“I was bitten for $50”: Australian fashion people share their juiciest industry secrets

Spilling the tea.

The fashion industry is a menagerie of many creative, eccentric and passionate people. Naturally, it can be a wild place. The Fashion Journal team has heard plenty of confessions among industry circles, from friends napping in the changerooms during their retail shifts to colleagues returning used underwear because they ‘only wore them once’. One editor knew a girl who knew a girl who accidentally started a fire in a store changeroom. Sparing you the theatrics, she ultimately got off scot-free and no one ever knew she was the arsonist. 

Stories like these were shared among the FJ team recently, during a particularly juicy session of Never Have I Ever, prompted by the announcement of Melbourne Theatre Company’s stage show of the same name. Written by the host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, Deborah Frances-White, Never Have I Ever follows two couples who share a meal to honour their failed joint restaurant venture. As the night progresses and wine continues to flow, they start to play the drinking game, which naturally sparks a slew of confessions and provokes a risqué dare that changes the dynamics of their friendship.

Interested to hear how others navigate the world? Head to our Life section.

Eager to know what other juicy anecdotes exist in our network, we asked the Fashion Journal community for anecdotes lived, witnessed and suspected, all to be shared anonymously, of course. Here’s what came back through the grapevine.

Maya*, fashion influencer

I was engaged as an ambassador for a store opening in the city. Part of my duties involved posing for journalists, including for a massive, national media outlet. We were shooting outside the store and I was wearing one of the brand’s dresses; it was quite sheer, so I’d decided to go without underwear. While we were shooting, one of the photographers told me to “jump”. I did, repeatedly, and to my horror, a tampon fell out. Another public figure yelled out, “Is that a tampon?” in front of everyone. I was horrified.

Evangeline*, stylist

When I first started working for an online retailer, I was asked to check off a list of garments. We had a rule that no pens were allowed in the studio (weird, but I soon realised why). I was still very green at the time and I was checking off a rail of high-end blazers and I accidentally put a huge pen mark right on the front of it. It would’ve been worth at least five grand. I checked in with my supervisor saying I’d noticed this mark (holding my sheet of paper with a newly acquired pencil) and had to pretend the garment came to us like that and kept working. I felt guilty the whole day. I never told anyone that story, it’s been seven years.

Linda*, photographer

I was working at a consignment store overseas when a very rare designer dress went missing. A few weeks later, someone noticed it on set at a shoot. We managed to track it down to a photographer who was promptly banned from the store.

Angus,* designer

A friend of mine changed the autocorrect settings on my phone without telling me, so that ‘babe’ corrected to ‘mole’. I commented ‘babe’ on a model’s Instagram post during Australian Fashion Week, ultimately calling her a ‘mole’, and didn’t realise until much later. Awkward.

Miles*, writer

In my student days, I wrangled a wristband to a VIP event at Fashion Week through a contact. Upon arrival, I convinced the PR team there had been a mistake and that all my friends were meant to have wristbands to access the VIP party as well. We all infiltrated and later published a blog piece about how the event was pretentious and boring.

Su*, fashion writer

In high school, I knew a girl who had the most amazing wardrobe. All her pieces were designer, and they were always new-season. Like most teenage girls in our cohort, she was also always happy for her friends (and friends of friends) to borrow pieces for gatherings, parties or formals. I thought her parents must have been really rich until I asked to borrow one of her dresses and she invited me to come over and try on a few. I soon realised that all had a small hole along the left seam of the dress, near the garment care tag. It turns out she’d been cutting off the security tags in-store and shoplifting most of her wardrobe. As far as I know, she was never caught. 

Sara*, fashion account manager  

I was loaned a designer dress to wear for a major event and was walking on my way to the event when I heard a tearing noise. I turned and saw the back of the dress was torn. I felt so guilty, however, I later found out three of my industry friends had all worn the same dress and it happened to their garments too. 

Alisha*, business owner

Never have I ever been bitten by a shoplifter. The company I worked for was paying employees extra at the time to catch people stealing (ick). I was bitten for $50. Not worth it.

*Names have been changed.

Get your tickets here to see Never Have I Ever, on stage from February 15 at Arts Centre Melbourne.

This article was originally published in Fashion Journal issue 196.