On Tuesday night the second season of The City premiered on MTV. I’ve been stewing over the new episode since it aired, and I’m not sure why I still watch a show that never fails to frustrate me.
I’m a recent college grad and current industry intern, who has spent hours sending in dozens of internship applications only to get one response. I know what it’s like to spend an entire day in the fashion closet of a major publication, and how grueling it is to write up entire racks of clothes and then wheel them around town. Conveniently, none of the unpleasant aspects of fashion internships are ever depicted on the show.
By now it’s no secret that much of the action on The City is staged, but its classification as a “reality show” blurs the line between the real and the fake. Younger girls who are in the target demographic might not realize that breaking into the fashion industry isn’t so simple, and doesn’t provide instant perks. To be perfectly honest, growing up in Virginia and going to school at Tulane, I didn’t know the full scope of what a lot of jobs in the industry required until I had one. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that fact.
The show depicts how glamorous the lives of their intern/PR assistant/struggling designer stars are, leaving out the fact that their lifestyles are subsidized NOT by their fashion careers, but by an exorbitant per-episode salary. While MTV is granting girls all over the country a glimpse into a world that they would not otherwise have access to, they are doing them a major disservice by not depicting how difficult starting out in this industry really is.
Does the network truly expect its viewers to believe that fashion jobs are so easy to come by and attain, especially in the current economy? The programs have yet to show any of the girls pounding the pavement for jobs, or the all-too-familiar disappointment following a rejected application or blown interview.
What ever happened to “paying your dues?” I guess in MTV-land it doesn’t exist. To be fair, it seems that Whitney attained her first Teen Vogue internship on The Hills on her own merit, but the same can’t be said for the other girls.
To me, The City cheapens the efforts of so many people who have worked up the ranks to get where they are today. I’m sure many of you reading this can commiserate, and know first hand that while it’s beautiful to watch, MTV’s sugar-coated “reality” series shouldn’t be taken as much more than pure fantasy.
Okay, phew. My rant is complete. Well, until the show pisses me off next week because I know I’m going to get sucked in again.
Tags: Fashion Careers, MTV, Olivia Palermo, Roxy Olin, The City, The Hills, Whitney Port
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Awesome, awesome, awesome post! I couldn’t agree more with you. Also glad I got to see some of the interns work/thoughts here on the website. Congrats!
xo
Elizabeth
I HATE how glamourized everything is on the Hills and the City. It drives me crazy that I have been going on interviews for months trying to land a steady job in the fashion industry when all these girls do is walk in, say a few lame lines that some producer wrote for them and then they immediately have a job.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. It’s so frustrating to watch The City and know that’s not how interning is AT ALL.
Very wise words Alyssa, thank you.
You might be interested in my blog. We highlight young fashion designers and up-and-coming brands. I’d love for you to check it out!
Best,
Tailored Society
Thank you so much for posting this!! SO many of my friends now want to go into fashion as well because they think it’s so easy and glamorous, when I know from personal experience that it definitely isn’t either of the two! At least not in the beginning…
on a side note, those pastel green shoes whitney is wearing in a photo are divine.
Thank you for this. I am so tired of people thinking this is how fashion is. A lot of us work hard for years trying to get our “break” taking unpaid internships for experience and have student loans out the wazoo. And we have roommates, and probably will never be able to live in Tribeca!
smoke and mirrors
Are there any TV shows that portray difficult careers accurately? Every law and order type show skips through the three years of law school and being locked in a room doing document review for five years before ever stepping into a courtroom. Even though I’m at the bottom of the ladder, I don’t mind seeing that portrayal on TV when I want to kick back and get some easy entertainment. There are very few TV shows that don’t glamorize or exaggerate some aspect of life.
This is so true. I recently graduated from Parsons in May and my job application count is almost in the 100+ range. It is incredibly hard to find/get a job in this industry especially in this economy. Whenever I see The City’s commercials on TV, I get aggravated instantaneously. I am a seasoned design intern, and the way they portray this industry is, as mention in the post, sugarcoated. I hate how MTV and other various cable networks present this industry as this glamorous and easily accessible business. Where in actuality, there are a lot of hours upon hours amount of work put behind each garment or each editorial shoot.
so, so true! It is incredibly frustrating to see how easily these girls on “The City” bop around from job to job, when that is definitely not the reality. As a former intern for several high-fashion publications, I hate the fact that MTV is spreading the message to young viewers that wealth, connections, and sense of entitlement mean more to the fashion industry than hard work, intelligence, and sheer determination.
