Oh my gosh – who knew selecting a personal stylist would be so hard! I asked for a recommendation in a private Facebook group and I got 13 within a couple of days! Of those, I ended up interviewing 8 and they were all amazing! How to choose???
So maybe I should back up and explain why I’m hiring a stylist and what my process was for finding one. When I was younger, fashion was pretty simple – things were either in style or they weren’t. Hem lines, colors, patterns, fabrics – it was always pretty straight forward to me. Then, somewhere in the early 1990s, it seemed fashion went haywire: as in – anything goes! And yet, my favorite clothes often felt dated to me. Honestly, I’ve felt a little fashion challenged ever since. At 51, I’ve decided I:
- don’t want to be frumpy
- do want to be stylish
- do want to be edgy
- don’t want to look like I’m trying to relive my youth.
I had seen “personal shoppers” back when I worked for Career Image (a lady’s clothing store) in college and then more recently I’ve started meeting and hearing about personal stylists that go beyond just helping you shop. These fashion professionals help you do everything from purge and organize your closet to work on your personal goals and self esteem. Here is the definition I found on Wikipedia:
“a person who typically advises individuals on, for example, new fashion trends, clothing styles, colors and make-up.”
The Wikipedia article further states…
“A personal stylist is concerned with an individual rather than a particular fashion brand. With the recent rise of fame for celebrity stylists like Trinny and Susannah and Gok Wan the general public have heightened their interest and awareness in understanding the theory behind achieving styles that suit them. Personal stylists are now addressing this demand and serving the general public who view the service as a luxury but a beneficial experience.”
Hiring a stylist does sound like a luxury, but as I discovered during the stylist interviews, maybe not a completely shallow self indulgence. There really is something about how we look that affects our self esteem which in turn impacts the way we interact with others. And, did I mention I’m over 50? Maybe I’ve earned a little self indulgence.
So I decided to go about this stylist selection thing the same way I would tackle stakeholder interviews for one of my change management projects (for more on that, check out my professional blog). I asked each stylist 14 questions which I’ll be sharing with you in the next several posts along with some of my favorite answers from the stylists. For now, I’d like to introduce you to the stylists in the order in which I interviewed them – you’ll quickly see why I had such a difficult time choosing just one! Listed below for each stylist is the answer to one of my questions: “What differentiates you from your perspective from other stylists?”
Jodi Skorupski / Style Success
What differentiates her:
“Practicality. When dressing my clients I want them to look their best in a way that is practical to their life.”
Yael Trusch / Jewish Latin Princess
What differentiates her:
“Connection. I’m very personal and I connect with people very easily in a genuine way.”
Danna Sivan
What differentiates her:
“As a 31 year old mom of 2, I understand how important it is to be comfortable.”
El Matha Wilder / ‘Etuii
What differentiates her:
“Honesty. Even when I owned a retail store, selling a garment was not as important as selling the right garment.”
Jamie Meyers Bisel
facebook.com/makingthemostofwhatyouhave
What differentiates her:
“Flexibility. I’m not a firm believer in getting rid of clothes – I’m not a purger.”
Stephinia Hobbs / Style by Stephinia
What differentiates her:
“Because of my background as a seamstress that can tailor, I know how garments are constructed and can be reconstructed.”
Natalie Weakly / Signature Style
What differentiates her:
“I worked in corporate America for 10 years helping people at all levels of the organization be their best which gives me a unique perspective for clients who are looking to level up.”
Natalie King / Nat King Couture
What differentiates her:
“I value quality over quantity. But, you can look expensive without having to be expensive – there is a real trick to that.”
These ladies were so fun to talk with – click here to start reading their answers in my Part 2 post.
Closet Reboot 
i truly believe that our appearance affects our self-confidence and they way we behave with others ! finding a stylist is a very cool idea. i never thought about this before!
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Thank you for reading, Claire! Totally agree and do let us know about your experience if you decide to hire a stylist! ❌⭕️❌⭕️
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Such a nice ad informative post, I am eagerly waiting your next post about the questions , you asked. ☺
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Part 2 coming on Tuesday – thank you so much for reading!
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Great posting. I found this very informative.
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Glad you found it helpful – thank you for reading!
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I also think an outside perspective is so important. A stylist can push us to take risks that pay off! http://misspettigrewreview.com/
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Totally agree – thank you for reading!
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