Chic and the City: Diaries from a Fashion Intern

The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine

Jessica Abercrombie is an editor at The Chic Daily, but this summer she took her skills to New York as a fashion intern. From New York, Jessica is dishing all the details and the ins-and-outs of working in a fashion publication. 

I have to be at Hearst Tower by 9:30 a.m., which means I roll out of bed at 6:30 a.m., take the train from Long Island into the City at 7:50 a.m., shuffle onto the subway at 9 a.m., swipe my Intern 17665 card and ride the so-modern-I-had-to-ask-for-help-on-the-first-day elevator to the 21st floor, home to Esquire magazine. Problem solving, quick thinking and a healthy dose of ‘fake it ‘till you make it,’ serve as the necessary accessories in the fashion closet, which houses a gaggle of interns steaming, ironing, pinning, prepping and tracking thousands of dollars worth of men’s clothing, shoes and accessories. Each fashion spread in a magazine consists of looks hand-picked by editors, who scour fashion week, pulling looks from their favorite designers. After an editor selects their look of choice, we interns contact the respective designers or public relations contacts, request the samples and prep them for the photo shoot. Subsequently, we meticulously organize the samples post shoot and then carefully return them to their respective contacts. Although seemingly mundane, this particular series of tasks is the most essential role of a fashion intern. In effect, we ensure the safety of the fashions within the magazine – we are the fashion keepers.

The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
Esquire magazine in Hearst Tower
The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
City essentials including a notebook, headphones, metro and train passes, umbrella and card protector
The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
Fashion intern essentials including hand sanitizer, hairspray, breath mints, sewing kit and a lint roller
The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
The essential, essential: comfortable flats to wear around the city while you run errands and simultaneously take a break from your heels
The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
Rack city: Garment racks lined up before the editors comb through each look, methodically making their final decisions for the coming photo shoot
The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
Shoes, which include designers like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Burberry and Dolce and Gabbana among other designers
The Chic Daily, Fashion Journalist Club, Jessica Abercrombie, Esquire Magazine
Constant trips to Chanel, Gucci and Dior garnish a day in the life of an Esquire intern

Jessica Abercrombie

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