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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Courtney Pochin

Anna Wintour's former assistant shares life-changing lessons she learned working at Vogue

While the 2006 Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway movie, The Devil Wears Prada, might have put some people off a career at a glossy fashion magazine, there are still millions of people who would kill to work at a publication such as Vogue.

But what is it really like to work there as an assistant to the editor-in-chief?

One woman, who claims to have done the same job as Hathaway's character Andy Sachs, has been sharing a few secrets from Vogue and the important life lessons she learned during her time there.

Lily Stav Gildor, a textile artist and designer, was employed as an assistant to Vogue US editor Anna Wintour from January 2014 to May 2015.

She's recently gone viral on TikTok after sharing a number of what she calls 'Tales from Devil Wears Prada'.

Her videos have gone viral on TikTok (lilystavstudio/Tiktok)

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In her first video, she says: "What I learned assisting Anna Wintour, part one.

"Connections are the most important thing and I'm not talking about nepotism.

"Maintain and foster your relationships, send a f***ing handwritten thank you note, people like it."

Lily goes on in her second clip in the series to explain that from her time with Anna, she discovered one big mistake people make in job interviews that might lose them a dream opportunity - such as a career at Vogue.

Lily worked as Anna Wintour's assistant for a year and a half (Getty Images)

She claims that when you're asked about your activities outside of work, do not talk about doing exercise such as running or yoga, be more creative.

"Almost everyone exercises and it's probably the least interesting thing about you," she points out.

"You want to stand out from the competition."

Meanwhile, her third video claims outfit repeating is allowed "and actually encouraged" in the Vogue offices.

Lizzie McGuire would be thrilled!

Lily explains: "If you have five really chic and elegant summer outfits wear them Monday through Friday for several months until the season's over.

"That way you're really making the most out of your clothes, you're not participating in the over-consumption cycle, you look really chic and you're not stressed about trying to come up with new outfits all the time."

She adds: "And let me tell you a secret, everyone chic at Vogue does this."

Thousands of people have watched and liked the videos, with many commenting to share their thoughts on the series.

As a result, Lily also shared with her viewers how she got the coveted job at Vogue - and it wasn't easy.

She told them: "So I worked for Anna for about a year and a half and then I left.

"I studied art history and fine arts at college, I did not do any fashion internships at that time and I'm not gonna lie and say that I just got this job by applying on the website, that's not true. I knew someone who knew someone who worked in the HR department at Conde Nast and I was able to send my resume and get an interview with them.

"They then recommended me for jobs that were opening up at Conde Nast and I applied for at least four different jobs at Vogue, I interviewed for them and didn't get any of them.

"At the same time I was working in fashion PR and styling as an intern for free, just making no money, it was miserable.

"This was taking place over four months and I was so discouraged but then finally the position in Anna's office opened up and I was able to interview and I think the timing was just right because I got the job."

She continues: "I wanted to talk about this on TikTok not because I want to talk about how demanding the job is, but because I actually just wanted to share that I learned so, so much from her. I learned about business, I learned about fashion and I learned about media and in the last year I started my own business and it's still information that I use today."

You can follow more of Lily's Tales From Devil Wears Prada on TikTok.com/@lilystavstudio

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