NEW YORK CITY BLONDE

There is a land not too far away called "drunk texting" and I am it's queen.

This morning I woke up without my clutch, which means no keys, credit card or ID, thankfully I still managed to get home with my phone which may or may not be a good thing...

What I do remember from the end of the night is an old man with a cane and a toolbox chasing me down, he knew my name so I'm guessing at one point we had become chums. This man had to be in his late 40s or early 50s, I'm talking OLD. Anyways, all I wanted to do was get away from him and get home. But without a credit card or any cash (remember I lost my clutch, and did I mention I broke my shoe?) I had very few options. So I let this mystery man get in a cab and take me home... When we pulled up in the vicinity of my apartment, I'm pretty sure I pulled a "tuck and roll" out of the car and ran to my apartment with my shoes in one hand and my phone in the other. I yelled, "YOU NEVER SAW ME!" at my doorman and bolted up to the top floor where I rang and knocked until my roommate in remnants of her slutty vampire costume finally answered the door.

Since I managed to get home with my phone some-what intact, although I did crack the screen of my brand new iPhone 5, I spent most of the morning reviewing and deciphering the illegible phrases I sent out as I gulped down coconut water.


The question we now have to debate is whether morning-after apology texts are courteous or necessary? Is it best to plead the fifth? Go on living as if it never happened? Or send a coy follow-up text with some cutesy emoji? WHAT DO MEN WANT?!?!?!

I'll be mulling over these questions and more over the next few hours as I try to sell $500 coats to Upper East Side women. I hope you all sex kittens enjoyed your Halloween weekend and are preparing your livers for the debauchery that will ensue come Wednesday night.

Tag, tweet or email me pictures of your costumes! Thoughts and opinions on apology texts are welcome. And any questions you have, I'd be happy to answer. meetnycblonde@gmail.com.

xoxo NYCB

PS. I think I'm still very drunk.

If you've ever watched The Hills, which I'm sure you have if you have a second X chromosome, then you probably have some ridiculous idea that the fashion industry is all glitter, glamour and celebrity photo shoots.
The truth is that aside from being cut-throat, for which it's notorious, it's also primarily business driven. You can gawk over the McQueen disco lobster shoes and try to add them to your Amazon wish-list but on what planet could you ever afford them? And where exactly would you wear them? While fashion may seem like a creative and artistic field, it is driven the same way all other businesses are, by the money! And the money in fashion lies in things that actual people will actually wear.
I've received a number of emails asking me to elaborate on my job, college major and experience as a young professional from a few fashion hopefuls.
I'll skip the life story. In my junior year I finally realized that my ambitions were far too big for any other city but the big apple. So I transfered and spent the remainder of my college experience consumed with seven course loads, interning twice a week and working at a boutique four days a week. When people hear "fashion school" they think that you spend your days designing and sewing chic dresses. At least that's what my parents thought for a long time. But I studied "product development" under the Fashion Merchandising Management umbrella. If you don't understand what product development is, don't worry no one does. But that's what I spend my days doing now.

Other popular fashion-related jobs include buying, planning and retail operations. Some are more creative and hands-on than others but know that whatever you do, you'll be spending a lot of time on Excel.
I encourage anyone interested in the field to apply to any sort of internship program so you can gain experience, get an idea of what you enjoy and figure out what sort of company culture suits you. But remember that interning does not involve a lot of clubbing, expensive designer clothing, and hair twirling like the media might have you believe.
Try more than one if you have the opportunity! I've had internships in planning, product development, and marketing which all helped me narrow my focus while searching for jobs after graduation. Don't be fooled though because a lot of smaller companies will hire you as an intern under the pretense that a position might open up for you. It won't. They won't. Small companies mean smaller budgets so that's why they have interns to work for free. And make sure to intern at a place where you'll gain exposure to real industry work rather than fetching coffee.
So what if you don't have the luxury to live in a city where you can intern at a fashion company? Retail! It's definitely a difficult job and I'm not talking about standing around at Abercrombie with your shirt off. Working at a boutique on Madison Ave. throughout college allowed me to perfect my "people skills"and get exposure to the other side of the industry. Sure, sometimes I helped a celebrity client who just threw money around but most of the time it's a real song and dance. Overall it's a great opportunity to network, learn about garment construction, margins, brand operations and how to convince a woman to spend her entire paycheck on a purse.

