DAY 1

Today was the first day of my three week placement doing Visual Merchandising at Gap in the Bullring. Coming into my first day i was very nervous and didn't know what to expect. The first thing we did was have a tour of the store, stockrooms and listen to health & safety talks. 

The first task of the day was in the Childrenswear department, i was given the task to completely style and re-do three girl's mannequins with the traditional Gap logo collection. I dressed the mannequins in playful poses with bright and colourful clothes which would appeal to children. This was the first ever time i had dressed a mannequin that was in a store and at first i found difficult to get the clothes on and off and even a child's mannequin was so much heavier than i ever anticipated. I soon learnt small techniques and tips on the best ways to dress them and how to hold them and lift them on to high platforms. I enjoyed styling the mannequins in to animated poses and just styling the clothes in to unique styles. 

The next task was to restyle two female mannequins, the theme of the outfits was 'Central Park', It was focusing on the stylish women with effortless style. The garments on the mannequins also needed steaming to look as presentable as possible. I added the trench coats to the mannequins as these garments were bestsellers and seemed popular with the customers. 

The store is divided in to women's on the right side and men's on the left side. Towards the front of the store is four mannequins on each side on building blocks. I was asked to re-dress the male mannequins following the guidelines from the head-office. I also had the opportunity to dress the fourth one myself to fit in with the other three. These mannequins were much heavier than the child's one i lifted earlier and took quite a lot to carry about. I also had to learn how take off the arms and separate the torso from the legs, this was much easier with the more mannequins i did but i still found it difficult as they are so stiff and hard to control. These mannequins were hard to dress as they were a lot bigger than me! I'm sure by the end of my placement it will be a lot easier to dress them without difficulty. I followed the guidelines for dressing the mannequins but added my own little style to them, when dressing the fourth one i wanted to keep the subtle hints of bright colours but to continue with the striped patterned theme. 

The first mannequin (on the right) is the one i styled to match.

I also had to re-dress the women's mannequins, changing their jeans to more bolder colours which would go with the spring season. I found these slightly easier to dress than the men's ones but still a struggle. 

After my first day at work, i feel more confident and excited about what else i will be doing there in the next three weeks. I really enjoyed my first day and I've already learnt new things!