashion..

A young friend of mine pointed out that there seems to be a bit of a void when it comes to men's fashion.  So I sent him a few links I had found.  But first, a word about fashion "don't's" for men.  I could include dozens, but will only share a few..

I am vehement about these.. not that anyone cares what I am vehement about...

1. Flat brim hats.  The photo below sort of says it all. I mean, who would intentionally try to look like a hick?  And when I say "hick" I am using the nicest word that I can come up with.  And turning these chapeaus backward does not improve them at all.  And what's with the perching the hat way up on top of the head? I mean.. "oh lawd" as they say here in NC.

2. Backpacks and suits, sport coats, or other business attire.   Really?  Along this same line is a certain reporter for the N and O years ago who hung around the legislature.  Really NICE guy but he would wear a short Patagonia style jacket squeezed on OVER his sport coat and khakis. This made his sport coat bunch all up and gather like a little skirt peeking out from under his Patagonia.  Really? If you gotta wear an over coat (only because it's really cold) then wear a nice trench or a black or camel wool or cashmere overcoat, long, please. Since the reporter is not around to have his photo taken, here is the DO photo...Note that this gentleman is NOT carrying a backpack.  An alternative to his cool little satchel is a very nice messenger bag..

from the Sartorialist

from Tontojacks

Centre Commercal in Marseille, but I
am sure there is a reasonable
facsimile at J Crew 

If you want a nice overcoat for more casual wear, try the toggle coat.  Just pair it with a turtleneck or crew neck sweater or a button down shirt or even a plaid flannel shirt.  NOT dressy apparel.. 

Now I LOVE the Sartorialist, but he is showing some rather funky outerwear in a recent blog post.. one photo comes dangerously close to lumberjack meets aforementioned hick.. but you decide.. 

Hick or Hip... ahhhh

This is a little more to my liking... 

Again, from the Sartorialist.  Love the shoes AND the socks, AND the pants
ANd the jacket AND the scarf.
All this dude needs to do is reduce the beard to scruff.. 

Some other cool men't looks..

So, Back to some of those men's fashion blogs we were looking for to pass on to my younf male fashionista friend.  Here are a few.  Oh, and I barely scraped the surface on the DON'Ts. Maybe another day..
. 

www.limitemagazine.com

http://stylesalvage.blogspot.com/

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/

http://www.theurbangent.com/

http://districtcut.com/

http://www.cefashion.net/

http://www.frenchtruckers.com/

There are actually many, many more.  But of course the grand-daddy is 

Scott Schuman

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Twenty Years of Shoes

: 

This morning as P prepared to leave for work, we looked out the window and there was a mom pushing a stroller. Mom was 30-something, dressed for a brisk walk wearing her trainers and lycra and Patagonia.  With her was a two year old little girl wearing pink jacket, tights, dress, bow-in-hair, and.. sparkly light up shoes!  It was amusing in part because said little girl was face-down on the side of the road in the damp pine straw that perpetually lines the street. She seemed to be throwing a little tantrum.  In front of her was a PINK baby-doll carriage.  We speculated that she had insisted on pushing her own baby-doll carriage and then mid-way round the block, tired of it and wanted to be pushed herself.  Mom scarcely gave her a glance.  She was standing there overtly ignoring the bow-head toddler and.. texting.  But this is not about judgement or even about mom.  It's about the sparkly, light-up-when-you-walk tennies bow-head was wearing.

It makes you think back..

A. has always been a shoe-aholic.  Shoe-addict.  Shoe junkie.  Since she was old enough to point, run, embrace, and say "mine".  I pretty much avoided the mall with her.  I had my own shopping junkie issues to deal with, and for the past 20 years this addiction has centered not around my own needs or wardrobe (can you spell p a t h e t i c?), but around hers.  Yes, I still buy her stuff, and yes, tons of shoes, which anyone who knows her will attest that she needeth NOT.  Definitely, we have gone way beyond the concept of 'need' here, and moved into the realm of.. I don't know.. out-of-control?

Looking back, it's been Twenty Years of Shoes, among, ahhhhh, other things.

For starters.. delicate little baby shoes (these are from Etsy..) with no soles to speak of.  Special shoes purchased for A.'s christening..




