In a New York Funk

My name is Shelby Talley and in 1996, I used to be an aspiring fashion designer/stylist/anything to do in fashion. I sought out any mentor in the fashion business I could find to attach myself to and learn from. I even enrolled in the Fashion Design and Merchandising program at my historically black university in Georgia. That's how serious I was, until one day, I decided to take that fateful journey to New York City, the Fashion Capital of the United States. With a bachelor's degree of Fashion Design & Merchandising in hand I began to make phone calls to some of the largest fashion magazines known the world over. One of those magazines is 'VOGUE'- the fashion bible of the industry. The other is a little more literary but still high fashion and editorial publication called 'VANITY FAIR'. In each of these magazines there was one person who worked at one time with one or both of these publications and his name is , the guru of fashion, Mr. Andre Leon Talley. Talley had been the leading style editor for over 20 years abd had worked personally with Diana Vreeland, the editor -in -chief VOGUE magazine. Now being that Andre and I were both black, and shared the same last name, I thought I could get in a little nepostism and I honestly though we could very well be related.

Well beforeI had left home for New York, I made several calls to the Manhattan offices of vanity Fair and Vogue. All of a sudden, I get a personal phonecall from Talley's secretary , Katherine, telling me that he was "in Paris, but when he gets back to New York , he would like to meet me..." Two weeks into my fashion internship search/visit to New York, Talley himself phoned me where I was staying in Riverdale, Bronx and asked me exactly who I was. I answered him in a steady voice, " I'm not sure if we are related, but I see that we share the same last name and our people are both from the Durham, Carolina areas and Talley isn't such a common name so.....maybe we are related, in any case I think weshould meet and I love fashion..." whew! So Talley replied " Okay well then I'll be at the Four Seasons in Room *** and please come by around 2:00pm". Something clicked inside and I thought I may have a shot to sell myself and actually use my fashion degree, to a person of color who was very huge in the high fashion world, I mean I'm not talking JC Penny catalog, even thought there is nothing wrong with that kind of work. I mean hey, it's always been said, it's all about who you know, not what you know...

After Talley agreed to meet me at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel over on Lexington where he was ensconced in a private suite, I proceeded to gather my portfolio and get together what I wanted to wear. On the day of the meeting, I did yoga, brought my sample book, dresses to impress, and was floating out the door to take the bus then the train into the city. Meanwhile, my stomach was jittery because I was really nervous. I got to the hotel and called up to his suite from the downstairs lobby to announce my arrival. Talley told me he'd be down in a few. Notice how he didn't ask me to come up to the room. However, I waited, and waited, and waited...all the while my hopes starting to fade and depression, dark and black waited for me to join in. I decided not to wait any longer and I jumped up from that comfy couch and took it upon myself to sneak up on the special elevator's that lead up to the penthouse level. Once on the private floor, I knocked on Talley's door and he cracked it open, standing there, a gigantic figure staring at me while I said " Hello I am the young lady who has been waiting downstairs for you, who shares the same last name as you??? Sand I wanted to talk and show you my work as a stylist"

Talley looked me up and down through a crack in his door and I could see that he was not dressed. He looked freshly showered and was swaddled in a fluffy terry white four seasons robe. He then proceeded to tell me that I was NOT who he was expecting to knock at his door and for me to go away because he was expecting a masseuse. I was devastated and immediately turned in the narrow hallway and walked briskly back around the corner and caught the first thing smoking down to lobby level. in such pain and dissapointment that I didn't know what to do. So...I went into the huge marble bathroom and stole a whole bunch of those nice, thick, monogrammed hand towels as souvenirs for all my troubles and adventures. I then went outside after having been trapped inside the hotel for hours and cried my eyeballs out. The noisy New York traffic was a good cover for my loud, racking sobs of deep pain. I cried like I had just lost my mother and father. I was so sad, I thought it would be a long time before I would be happy again. But I soon realized, even though nepotism does exist in the world of business, never put all your hopes and dreams on the strength of one man or one surname. If that name or man fails you, or disappoints in any way, there is nowhere to go but down in a funk. In New York, a funk, is really funky. I am living elsewhere now, and I still dabble in fashion and of course I still love it, but I will never forget how rude Andre Leon Talley was to me, a young fashion novice.