Let’s recap...

Hello again! I feel it’s nice to give a welcome to these articles. You are now reading part two, the final part of my series discussing the world of corsetry interning. In my last article I suggested ways to secure an internship with my handy ‘how-to guide’, discussed my personal experiences and included the very scientific discovery that having a fringe will benefit you as a corset designer…

In this article I want to discuss whether interning is either a benefit or a disadvantage. So often people jump to the conclusion that interning is the only desirable way to gain any experience. The truth is however that maybe interning just isn’t for you. I will be including a check list of skills to see whether you have it in you to be a good intern and looking at other alternatives to benefit your career as a corset designer. I will also briefly touch upon some of the conditions you may be expected to work in –are there poor interns out there right now being beaten with busks for getting the wrong Starbucks order?

Has interning benefitted my career as a corset designer?

The simple answer to this question is yes. Moreover, not only has it benefitted my career as a corset designer, but I feel it has also benefitted me on a personal level. I would never describe myself as shy or reserved, but at times interning has forced me out of my comfort zone and plonked me right in the middle of a situation I otherwise wouldn’t have had to face.

The majority of corsetières I have worked for could be described as a ‘one man band’. They are the designer, the pattern cutter, the seamstress, the accountant, the merchandiser, the publicist, the daydreamer, etc. And how does this affect you? Well you will be working for this person one-to-one, often just the two of you in a room. However, if you’re not great at making conversation or politely listening to radio stations that are not your cup of tea, just consider that the corsetière you’re working for may at first feel equally awkward about the situation. Of course there are corsetry companies that are run and employ multiple people. For example, Rawhide Corsets (based in the Custard Factory, Birmingham) is a small team of skilled workers, and therefore the dynamics are slightly different. So, I suppose my point is that the ‘not knowing’ element of interning has benefitted me on a personal level. I am always intrigued to meet new people as I have a genuine fascination with other’s ideas, and this leads me on to another benefit of interning: networking.

Networking was preached so much at university that all of my classmates and I were sick to death hearing about it. None of us really understood what networking was, and even for those of us that were able to grasp a brief concept, we had no idea how to achieve it. I think I first understood networking as being able to poach people from industry and somehow ensnare them to help you. A quick search on Google will tell you that networking is: ’to connect as or operate with a network’ and ‘to interact with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.’ This still may leave you thinking that yes, that’s all very well but how do I go about doing it? Another simple answer I could give is: do more. Make yourself known, go to events and introduce yourself, maybe join groups and forums online if that’s your cup of tea, start spreading the word about yourself. One you begin to get things slowly into motion, then make yourself remembered, and for all the right reasons. Networking can work in both ways, you could be the friendly and helpful intern with the good sense of humour, or you could take on the role of the rude, lazy and disrespectful intern. Reputation spreads like wildfire, so don’t just make yourself known, make yourself known for all of the right reasons!

This brings us on to what I consider to be the next step up from networking: socialising. And I mean really socialising. It may be because I’m a fan of vintage and nostalgia, but I think where socialising is concerned, sometimes the old ways are the best. For example a friend recently asked me to Skype, so I asked her out for lunch instead. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking Skype, or any other online way of connecting - not at all. I myself am a big fan of Facebook and having a brother who has been living in China the past few years, I understand that inviting someone out for lunch isn’t always an option.

I have been lucky enough to make what I consider to be real friends from my interning experience. The benefit of this is that friends have your back, keep a look out for opportunities that may benefit you, and vice versa. Friends also provide support and on-hand advice about the industry where you may be slightly more blind. And finally, on the topic of networking and socialising, another observation I have made is that the best corsetières (the ones I have interned for) have a love for gin. So there are two simple steps I have given so far in order to better your corsetry career (based on scientific findings) that can be summed up in two words: ‘fringe’ and ‘gin’.