Great post! Very true…I also get frustrated when watching The Bachelor type shows; put me on a tropical island, and I’ll fall in love with anyone! It’s no surprise to me that the couples break up once they are in the real world, and I also won’t be shocked when these girls hit a brick wall after their TV show expires. So take heart; their Choos may be walking down Easy St. now, but right as they are getting a (well-deserved)reality check, your hard work and determination will be paying off!
xoxo
These shows also breed lazy interns. Unless you are related/connected, you will work your tush off as an intern for a stylist or a magazine. I cannot stand interns who don’t get it. I interned and paid my dues. Its a fact of life I tell you.
WOW! SO right! I have been in and out of the fashion industry for over 10 years and because I did not go to the right high school (Laguna Beach) or have no desire to be an actress I have to WORK to get my line off the ground. These girls have no education in design or in business. Also the last thing this industry is is glamorous. Lets only hope young girls are smart enough to want more out of this life than 15 min of “fame” and and a fake reality.
FUCKING TRUE, i love it how people can just think they can do this on a whim. I’m a designer I cant really feel my index finger and I sketch like crazy, while whitney turns in doodles and “look really good” come on. COME ONNN
Here, here!
A lovely post indeed, and not a rant, but the TRUTH! I bet they have never lugged a single bag, much less bags on both shoulders, with a fractured foot, all to prove your worth as an intern and hope that you may get a job at the end.
This has always been my issue with these shows, it is truly ridiculous.
I actually interned at Elle while Olivia was “filming,” and let me ASSURE you, she was there for 20 minutes, every couple of days. The producers would tell the Elle editors what to say before they filmed. So fake.
I think Clar said it best.
Almost Everything on TV is glamorized I know its not right just saying other fields also wrong portrayal it just only in recent years that this is also happening to fashion. And I know its not easy to be an interen and that there underpaid and blablab shouldnt we be fixing that problem of how bad interns are treated instead of dicussing if MTV is showing the reality ?
http://www.dreamlovely-anne.blogspot.com
Ladies – I am actually surprised that you get so enraged by this. Of course this stuff is fake. No one wants to watch a show all about the girl who fails, or who does things in the right. They want to watch drama, glamour, greed, and controversy. I work in Fashion and in no way find it offensive. It’s exactly what it’s supposed to be: mindless television. Go hit the pavement to find out about the real world.
I’m glad I never thought it was that easy, I’ma college freshman so The Hills was my first time seeing what you might do as a fashion intern.I just thought that can’t be it I just steam clothes all day?
I 100% agree with Guest #20!! It’s TELEVISION. We all know how The City is in the same vein as The Hills which is far from true. Why people still actually seem upset, offended or enraged by what goes on is in itself upsetting. I’d KILL to work for People’s Revolution, DVF or Elle and these are all jobs these girls seem to take with a grain of salt but again…it’s all for TV. If there are people reading this who thought shows like The Hills and The City were where it’s at, it’s not. I had an unpaid internship in NYC and while it wasn’t nearly as glamorous as these TV shows, it was to me because I was living a dream of working in the fashion industry. I loved it which is why I want to continue working in it. I’m not gonna pout because of someone else’s lucky break on a TV show and neither should anyone else.
http://calvinshow.blogspot.com
I could not agree more with this post. I’m also a recent college graduate, with more than 4 internships under my belt at top magazines like Vogue, Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Elle. I’m currently on my fifth internship, and still looking for full time work. I’ve worked with plenty of girls that think fashion is all fun and games but they quickly realize that it’s grueling work and quit, or slow down the rest of the interns with their incompetence. The people who get these jobs/internships are taking the positions away from girls (and boys) who know what they’re getting into and really deserve the positions. Frankly, I think the whole situation is a travesty.
I’m in my junior year at Mizzou and I know a job in the industry is hard to come by (Thank God for Mizzou Mafia)! I was shocked at Olivia’s attitude. Erin is right she thinks she’s way more qualified than she actually is! If anything MTV should make a show surrounding Erin because she’s worked for her position. I do feel it’s al a a lot about who you know and making connections! Whitney does deserve what she has because she’s worked for a while doing this. Everyone else…blah! Roxy never even worked for Rachel Zoe!
