Hello from the other side ....

The unglamorously glamourous life of a Temp.

Within a week of arriving in London, I scored an interview with a luxury recruiter. Unfortunately due to the limited hours my Visa allowed me to work the only position they were able to offer me (for now) was as a temp at a luxury brand’s London office/ showroom.

Upon leaving the interview they called and said I would be required to start the next morning. Several calls followed in which they outlined;

what I would need to wear,

if I could send them some pictures of my current hair (my hair was deemed too edgy for the more conservative brands)

and to go over the history and icons of the brand.

One of the oldest couture houses, an open Creative Director role [at the time ;)] and a strict palette of black, white and grays.

On the first day of work shit got crazy as the current designer’s family had come in to pick out some pieces to wear to the Paris fashion show later that week, The rest of the team was also off to Paris for the show and there was much chaos surrounding which outfits they would be wearing to the shows and dinners.

In the midst off all this - I stood there mentally calculating the hours I’d worked and how many more it would take to pay for the suit i’d purchased the night before... you’d have thought that in the 3 suitcases I packed for the move I would have brought at least one plain suit and a simple white dress shirt.... I hadn’t.

Once the madness of fashion week was over things at work have settled quite nicely and mostly the days go by with me standing around with my colleagues or answering the phone and perfecting my British accent (jk!)

there have been some hilariously Devil-wears-Prada moments which will surely make it into my lifetime movie when the time comes. ...

I am referred to as Taylor as opposed to Tyler the majority of the time.

I am often left on my own for long periods of time, to man the phones and attend to clients.

I have been asked to make coffee (I have passed the buck here to another temp)

Recently I was sent on a 3 stop mission (Selfridges, Harrods, and Harvey Nichs) to fetch some items for a pull... one of them being a £ 12,000 dress .. and on my journey back had to cross 6 lanes of traffic, throw myself and the bags over a barricade, run across a grass covered island and repeat the process over the barricade to cross more traffic when I got to the other side.. all while trying not to ruin my suit or double monk-straps.

That last bullet will surely make it into the Lifetime movie....

“wearing; A custom marble print dress shirt,
Topshop leather jacket, H&M Press collection mesh jacket at waist, Balenciaga neoprene track pants, Lanvin denim and lurex trainers, and an arm party of J. crew and Links of London bracelets. ”