Bettering yourself on a personal level, and being able to really network and socialise are two out of the three points I want to cover in regards to the question I have posed on whether interning has benefitted my career as a corsetry designer. The third point is perhaps the most straightforward, the skills I have learnt and the way my work has developed since beginning my interning journey. When I look back at the corset I created for my corsetry module at university I don’t cringe (too much) instead I look at it as being the starting point. I keep it in a cardboard box, and when I open the lid it looks back at me in all its glory: a corset with only four panels per side, very little shape, the decoration is far from refined and the fabric used includes a tea towel (poor student times and all that). It isn’t great (and I mean it really isn’t very good at all) but then I remember that, when I started, I was unaware of what a busk was, I had never put an eyelet in anything before, and coutil could have been a shape of pasta - just like penne or fusilli - for all I knew.

Interning, alongside reading books, searching online and visiting museums was vital to benefitting my career as a corset designer. Like a lot of people, I work best by looking and doing, also known as kinaesthetic learning. The skills and knowledge I gained were invaluable. One of the best pearls being that there are many, many ways of doing things, and this does not make one right and the other wrong - it is the final product you have created that counts.

So to sum up I will give you my simple answer again. Has interning benefitted my career as a corset designer? Yes.

Is interning for everyone?

I hope to briefly cover whether interning is even suitable for every kind of person, and I have included my personally put together check-list to see if you could have what it takes to be a good candidate. This is absolutely based only on my personal experience and opinions. I will also touch upon some of the working conditions and things expected of you as an intern, which may alter your mindset.

In my previous article, I spoke about the laws concerning interning, and this does therefore impact on the kind of person that is most likely to be carrying out an internship: students. This is because students can be seen as ‘free labour’. However, if you are not a student, you may still be able to secure an expenses-paid internship so you shouldn’t just rule out the possibility of securing one because of this. I would like to think that there is an intern position out there for anyone who really wants one, although it may not be suitable for everyone.

Interning is a commitment. It is giving up your time, often to do the jobs that are least desirable. I have been seriously lucky with my placements, but have still had my fair share of button counting and petticoat binding. You just have to see a window of opportunity to demonstrate your skills. If patience is not a quality you possess, then the chances are that interning is not for you.
 
On the subject of working conditions, I obviously joke when I speak about being beaten with busks, no such thing has ever happened. The only thing that could be considered ‘tricky’ is temperature. So I advise you to wear layers that you can either add on or take off. I have had some absolutely boiling placements, where I am sure I caught a tan by sewing in the window all day, and I have also been a bit chilled from time to time. Other than this, there is not a great deal to say about working conditions.

The Checklist: Will I Make A Good Intern?

These are all skills and qualities I believe to be key in your success as an intern:

1. Personable and friendly
Quite straightforward really, and makes the top of my list. If you find it hard getting on with people, you may find a one-to-one environment difficult. This is by no means to say that you have to be as chipper as a puppy dog, just make sure you are easy going enough to get along with easily.

2. Patient
I promise you will learn new things; possibly top secret ways a designer does something. But the chances are you won’t learn intricate flossing on your first day or week. In reality you may be unpicking, cutting toiles out and if you’re lucky, getting to sew them. The trick is not to act like you’ve been hard done by; good things come to those who wait.

3. Able to listen to radio stations which are not of your choosing, without passing comment
This again is very straightforward. Music is personal, and as an intern you are in the designer’s own personal bubble, so please resist the urge to scream "Gahhhh not another flippin’ Kylie!". (Disclaimer: I like Kylie, as does another designer. Very much.)

4. Good sense of Humour
This helps for networking. Everyone likes to have a laugh (hopefully). But, if you stumble across a designer that doesn’t, then stop cracking jokes.

5. Flexibility
Maybe you will be required to work in a whole batch of random locations, and lunch and smoking breaks won’t necessarily be timetabled in, so be as flexible as possible.

