Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Neanderthal Chic

Working at National Geographic, every day is different, and most days are strange. On Monday, you might spend a couple hours interviewing the world's top experts on mollusks, Tuesday might bring a spirited discussion about hippo infanticide, and Wednesday we're freakin' because we can't find the latest stats on potato consumption in Asia. In a word, it's awesome.

Even so, when my fabulous editor and the vice president of communications came into my humble intern office and said, "We have a naked neanderthal. We want to do something fashion-y. We need your help.", it was a little stranger than usual. And, in a word, it was awesome.

So I spent a week tracking down Project Runway designers and trying to convince them to design an outfit for a neanderthal named Wilma (which is the new opening line of my resume, by the way). The results, including the supremely rad sketch below (courtesy of Blayne), went up on the NGM blog yesterday. Please check it out, and leave a comment about your favorite design, if you feel so inclined!


p.s. Thanks so much to Jezebel, Slaves to Fashion, and the other blogs and news sites that have linked to the post so far!

23 comments:

Marie said...

This is awesome! I am jealous that you got to interact with PR designers. Did you talk to Michael? He's still my favorite. I had a 4 hour lay over in the Atlanta airport last year and spent most of it looking for him. :)

caroline duke said...

ok yeah, your internship is rock.

secondly, are you the genius behind this shirt? because if not, you should adopt it as your own.

Tara said...

That's a great article! Your internship must be the best.

WendyB said...

I'm so happy for you!

Siru said...

That's great! I didn't know you had such a awesome job!

juliet xxx

Kim said...

What I wouldn't give to see your resume'. Excuse me - what I wouldn't give to HAVE your resume'!

echidna girl said...

And to think we knew you way back when...will you still blog for us when you're writing best sellers and lunching daily with Tim Gunn?

Just what is the potato consumption in Asia, by the way?

Anonymous said...

Fred Flintstone would scream his famous "Jabbadabbadoooou" when he sees this woman.

Anonymous said...

You are a rock star. Linking now.

Danielle said...

1. That blog is AWESOME! How did I not know about this before? Go, anthropology!

2. Internship at National Geo = my life dream. You lucky, lucky lady!

Anonymous said...

That, kitten, is beyond awesome. I sincerely hope that you'll be writing a memoir about your time at National Geographic ...

TINE said...

OMG LOL! The fashion sketches made me laugh! I think my favorite would have to be that one where she is holding up a make-shift umbrella/spear thingy.

Breezy said...

oh dear lord, this is wonderful! i'm so jealous of your rad internship. all i do at work is hide in my cubicle and read other people's blogs all day :)

C said...

I gave you a blog award, here.

Kristina said...

I checked it out...I was sad to see that you didn't design any of the outfits. What would you have done?
I'm just about to leave DC, but sadly, I didn't get over to the Nat Geo. It sounds like loads of fun (I keep thinking of the movie "Night at the Museum"...is it anything like that?)

amanda said...

That's so awesome! I first saw about this on Jezebel ... the internets come full circle.

As an anthropologist, I think this is the most hilarious, ridiculous idea. I will never look at another Neaderthal skull without thinking about how a fur fascinator would really set off its prominent brow ridges.

Lisa said...

Your internship sounds fantastic. :)

Elizabeth said...

Daaaaaang, that is brilliant.

Also brilliant: You working at NG.

TheSundayBest said...

My god you are the coolest person ever. I am experiencing jealousy of the kind Old Testament gods once used to wipe out tribes.

Awesome!

N/OutofFashion said...

Very cool

Anonymous said...

speaking of Hippos: Why do the dominate bulls rape the younger bulls before scatting all over the place?
I saw it on NATGEO, and it furthered my theory that hippos are truly the most evil beasts on the planet.

Anonymous said...

That's a cool thing for Nat Geo to do.... love the idea of it!

Anonymous said...

I saw this in my NatGeo and I wondered, who came up with this amazing, crazy idea? You're amazing. Good luck with the internship and I hope you get a job with them!


Christine

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