See the part in bold? It sounds like a fun job but if i did do it it'd be temporary, maybe for a summer or something -- if Saks actually lets people be shopgirls as a summer job! Either way, my ultimate goal is to be the person buying loads of clothes and asking the shopgirl for opinions. Or the woman whose rich husband/boyfriend goes to Saks and picks something gloriously expensive for me and does NOT hit on the shopgirl :D

*

TALKING SHOP

By FARRAH WEINSTEIN (NEW YORK POST)

October 17, 2005 -- When actress Goldie Hawn visits Manhattan, she always treats herself to a shopping spree at Henri Bendel and asks for Carla Patterson, her favorite shopgirl.
"She has the car parked, waiting outside, and she is in a rush," says Patterson, an exquisitely poised woman with baby-soft skin and a musical laugh.

"She quickly tries on stuff and comes out of the dressing room and asks me, 'How are my boobs?' And I'm like, Goldie Hawn is asking me about her boobs! I can't believe this! It's unreal."
Patterson is one of Bendel's top shopgirls - an old-fashioned term that is experiencing a revival with this week's release of "Shopgirl," a movie based on Steve Martin's novella of the same name.

Claire Danes plays Mirabelle, a girl in her mid-20s who works in the glove department at Saks Fifth Avenue. Martin plays wealthy, clean-cut Ray Porter, a divorced man in his 50s who asks Mirabelle out on a date with a note and a gift of satin Christian Dior gloves.

They both fulfill each other's romantic fantasies: Hers of meeting a rich, experienced man. His of being with an innocent young lady whose legs remain behind the counter all day long.

"It's a girl that has a prestigious and lucrative job," says Niria Portella, a senior fashion editor at In Touch Weekly.


"A lot of girls look forward to being a shopgirl, they dream and fantasize about ending up in a shop where it's all high-end designers. You also have this fantasy, especially in the Madison Avenue boutiques where there's a lot of men stopping in with money, of something passionate happening beyond the brief store encounter."

It's the pound-the-ground schoolgirl mentality, the eager-to-please desperation and the idea of the "sad lost girl who stands in solitude behind the counter" longing to be rescued, that drove Martin to pen his novel.

It's evident in shopgirls today, some of whom jump at you to get you to try the latest perfume or stalk you while you're just browsing. But there's also the desirable shopgirl, who scurries past you and dresses the most fabulous women and men in New York.

At Saks Fifth Avenue, Tracy Gaillard, 27, is constantly on her toes - be it in Armani or Isaac Mizrahi pumps. She is a style connoisseur. Her clients have lots of money. She knows every designer shoe, glove or piece of clothing sold in the 10-level department store.

Like Mirabelle, she is paying off a costly education. Her family lives in Charlotte, N.C., and she came to New York alone.

"This is a career, and I have to put an awful lot into it, and it's a constant learning process," says Gaillard, who works as a personal consultant at The Fifth Avenue Club.

"The success comes out of loyalty and people who want to spend time with me again and again. The trick is that I'm not imposing my style upon them but figuring out what theirs is and improving upon it. Then they come back."

Being a shopgirl is not what Gaillard hopes to do forever. Like Mirabelle, who aspired to be an artist, Gaillard hopes to be a successful actress one day. She has worked in several off-Broadway productions and TV stints.

"Being a shopgirl is fun, but it can't be all that you do. You need to have some life outside, an outside hobby ... or a big family," she says. "If you eat, sleep and breathe clothes at all times, you need a little sanity."

And while the employee discounts are generous, Gaillard barely indulges in shopping for her wardrobe.

"You'd be amazed at the end of the day how little a shopgirl shops for herself," she says. "I don't have a closet full of pricey things."

Having to politely decline the annoying, horny males that approach a shopgirl (think George Hamilton, not Steve Martin) is also part of the job.

"I personally hate it when they come up to you and say stupid things," says Maria Bueno, a 25-year-old cosmetics girl at Macy's.

"Sometimes you get a psycho, and they just start staring at you and looking," she says. "I just roll my eyes and walk away from them like any other girl would."

Other times, a charming gentleman will come along, like in Patterson's case.

One day, she received orchids (her favorite flower) from a mysterious stranger with a note attached that read: "Saw you in the store. Thought you were absolutely beautiful. How about dinner?"

"He asked my fellow associates who I was. I totally accepted. We dated for a little while," she says.

Sometimes dreams do really come true.