Working with a fashion Stylist can be a fun and exciting way to upgrade your look and learn more about how to use colors, cuts, and individual pieces to enhance your look and develop your personal sense of style. However, if you don’t know what to expect before your first session, it’s normal to feel a little nervous. Here’s what to expect from your first session with a fashion Stylist and a few steps you can take to get the most out of your upcoming meeting.
What is a fashion Stylist?
A Stylist is a fashion professional who can help you develop your wardrobe to fit both your personal expression and your lifestyle. Fashion Stylists spend their time watching fashion and runway shows and analyzing how trends and color patterns are changing through the seasons. They’re also well versed in garment construction, considering the quality of materials, shade, washing instructions, and more, allowing them to recommend only pieces that fit your lifestyle and aesthetic goals. When you work with a fashion Stylist, you receive the opportunity to refresh your wardrobe with only items you’ll love and actually wear.
Benefits of working with a personal Stylist
While many women assume fashion Stylists are a luxury only celebrities can afford, the truth is that more and more career- and style-oriented women are investing in themselves through a personal styling program. Some of the biggest benefits you might see after working with a professional Stylist include the following.
Personal style analysis
Many women have a few key pieces in their wardrobes that they know look great on them but aren’t able to establish a connecting theme that lets them inform their shopping as they search for new pieces. Too often, the result of this is aimless shopping, time and money wasted, and overspending on pieces that end up shelved away in the back of a closet or disintegrating in a landfill.
Personal Stylists are experienced in choosing pieces that complement each of their client’s sense of personal style, whatever that may mean. Stylists are experienced in working with many different body types and pieces, and they may have access to fabrics and items you aren’t even familiar with.
When you meet with your personal Stylist for the first time, you’ll bring a few items you love to give them an idea of what you’re looking for. Your Stylist will analyze these pieces, create a connecting theme between them, and suggest additional pieces that complement the look and feel you’re going for. That means no more endlessly trying on piece after piece that looks great on the hanger but doesn’t complement your body or help you achieve your aesthetic goals.
Help choosing colors
Have you ever seen a dress or top in an amazing color, tried it on, and found that the color made your skin look sallow or washed out? The colors you wear work together with your skin tone, hair, and eye colors to present an overall picture to the world. While some colors can work to enhance your natural beauty, others can create more of a distraction, robbing you of your confidence.
In addition to choosing shades of your favorite hues, your personal Stylist may also be able to help recommend accessories and jewelry to add another layer of complexity to your look. For example, we all remember the age-old debate over whether cool-toned or warm-toned skin tones look better in gold or silver pieces and how you can tell your shade.
By employing the services of a fashion Stylist, you get the benefit of a third party’s eye evaluating your colors and features to recommend shades that fit you the best. Personal Stylists are experienced in color theory, combining hues and textures to achieve the look you’re searching for while helping you feel your best.
If you’re more low maintenance, color analysis becomes particularly important. A personal Stylist can help recommend a palette to use as a base to build a capsule wardrobe around. The end result will be a closet full of pieces you love, all of which can be effortlessly mixed and matched.
Help you save money
While a personal Stylist will be an added expense in your budget, some clients find that working with a fashion Stylist helps them save money in the long run. By only purchasing items their Stylist recommends, some people find they spend less on items they can’t wear, don’t love, or are low in quality and only last through a few uses.
Reducing the amount of clothing you purchase doesn’t only help you save money, but it can also help you do your part to save the environment from the effects of fast fashion. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, discarded consumer fabrics (including those in retail clothing) are the top contributor of textile waste to landfills in the country. When you buy fewer items and the pieces you add to your wardrobe are high quality, you naturally throw fewer items away to end up in a landfill. Styling from experts like the Stylists at cabi gives you a new look that helps you feel as good on the inside as you look on the outside.
Preparing for your first session
Your first session with your personal Stylist is when you’ll get to establish rapport with your expert and share more information about the look you’re trying to achieve. As you approach your first meeting, there are a few steps you can take to get the most out of your session.
Research your Stylist
When you work through cabi, you can request that a personal Stylist in your area visit you to provide a more personalized wardrobe review experience. You can review your Stylist’s flair and selected pieces through their cabi profile, which we recommend before your first session. Coming in with an idea of what you want your Stylist to do for you and familiarizing yourself with a few of their favorite pieces help you hone in on what you need faster.
If you aren’t working with a cabi Stylist, it’s still a good idea to review your Stylist’s history online before your session. If your professional has a website, you can use it to review their history in the fashion industry, any professional or educational experience, and previous client ratings. Social media can be a great tool to get to know your Stylist a little more before you meet in person.
Create a wish list of clothing items
To get the most out of your session, you should have an idea of the types of pieces you’d like to try on. Start by taking a look through your wardrobe to identify a few favorite pieces and what makes them special. Set them aside for your session to showcase with your Stylist and create a wish list of ideal pieces that will make up your future wardrobe.
At cabi, our Stylists can create an online portfolio of items for you to browse. Take a look through your Stylist’s portfolio of items, and choose a few you might be interested in. This can also be an excellent opportunity to learn more about your Stylist’s taste and how it might fit with your current wardrobe essentials.
You can also create a list of your favorite types of clothing items and request that your Stylist brings a selection of options fitted to your needs. For example, if your job requires you to be on your feet all day, you might be more interested in viewing a collection of comfortable flats rather than sky-high stilettos.
Decide on a budget
After you know what types of items and styles you’d like to try, choose an overall budget. If you’re only adding a few pieces to your wardrobe, you may want to set a budget for the entire shopping process. If you’re undergoing a major wardrobe renovation, it can be more practical to set a dollar limit per item or category (tops, undergarments, coats, bags, etc.).
At the session
Get excited—the date of your session has finally arrived. Now is the time when you get to experience the fun of shopping, trying on new looks, and expanding your wardrobe.
Explain your style to your Stylist
Start by explaining your sense of style and what you’re looking to get from your wardrobe to your Stylist. This will help them to recommend pieces that you love and that fit the needs of your lifestyle. You may want to showcase a few pieces from your current wardrobe that you love to help your Stylist get a fuller picture of what you’re looking for.
Bring items from your wish list
Bring along a few examples of pieces that fit you well and that you’d like to add more of to your wardrobe. This will help your Stylist reduce the number of sizes they’ll have you try on to find the best fits.
Discuss your budget
Remember to be open and honest about your budget and financial expectations when meeting with your Stylist. If you have flexibility in your budget (especially when it comes to each piece), your Stylist will be able to offer a wider range of choices in each category.
The benefits of working with a Stylist
The benefits of working with a fashion Stylist extend far beyond the red carpet. Professional styling can help enhance both your wardrobe and your confidence, filling your closet with pieces that help you look and feel great. Get started and learn more about the styling process by scheduling your fashion Stylist session through cabi today.
