my thoughts on the Parsons x Teen Vogue course.

An inspiration collage for a course assignment.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that I enrolled in the ParsonsxTeenVogue Fashion Industry Essentials course. The program just wrapped, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it. If you're thinking about signing up, if you've never heard of it and are interested, or if you're a fellow student, please read on and let me know your thoughts on my pros and cons list in the comments!

PROS

• Wide variety of course topics - We covered everything from industry basics and design processes to portfolio development and marketing techniques.
• Instructive videos from industry insiders - I got to hear firsthand tips and stories from designers like Rebecca Minkoff and Angela Gao to professionals like Amy Astley and Caletha Crawford.
• Interesting and creative assignments - I was constantly pushed to put my best work forward with each new course assignment. The design course was particularly challenging, since I'm living in a small town in Italy without access to standard design materials!
• Social media development - Social media is a huge interest of mine. I love that these courses helped me to strengthen my platforms even further. My LinkedIn page looks fantastic now!
• A better understanding of my portfolio - Before this class, I had no official portfolio to present. Now, I have a much better idea of what to include and how to format my portfolio in general. While I submitted a version of my portfolio for the final assignment, I will definitely continue to adapt and improve it so that it represents my best work.

CONS

• Short videos - While some of the videos we had to watch were longer and very informative (such as the ones from Gilt), the majority were short and lacked the more specific career and job information I desired. My favorite videos were the ones that related how people developed their careers and skills for their professions.
• Some unrealistic assignments - I recognize that I am in a relatively unique situation in terms of my living setup. However, some of the assignments (the design ones in particular) were difficult for me because I lacked the recommended resources. I'm sure that some other students encountered a similar problem.
• A short final review - Students taking this course have to complete a solid amount of work in order to achieve the certificate. Because of this, I had hoped that whoever reviewed my final submission would look into all of my work and give me a detailed review. Instead, I only received feedback, in the form of a short paragraph, on my portfolio submission. While the criticism was helpful, since I will use the reviewer's advice to further improve my portfolio, it did not take into account all the other work I had submitted along the way. It would have been nice to receive a more comprehensive analysis of my work.

Overall, I am very happy that I decided to take this exclusive course. I was challenged much more than I initially thought I would be, and came out with a more developed understanding of the fashion industry. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a career in fashion!

xoxo

Sabrina