What is a Personal Stylist?

by | Sep 11, 2010 | Personal Style | 3 comments

What…Personal Stylist? What exactly do you do?

Sometimes I receive a few strange looks when I tell people what I do. Often their first reaction is… “So you do hair?” This occurs especially if I forget to say WARDROBE stylist. Let’s face it, personal stylist is not an everyday term in most women’s vocabulary. The idea of a personal stylist conjures up images of celebrities on the Red Carpet. Certainly there are stylists-male and female who help the rich and famous. Then there are stylists for the every day woman like you and me. These are the women I help.

But does every woman really need a personal stylist? I believe most do. Some might want a complete makeover, some a little tweaking, others have a fabulous sense of style and just need affirmation that they indeed got it all right. A number of years ago I asked a clothing consultant to come to my closet and give me a few tips. She did a great job of helping me think of things I never would have put together. That’s what another set of eyes can do! The only drawback was that she didn’t get to know ME . She didn’t understand my lifestyle of home based business/sports mom and wanted to throw out my “baseball clothes”. I liked to dress up at times, yet needed to be very casual when watching baseball games. Let me paint the picture of  baseball season in the Northwest: mud, dirty bleachers, wet grass, 45 degrees, rain and wind. Wearing some of my cute, stylish clothes to games was very unrealistic and not too practical.

One of the reasons I was drawn to styling was that I believed I could relate to the woman who had to dress up every day and show variety. I could relate to quitting a full time job then transitioning to working at home. I could relate to weight around the middle, problem feet and many of the other things women complain about.

In nearly two years of styling women, I have been surprised at the variety of women I’ve helped and the number who have NOT had 9-5 jobs. Take a look

business owners who want to make a good first impression with potential clients

-women approaching a new decade. Their biggest question? Is this age appropriate?

-women who have lost or gained weight

-women searching for a new job or transitioning to a different dress code

-stay at home mom who was tired of looking and feeling “frumpy” (her words not mine!)

-women who wear an outfit the same way every time and find it difficult to change it up

-woman on a tight budget–no funds for many new clothes

-women who want to LOOK and FEEL confident each time they leave the house

There are women who hate shopping and become frustrated by finding a proper fit. I have lost count how often I hear about messy closets with clothes that don’t fit or weren’t just right. Yet, many women are so busy taking care of everyone else in the family, this important piece gets put on the back burner. If you have put this task off too many times, fall is the perfect time to dig in. Read what other women are saying