Arden Fanning Andrews, Beauty Editor-at-Large
My 4 Times Square meeting with Anna, circa 2013, was the grand finale of a week of interviews (six, including one with OG beauty queen Sarah Brown). Running low on dry-cleaned looks, I ignored misinformation on best practices for the occasion (Spend $20K-plus on designer! Go blonde! Get a blowout! Don’t wear pants!) and went with the logic that it was better to present as myself.
A baker’s dozen years later, I stand by the look. From the bottom up: silver Elizabeth & James heels; cerulean ankle-length cigarette pants traded for at Buffalo Exchange East Village; a white button-down from Moda Operandi’s closet; and a sheer striped Isabel Marant mohair sweater that Laura Vidrequin Roso let me borrow. I pinned my hair into a topknot, did my own makeup with winged Tom Ford eyeliner, pink BareMinerals blush (probably a mood-matching lip), and fluffed my side bangs before I got out of the car a few blocks away and scooted through snowbanks to make it on time—which, at Vogue, is early.
Jane Chun, Senior Digital Line Editor
I knew my first interview would be with the head of Vogue Weddings, so I got ready that morning like I was heading to a late-August wedding in Charleston: a silk orchid-purple Ralph Lauren Collection midi dress, pink Ferragamo Pola heels, and pearl studs. Grace Coddington tossed me a friendly smile as I was giving myself a pep talk in the hallway, which seemed like a good sign. That reminds me—it’s time to dig out that dress from my closet and wear it again.
Madeline Fass, Commerce Director, Vogue Fashion
I was searching my iCloud archives from October 2015, but apparently I did not document what I wore to my Vogue interviews—yes, plural; I believe I had six total—probably because I was too nervous to think about capturing the moment before catching the Metro-North line to Manhattan. (It was a different time!)
What I do know is that the only real “designer” items I owned then were printed denim trousers I picked up from the sample closet during my college internship at Nicole Miller and a Proenza Schouler PS1 backpack I got at an employee sale the summer after graduation. I was very into long, skinny scarves (à la Hedi Slimane Saint Laurent SS15), so my best guess is I styled my black one from Zara with a blazer and white button-down. Things haven’t changed much!
Hannah Jackson, Fashion Writer
I wore a pastoral white cotton dress—replete with ruffled sleeves and embroidery on the bodice—that I bought on sale at Banana Republic. I finished off the look with a black velvet hair bow that I thought looked very coquettish. In reality, I probably looked more like Samantha, the American Girl doll.
Irene Kim, Production & Editorial Associate
My job interview took place during the pandemic, so luckily for me, I didn’t really need to dress up. But I did have one issue: because my school had decided we wouldn’t be having a graduation ceremony, my friends and I went straight to Miami. I remember I had a really bad sunburn that stayed with me until September… and no clothes appropriate for a Vogue interview with Nicole Phelps and Steff Yotka, because everything in my closet at that time was either tropical or a bathing suit. The most sensible item I had when Nicole and Steff asked to do a Zoom was a super-colorful sweater vest from Ganni, I think. I was probably also in jean shorts, if I’m being honest. Luckily for me, I got the job at Vogue—but the sweater vest immediately went to The RealReal, where it sold a few days after going up!