I think a few of you guys are missing the point here. It’s not just “television”, it’s REALITY television. Even though we know that most of this is staged, set up, heavily produced and mostly orchestrated by MTV, it is still a reality show and some semblance of real life should be portrayed in them. None of my internships have ever been like theirs, nor have I ever got a job so easily – especially one in which a candidate (Roxy) swears in her job interview.
It’s easy to laugh off but they are getting paid for these jobs which, in my opinion, should be given to someone more qualified, dedicated and deserving. No matter which way you look it at, we are the ones being screwed over here. I mean the general opinion of jobs in the fashion industry is that they are easy, glamourous and pay extremely well. Work environments are being interrupted by cameras and snobby, over privileged, unqualifed girls who refuse their assignments and speak degradingly to their bosses. Opportunities are being handed to these girls, when regular people sometimes work their whole lives for the tiniest shred of recognition that The Hills and The City girls get so easily, and in spades. (Don’t even get me started on “author” LC and how her book is now going to be made in to a movie! Gag! Double gag!)
I could go on but it would just annoy me too much. Bottom line: It’s unfair and it makes a mockery out of the industry and the people who work hard in it.
Of course we here as readers of fashionista get that it is a tv show, but there are impressionable teens out there who have no idea. it should be considered a scripted show.
I’m so pleased I’ve never watched an episode of ANY of these shows. I have a feeling (as someone who’s dabbled in the fashion world), they would enrage me as well. I was telling our office intern today about my experience and how much some of it sucked. Her roommate watches these shows and says she wants to get into fashion. Clearly people are drinking the MTV kool aid.
Dear Alyssa,
This is a wonderful article.
I too am from Virginia and made my way to any levels of success and growth through hard work and learned experiences. I’ve felt since I left home a sort of responsibility to all the girls in those small towns–that my hard work and success could be inspiring and also a way to pave the path for more to come.
I too believe, ESPECIALLY as someone from a small town, that this facade absolutely should not be classified as reality. I feel they’d still get their “numbers” in viewership if they called it a scripted show.
It is a shame that young and impressionable women (and men) see these shows and think it will be that easy to leave their small town, go to LA or NY with little to no experience (or, in some cases without good graces and intelligence) and land a job where you just gossip and chit chat, shuffle some clothes on a rack, yet can also afford $25 cocktails.
Yes, Whitney started @ Teen Vogue as a legitimate intern, but that is where it all ended. None of these “main characters” are actually paid and employed at the places they appear to work. Now the girls are basically milking their MTV contracts and licensing deals and bringing 3 different outfits to change into in an hour to make it seem as though they’ve been at the office for 3 different days.
But would many people do anything differently if given the same opportunity? Lie to 30 million people per week in exchange for some perceived level of fame and fortune?
And believe me, when you are in those situations and argue against what is right and wrong, or that you do not wish to participate in the facade, or you are not “allowed” to say what is really going on because some camera is running….well…some crafty editing will not serve you so well if you get my drift ;)
Maybe I live in a bubble (thank God) but I had never seen more than a handful of episodes of Laguna Beach years ago–never “graduated” to the Hills before my own experience and funny enough, prior to my employer’s deal with the show, it was our policy not to loan to any of those girls.
As long as people are watching,they will keep it going. That simple.
Kudos to you and best wishes in your career fellow steel magnolia!
Jessica
Best post ever! Usually , I comment on this site to complain on Fashionista’s style of writing. Particularly because of this current wave of glamorizing the industry and its jobs…Something I sometimes feel Britt is prone to with her posts.
The 3rd paragraph strikes the chord, the demographic of these TV shows, Teen Vogue, and even blogs like this are growing up with industry “scopes” left, right and center. But any actual work done by people that are involved in the industry at the moment seems to be conveniently left out, instead replaced by images of celebrities at the front row, or “students/PR interns” stamping their name on a t shirt and a pair of harem trousers and calling it a clothing line, or a day on a shoot where the models are cute, the editor is causing some sort of “drama” at the intern and in the end everyone is happy (on TV shoots are 10 minutes long, not weeks of prepping and long days of doing it) and protagonist maybe even has a date with the photo assistant.. All things that can actually happen, but there is a lack of devotion in these images, the lack of showing how much some people want it and how hard theyve worked to get it..
