My corner

Like the rhythm of heart in me now...

Hi everyone,

It's been a long time since I composed my latest entry. My God, lots of events and lots of things to do...so tired. One day, when I woke up, I thought that I must do something different. See, I've lost almost my energy, my creation and even my inspiration in doing the same thing day by day. Maybe I need a vacation or something like that, or I need to change my job, from a teacher recruiter to a journalist or a reporter, hmmm, that sounds interesting anyway.

Ok, let's go for it.

I am thirsty for this book.
Getting started

A stylist is the person who creates a look for either an individual or a model with clothing and accessories to make a statement. Traditionally a stylist would work on a commercial, catwalk or magazine shoot but these days with image being key in so many worlds they often work for individual clients creating their own unique style.

Dedicated follower of fashion. To succeed you need to have a real interest in fashion, trends and a keen eye for style. Experts argue you either have this or you don't although a course can sharpen some natural skills. Fashion degrees are not as essential as experience and contacts and most stylists say they "fell" into the job, which is not very helpful when it comes to specific advice.

Back to school. Find your local fashion college and ask if they do short specialised stylist courses. Most of the London fashion colleges do and it's becoming more widespread.

Shop around. Gain experience by working in a small boutique - smaller outlets give you real hands on experience of cultivating style.

Helping hands. Call your local department store and see if they are having any fashion shows. Get some work experience helping out the stylists they use. They don't just work in London.

Aim high. Call local photographers or local newspapers, send them your CV and offer your services as a runner on the next fashion shoot they may be doing.

There are three main areas for styling opportunities in fashion - although they're not rigid categories and many stylists these days have to be multi-talented.

Fashion stylist

Primarily working for magazines, newspapers, or advertising agencies on commercials. The job of the stylist is to work to a set brief, selecting clothes for photo or video shoots. A large part of the job is planning.

Stylists provide the creative aspect of the shoot, but also source the clothes and accessories needed, liaising with press offices, getting all the clothes, shoes and accessories to the studio or location and deciding on which looks for which model. When on a shoot the stylist must dress the models on set, pinning, clipping where necessary and take charge of portraying the look the brief requires.

Celebrity stylist

This involves more personal client work and many stylists have full time jobs styling their celebrity clients which can include television presenters, actors, singers - and also bands.

The role of the celebrity stylist involves attending catwalk shows and selecting clothes for each season, attending photo shoots and advising on the most appropriate look for anything from individual photographs to appearances on TV chat shows.

Some celebrities, especially the big name Hollywood stars, like to have their stylist on call; others only need advice intermittently.

Personal stylist

Sometimes called an image consultant, this type of styling involves working one-to-one with clients. Sometimes these are celebrities, but many clients these days who employ a personal stylist are high fliers in the world of business who know that their image needs an overhaul.

This aspect of styling involves working intimately with a client who must trust the stylist helping them to create their own personal style. This type of styling job is based on empowering the client to develop their own look rather than dressing them in the stylist's preferred style.
Reality check

Styling may sound very glamorous, but it's not all it seems. Most stylists work freelance and depend on agents or their own contacts to get jobs in an area where competition is fierce.

The demands of being at the disposal of high-profile celebrities make it hard to plan any social life or holidays. When working with celebs you have to work around their commitments.

When you're on a shoot the hours are very long and you're needed every second. You also need to scour every fashion magazine - not just the UK ones but European and USA editions too.

Fashion is constantly evolving and you must be up-to-date with every emerging trend. Finally, you need to look great every second of the day to gain people's trust in a world where image is everything!

It's quite hard to say how I feel for this very special event of Vietnam although New Year time is gonna end. Well, new year with new beginning, new plans and new challenges (My God, I love challenges). I also made my own New Year's Resolution but it's not only 10, I don't know why number 10 becomes so popular, 10 criteria for something, 10 issues for a department meeting, 10 things they must do for New Year bla...bla...bla. So crazy that it makes me remember 10 things that Uncle Ho taught young students which I learned by heart in primary school. Hey, there is no complaint here, it is quite good. It's just sometimes you should make a change...like 13 for an example.

