Known as the profession that transforms the wardrobe, the personal stylist works by helping people find their style and the best way to wear and combine their clothes. It is the profession that aims to help other people to dress better and feel comfortable with their wardrobe.
To understand exactly what the personal stylist does, it is important to differentiate him from other very similar professions, such as the image consultant and the fashion consultant. According to Maria Valentina Ferreira, a personal and business image consultant, the personal stylist’s work is more punctual. “It is the professional who will take care of your client’s image with a focus on their clothing and wardrobe.”
The image consultant does a more comprehensive job, but also includes what the personal stylist does. “It is the professional specialized in verbal and non-verbal communication, behavior and appearance. The Image Consultant encompasses, in addition to the functions of the personal stylist, visagism and etiquette”, explains Maria Valentina.
On the other hand, the fashion consultant is a professional specialized in observing trends. “It is always attentive to fashion shows, national and international trends and passes on information from the catwalks to the textile industries and shopkeepers in the form of tips on what is interesting to purchase in the certainty that the products will be sold more easily”, the consultant details.
10 benefits of hiring a personal stylist
There are many advantages to hiring a personal stylist, especially for those who need to get to know themselves better and have a wardrobe that best suits their needs. “You get to know yourself, you learn to use what you already have right, to buy right”, points out Juliene Teixeira, image consultant.
With the help of the two consultants, the main advantages of hiring a personal stylist and having professional help to improve your way of dressing were listed. Check out:
- Understand your style: the personal stylist will help you discover your personal style, indicating which clothes best suit you and your lifestyle;
- Having a more cohesive wardrobe: it’s no use having a wardrobe full of pieces if you don’t feel good with most of them. “We help coordinate existing wardrobe pieces or indicate items for purchases that are missing from your closet”, explains Maria Valentina;
- Enhance your body type: with the help of the personal stylist you can get to know your body type better and learn which clothing models value you, indicating colors, fabrics and prints;
- Help with shopping: many of the personal stylists are also personal shoppers and can help you when shopping. The help can be either to renew your wardrobe, to indicate pieces that are missing from your closet or to help you choose the most appropriate outfit for a particular event. “You learn to resist sales”, emphasizes Juliene;
- Organize your wardrobe: another function of the personal stylist is to help you organize your wardrobe, making it more practical for your day-to-day routine;
- Always have something to wear: you can ask a personal stylist for help to create new combinations with your clothes, helping you to always have something to wear and not repeat looks;
- Analyze colors: the personal stylist is the ideal professional to help you understand which colors suit you best. This will help you to always look beautiful, as well as make it easier to buy new pieces and make combinations. “We indicate the colors that best harmonize with each client’s personal coloring”, explains Maria Valentina;
- Pack your bags: if you travel a lot or have an important trip and don’t know what to pack, the personal stylist can help you with that, indicating the best clothes for the place and for the events you will attend;
- Improve your image: in general, the personal stylist will help you to build an image suitable for your aspirations, working both with clothes and with hair, makeup, accessories, etc.;
- Boost self-esteem: If you are going through a major change in your life and need to improve your self-esteem and confidence in your image, hire a personal stylist. “Whoever goes through a personal stylist receives a lot of praise and projects the right image, helping with self-esteem”, emphasizes Juliene.
What you need to know before hiring a stylist
When you hire a personal stylist, you will receive a service that will help you better understand your wardrobe and style. Before hiring him, it is important to know his role and know what service you are looking for. Remembering that the personal stylist is a professional more focused on clothing. If your desire is an image change, the most suitable professional will be an image consultant.
“I particularly do the diagnosis of the wardrobe, personal shopper, and help with the organization of the closet, which makes the routine a lot easier”, cites Juliane about the services provided. She also claims that she works with a wide range of people and, therefore, the personal stylist is suitable for all women. “Lawyers, secretaries, businesswomen, housewives, full-time mothers, teenagers, retirees, police officers, doctors, etc.,” she lists.
Maria Valentina offers a range of services. “The client has the option of hiring the complete package, a stage or a specific service”, she explains. Among the services offered by her are personal style identification, color analysis, personal shopper, wardrobe organization, etc. “At the end of the work, a dossier is delivered to the client with the looks that favor him and a study is presented on the clothes that value his style and biotype”, she concludes.
