Hello! As I move into my last semester at Philadelphia University as a fashion merchandising student, I’ve experienced just about every common misconception about fashion merchandising students. Fashion merchandising students are largely misunderstood. Our major is not necessarily as cut and dried as say an accounting major. Today, I want to share eight common misconceptions about fashion merchandising students with you all. If you’re also a fashion merchandising student, I’m sure that you can relate! If not, maybe you'll learn a couple things about being a fashion merchandising student.
1. We’re not fashion design students. No, we do not sew our own clothing. A lot of fashion merchandising students aren’t even fully aware of how to operate a sewing machine. Fashion design and fashion merchandising are two entirely separate majors. As fashion merchandising students, we're interested in the business side of the fashion industry. We dream of working as fashion writers, visual merchandisers, creative brand directors, fashion buyers, etc
2. We don’t have less work than other majors. We write papers, complete other assignments, read an incredible amount and study for exams just like other majors do. Marketing and business classes involve various in-depth ideas and theories that aren’t as easy as one may think.
3. We don’t just care about shopping. Fashion is so much more than just shopping. Any girl who thinks that fashion merchandising is just about shopping will drop out after their first semester. Being a fashion merchandising student requires not only hard work but passion about the fashion industry itself. Without that passion, it's impossible to make it in such a cut-throat industry. Remember Emily from Devil Wears Prada? That's the kind of dedication that's required to be a fashion merchandising student- not the love of shopping.
4. We’re not totally vain. We care more about just looks and fashion. Yes, we might post a lot of photos of ourselves on Instagram but more often than not, we’re posting a photo to show off the details of our outfits. We care a lot more about the feathery texture of our new sweater than what we look like. Fashion merchandising students take a ton of different marketing classes and are taught about branding in-depth. We use our social media platforms not as a platform to show off our vanity but rather to develop ourselves as a brand- which is key in the fashion industry.
5. We don’t just want to work retail. Like I mentioned in my first point, there are countless careers associated with fashion merchandising. Fashion merchandising students make up the fashion industry. We aim to be stylists, fashion magazine editors, marketing/social media managers, PR coordinators, runway show coordinators, etc. Fashion can be challenging and finding a job in the industry is competitive but we’re passionate about fashion and determined to launch our careers around what we’re most passionate about. Why bother going to college if we were planning on just working in retail?
6. A fashion merchandising degree is not just another art degree. Fashion merchandising students are actually business students, not art students. While I respect and appreciate those who aim for an art degree, a fashion merchandising degree is entirely different and allows for more job possibilities.
7. We don’t dress fashionably all the time. You should just see what I wear to the gym- definitely not fashionable! As fashion merchandising students, we’re expected to constantly be well-dressed but as a whole, fashion merchandising students are not THAT much better dressed than other majors. I try to dress well daily for class but plenty of fashion merchandising students dress no differently than any other major.
8. We’re not majoring in fashion merchandising for the glitz and the glamour. The fashion industry is about 10% glitz and glamour and the other 90% consists of hard work, sweat and tears. Working in the fashion industry often requires long hours of hard work. Once we graduate, it's very likely that we'll be working much more than just 9-5, Monday-Friday. We need to go way above and beyond if we hope to advance in the fashion industry because it is so fiercely competitive.
