Monday 18:37 Hi Magda. Just checking in with you so that Grid London can approve my post idea for tomorrow. I've been shopping for trousers in Selfridges again, and I wanted to write about my menswear experience. Here's what I posted last time, just to give you a flavour of my intended angle. Will this be OK, or might Grid bosses demand a rewrite? DG
Monday 20:26 Hi DG. I'm afraid your previous post about trouser-buying doesn't really fit with Grid London's core ethos. You make it sound as if shopping is a chore, whereas we need to be promoting purchase power at all times. And do try to keep your posts a bit shorter. Our research shows that readers won't plough through anything more than 300 words long, so keep it snappy! Be inspired, be vibrant, and whatever you do say nice things about Selfridges - we're hoping they'll buy up some advertising space next semester. Magda
Monday 21:53 Hi Magda. Point taken. I've had another go, taking a much more positive approach. I thought I'd open by saying "When a man's thoughts turn to buying trousers, there's really only one source that cuts the mustard" and go on to describe Selfridges' menswear department as the Mecca of male haute couture. I hope that suits better. DG P.S. When will my first PayPal payment be arriving? These are damned expensive trousers, and I'm counting on your thirty pieces of silver to contribute towards my new hipster wardrobe.
Monday 23:08 Hi DG. I'm afraid I can't let you mention mustard. It's been agreed that Bellini's Curry Sauce is Grid London's condiment of choice for September, so no reference to competing relish is permitted. Also could you avoid mentioning Mecca, as religious references tend to upset foreign investors, and bingo is so terribly downmarket. Do try again, there's a darling. Magda.
Tuesday 00:41 Magda. I'm slightly concerned that you haven't confirmed my payment status yet. At our initial webcam meeting you dangled such an impressive carrot, but I still appear to be working for peanuts. Let me know about financial capability asap, or else I may not be able to afford to write about luxury level shopping again. Anyway, here's my revised version of tomorrow's today's post. Please say that this is good enough because I need to go to bed now.
When your work trousers start to slide gently down over your hips, you know that your diet has perhaps been too successful. Accessorise with a leather or diamante belt, that's normally the solution. But my recent waistline shrinkage had been rather too successful for that. I needed a new pair of gentlemen's strides, and fast! So I headed to the epicentre of twin-legged cool, the Selfridges' menswear department, and scouted round for a bargain. Oh what an Aladdin's Cave of tempting treats! Dazzling swathes of cloth hung all around me, from every great modern designer and then some. I could have selected a gorgeous pair of McQueens or some sharp pinstriped Aquascutum, each realistically priced in a variety of fashion shades. But instead I headed back to the same concession I frequented last year - I'm nothing if not devoted to my chosen brand loyalties.
"I'd like a pair of exactly the same trousers as last time," I demanded. "Only smaller." The talented assistant looked me up and down, reached to the correct shelf and lifted out a perfectly matching pair. Such sartorial skill, sir. I tripped to the changing rooms, the sweet tones of Prince wafting over the first floor loudspeakers, and slipped my legs into the duplicate fabric. At last, a close-hugging waistband and no risk of unbelted slippage! I looked quite the dapper man about town in the gleaming Selfridges mirror. "Yes please," I said to the impeccably dressed assistant on my return to the cash desk. "And get me another pair exactly the same please, so that I can wear them alternately to work, week in and week out." A man's got to have a reasonably-priced spare, you know, just in case of accidental curry sauce spillage. Trust Selfridges to kit you out with consummate style. (299 words)
Actually the incompetent Selfridges muppets sold me the wrong-sized second pair, so I've got to trudge all the way back into Oxford Street to get them replaced. I mean, what idiot dyslexic assistant swaps the waist and inside leg measurements round the wrong way and then sticks incorrect sized trousers into your bag? But I thought I'd better omit that part of the story, because it's not really the positive unquestioning marketing message that Grid London wants to promote, is it? See, I'm learning. DG
Tuesday 05:49 Hi DG. Oh that's just absolutely perfect. Bellini's PR team were so impressed by your saucy product placement. You've got that Grid sensibility down to a T. Go ahead and publish immediately! By the way, tomorrow's guidance from on high is to write about the end of the world - you know, CERN, black holes, imminent global catastrophe, that sort of thing. Bonus points for hotlinking to any of the insurance companies on Grid London's list of approved sponsors in your welcome pack. And please, remember to sound more uplifting first time next time. Toodlepip! Magda
Monday 18:37 Hi Magda. Just checking in with you so that Grid London can approve my post idea for tomorrow. I've been shopping for trousers in Selfridges again, and I wanted to write about my menswear experience. Here's what I posted last time, just to give you a flavour of my intended angle. Will this be OK, or might Grid bosses demand a rewrite? DG
Monday 20:26 Hi DG. I'm afraid your previous post about trouser-buying doesn't really fit with Grid London's core ethos. You make it sound as if shopping is a chore, whereas we need to be promoting purchase power at all times. And do try to keep your posts a bit shorter. Our research shows that readers won't plough through anything more than 300 words long, so keep it snappy! Be inspired, be vibrant, and whatever you do say nice things about Selfridges - we're hoping they'll buy up some advertising space next semester. Magda
Monday 18:37 Hi Magda. Just checking in with you so that 