Thanks to a special internship, four Bermudian teenagers recently had a look behind the scenes at several top New York fashion houses, and learned that the fashion industry isn?t all glitz and glamour.

The girls were members of Fly Girls, part of a larger girl?s group called Finesse Productions run by Terry-Lynn Weeks and Bernadette McIntosh-Tucker.

Ms Weeks and Mrs. Tucker recently teamed up with Bermudian Shiona Turini who works for Yves St. Laurent, to offer a special internship to several of its members.

The week-long internship was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work behind the scenes at such places as Yves St. Laurent, Glamour Magazine, American Magazine, Victoria?s Secret, Vibe Magazine and KCD management company, among other places.

Ms Weeks said just going to Yves St. Laurent itself was a treat. ?You go in the building and it is fascinating,? she said. ?To think that these girls got that opportunity at their age, when people would just like to walk in the building.

?They spent a week in New York, but each day they had a different place to go to. Some places they went to twice because they really liked it.?

Their tasks included helping to pick out clothes for fashion shoots, sorting clothes sent back after high fashion events, and even a little basic telephone duty.

?It really opened up my eyes a lot,? said CedarBridge Academy student Ty?Esha Oswald, 14. ?It takes a lot of work, putting up all of the clothes and sorting them and labelling them.

?At Glamour Magazine, there were hundreds of clothes that had to be labelled and sent back to the companies they came from. That was hectic, but that was worth it.

?At Glamour Magazine I saw them putting out clothes for their next issue, so it was fun. I wasn?t really into fashion as much as the others when I first went, but now I am more interested.?

The girls also learned some fashion industry secrets.

?We met a man there who works with computers,? said Ty?Esha. ?You know how you look at the magazine and think the model looks really pretty?

?She doesn?t necessarily look like that when they first take the picture of her. The guy we met uses the computer to slim them down and give them more curves.?

Ty?Esha said she didn?t think there was anything wrong with doing that and potentially forcing young girls to strive for impossible body ideals. ?It doesn?t bother me,? she said. ?I am very confident.?

Mrs. Tucker, who is a teacher librarian at Clearwater Middle School, said the whole point of the internship was to give the girls a more rounded picture of the fashion industry.

?A lot of the young ladies, or people in general, think that fashion is just runway modelling, but there is a whole industry behind that,? Mrs. Tucker said. ?They just saw a little facet or segment of the industry, and there is a lot more that they can get involved in.?

It was hard work for the girls, but they still had a great time. One of the most exciting moments for the budding fashion fly girls was when they were allowed to try on clothes worn by celebrities.

For example, CedarBridge Academy student Brittany Wolffe, 16, tried on clothes worn by Beyonce, and an outfit worn by Alicia Keyes at the BET Awards.

Brittany said that she enjoyed the internship so much she didn?t want to leave. ?I wish I could have stayed longer,? she said. ?I really liked it, and I would like to do it again.?

Ms Weeks, who is a teacher at Clearwater Middle School, said that to be chosen for the internship, the students had to write an essay, fill in an application and go through an interview process. They also had to be a certain age.

?We hope to make this an annual event,? said Ms Weeks. ?We are going to do it again with our present Fly Girls. Thanks to community sponsorship we were able to undertake this big venture, and we are hoping to do it again.?

For some of the girls, not only was it the first time in a fashion house, it was the first time in any job.

?I have never had a summer job,? said Kimeka Simons, 16, also a CedarBridge Academy student. ?I liked Yves St. Laurent the best and KCD. It was interesting talking to the other interns. I liked the people there. I liked calling people to send on messages for photo shoots.?

Mrs. Tucker said that the internships were a great opportunity, and something impressive to put on a resume.

?Our girls were 16, 15 and 14 years old and they were there working with interns who were 19 years old and older. Shiona Turini definitely paved the way for them.?

While in New York, the girls met up with Ms Turini and became great friends with her.

?I really want to do what Shiona does,? said Brittany. ?Maybe something in public relations department. It doesn?t matter where, but it will be something with fashion. I might also want to be a designer, I am not sure right now.?

On the internship, the girls got to ask questions about how to get into the industry, and what colleges were recommended.

?Shiona has definitely become a role model to these girls,? said Ms Weeks. ?They are still in contact with her. They e-mail her. They forged a relationship with her. Even though she is working abroad, she is still finding a way to give back to her community. These girls actually set the tone for what is going to happen next year.

?They made a good impression on the people and companies that they worked with. They all have invitations to come back. They conducted themselves very well. We are really proud of them, and we enjoyed chaperoning them in New York.?

@EDITRULE:Missing from the interview was Jashunna Furbert, 16 who also went on the internship.