Should You Hire A Personal Stylist? My experience and tips

Bymariamikaela

Shopping is my therapy, but finding a bargain is what I love the most. I can spend hours at the TK Maxx browsing for great offers. The problem with that is that I find many nice tops, which do not fit the bottoms, and I end up having the unworn items, sitting forever (with labels!) in the depths of the wardrobe-Narnia.


I never had a stylist before and just played with what fit me on a day, rather than what colour is best or what shape. During Covid, I have decided to hire a stylist, hoping to find what works best for my figure. My goal was to minimise the number of items and have a well-prepared set for office work and casuals.


I have searched online and found a personal stylist from Paris. To me, French fashion is tres chic but casual, I love it! I thought what a great idea to have a professional who can help me achieve this goal. Before that, I had never worked with any stylists before, and I genuinely thought it would kick-start in the right direction.

“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” Coco Chanel

Work with Amelie (name changed) with a first 30-minute call to see each other over Zoom went fine. She made some notes on what I wanted to achieve: a stress-free, capsule, work wardrobe with accessories that fit me well. She has asked me to create a Pinterest board where I can put all of my ideas and likes. I did – you can see it here too.
Then we had a call where I would wear in front of the camera every outfit I had in my wardrobe, which we did not have much time for. Amelie has asked me to send photos of everything that I have in my wardrobe.

Step 1: To take stock of every clothing item and accessory I had!

This was the most boring and time-consuming task, arranging and taking photos of every single thing.
My tips: take photos in the daylight, flat on the bed for bottoms, or hang on the wardrobe door for tops.  It took me a few days to digitise every item, including hats, jeans, trousers, dresses, belts, boots, shoes, accessories, and scarves. Everything! 
Another tip: you can do it like me, one/ two seasons at a time. 

Step 2: Match and visualise. 

It is not enough just to take photos of what we have; we need to find the match. 
My own outtakes:
Find your colour to match your skin and hair. I have looked at what I tend to buy more of, and what colour really looks well on me. The matching colours in my wardrobe, for me, are navy, grey, black, white, powder pink, and baby blue.  Here is a good website to use to start with: Free Hair Color Analysis: How To Find Your Best Hair Color | PERFECT (perfectcorp.com)
Start pairing the items. I have made a clear rule to ensure that one bottom always has two tops. If you want more, it is fine, but at least two.
Put together the same colours for outfits. I love the mono outfits or similar colour items, with some beautiful spark of colour or unique accessories.

Step 3: Use an app like SKAP. What a treasure trove! I LOVE THIS APP! 

It is free, it is easy, and it is amazing to put together any outfits for the season directly from the phone gallery. I am not affiliated with any of the links; I use them, and it is my own opinion. If interested in how to use the app, here is a short video below.

Since the last post, I have noticed that the SKAP app is no longer working! There are so many more, and it is the same concept. Here is the list: https://whering.co.uk/ Whering ; https://www.fits-app.com/ Fits & Outfit ; https://getwardrobe.com/ Get Wardrobe.

Using style app as your personal stylist, personal fashion advisor,
My SKAP app styling

Final Thoughts on hiring a stylist

Should you hire a personal stylist? I have worked online with Amelie for a few sessions, and the results I have received left me feeling sad, as I did not get quality clothes suggestions after all the work I have done. The handouts sent were pretty generic, so I could download them online…Would I recommend doing personal styling – sure, if you have spare money to invest. I am sharing my own experience only, hopefully you will have a much better experience than me. It cost me EUR300 for two Zoom calls and the collection of bad-quality photos. I felt that I did all the work, and I could just use either John Lewis advice or a free-styling app.

Whether a stylist or not, it is you who will be the one taking photos of the clothes stock and then finding a match. I really do think that after you make all the steps described in this blog, you may not even need a personal stylist.


If you are looking to refresh your style, find something new to add, I highly recommend a FREE session with John Lewis. I had it this summer, and it was wonderful, and I would highly recommend bouncing off some fresh ideas! Here is a link to JL styling.
Here is what I have received from the Parisian stylist :

Should You Hire A Personal Stylist?


Did you have a personal stylist? Did you try any other apps? Let me know in the comment section below. 

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