Fashion Flurry-An Introduction to Yours Truly

A while ago, I sent this in for the part of the annual Vogue Talent Contest. On my 23rd birthday, no less, I received an envelope that threw me into a state of manic excitement. The envelope was thick and creamy, with the immortal words: 'Conde Nast Publications' emblazoned across the top. The paper inside carried five letters that change any aspiring fashion writer's life: V.O.G.U.E.

On closer inspection, however, this turned out to be a letter of rejection. Damn. Here it is anyway, I thought sharing my autobiography entry with you would be a nice way to introduce myself-maybe one day you'll see it in Vogue too. Mwahahaha.

A determined writer with a degree in fashion design, Bianca Pal is obsessed with all things creative. She recounts the years in which her skills developed.

Autobiographies can be thorny things to get right, especially in only six hundred words. I could ramble about moving to Belgium as a child, the bullies encountered at school. I could waffle about typically teenaged shenanigans, the culture shock of moving from a huge international school to a tiny, all-girls one. I could even delve into the horrors, joys and accomplishments of my art foundation year. But I will not. What I will do is describe to you the three most formative years of my life: the University Years.

Never will I forget driving to London with my parents; leaving the cows and sheep of my hamlet in Oxfordshire for the streets of New Cross Gate where I was to stay in halls of residence. Memories of excitement mixed with trepidation prevail. What would it be like studying at the prestigious University of the Arts? Would I fit in? Insecurities floated around after my worried parents left me. Then I met my new flatmates. A couple of parties and alcohol-fuelled chats later and it felt like we had known each other our entire lives. I still live with them now. One of the best surprises about London College of Fashion was my class. Who could have guessed that supposedly flighty fashion students could be so grounded and charming?

Luckily, I also learnt a vast amount: not only the skills taught in design classes, but social and life skills too, things that would have been learnt later had I not have studied there. The first year was a complete shambles; great fun socially but frustrating work-wise. I wanted to make couture eveningwear immediately but kept messing up simple seams. The sewing machines at Curtain Road never seemed to work properly. In retrospect it was a bit curious that they always functioned perfectly for other students. Two projects passed in a whirl of cotton, cuffs and metres of sparkly nude jersey. With unwavering support from the patient tutors and saintly technicians, I even clawed my way through to ‘the business year’.

We kicked off with a charity project, making fabulous creations from bin-bags. A swift sportswear assignment followed then work placements were organised. Students duly pottered off to the studios of Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Luella Bartley and Giles Deacon (amongst others) and put their new skills to work. I went to help the patient and lovely Allegra Hicks. We came back with a renewed hunger to thrive somewhere in this competitive industry. A group project followed placement reports and we devised fantasy capsule collections for established brands (my group created a denim line for Aquascutum).

The third and final year arrived and most students chose to design collections to be shown on the catwalk. By this time I had realised that perhaps my talent lay somewhere other than in pattern cutting or fashion design and when considering what to do dissertation-wise, I thought back to more bewildering times. I remembered feelings of uncertainty about where my class were, how to get there. I recalled being ill but having no idea how to register with a doctor, let alone how to apply for ‘extenuating circumstances’. There were lots of things learnt over those three years that I wished had been known from the start. I ended up writing, graphic-designing and illustrating several magazines to help new, puzzled students. Writing them was so enjoyable that a future career plan was finalised: I had become a journalist.