I recently completed a month-long internship at the fashion desk of one of the UK’s newspapers. Interning in fashion isn’t as glamorous as it’s cracked up to be, but it’s not all making cups of tea either…

7.15am – My alarm goes off. I need to get up and shower quickly!

7.30am – Time to get dressed. We can wear whatever we want within reason. Today I opt for a belted purple dress from H&M, flat brown gladiators and some chunky jewellery. I always pop a cardigan or jacket in my bag too just in case the weather turns – always an issue in London!

7.45am – Check my emails if I have time and have breakfast, coffee is a must at this time in the morning.

8.15am – If I have to get the bus to the station, I leave the house and walk to the stop. It isn’t a particularly reliable service, so I’m better off leaving this early! Sometimes I can get a lift to the station, which means that I have more time in the morning to have a lie-in or do something with my hair! I have to get the train into London, which takes about half an hour and then the tube, which, at this time in the morning, can take a bit longer than I’d like! I usually read a book or magazine to pass the time.

10am – Luckily, there’s a photo shoot going on downstairs, so I get sent down with another intern to help out and see how things work. Otherwise, I would have been upstairs packaging returns with everyone else – and there’ll be plenty of time for that later! This is my first photo shoot so I’m pretty excited. It’s with the Deputy Fashion Editor and the clothing is from Monsoon with a selection of shoes from Faith, Dune and ASOS and jewellery from Freedom at Topshop and M&S. Also on set are the model, the hair and make-up artist and the photographer. We end up shooting just one look and are even asked our opinion on a couple of things relating to the styling of the shoot. I steam a couple of dresses, before the photographer asks me to step in to do a couple of test shots for his lighting, whilst the model is in the beauty chair. I don’t mind smiling for a picture with friends, but in the studio I feel pretty uncomfortable. Luckily he promises to delete the photos almost immediately! Afterwards, we just watch the shoot. The model looks pretty professional and moves with ease into some fabulous shots.

12pm - We get back to the office and there are a few returns to pack up. It’s July so there isn’t a whole lot to do, so in between tasks we flick through some magazines – all in the name of research of course!

1.30pm – Lunch. I eat out with the girls, usually a sandwich or sushi and have a coffee in Starbucks. Some days, we go back to the office block and eat on the top-floor canteen overlooking the Thames. The view is spectacular.

2.30pm – Back to the office and throughout the afternoon, we package up a few more returns. PR and fashion companies send so many samples to magazines as options for photo shoots and so much of it is sent back unused once the stylists have selected the best looks for their particular shoot.

4pm – We fetch the trolley from the in-house couriers downstairs. They return all of the packages to the PR departments and fashion houses directly. All returns have to be logged and recorded as they are loaded on to the trolley and then are taken downstairs.

5.30pm We are allowed to leave early as there is nothing left for us to do. The working day usually ends at 6pm. Some days there is more work than others.

7- 7.30pm – I still have a bit of a nightmare commute and get home at around half past seven. I’ve finished for the week fortunately, as I only work Monday to Wednesday. Commuting is very expensive in London, especially for an unpaid intern with no expenses, so I can only really afford to do part-time. There are so many interns anyway that it seems silly to be there full-time, given the amount of work for us all to do.

8pm – Dinner time! I’m staying at my boyfriend’s house for the month, as I live nowhere near London and his mum cooks up a treat every night! On my days off I like to offer to make the dessert or even the whole meal as a thank-you and to give her a rest.

9pm – I watch a little TV with a cup of tea to unwind, as well as checking my emails and doing a little work on my fashion blog. I find myself more inspired to write and get things done after being in the office, so I take advantage of this time!

11pm – Bedtime. I’m usually lagging a little before this time anyway, so it’s time to get some sleep. When I don’t have work the next day, the prospect of a lie-in and maybe a shopping trip, usually helps me to drop off very nicely!