I’ve said it before, but one of my specialist subjects is costume in TV drama. Yes, it may be clothes for fictional characters rather than fashion worn out on the streets, but just like the fashion out on the streets I love how much costume tells us about character and story and even what is going on in our real-life world today.
And, y’know, I get to lie back and watch telly while polishing my expertise.
So I was thrilled last week to get an email from a publicist at an independent TV production company to tell me that one of their new 80-set shows was about to air.
She’d done her research and realised I’d written about the first series three years ago and so thought I might be interested in the show this time round. I was.
Particularly because she’d also taken the time to include screenshots of some of the stand-out costumes and a few paragraphs explaining the look. Within about 15 minutes I’d pitched it to one of my editors at Vogue and got the commission for a short piece.
To be honest, even the publicist seemed surprised at the speed in which this happened. She had no one to thank but herself. When you target the right journalist and give them the information they need, it really is that easy.
