Ivanka Trump, once dubbed the “world’s hottest boss,” has a new book out called The Trump Card, where she gives business advice to women. I have to admit that while I find most of the Trump family to be totally absurd, I kind of like Ivanka. She seems about as down-to-earth as someone with her pedigree can be, and the times I’ve watched her judge The Apprentice she seems to have actual business skills. (Plus there was that time she redecorated her assistant’s apartment, which was pretty nice.)
On Good Morning America this week, Ivanka was promoting her book and while doing so told a story about how, just before she graduated from college, Anna Wintour called Ivanka personally (”no assistant connected us”) to offer her a job at Vogue. Ivanka said a polite “no thanks,” as she was already planning to get involved in Dad’s world of real estate.
I know that Ivanka’s playing nice and that she’s too smart to publicly dis someone, but does anyone else get the feeling she said no not because her dream was to pursue other projects but because she’s way too smart to work for Anna Wintour? Just wondering.
Bee Shaffer, the daughter of Vogue editrice/notorious boss Anna Wintour, is just like a regular person! She may get to join Mom in the front rows of fashion shows, but she took a less predictable route by studying theater at Columbia University. Now that Bee is out of school, she’s applying for jobs - and, oddly, hasn’t had much luck. Yes, it turns out that the recession affects even the daughters of legendary magazine editors. According to the New York Daily News:
The 22-year-old former Teen Vogue contributing editor went on a staggering 24 interviews since graduating from Columbia in May - all of them unsuccessful.
Part of me wants to be all bitter and “well, I sent out easily 200 resumes without getting a single interview, so suck it up already,” but part of me is also like “man, if it’s hard for this girl, imagine how bad it is for everyone else.” I think it’s safe to say that no one likes the job search process, especially when it’s your first job. Going on dozens of interviews and not having any of them pan out is embarrassing and disheartening. [I think Post Grad covered that fairly well.] Repeated job rejection getting to be a universal human experience, and that’s pretty depressing.
So, good luck, Bee, and I admire that you’re choosing a career other than the one where it would be super easy for you.
Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron is on the cover of the September issue of Vogue. Of course, there’s lots of stuff about fashion, but she also talks about her more philanthropic efforts:
“This is the Asian club right here,” she says, introducing the head of her film division and the woman in charge of her Africa Outreach Project. The two Japanese-Americans, Beth Kono and Ashlee Irish, started out as assistants and then took on more and more responsibilities: Kono develops scripts for Denver & Delilah Films (named for two of Theron’s dogs), and Irish keeps track of Theron’s charity work; lately it has focused on equipping trailers with computers and mobile health clinics, which then travel continuously through remote parts of South Africa, where teenagers have a nearly 50 percent chance of contracting HIV during their lifetime.
Charlize is starting to sound like a one-woman Former Assistants Done Good factory. More celebrities should follow her lead.
As its newsstand sales plummet and the entire magazine industry is in freefall, Vogue magazine has had to do things it never would have done in the past. Instead of only write about luxury and expensive things and people who are ten times more beautiful and fabulous than you’ll ever be, they have to occasionally look like they’re in touch with the regular folk. That’s why on the cover of the May issue there’s a headline that would be right at home on any magazine in your grocery store aisle - “You’re Fired! Surviving and Thriving After the Pink Slip.” However, because this is Vogue, the story isn’t about a working class person who got laid off and is struggling to make ends meet. Instead, it’s a first person essay by longtime Village Voice fashion writer Lynn Yaeger (pictured at left), who was laid off last year. While I think Yaeger is a good writer and her firing from the Voice was upsetting, I have a really hard time a) identifying with her, and b) not rolling my eyes continually during her article. If Yaeger wrote her piece [which is not available online, or I'd link to it] in bullet points, here’s what she’d advise you to do in your own layoff situation:
Continue reading ‘recession advice from ‘vogue’’
Gawker.com is reporting that publishing behemoth Conde Nast (home to Vogue, Vanity Fair, and other illustrious titles) is laying off almost all of their receptionists.
Tipsters tell us that the receptionists—who sit on each floor to greet and announce visitors, receive packages, and answer phones—will have their last day on Friday. Sad! They’re naturally some of the most popular people in the building, being the only ones with a professional obligation to smile at everyone and act civil and useful.
On top of that, this move is probably a part of CEO Charles Townsend’s latest round of company-wide cutbacks, but it can’t be saving Conde that much money—the receptionists are some of the lowest-paid (if not the lowest-paid) people in the whole building.
