1. It’s a McSpiracy!
Britain’s three most successful young fashion designers are all ‘Macs’: Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, and Julian McDonald. But in case you’re wondering if it’s a Scottish stitch-up - Stella’s dad was some famous bloke from Liverpool, Alexander is a Cockney, and Julian is Welsh!

The whole country’s sewing!
The USA has an estimated 24,000 companies dedicated to the manufacture of clothing. These companies employ a combined total of 1,400,000 people.

Catwalk Kings and Queens
Fashion fads can be traced back to royal circles of the medieval period, when Kings and Queens used fashion statements (a fur collar here, a gold braid there), in order to emphasise their power and status. It’s much the same today, with the rich and famous falling over one another to buy the very latest Versace, Klein, or Lacroix.

Current fashion victims numbers 5-1
5. Britney Spears
4. Cher
3. Karl Lagerfeld
2. Jean-Paul Gaultier
1. (and by some margin) Liz Hurley

Current fashion Queens and Kings
5. Madonna
4. Sean Connery
3. Anna Kornikova
2. Ken Livingstone
1. George Clooney

Foul fashions (past and present)

• Arsenic-tinged foundation cream, popular in the Elizabethan era – looked foul, and killed you.
• Whale-bone corsets - caused broken ribs, constricted breathing, and restricted movement in Victorian women.
• Foot-binding - caused disfigurement and disease amongst Chinese women until the turn of the last century.
• The 1970’s - shell-suits; knickerbockers; shoulder-pads; rhinestones; white sports socks with black slip-on loafers; baggy t-shirts and leggings, football shirts, bandanas.
• The ‘New Romantic’ movement of the early 1980’s.
• Lip gloss and furry-animal slippers.

Cabaret - Trivia

A man with a fat cigar and a bluff northern accent
What you need is an agent. Your relationship with an agent is quite simple: whilst you work on your act, they work on getting you work. Agents are regulated under the Employment agencies Standards Office of the Department of Trade & Industry. For more info on agents and how to get one, see Links.

An Equity card
Though not always necessary, it is advisable to get yourself an Equity Card. It will enable you to seek advice and help from the Equity Union at any time on any problems you might encounter. For more info, see the Links page.

Sea-sickness pills
Well, you never know.

A love of job centres
Get used to the idea of temping, or, better still, teach yourself a secondary trade you can fall back on when times are hard.

Thick skin
Not everybody will think you’re fantastic. Be prepared for knocks. Even more importantly, learn to take it on the chin and get on with it.