Its segwaying into a saturation of people trying to break into fashion without any actual clue/skills, drive or creativity, something needs to be done STAT.
20 , approach middle class American 10-13 year olds who read this blog, watch tese shows, buy teen vogue and tell them that… Because if no one does we are going to segway into a saturated industry of mindless drones with no skills, talent or drive.
I’m so on the same page. This show and others makes it more difficult for young people who are genuine in their efforts to build careers in this business. You just want to yell at the screen. These girls do NOT work in fashion…they work in television and get paid a plenty penny to do so.
http://fierceobjection.wordpress.com
THANK YOU for writing this post! These reality shows make everything seems so easy. Just because you “designed” several pieces of ordinary cocktail dresses doesn’t mean Linda Fargo will just show up at your door (next episode). The show annoys me so much.
This is an incredible post and so badly needed to be said.
It cheapens our jobs to watch these shows and have everyone think we prance around like Barbie dolls all day and the only stress we ever face is a crush on a boy. I “get” the show, I watch it and enjoy it yes, but saying its reality is such a far stretch from any real truth.
I like and respect Whitney, she always has an authenticy about her because yes she worked for where she is, but everyone else? Come on. These girls have new Chanel bags, Givenchy dresses etc etc every day and on a fashion salary ( unless you have very generous parents) we all know its fake.
The only time it really blew my mind was when I worked with another intern and they thought they could go walk right up the editor -in-chief their second day and just chit chat about stuff? Um really? It’s giving people the wrong idea.
SOME of us wear flats all day, work a second job at night and on the weekends to afford the cost of travel to NY or gasp an apartment and if we’re lucky scrape up enough for one designer treasure for the season, all just so we can be in the same room (aka fashion closet) and breathe in the brillance that is top designers in an internship or pray pray pray a paying job. Way to make us all look like spoiled brats MTV
You all can blame it on Eric, Heather, Julie, Kevin, Norman, Becky, and Andre.
@RR, except they all had JOBS!! Oh, how i miss original Real World. Best season ever.
Personally I wouldn’t blame it on the Real World. In my opinion, the shift came after Rich Girls with Ally Hilfiger and that Jaime girl! That was the original ‘it girls about town being fabulous’ show! I did love that more than The Hills/The City combined though! Remember when they went to London? Ahh so good! Oh how I miss it!
OG Real World and Road Rules were great!
Whitney had 1 job that was real for half a second.
Then her career path quickly turned into reality time.
Don’t think that any girl who interns or assists at Teen Vogue part time for a handful of months is going to land a major position at a PR firm and then work for DVF. NOT REALITY
Thank you Alyssa for setting it straight! I cannot tell you how many days as a fashion intern that I did not eat all day let alone spent nights in the closet checking out racks of samples. I saw a few comments of other members who have successfully interned after graduating from college. Does anyone know how to get around the necessary requirement to receive some kind of school credit if you are no longer a student in NYC? Thanks again…your post was so awesome!
Not only was this amazingly written without being boring, but the fact that a graduate from Tulane (and even a recent college graduate) has such great insight and is actually trying to do something with her life. Scott Cowen and my father are very close, so I’m familiar with many Tulane students, and it’s no secret that Tulane’s standards have gone down.
I am so glad that you said this, because television often reflects a sort of fantasy that is impossible to reach, no matter how many times your parents tell you that the sky is the limit.
Thank you so much for posting this!
I understand and agree with the post; however, it’s a one-sided take. Elle was not forced to hire Olivia nor was PR forced to hire Whitney. Both firms know how the storyline will be aired as, and both need MTV just as MTV needs them. The mag needs another vehicle into mass exposure after the success of Project Runway and failure of Stylista. Meanwhile, Kelly Cutrone is riding on the success of The Hills/The City and translated that to her own show. While it is a nuisance to consider these shows as “reality” tv, the network is not the only one to blame. The industry has endorsed these types of programs as well.
Alyssa, this is great! Although I’m just a a small gym owner in your home state with minuscule knowledge of the fashion industry, I found your blog extremely informative. I’m wondering if you can continue to unveil what truly happens on a continuous basis. Sounds like people want to know. Anyway, just a thought. I wish you well. God bless…
even beyond being an intern, whether you’re an assistant or a senior director, working in fashion is often times unglamorous.