What I've learnt at Oxfam

Volunteering at Oxfam Online in Batley has been an amazing and rewarding experience with lots of opportunities to get involved in different areas of the business and learn new things.

My placement at Oxfam has taught me:-

• The different ways in which Oxfam helps communities
• How Oxfam helps the environment by not wasting anything
• That I enjoy and excel in trend researching, with visual presentation
• I work well in an active team based environment, where I may at times need to take charge
• How to photograph well
• How to professionally sort through clothes in order to select items specific for a target audience
• How to style outfits for a catwalk
• The amount of work and effort that goes into planning an event
• How to give the best description for an item in order to sell it
• How to tell what type of fabric an item may be made from
• That I am passionate about recycling and making the most of something old rather than making new

I would definitely recommend volunteering at Oxfam online, and would even be interested in going into this line of work in the future.

#Oxclusive

After 4 months volunteering at Oxfam online in Batley, today was my final day, and what a day it was! As a placement student at Oxfam, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to be involved in the organisation and planning of #Oxclusive.

Oxfams first ever exclusive bloggers event consisted of a tour of Wastesaver to find out what happens to everything you donate, a fashion show exhibiting just a few of the many on trend garments we have at Oxfam Online, a quick Q&A during refreshments and finally a chance to buy some items from a couple of pop up shops.

The day started at 10:30am with our wonderful voluntary models arriving and getting straight into having their hair and make-up done whilst myself and the other placement students went through the last minute wardrobe issues. We then had a few run throughs of the catwalk to insure all models and helpers knew what they were doing, and it was then that we realised how much time was starting to fly. We all had a quick break for lunch before the models had hair and make-up touch up. The excitement really kicked in when we were told the bloggers were starting to arrive and I had to escort all the models to their changing rooms to get ready for the show!

For our fashion show we had 6 trends we chose for the season, Denim, Suede, Oriental Embellishment, Florals, Paisley and Bohemian Wanderer. Each placement student was given a trend to hand pick the garments related to the trend and style 5 outfits to send down the catwalk. I was given the Denim trend, which at first I thought I might struggle with as I am not one to double denim, however, the amazing range of on trend clothing Oxfam receives made styling the outfits a lot easier.

Here's my Denim collection.

Straight after the event I had to help reorganise all the clothes from the catwalk, that hadn’t already been picked for buying by the models that wore them, ready to go out to our pop up shop to give the bloggers a chance to purchase them. As well as the catwalk clothes we also had a few block price rails full of clothing I had previously put together, a homewares table full of beautiful tablecloths, blankets and pillows, and finally our Up-cycling table promoting Oxfams Etsy store. After serving all our customers I even spotted this beautiful beautiful bottle green velvet waistcoat with the price of only £8 that I just had to purchase for myself!

From this event Oxfam made a £150 profit from the pop up shops, promoted the online shop as an on trend fashion business, helped raise awareness of the work Oxfam does and made a few great contacts along the way. I myself have had an amazing time and think the day couldn’t have gone better!

Check out what treasures you can find for yourself at Oxfams Online Shop.
Or get the latest news from the Oxfam Batley team on Facebook.

Bohemian Wanderer Carousel

Today was my final carousel day at Oxfam, working on my trend, Bohemian Wanderer. This was a trend I was really looking forward to as I love bold patterns and floaty dresses mixed with layers of knit and weave.

Here is my trend pitch paragraph, wrote in the description of each garment for the carousel:-
'This season it’s all about combining the sheer floating maxi dresses with bold knit and woven layers. We’ve got fabulous floral prints, lots of funky fringing and that statement bag to take on any journey. Make a show stopping statement at any festival with our Bohemian Wanderer collection!'

My selection of on trend clothing.

Denim vs Suede Carousel

Today was carousel day working on my trend, Denim vs Suede. I tried choosing a range of different items to show the varied styles of the 2 fabrics.
As it's very fast paced at Oxfam, Amanda and Holly quality check and make live our listings ASAP. This however means that our listings go live before they are emailed to Monica at the end of the day. Because of this a couple of my garments were sold before they even made it onto the carousel.

Here is my trend pitch paragraph, wrote in the description of each garment for the carousel:-

'This season we have 2 different fabrics competing for the top spot! From embellished denim skirts and retro dungarees to sorbet suede accessories and bright tailored jackets. You're guaranteed to find the perfect style for you, with our Denim vs Suede Collection!'

My selection of on trend clothing.

Hair and Make-Up Mood Boards

As it's getting closer to the event and no one seems to be coming up with a visual of what style make-up we want for the event, last night I created 2 different make-up and hair mood boards to email people today. The 2 different mood boards are for the 2 groups of models we will alternate between during the fashion show.

Look 1 - Slick back hair and bold make-up style.

Look 2 - Natural make-up and flowing beach hair style.

Graceful Blush Carousel and Phoning Models

Today was carousel day working on my trend, Graceful Blush.
As always carousel days are very full on, making sure everything for the carousel is listed to perfect standard and put online in time. However, on top of that, as Katys window had been broken from the wind this previous night, I was also left with her job of calling all the models and the hair people for the bloggers event to confirm they can make the time and date, and that we have their measurements to be prepared.

Here is my trend pitch paragraph, wrote in the description of each garment for the carousel:-

'This season it’s all about the natural elegance in every style. With soft feminine flows of skirts, and structured to the silhouette dresses, in nude shades of sugary pastel. You’ll be ready for any special occasion this summer, with our Graceful Blush collection!'

My selection of on trend clothing

Feeling Positive

Today I just wanted to post about how happy and appreciated I’m feeling. Today Amanda couldn’t stop complimenting my listing and photographing skills and telling me how impressed she is with my work. She even mentioned that she was going to speak to Holly about how well I’m doing and suggesting that I list more high end designer wear, which is exciting. I understand a compliment like this may not seem much, but sometimes when you spend all your time working for free, it’s nice to know that what you’re doing is noticed and really appreciated. This has also led me to think about looking into jobs in this type of area, where as before I could really see my strengths to find a job in.

It’s important to remember, even the smallest of compliments can mean a lot to someone.