Why do I need a personal stylist?
No longer considered a luxury, employing a personal stylist can save you time and money, and seriously boost your confidence
Employing a personal stylist to help you choose what to wear is no longer just a service enjoyed by the rich and famous.
As more and more of us recognise the need to spend money wisely, a personal stylist can actually leave you financially better off.
By helping you source clothes that you’ll love wearing as well as maximising usage with fewer items. By understanding how to mix and match each of these garments to create many different outfits.
Let’s be honest, what woman exists that hasn’t said to herself that she has ‘nothing to wear’ despite having a wardrobe bursting with clothes?
If you buy a garment because you like it but don’t give a great deal of consideration to what you can wear it with or when you’ll wear it, then the likelihood is that you’ll often be facing this cliched ‘clothes rail’ dilemma.
Buy less, buy better
In addition to the strange phenomena that having lots of clothes but nothing to wear brings, it’s important to know that your impulse buys are not helping the planet either.
Scientists state that fashion is now responsible for up to 10% of all global carbon emissions. As the world focuses on finding alternatives to the biggest culprits, like transport and heating, fashion has yet to attract the same attention.
However, with recent reports suggesting that fashion will become one of the world’s leading polluters and responsible for as much as 25% of global carbon emissions by 2050, a personal stylist can deliver this much needed ‘eco-conscience’ to their list of capabilities and services to clients.
“A personal stylist will help you become the you that you always wanted to be.”
Whilst the idea of having fewer garments in your wardrobe may sound unthinkable, did you know that most people only wear between 40% to 70% of the clothes they own?
Sound familiar, huh? Let’s face it, if you know something looks good on you, you will wear it more often. And that’s where the professional stylist comes in.
He/she will help build a wardrobe where 100% of what’s inside it – you will love to wear and feel great wearing.
Goodbye 40%, hello 100%.
That’s a lot of waste right there, which you’ve avoided creating.
It’s also saved you lots of money.
Are you style confident?
Being style confident is knowing what style suits your personality and makes you feel like your ‘best self.’
Not being style confident is being seduced into buying what we see in fashion magazines, on mannequins in shop windows, or what we are told are the latest trends, only to never wear them as you feel emotionally uncomfortable in them.
However, unless we understand our style personality we can end up never feeling genuinely confident in what we wear and the whole idea of even buying clothes can be very distressing.
If this sounds like you then a personal stylist can be truly life transforming.
A personal stylist helps you become the best YOU!
The first thing a personal stylist should do is to understand how you ‘work, rest, and play’. This is your lifestyle.
By learning about your lifestyle it’s then easy to prioritise what you really need. They should also analyse your body shape and skin tone in order to give you a clear direction on what styles and colours suit you as this matters too.
Assessing these alongside your personality, as you need to feel comfortable in the outfits recommended. Done right and the outcome is you feel confident knowing you look great in every outfit you wear.
A personal stylist will learn how you ‘work, rest, and play’. They will analyse your body shape and give you a clear direction on what styles and colours suit you.”
Do you feel stuck in a fashion rut?
A personal stylist can give you inspiration to try clothes out of your usual comfort zone and help you wear (or adapt) garments that you already own.
A sign you’re stuck is when you wear and shop the same things over and over again or you’ve stopped caring.
Dressing for your new-mum body
Despite wanting our bodies to return to their pre-pregnancy shape immediately after giving birth, the postpartum period is likely to mean that your body will have changed shape temporarily or even permanently.
At a time when you are probably exhausted from having your baby and not having the energy to think about shopping for your new self, your personal stylist will help create a wardrobe full of outfits that will provide comfort as well as flatter your body to bridge the gap until you are back in your normal clothes.
New job, but no idea what to wear?
The last thing you will want to worry about when starting a new job, is hunting for suitable outfits to wear each day.
One of the services that a personal stylist can provide is helping you create a capsule wardrobe for the ‘working you.’
A capsule wardrobe is a selection of garments that can be mixed and matched to provide the maximum number of different outfits from just a few number of items.
Your stylist will help you see what garments you may already own that could be included in your capsule, or help you source new ones.
The capsule wardrobe is a personal stylist’s favourite solution for providing clients with a fail-safe wardrobe that their clients love to wear and feel confident and stylish in.
In fact, I’ve written a blog explaining exactly what a ‘capsule wardrobe’ is. Here’s the link:
What should you expect from a Personal Stylist?
Before you invest in the services of a personal stylist please consider my following advice:
Remember this is a very personal process so you need to feel totally comfortable with them from the start.
Make sure that your stylist is someone that asks you what you really need from them and can cater their services to those needs.
Spend time chatting with them and don’t feel obliged to employ them if it doesn’t feel right.
What’s their training and career background. Do they always look good? Have they got great reviews?
Make sure they understand your style personality and your lifestyle, so they can advise not only on the most appropriate brands and styles that suit you and your shape, but also in terms of relevant outfits for your work, rest and play.
The best stylists show and teach you how to shop for yourself, as well as show you how to create styles and outfits by yourself. Although this can be a time saving service in itself, if you really struggle for time.
Finally, it’s vital they understand and can work within your budget and not pressure you to spend more than you can afford. This is especially important when you realise the perfect capsule wardrobe is a marathon not a sprint.
To summarise, the right stylist is a great personal investment to help you feel confident and happy in what you wear, no matter the occasion.
To take your stressing out of dressing so you’re dressing without guessing!
Cristina Holm
Cristina Holm is one of the UK’s leading personal stylists. Cristina is based and operates from her studio in Warfield, Berkshire (United Kingdom). She serves clients locally and internationally.
Cristina is also the founder of My Secret Stylist, the UK’s best kept clothes shopping secret. For only £35.99 per year, you can find and ‘see in seconds’ clothes which complement your body shape across all the popular brands. For more information, go to www.mysecretstylist.co.uk