For awhile now, I've wanted to try my hand at personal styling. Since I'm new, I'm offering my services for free, and telling all my friends and family about it. (OK, more like bugging my friends and family.) Back in June, I worked with Jessica, a friend and my very first client! She's a very busy woman, which is why it took her until now to answer my questions about her experience. Without further ado (seriously, it's been 3 months of ado!), here are her answers....
1. What prompted you to make a change?
A friend of mine and I had been talking about giving one of our friends a style makeover. After several mornings of looking at myself in the mirror I realized that I had fallen into a rut of boring outfits myself.
1. What prompted you to make a change?
A friend of mine and I had been talking about giving one of our friends a style makeover. After several mornings of looking at myself in the mirror I realized that I had fallen into a rut of boring outfits myself.
2. Why did you want help?When I realized how boring some of my outfits were, I was perplexed about how to change them up. I had a lot of clothes, and I knew I had some nice pieces, but I was having a hard time figuring out how to switch up the combinations. I needed someone to suggest new combinations, different ways to accessorize, and to help me determine what key wardrobe items I was missing.
3. Was the process enjoyable? Be honest.
Yes, but it was a whirlwind of a day. In 12 hours we reviewed my wardrobe, picked looks to guide us, created a list of key items to look for, spent hours at the mall, went home to create combinations,
and did a fashion show for my husband. Both of us were exhausted at the end, but it was fun and worth it!
4. How do you feel now?
I have gotten such a positive reaction to my new outfits, that I cannot help but feel great! The best was when I was talking about my recent style makeover with a friend at work and he said, "Oh yes, I've noticed the fashion show!"
While not every outfit I have is a show-stopper, I feel much more confident experimenting. Even if I'm wearing a conservative outfit (say, a button-down shirt and gray slacks), I try to ask myself if there is at least one thing I could do to make it more interesting. Could I add a fun metallic shoe? Could I layer on a vest or interesting sweater? Use a scarf as a necklace? I find that when I do, people actually comment on that one "interesting" item. What girl doesn't like someone saying "Cute shoes!" when passing by your cubicle?
Like I said, Jessica is a very busy woman, which is why we did the entire session in 1 day. Ideally, I would spend 1 day on closet and 1 day on shopping, and if necessary and schedule permitting, another day on hair and makeup. The idea is to have all 2-3 days very close together, preferably consecutive. Given Jessica's schedule, the days we would have spent together would be months or weeks apart, and I wanted things to be fresh in both of our minds. Style is very personal, so the process needs to be personal. I will tweak it depending on what I feel is most efficient. This was the most efficient way in Jessica's case.It was definitely a tiring day, but we worked it out with a lot of focus (surprisingly, NOT a lot of coffee). Jessica and I met for lunch a week or so before to discuss what she wanted to accomplish. We emailed some in between. I sent her some style blogs to go over and report back to me with which were her favorite. (Kendi is her absolute favorite, BTW.) This gave me an idea of what she liked. I met Jessica at her home and we spent some time in her closet. She showed me what she typically wears to the office, a casual look, and something she would wear for a night out. We made a list of items to look for. Then we went shopping. (Yay! My favorite part!) I chose a lot of items for Jessica to try on that she wouldn't normally wear, but I knew she would look good in. (Ahem, white jeans!) I showed her how to put things together in ways she had never thought to try. She got her first (I think) pencil skirt (and DAMN! she looks great in it!). We talked about a makeup regime that works for her and she purchased some makeup. After our shopping excursion, we went back to her house and put some new things together with some old things. Then I was off. She now had to the tools to do it all herself.
Here are a few outfits that she put together the week following our session.
I see Jessica about once a week, so I can report that she's still working it with her style. She's excited about her clothes (which is awesome to see) and she's putting more thought into her daily look. She had a few tie belts from Old Navy that she never wore before because she wasn't sure how to style them. She's recently worn all of her tie belts and she's even received compliments on them!