Sounds like a sad day over at Conde Nast - just last month they tightened the budgets of already-overworked assistants. If you’re one of the laid off receptionists and want to share your story, email me at contact@savetheassistants.com. I wonder why it is that the people who get fired are always the underpaid admins, not the overpaid executives whose bad business decisions got the company in trouble in the first place?
Via New York magazine:
Hi guys,
Sorry for the mass email. Two of the three assistants in Anna Wintour’s office are leaving soon and Conde Nast is starting to look for candidates. If you know of anyone that may be interested in applying have them shoot me an email and I can put them in touch with the right person in HR.
Some experience in fashion or media is good. Smart, well-educated, calm, etc…
Let me know if you can think of anyone.
Thanks!
Shit, I am so tempted to apply as a joke and see if I can get through to the interview round. My favorite part is the listing of requirements, one of them being “calm.”
And when did she upgrade from two assistants to three?
Even though her ex-boyfriend is a tool of the highest caliber, I get the impression that Anne Hathaway is kind of rad. I mean, compare her to other Hollywood starlets of about her age and fame level: Anne a) is named after Shakespeare’s wife, b) went to college, and c) and has never been photographed (at least that I know about) without underwear on. Plus, her most famous role to date was playing the fictionalized version of Anna Wintour’s ex-assistant Lauren Weisberger in the movie adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada.
Something else I respect about her? She seems to genuinely love and support her older brother Michael. Anne has a well-established history of supporting gay rights groups and causes, and Michael’s homosexuality was one reason she became an activist. In one interview, Anne says that she strayed from the Catholic tradition she was raised in because the Church criticized gay people. Now, in the January issue of Vogue (she’s on the cover, which ought to disprove that “Anna Wintour had everyone from The Devil Wears Prada blacklisted” theory), Anne mentions that Michael is her personal assistant. That puts her among celebrities like Kelly Clarkson, Heather Mills, Kat Von D, and Perez Hilton, all of whom have a sibling as their PA. I’m willing to bet she and Michael are really tight, and I also bet they’re pretty fun to hang out with.
I guess maybe Sean Avery’s Vogue internship worked out for the best after all. If recent events are any indication, he might not be long for the pro-hockey-playing world. The onetime New York Ranger was recently signed to the Dallas Stars. Avery, who seems to enjoy talking shit, was being interviewed before a game against the Calgary Flames. One of the Flames’ players, Dion Phaneuf, is dating 24 actress Elisha Cuthbert, who happens to be Avery’s ex [Avery and Cuthbert are pictured at left]. In the interview, Avery made a crack about Phaneuf and Cuthbert’s relationship: “I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about.” Avery has been suspended indefinitely from the Stars and has entered a “treatment” facility for ten days (which I am assuming is that fake rehab that people go to after they say or do something dumb and have to hide for awhile, like when Isaiah Washington went to rehab for calling his Grey’s Anatomy costar T.R. Knight “a fag”).
While Avery still has a multiyear contract with the Stars, odds are he’s not rejoining the team. More likely he’ll be traded or get his contract paid out. Maybe this is all his way of getting out of hockey in time to join the Marie Claire reality show? Or is Anna going to offer him a full time gig at Vogue? Sadly, it seems we have not seen the last of the vanity intern.
Even though some people inexplicably think that The Devil Wears Prada is realistic, anyone who has ever worked as an assistant in the fashion industry knows that happy endings are a lot less easy coming. Filmmaker R.J. Cutler has made a documentary about the inner workings of Vogue, presumably with the permission of Ms. Anna “Nuclear” Wintour herself. The movie, which followed the process of making the annual fall fashion issue (the one with the most ad pages, and the most important issue of the year) is brilliantly titled The September Issue and will debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
Anna Wintour, the patron saint of bad celebrity bosses, may be stepping down from her post as Editor in Chief of fashion bible Vogue. The known assistant and intern torturer won’t comment on whether she’s departing from her cushy gig. However, Gawker has some evidence as to why ‘Nuclear’ Wintour might be on the way out:
- Men’s Vogue recently got downgraded from 12 issues a year to 2. Apparently, Wintour didn’t even try to stick up for the magazine.
- Main rival Elle is one of the only magazines, fashion or otherwise, that’s on the upswing in terms of revenue, ad pages, and a successful TV partnership (first Project Runway and now Stylista).
- Her contract is up
- Although she seems nonplussed by all the bad press she’s gotten, it’s possible that being widely hated has finally gotten to be too much for her.
One other noteworthy item: Wintour’s daughter, Bee Shaffer, is about to graduate from Columbia and enter the job force. What better way to retire than to groom your perfect replacement?