Application for The Nile Magazine 2023

By Florence Purcell

· Reasons for applying:

Hi my loves! My name is Harriet Seraphina Cass-Beckford. Having conquered the realm of FaceTune, I am applying for the position as chief graphic designer here at the mag because I believe I bring authenticity and my own personal flair! Considering how carefully I have curated my social media presence over the years, my Instagram page is more akin to my diary. Whether it be sharing my over-exposed black and white film photography (guilty as charged! Susan Sontag’s On Photography gave me life!) or the judiciously chosen candids of me and my ten closest pals engaging in creative expression, I will always try to communicate the truly transcendental spirit of my existence.

I want to help perpetuate the safe space the mag has created for self- expression and creativity; I want to both contribute towards and nourish the sense of homogeneity that defines our values, attitudes and ideas as a team. I also understand the responsibility it involves being part of the team that is single handedly keeping the Oxford creative spirit alive. I have always admired how such a small and select group of talented individuals can curate content that inspires such a wide and increasingly diverse group of people! I believe that the key to our success lies in the strong feeling of friendship that lines the womb of this publication. In fact, I already see many team member as close friends.

Personal Bio:

I explore and express my identity through fashion. For me, clothes are works of art. They are both expressions of social history and social suffering. As someone who loves queer people (bi boys have my heart!), I understand how tightly the bond between fashion and expression is woven. Having read the summaries of several memoirs, theories and formal essays on fashion and gay culture (and utterly devoured Project Runway), I want my peers to not only see me as a representative, but also a provider of this knowledge. Though I do appreciate the efforts of icons such as Alexander McQueen, I think it is vital that we embrace the new generation of empowered queer activists in fashion, such as Taylor Swift. In terms of artistic vision, my personal icon is Andy Warhol; I just love his use of clashing patterns and bright, popping colours!

In a recent push towards sustainability, I have been actively trying to exclusively shop locally. I choose boutiques on my high street over perpetrators of criminally fast-fashion such as Primark, thereby promoting good quality sustainable luxury over instant availability. I have also recently discovered the joys of shopping second hand. So, when I am not busily scouring my local charity shops for unique finds, (Portobello market is my fave!), I can usually be found encouraging my peers to live as sustainably as myself; to quote Harry Windsor, we need to start ‘doing, not talking’. Period.

Because I understand how much effort and time it takes to go through everyone’s applications, the elucidation of my soul will be finished as such:

Likes: - cheese!

- Intellectual masturbation through writing poetry.

- Music extracted from my personal collection of second-hand Ipod nanos

- 19th century Russian literature ( Daddy Dostoevsky amiright, ha!)

- Vintage lace

- Anything by Bernadine Evaristo!

Dislikes:

- I cannot describe how much I hate cheesy sitcoms and reality TV. FRIENDS or braindead nonsense like Gogglebox makes a tiny part of my soul die. every. day. anew.

- People who don’t dare to live vibrantly; life is short, and sometimes we need to forget our mundane commitments, pull ourselves out of the quagmires of work and mortgages and bills, and remember that the world is so large. Do not leave any corner of it unexplored. Ever.

- Super keen scouts! We get it, its nine and you need to hoover, but please, I am still recovering from the utter bacchanal that was the last mag event!