Log Twenty Two- Update in Career

So it has been an awfully long time since I have done an update. I have been vigorously writing up my Critical Review and running around trying to hand out my surveys but new items in my life have been keeping me very occupied from blog updates, which is bad news for my blog but great news for my career and progress in the fashion industry.

I am extremely happy to announce that I am now a junior agent with TrueColours Model & Talent Agency here in Toronto. I have only been an agent for a month and I already have a solid roster of girls and guys who have also already been booking. The best part is the agency has exactly the same values and ideals as I do when it comes to models. They have a very diverse roster and give all their models different opportunities and experiences in the fashion industry, even finding jobs for acting and theatre.

There is so many different races, sizes, heights and ages that there is no restriction on what is considered beauty. I have been following this guideline while still making sure that my models meet some of the requirements that a high fashion model would meet as well as commercial.

Toronto still has a very outdated view on what a runway model should be. Blonde hair, blue eyes, Caucasian, 5'10 and overly thin body type. I am so proud that my models are so very different but so interesting which may not necessarily help me book them jobs in Toronto, but there is huge opportunity for places like Europe which are constantly trying to be different and look for something new. I would like to help change Toronto's view though. I have also been picking girls who are the trend or standard (blue eyes, blonde hair, tall) but are alternative (tattoos, pink hair) that are actually not considered "standard". Alternative models I have find make the best models, they are so creative and dramatic. They put so much passion into the photos and they have a no fear attitude.

I have really been enjoying it so far but it is a lot of work and does sometimes get in the way of my Critical Reflection progress. Although it has also helped because now I am getting a greater insight and understanding of this industry than I ever did as a model, jewellery designer or stylist. This can definitely help me progress further with the project. I just need to start focusing better on time management.

I will be posting another blog momentarily discussing more about agencies and body images/looks of models. My arguments about why sticking to the standard is not only harmful to your models' health but how it can be harmful to your business (the agency).

I have also attached a collage of some of my girls (and guy) on my roster, I am just extremely and excited to find such a beautiful, talented and interesting group of people. I am looking forward to the progress of this, where it will lead and how much it will impact this Critical Reflection. I am glad I did postpone the due date, this turn around in my life will make for interesting material.

 

Log Nineteen- Welcome back everybody, back to work!

What a summer it has been! I don't even know where to begin. My summer has been pretty eventful going from one new job to another in a matter of month.

I began working at a consignment store as a ways to gain more experience working with high end luxury clothes. I was also hoping to delve more into the social media prospect of the job as part of their marketing team. Unfortunately I learned more on how NOT to run a business especially in the fashion industry.

Run by a former "celebrity stylist" (although I have yet to find out exactly who she has styled for), the store gave me sporadic and last minute shifts, staff had friends come and hang out in the store for three hours, never been cleaned at least until I think until I had set foot in there and they misplaced clients' clothes who had consigned there including mine.

I ended up obtaining a new job at an upscale boutique called MARLOWE. Not only are the items they sell in perfect quality and handcrafted from Italy but it is more to do with wardrobe consulting rather than retail. It is definitely a huge stepping stone in my career as a stylist or a possible permanent career.

On top of getting this prestigious position within two weeks of working with MARLOWE and after hearing about my education with Middlesex, they asked me to help with the social networking with another MARLOWE employee at the Chicago location. That means myself and this other girl are in control of the Facebook, Tweets and Instagram for them.

Luckily with the BAPP program and everything I have learned from it so far, I have been able to make the social networking aspects of MARLOWE a success despite how new it is. I haven't even finished my program and I already have my foot in the door in the career that I want and have been working so hard for.

The modeling is still going well but I am no longer pursuing jobs. I will have people contact me from jobs I have previously worked with but I am slowly moving out of that part of the industry to do more production and behind the scenes.

I hope everyone had a fantastic summer. I will soon be getting hard at work with my survey and I am hoping to make it to the in-campus session at the end of October especially to meet some of you. All the best!

Another important aspect of Fashion Communication ethics...

Journalism.

