Although Sarah Klymkiw is finally in a fashion job that she enjoys, there are still other possibilities. Where to? Ever the forward planner, I’m often plagued with neurotic tendencies or thoughts of the future. This has not been helped since joining yet another virtual friend website called ‘facebook’ earlier this week. Do I need any more distractions? Do I not spend enough time in front of the computer? Would I not have stayed in contact with these ‘friends’ if we were in fact friends?
A conversation at work led me to this miserable site and now I’m addicted. The nosy person in me, the one that purposely stays in on a Wednesday night to watch Relocation, Relocation, Property Ladder and Grand Designs, is now pouring out of me as my eyes become transfixed as I scroll through pages of people from school and discover what they’re up to now. The quiet one at school that didn’t say a word now working in the city probably earning mega amounts of money, living in a penthouse apartment in Canary Wharf and wearing power suits screaming ‘Buy, buy, buy.’ The one that failed English GCSE that’s now working as a freelance journalist for the nationals and the girl who never got the boy now happily married with a child and another on the way. Why am I bothered? Is it normal to want to know what the people you saw everyday for seven years, now seven years on are up to but not actually want to be ‘friends’ with them? Do people have the same thought about me? With close friends around me getting engaged, married, buying houses, emigrating, going travelling, landing their first great job and becoming successful in their own right, do I not wonder if they look at me and see someone struggling to find their way? A close friend, who after completing an MA and spending a year battling with what to do, is now happily working as an illustrator. We met for drinks last weekend and she confided in me that when she sees me she is proud that I moved to London and landed a great job; that she aspires to achieve everything I have in terms of London, work and relationship. How I’m passionate about fashion and I’ve gone out and got a job in the industry and that is inspiring. Is it? My job appears great on the surface, but where will it lead me if one day I decide to leave? Do I want to organise shoots, book flights and accommodation or do I want to style them myself and show what I can do in terms of ‘making fashion’ in my own right? I have a strong urge to design again but I feel I’ve lost confidence in myself to do it, and my pattern-cutting skills are somewhat rusting since graduating. Perhaps it boils down to wondering if I’m good enough? I choose rightIt seems like the main responsibility in this job is to do the Starbucks run, choose flowers, purchase champagne and Marks and Spencer’s ‘nibbles’ for an important meeting with a publisher (I had to refrain from buying cheese and pineapple on sticks, mini savoury eggs and sausages on sticks – retro!) One afternoon my boss sent me out to buy her A white smock top from Zara which later turned out to be THE white smock top. (A challenge made more difficult with at least 15 different styles of white smock in store!) After visiting three separate Zara stores on Oxford Street trying on all the white smock tops in store and taking photos with my phone to email my boss, she advised me to buy one that I’d wear. How could I choose one that I’d wear when I was buying it for my boss? Would she sack me if I got it all wrong, or worse still send me out there again! I chose the one which I thought best suited her style and was the most flattering shape with the big black zip down the back, a highly unusual feature in a white smock top, which would have made my mission all the easier if my boss had just informed me of the black zip detail earlier, or in fact that there was a particular top in mind in the first place! The experience did not make me feel proud of myself, just relieved that I managed to choose the right top. Maybe if all else fails I could become a personal shopper? Read Sarah's earlier blogs: | 