The personal stylist service is most often calculated on an hourly basis. Juliene says that her hourly rate is R$120. “I only charge more for organization services”, she says. For Maria Valentina, prices are very flexible and vary depending on the service and location. “Another possibility is the budget per package. It can also be fixed per day or per stage, it all depends on the negotiation with the client”, she explains. “Prices are much more affordable, as the profession is becoming popular every day and new professionals are entering the job market, enabling accessibility to all who seek to improve their image”, explains Maria Valentina.
Research is always the best way to find the professional that will meet your needs. Before hiring the personal stylist, meet the professional, talk about all the details of the contract and clarify any doubts you have regarding the service that will be contracted. It is also worth getting to know someone who has already used the service and observing, in previous works, if the solutions found fit with their perspectives.
Opinion of those who have already hired the service
For those who are still in doubt about hiring a personal stylist, Flávia Paes, a publicist, helps to clarify some of the concerns. She hired the personal stylist service at two moments in her life. “The first reason, which served as a starting point, was my enormous difficulty in acquiring, wearing and matching colors and prints.” The publicist says that, with the help of the professional, she left her basic clothes aside and started to incorporate, little by little and with parsimony, colors and prints to her looks.
“The second time, which I can consider as a step beyond the first apprenticeship, was where I managed to expand my knowledge in different types of fabrics and was open to the use of dresses, skirts as well as to dare in accessories (earrings, necklaces, belts etc. )”, says Flavia. For her, investing in a personal stylist was very worthwhile. “I started looking at myself more in the mirror and thinking about how I would like to be represented.”
For the publicist, there were only advantages when hiring a personal stylist. “The security of having a professional who will help you get dressed, not only considering what is in fashion or what is trending on the catwalks, but also considering your physical type, your style and also your social environment”, she comments. . Another advantage for Flávia was learning to filter purchases, evaluating what was necessary, what was just fashion and what was promotion.
“Any woman should hire a consultancy at least once in her life!”, suggests the publicist. According to her, there are always pieces in her wardrobe that favor her style and that, many times, she doesn’t know how to combine it. “There are also pieces that don’t suit your body and you insist on wearing them. There are several reasons to consider a personal stylist,” she adds. Flávia’s experience was super positive and she recommends it to all her friends. “You start to be praised for your choices that are reflected in the way you dress,” she concludes.
How to become a personal stylist
For those who want to be a personal stylist, it is not necessary to go to college. “In Brazil there is no college or university for training personal stylists. It is also not necessary to have a fashion course or know how to draw to become a personal stylist”, says Maria Valentina.
However, there are specific courses for those who want to have this profession, often offered by professionals in the area. “For those who intend to enter this job market, I advise choosing a good course, taught by a professional who really knows what he is talking about and with national or international recognition”, advises Maria Valentina.
You can choose either a face-to-face course or distance learning. There are varied options for price, duration and course content, so it is necessary to do a good research before deciding which course to sign up for. “A great reference for training personal stylists is the free courses offered by SENAC units, in several states, and also by the Centro Universitário de Belas Artes, in São Paulo”, suggests Maria Valentina.
Here is a list of five course options for you to become a personal stylist:
- Escola Panamericana: Escola Panamericana, in São Paulo, has several free courses in the fashion area, including the Personal Stylist. The course is in person, lasts 36 hours and the investment is three checks for R$ 473 plus enrollment of R$ 350. The teacher, Jo Souza, is quite renowned, with extensive experience in the fashion area.
- Learncafe: Learncafe’s online course is free and intended for anyone who wants to learn more about the personal stylist profession. There are four modules and, at the end of the course, a certificate of participation is provided.
- Sigbol Fashion: specialist in courses aimed at fashion, Sigbol has a personal stylist course. There are almost twenty units spread, mainly, between São Paulo capital and interior.
- N. Marinho: for those who are looking for an online personal stylist course, this is a good option. The tutor of the course is Cristina Marinho who has worked for many years at…