OK, down to the point, here is my New Year's Resolution:
1. Sleep 8 hours a day - no more, no less
2. Be more focus in writing as a stylist reporter
3. Complete my short courses within this year
4. Make more friends - you cannot live without friends, right?
5. Reading 10 books
6. Updating my knowledge about fashion
7. Doing more gym - My God, I don't wanna be fat. Keeping fit, hihi...
8. Traveling to the North and Middle of Vietnam
9. Change my job, ah no, my career
10. Take care of my mom - I love her so much
11.Finish the hard time with my Uni
12. Prepare for the scholarship of studying abroad

OK, stop now. 12 is my favorite number.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Posted by: Editor in: Breaking In

Being a columnist, syndicated or otherwise, is in some ways easier than straight journalism. You don’t have to strive to keep the mask of non-bias between you and the audience. If you have an opinion, you can let it all hang out. As a news reporter, you would have to stay as invisible as possible, using as little narrative as possible to convey “just the facts” to the newspaper’s readership. But a columnist’s personality is a great part of his or her stock in trade, whether the column itself is political, social, or technical. You don’t have to pretend to be an unemotional android spitting out data and quotations; you can be you.

But it’s not quite that simple. Jeremy Wagstaff, technology columnist for various Dow Jones publications, cautions columnists against getting too free-for-all.

“Columns are about opinion and style. In some ways they’re the opposite of old fashioned journalism, which is free of bias and adheres to the house style… but a columnist still needs to understand those conventions to function. If you have an opinion, you should be aware that it is an opinion and not the truth as everyone sees it. Similarly, to cultivate a style you should be aware of how to write without a style–straight factual reporting.”

But isn’t the atmosphere growing more relaxed in the digital age of chatty blogs and abbreviation-rich text-messaging? Well, yes and no.

“With blogging, etc., these rules are changing–the blogosphere is full of great writers who don’t have formal training or journalistic experience–but gradually everyone is beginning to realize that you can’t ‘defy the laws of gravity.’ Bloggers are finding that they still need to understand balance, accuracy, conflicts of interest, etc., and that these principles evolved for a reason. A columnist just chooses to emphasise some facts over others.”

This is important, and growing more so as the political climate here in the United States heats up as we enter the 2008 election season. Editorials, opinions, and political columns can be stuffed to the gills with opinion, and opinion is manifestly not fact, true–but what they cannot ethically contain are lies. The columnist can, as Wagstaff says, focus more on some facts than others, but actually endeavoring to deceive–or, less maliciously but no more ethically, endeavoring simply to cling to a comfortable ignorance–should be taboo. Opinion should be educated, that is, based on fact.

“The other part of it,” Wagstaff says, “is that someone who has actually been out there in the world is likely to have more factually based opinions than someone who goes straight into writing a column.”

Which is not to say that, for the sake of holding an educated opinion, you shouldn’t start writing a column until you’re 40 years old and have completed your journeyman training in whatever technical field you’re writing about, or have traveled the world and lived for ten years inside the culture you are passionate about documenting. However, you should never be satisfied with your current level of skill, knowledge, and experience.

Whatever your passions are, if they’re compelling enough for you to write a column about them, you should be eager –anxious, even, to continue your education in that field. If your column is about the Israel-Palestine conflict, don’t sit on your laurels; interview people who have been in the middle of it.

Go there yourself, if possible. Seek out new perspectives on the subject. Similarly, if you write a knitting doctor column, don’t just wait for the questions to roll in and then research them if they’re beyond your level. Always learn more. Pursue the title of Master Knitter. Learn all you can about the craft’s history, being careful to separate fact from false assumption. Visit an alpaca farm and learn where your yarn is coming from.

In any field of expertise or deep abiding passion, challenge yourself and the assumptions you hold. Never be satisfied with what’s already in your head. Go out seeking more. Your column’s quality and usefulness to its readers will grow by leaps and bounds.