A lot of what involves Fashion Communication, meaning "mass commuincation" is the journalism side. I have been doing much of this with my SIG blog and with it's every growing popularity I must follow the code of ethics for journalism. I researched this aspect through Wikipedia and found a long list:

"The primary themes common to most codes of journalistic standards and ethics are the following.

[edit]Accuracy and standards for factual reporting

• Reporters are expected to be as accurate as possible given the time allotted to story preparation and the space available, and to seek reliable sources.
• Events with a single eyewitness are reported with attribution. Events with two or more independent eyewitnesses may be reported as fact. Controversial facts are reported with attribution.
• Independent fact-checking by another employee of the publisher is desirable
• Corrections are published when errors are discovered
• Defendants at trial are treated only as having "allegedly" committed crimes, until conviction, when their crimes are generally reported as fact (unless, that is, there is serious controversy about wrongful conviction).
• Opinion surveys and statistical information deserve special treatment to communicate in precise terms any conclusions, to contextualize the results, and to specify accuracy, including estimated error and methodological criticism or flaws.

[edit]Slander and libel considerations

• Reporting the truth is almost never libel [3], which makes accuracy very important.
• Private persons have privacy rights that must be balanced against the public interest in reporting information about them. Public figures have fewer privacy rights in U.S. law, where reporters are immune from a civil case if they have reported without malice. In Canada, there is no such immunity; reports on public figures must be backed by facts.
• Publishers vigorously defend libel lawsuits filed against their reporters, usually covered by libel insurance.

[edit]Harm limitation principle

During the normal course of an assignment a reporter might go about—gathering facts and details, conducting interviews, doing research, background checks, taking photos, videotaping, recording sound—harm limitation deals with the questions of whether everything learned should be reported and, if so, how. This principle of limitation means that some weight needs to be given to the negative consequences of full disclosure, creating a practical and ethical dilemma. The Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics offers the following advice, which is representative of the practical ideals of most professional journalists. Quoting directly:^[17]

• Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
• Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
• Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone's privacy.
• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
• Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.
• Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
• Balance a criminal suspect's fair trial rights with the public's right to be informed.

[edit]Presentation

Main article: News style

Ethical standards should not be confused with common standards of quality of presentation, including:

• Correctly spoken or written language (often in a widely spoken and formal dialect, such as Standard English)
• Clarity
• Brevity (or depth, depending on the niche of the publisher)"

[edit]

Taken from Journalism ethics and standards Wikipedia

Truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability and limitation of harm are the main ethics highlighted here. Other important ethics involving fashion communication is advertising. After reading Advertising Ethics: Emerging Methods and Trends the most important points and the ones that were vital to fashion communication were use of deception, racial and sexual stereotyping. Although I do believe use of deception is very prominent in the fashion industry with peoples' appearances being widely altered and screwing our perception of beauty. Companies like Dove are trying to prevent the use of deception but there is still a long way to go.

Log Two- Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!

What a week!!! Or has it been five?! It has been insane whether it was one, five or ten million weeks! Where do I even begin?! Well... In case you did not know I am both a freelance model and stylist. I use to be signed with an agency here in Toronto but they didn't provide me with the jobs I was looking for. They would constantly send me to castings for hair shows which is not great when all they want to do is turn your lovely, long, blonde hair into a pixy short, black hair cut for peanuts. Especially when your whole portfolio is you with blonde hair. So after my contract was over I decided to persue jobs on my own without any agency's help (not to mention keep the 20% they usually take off from your paycheck). Slowly I came into styling aswell since the majority of my own shoots I would style for myself. Again I chose the freelance path so I had more freedom in what jobs I took, keep all the money and style how I wanted to style. Luckily from my modeling connections and previous jobs I have been able to make this happen.


 It's been hard freelancing as a model but I feel like things are finally picking up. The other day I got to work with a fantastic photographer who is very well known in Canada. I was lucky not only as a freelance model, even some agency models will never get the chance to shoot with him. I cannot unfortunately disclose his name since he is currently seeking out hair magazines to have the photos published. I will share though a few of the photos.