Then there were the first pair of walkers, purchased from Stride-Rite.  the theory was that you needed to buy sturdy leather shoes as the baby learned to walk to assure proper foot alignment.  The pediatrician sort of debunked that, however and said that little tennis shoes would do just fine.  Nonetheless.. these were always worn with little frilly socks, usually white but sometime matching the obligatory bow in the hair or the dress purchased from Raspberries..

Then came the age of insistence and the selection of a sorts of gawdawful foot apparel including, yes, sparkly  tennies, sparkly ballet flats, Disney shoes, glow-in-the-dark shoes, rain boots with Little Mermaid on them, etc etc.  Here are a few of them, but by no means an exhaustive list..

Then we started ballet and soccer.  A's Dad was her coach for several years.  Of course, much to Dad's ... ahh .. dismay?  he did not have a soccer star.  She would stand in the middle of field and twirl, leap, and arabesque, far outsized by some of her stockier, sturdier teammates who she mostly.. feared, I guess would be the right word. Yeah, feared.  But she stuck it out for several years, so in addition to regular school and church shoe purchases, the closet floor swelled with soccer shoes and ballet shoes of all description. 

Just thought this pic was fun.. 

Then of course the first search for pointe shoes.. followed by perhaps 10 more versions of pointe shoes, always searching for the shoe that would be wearable by a girl with very long toes.  Long toes are a virtue for the modern dancer, who typically dances barefoot.  Ballet dancer once she begins pointe? Not so much.  The girls who fare best with pointe shoes have feet shaped a bit like shoe boxes-- short toes that are all one length, and not especially narrow...

Eliminating all the iterations of tennis shoes along the way, and there were several, we moved into boot phase somewhere in middle school.  First was UGGs, and you all know what they look like, so I won't give you a visual. But the good day was when A could finally wear- and appreciate- my vintage (ouch) Frye boots, purchased when I was around 19 or 20 and at the University of Illinois. It was the first year Frye made boots for women.  These Fryes paved the way for a long line of boots to come.. and still coming.. there are never enough, it seems, to suit the varying needs of a 20 year old.. not to mention the high heeled booties and various versions of night-on-the town foot wear..

Awesome, right? Butter soft, now resoled a few times, well-worn. 

So, the latest boot and shoe purchases? 

And.. the latest on the "want" list?

Rockport fleece lined boots with waterproofing

But this seems a bit... unnecessary given that she already has... 

LL Bean's Shearling-lined boots. 

Don'tchathink?

Winter Warmies

So, A. is freezing her pituzi off in Boone.  She claims there is about 3 feet of snow! Aaaand, cold!!  She sent me this photo of herself yesterday, and suggested that she might like a couple more of these cozy head warmer thingies.

Photo of A. by Madison Shields

So, I looked at Tar-Jay today. Nothing.  So I went to my go-to retailer, Ebay and found a couple. 

These are all found with a "knitted headband" search on Ebay and range from about $7 to $10.

So, I bought a couple of those, although the ones with the little dogs across them are from the UK and who knows how long they would take to come here.  Not to mention the conversion issue.  Nonetheless, I did buy a beige angora head band from the UK.  It says it was only 4.54 euros or something or maybe pounds so I will probably get a bill for $250.00 or something.. Not really.  Actually, turns out it is not from the UK, from "Polska".  Is that the same as Poland?? eh?   A city/town/village/burrough/crossroad calleded "Malopolskie".  Goodness.  I hope this isn't child labor.  She, Iwona Kowalcze Filar sells/makes angora sweaters, too.  Remember angora?  My favorite sweater in high school was a candy pink angora sweater.  I wore it with my winter white box pleated wool skirt, you know the kind, they had stitched down pleats through the hip?  Sort of a cheerleader sort of skirt.  The pink sweater was the most divine thing in the world.  Everyone wanted to hug me.  You take what you can get, ya know?  Maybe I need to get another one of those... I digress.. Anyway, candy pink angora sweater, winter white wool skirt.  I was the bomb, or so I thought.

Actually my new friend from Polska has a pink (soft, not candy) on her site..

I moved on to Etsy, and so far I have bought about 5 headbands (all she wanted was one.. but they are so cheap and fun..

and then this ultra funky one.. 

Okay, so for today's sweepstakes with the grand prize consisting of  the satisfaction of being right, how many of these things did I buy?  I guess its not really a "bargain" if you buy.. as many as I did..