I had a follower email me asking for advice for those young hopefuls looking to move to the greatest city in the world (New York, OB-VI-OUSLY). And while normally I discourage anyone from taking my advice, sometimes I kind of know what I'm talking about. She wanted opinions on the following:

How to deal with creepy roommates.
Never subject yourself to living with anyone who doesn't meet your standards. Come on, this is where you LIVE. My apartment is my "zen cave". I look forward to going home everyday and lounging on my couch with my roommates while we talk about how horribly long the work day was. Yeah, apartment hunting in NYC is one of the toughest things you'll ever do but you should never settle upon living with "creepy" people. With 8 million inhabitants in this city, look for people who are like-minded. Trust me, they're out there and when you meet roommates who are a good fit, you'll know.





How to deal with annoying homeless people.
There's no way to avoid bums, beggars, or scam artists in New York. And the worst part is, you can never tell which is which. I can understand that there are people out there who can't catch a break and need some help getting back on their feet. But I also know there are those that play on people's vulnerability. Use your best judgement. And if all else fails, do what every other New Yorker does and avoid eye contact.


How to deal with other daily struggles that come along with living in NYC.
Do people in New York struggle? Just kidding. This is probably the hardest to answer because my "daily struggles" change every day. Here are a few completely random tips (that I came up this just now)... 
1. Never trust the train schedule.
2. Always carry an emergency $20 bill (For those street vendors selling cool iPhone cases or cash-only bars. You know, real emergencies).
3. Be nice to doormen. Doormen at your apartment, doormen at restaurants and clubs, doormen everywhere. Just be really nice to them. You'll need their help one day.
4. Be wary about giving your number out to promoters.
5. Don't wear Uggs. Like, ever.
6. Be familiar with the "Three B's" (Bloomingdale's, Barney's, Bergdorf's).
7. NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK.
8. Don't burn bridges. It's one thing to be bitchy on the Internet, it's another thing to be a bitch in real life.
9. Work hard. Work really really hard. This city wasn't built for people who wanted to be handed things. If you're not willing to work your ass off, be certain that the next person will be.
10. Follow @NYC_Blonde (duh).

Who am I? I'm a 23 year old west coast transplant working two jobs, seven days a week in the fashion industry while also managing to find time to have a social life and spit out 140 characters on the Internet machine every once and a while.
How did I get the way that I am? For starters, I watched way too many sitcoms as a child. And now aside from having impeccable timing for my under-appreciated one-liners, I'm under the sincerely delusional impression that I am the missing fifth character on Sex and the City.

What happened that led me to hold such distorted and yet unscathed opinions of the male population? Perhaps it was my high school sweetheart of five years that cheated on me, got a girl pregnant and I stayed with him because I was dumb/devoted only to find out a year later that it wasn't his. Maybe it was my college boyfriend that went on a tropical vacation and came back with a new girlfriend that looked almost identical to me. It could also be the young man that I fell hard for and continued to date despite his attempts to have threesomes with me and my friends. Or there was my crack at using a dating website because I got paid to (we'll save that story for another day though). But whatever bullshit I've been through, they've all been tremendous learning experiences. I still loooove the male species and I'm pretty sure they still think I'm okay too.

You can follow this gem on Twitter @mattegan_

Why do I think I'm better than everyone? I don't. I work really hard, I'm a woman and I live in New York City so I guess it just comes with the territory.

You'd think in a city with approximately 4 million men that meeting your dream guy would be inevitable. All young women, whether this be their motivation or not, move to New York City with some ill-conceived notion that they will fall in love. They'll come for school, their careers or because they're "trying to make it" (whatever that means). But if you dig deep into those brains, past the memorized train times, death wishes on their roommates or their mental Barney's wish list, you'd find that glimmer of hope that their Prince Charming is hiding in one of these boroughs. 

But no one tells them that aside from kissing a lot of frogs, they're going to sleep with a lot of pigs. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I've faced a lot of the same trials. I've dated plenty of them, from the young hedge fund guy to the silver fox TV producer. I've dated guys that are too nice and the sleazeballs who don't know how to work a phone before 2 am, I've even dealt with a guy who wore a leather bracelet. 

And even through all of that, I've still maintained to hold on to an inkling of a fantasy that somewhere in this beautiful, bustling, diverse, eat-you-alive city, some man is out there just waiting to sweep me off my feet. I guess I'm really a woman after all.