Crème de la Chem: November 2013

I must apologise for being MIA recently - it's been quite a hectic last couple of weeks. If my unimaginative post-title wasn't clue enough, my lack of posts have been down to doing work experience at Heat magazine's fashion and beauty department. Since graduating, I've been applying for every work experience opp/internship/job vacancy under the sun which involved journalism in some capacity and getting pretty fed up with the lack of success I was having. Then, low and behold, my application for work experience at Heat was successful and I was suddenly off to take my first-ever furrow into magazine journalism. To say I was excited is a complete understatement. Not only that, but I couldn't have come up with a better excuse to adorn my wardrobe with lovely new clothes. Shopping was a big part of my prep for work experience because I wanted to look the part and, well...I love shopping. Judge me!

The Sunday before my first day was spent planning outfits and taking pictures of them so I wouldn't be in a flap over what to wear at any point. I don't think I've ever been that organised. Anyway, after planning and packing I was off to stay with family, ready for my first morning. Needless to say, I barely slept that night; I was terrified I'd over sleep and I was just so excited! I planned to blog every night so I could keep track of what I'd been up to and what I'd been wearing but if I'm honest, the whole week passed in such a whirlwind that I just didn't get the chance.

Rather than go through each day and what I did (to be honest, it's hard to distinguish between the days now so I couldn't even if I wanted) I thought I'd give you a round-up of my time there and the outfits that, after countless shopping trips, multiple returns and various panicky moments, were what I like to call 'The Chosen Ones'.

In a nutshell, Heat was brilliant. I honestly loved it. You know all those horror stories you hear about workies (yep, that's what I was called) being treated as the office tea lady and general skivvy? Yep? Well, forget them. I was involved from the beginning and the whole Style team were lovely and made me feel part of the team. So what did I actually do? I checked the courier room regularly for packages - it's like Christmas everyday there, magical. I wrote a few 'Who Wore It Best' articles for heatworld.com (which you can read here, here and here) which was awesome because I actually have published work! I spent quite a lot of time doing celebrity trend research which was really fun but terrible for those of us who, ahem, are a little looser with their dosh. I was also in touch with PR companies, calling in samples for features and keeping the fashion/beauty cupboard organised. It was such a range of things that I never got bored and I actually felt like I was helping, rather than just getting in the way!

Now, onto the outfits. I must apologise in advance for the mediocre/terrible quality of some of the pictures; they were taken on my phone and towards the end of the week they became a little more rushed and grainy but hopefully you can get the idea. I was told the dress code was 'Casual'. Yep, make of that what you will. It basically meant that anything goes (within reason of course, put those nipple tassels away) so employees were as casual/dressy as they liked.

Day 1: Leather & Check

Coat: Zara (old) // Shirt: H&M Kids (bargain & they go up to 14yrs+) // Leggings: Dorothy Perkins (old) // Chelsea Boots: Topshop // Bag: Topshop

Day 2: Tartan & Lace

Coat: Zara (old) // Shorts: Zara (similar - ideal if, like me, you love shorts but not so much your thighs because they're loose) // Shirt: ASOS // Jumper: Zara // Shoes: Primark (similar) // Bag: Topshop

Day 3: Turtleneck & Check