As my cousin so eloquently put it during Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, sympathy will get you everywhere, and yesterday sympathy got me the plum job of being stylist Philip Boons’ assistant on a fashion shoot.

After tweeting on Monday how I was feeling the misery of eight weeks without work, the fabulous Philip took pity on me and asked if I would be interested in assisting him for the day. I didn’t hesitate. Even If I had a job I would gladly call in sick to spend the day helping out and so it came to be that I assisted on my third fashion shoot.

In more amusing Sarah stories, I first mistook the street name, then misjudged the time to get to Northcote in peak hour and by the time I arrived at the location, was quite sure Philip would be sending me packing. But of course he didn’t and we had a wonderful day.

The shoot was 70s styled and in the spirit of the era, the house, clothes and even the music we played, were all along for the ride. Gorman and Madam Virtue provided the frocks, while House of Baulch at Glitzern, Ghost and Lola and ZOMP shared the love with accessories.

Our team consisted of Natasha Frank, the photographer; Philip Boon, our famed stylist; Rob Mason on hair; Megan Harrison on make-up; Janice, Megan’s assistant; Alice Burdeu (yes, Australia’s Next Top Model winner and all round SUPERSTAR! She has done two Vogue Australia covers, could I BE more in awe??), Melody and Zoe, our models; and ME, stylists assistant. And we made an EXCELLENT team (if I do say so myself!).

I appreciate I have limited experience on fashion shoots, but every single one I go on is bigger and better than the last. I would rather fetch coffee as an unpaid assistant at a fashion shoot than spend more time in an office job that I am not in love with, thus reminding me again why I left the corporate gig in the first place.

So while I am not about to let you see all the beautiful shots we took today – you’ll just have to wait til the mag comes out – here is one that will give you some hints. Thanks so much to Philip for having me along yesterday, for his time and expertise and for reminding me why I decided to pursue my dreams in the first place.

Image One: Natasha shoots Alice in our 70s house
Image Two: L-R Alice, Zoe and Melody pose while Rob (left) and Philip (right) check the hair and frocks (sorry about my finger in the corner!)