6. Commitment
Self-explanatory, having secured an internship, now make the most of it by committing to it

7. Desire to learn
See above, as this is very similar to my point about commitment.

8. Understanding that there is a line which shouldn’t be crossed
This links in with my ‘desire to learn’ point. You should be eager, keen and enthusiastic without a shadow of a doubt, but there is a line. This line should not be crossed. I have heard designers speak of previous interns who have literally tried to sap all of their information. Who are their stockists? Which exact fabric do they use? Who is their crystal supplier? Where do they buy their lace from? Have they got any contacts they can have? How do they get their pattern to be that curvy on the hip? What pearls of wisdom can they offer? How should they start going about setting up a business? You understand the point I am trying to communicate. These designers have worked hard to get where they are, and you rock up for two weeks expecting to weasel all of this information out? No, it’s not happening, and more than that: it’s plain rude. The chances are that you will learn little tit-bits of information here and there, and if you engage in conversation and listen carefully, this will benefit you. However, there is a line that should not be crossed. For an example of a line-crosser, there was a girl I knew of who took a notepad and pen to her placement, she took down notes and tips as if she were on a police inquisition, I believe she even tried to conduct her own interview type thing, whilst holding said notebook and pen. Line: crossed.

9. Great conversationalist
There’s a certain amount of times you can comment on the weather before you need to find a better topic.

10. Loves long walks on the beach
Hang on, that’s another checklist…

If you have answered ‘yes’ to at least eight of the above, then interning may be calling you.

Alternative ways to gain experience and progress in your corsetry career

Interning isn’t the only option; in fact it is far from it. I have compiled another list for you, with what I consider to be some of the best alternative ways to progress. I am sure that there is something for everyone.

• Books - Sounds old school, but books are an invaluable resource. Try books with pictures, photographs, words (basically try any book). Obviously some books are considered better than others, but try and conquer as many of them as you can. Also, don’t knock e-books. Last year Julia Bremble (Sew Curvy and Clessidra) brought out an e-book, ‘Corset Making: for Beginners to Intermediate’. It was a brilliant learning aid for a lot of us at university, and I can highly recommend it.

• Museums - Seeing things 'in the flesh', so to speak, can be so awe-inspiring - not to mention informative. Moreover, museums always seem to have good cafés…

• Courses - If you’re looking for some kinaesthetic learning where you are actually taught new skills at a range of different levels, then maybe a corsetry course is for you. Sew Curvy offer a variety of courses aimed at different abilities and set in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside. It could also be a great opportunity for networking and socialising.

• Private tuition - Some designers offer one-to-one tuition at an hourly rate. If you feel like this is something that would benefit you, then contact the designer to see if it is something they offer. Be prepared for this to possibly come as a more costly alternative to going on a course.
  
  
• Online - Facebook, Google, YouTube, Live Journal and hear at Foundations Revealed all have their benefits. In our day and age we can so easily access a wealth of information, it would simply be silly not to. All I will say is, don’t rely on this as your only source of information.

• Trial and error - Try things out, and if they fail the first time, then try them out again. Then if they fail a second and third time, keep trying. We only get better with experience.

• Do something - This may be my favourite point of all. Sometimes we are all so wrapped up in what is happening online or held back by our own fear of not being very good, or of something failing, that we just don’t even bother trying. So I say do something. Even if you do something that fails, it’s still so much further in the right direction than that of the person who hasn’t backed away from the computer screen and even attempted.

The Future

Maybe you will decide that you don’t want to look for an internship, or if you do intern, maybe you won’t view it in the same way I have. But I do hope that you have found this two-part series both interesting and maybe even informative.

As for my future, I am hoping for many things in the years to come. Hopefully Helena Bonham Carter, Paloma Faith and Katy Perry will turn up at my door this week, begging me for commissions and collaborations, and then maybe next year I will get my BAFTA nomination…

I think that the essential key is to not stop. Keep dreaming, keep developing and keep improving. But most importantly: learn to love gin and get a fringe.