Vogue???

So I was in Vogue recently for Startup Things, which is a wildly unexpected plot point for my life (I realise there’s nothing on here about the startup, maybe I’ll braindump something). Some thoughts I’ve been sharing when friends ask me about it:

• Obviously everyone involved with the shoot was WAY cooler than me. It was honestly quite healing for my nerdy little inner child to be in a room of professionally cool people as a result of being a little nerd rather than in spite of.
• What’s in among the Vogue people right now: chunky Croc-looking shoes with some kind of ornaments on them, very baggy low-hanging pants, blazers, netted tops. I could never and will never be able to pull off any of this.
• I cannot emphasise enough the attention to detail that the team put into this process. It was truly an art form. No-one has ever straightened my hair so meticulously. There was someone fully dedicated to holding an air blower so my hair would blow back in exactly the right way. The photographer gave exact directions for where and how she wanted me to stand, sit, angle my head. As someone who has never been into branded clothing and therefore never understood how these brands maintain their hold over people, it was a masterclass in the level of detail and planning and perfection that goes into building and protecting a strong brand.
• All the much-cooler-than-me people were incredibly kind even when I walked in wearing 7 dollar shoes and an outfit I bought when I was a teenager. Very nice of them.