“Beg, plead, cry, blood, sweat, tears.”

That’s what Stacy London, co-host of TLC’s What Not to Wear, says is necessary to break into the fashion business. So, if Anna Wintour asks you to hop on your Schwinn to fetch her some takeout, you better start pedaling.

“The more unpaid internships you’re willing to do, the more lugging clothes around for stylists that you’re willing to do as a young person, that really does lead to some sort of connection that you’re going to have with the people in charge when you’re ready to apply for a job,” London explained in our Media Beat interview. “Reach out to freelance stylists if you’re really interested in fashion. Say you’ll work for free. Say you’ll do their books. Say you’ll do anything to help them.”

London also gave tips for coping with unemployment and explained how getting fired led to the biggest moment in her career.

You can also watch this video on YouTube.

Part 1: Stacy London: ‘It’s not just about the clothes. It’s about the psychology behind them’
Part 2: What Not to Wear’s Stacy London Takes Your Fashion Questions

Vogue has been picked by Ad Age as its 2011 Magazine of The Year. Getting selected as the best magazine by a publication that has the eyes of a lot of advertisers is probably a good thing, so we’re betting the staffers at Vogue are celebrating. Hell, if we heard that Anna Wintour did a keg stand we wouldn’t be surprised.

The award is part of Ad Age’s annual “A List,” which celebrates titles that are, “meeting a challenge, turning things around, building new businesses or just setting a consistent editorial and business example.”

For a complete run down of the nine other magazines that made the A List and why, click the link above. The top five are after the jump.

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Even though lists like Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women are essentially meaningless, the people included are usually worth noting, so they do serve a little purpose. This latest ranking from Forbes does a good job of picking women with real influence and bringing attention to those that don’t get enough credit.

Take the most powerful woman: Angela Merkel (right), the Chancellor of Germany. Her name might not ring a bell, but it should. There are a few more slightly obscure names in the list and some fairly obvious ones as well (Hillary Clinton checks in at number two).

We know — you want to hear who was the highest ranking New York media woman. We’ll give you one guess. If you’re thinking Sally Jessy Raphael, you’re creative, but wrong. It’s Jill Abramson, the new Executive Editor at The New York Times. She ranks eighth on the list.

Check out a few notable media names from the Most Powerful Women list after the jump.

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Adweek is reporting that – for the first half of this year – newsstand sales for Vogue were up about 16 percent compared to last year. Meanwhile, competitors Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar aren’t doing quite so hot: They’re first half newsstands sales are down about 20 percent.

Why is Vogue doing so well? It might have more to do with the bar being set low than anything else:

It should be pointed out that it’s facing easy comparisons with the first half of 2010, when it was a standout in a bad way, its single-copy sales down a whopping 15 percent.

But let’s not be so negative, shall we?

There is also the fact that Anna Wintour has been much more visible so far this year than usual, and people do connect her with the brand. Keep working it Wintour, because for Vogue, it appears to be working.

Details have been trickling in about Condé Nast’s new world headquarters. It’s located at 1 World Trade Center!  It will be Earth-friendly and hi-tech! Plenty of room for Ralph Lauren‘s limosouine!

But how about some not-so-good news for Condé staffers: the New York Post reports that the new office plan calls for open floor seating in the 1 million square feet of office space. In the current office, walled offices are the rule, and “Condé Nasties fought hard for each square inch of office space.”

Uh-oh. So who has the most to lose?

The toniest digs in the Midtown office, which went to upper level executives and chief editors, such as Anna Wintour, of Vogue; Graydon Carter, of Vanity Fair; or David Remnick, of The New Yorker, were huge offices featuring private bathrooms.

Some executive suites were even said to have showers. That is likely to come to a dramatic end.

“They are very interested in the whole cubicle world,” said one insider.

Glamorous FishbowlNY readers, have you ever wanted to write for a fashion magazine? Interview your favorite celebrity style icons? Party with gorgeous models? Have Valentino declare you his muse? Drink champagne with Karl Lagerfeld on a private jet? Have Anna Wintour cower every time you walk into a room?

We can’t guarantee any of these things will happen. But, for newbie aspiring fashion writers, one way to venture into the fold is to sign up for Mediabistro’s Intro to  Fashion Writing Course. The class is taught by Nadine Rubin Nathan, who was editor-in-chief of Elle South Africa. and contributed to Harper’s Bazaar as a fashion features editor in New York. You may not have Tom Ford on speed-dial by the end of the course, but you will have a pitch letter for a fashion feature and a collection of spec clips written for a high fashion print or online magazine.

The class begins May 23rd, so read more about the class and register here soon if you’re interested. And, FishbowlNY readers, because we are so very fond of you, you will have $50 off registration with the code FBNY50. Good luck!

Anna Wintour is the latest celebrity to join in the Human Rights Campaign’s “New Yorkers for Marriage Equality” effort. Other notables supporting gay New Yorkers’ right to get married and argue over the proper way to squeeze toothpaste out of a tube include Michael Bloomberg, Russell Simmons and Larry King.

P.S.
If you squeeze from the middle you are a savage.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue (not that she needs an introduction), was named elective trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday, WWD reports. Wintour has been an honorary trustee of the museum since 1999, and has co-chaired numerous benefits, raising millions of dollars in the process. She will now be a voting member of the board.

Wintour is particularly well-known for her involvement with the Costume Institute Gala, where celebrities go to play really, really expensive dress-up, and get their outfits dissected ad nauseum (Costume Institute outfit analysis has since become its own cottage industry). Last week’s gala bought in $10.4 million.

That Anna Wintour profile in WSJ. FishbowlNY told you about a couple days ago is now available online, and it doesn’t disappoint. As we mentioned, it’s jam packed with celebrities talking about how much they love the fashion icon.

There’s Justin Timberlake getting deep (“she understands fashion is a state of mind”), Roger Federer stating that he’d work for her, Michael Bloomberg agreeing to all things Wintour (“She’s not a person you want to say no to”), and S.I. Newhouse proclaiming Vogue Condé Nast’s most profitable magazine.

Indeed, the piece offers plenty of praise for Wintour. However, if there’s a topic the writer and even Wintour can’t boast about, it’s Posh, Baby, Ginger, Scary and Sporty. “I’m not terribly proud of putting the Spice Girls on the cover,” she admits at one point.

No matter what you think of her, at least she knows that.

You don’t hear much about WSJ., but maybe now, with the magazine getting a rare interview with Anna Wintour for its April issue, that will all change.

The profile explores how the Vogue Editor-in-Chief’s influence is felt beyond the fashion world, along with some of her celebrity friends like Nicole Kidman and Mayor Bloomberg (he paid us to call him a celebrity) discussing what she’s really like.

Deborah Needleman, Editor-in-Chief of WSJ., says that part of what makes  Wintour so interesting is the rarity of a profile such as this. “You have to wonder, how does one person have such a broad influence? She’s basically a global brand.”

Getting Wintour to talk is indeed a great grab by WSJ., especially with her posing for the cover. And she’s even smiling! We think.