During all of our training courses there’s equal amounts of theory and practical work. It’s only when you practice the theory you’ve been taught, that the knowledge sinks in. In essence there isn’t that much theory, in fact by 1pm on the first day of the training I always say to the delegates, that’s as hard as the knowledge will get. To their relief the delegates smile and they’re probably thinking this newfound career choice to be a personal stylist is going to be a breeze…. That is until the practical work begins.
I pride myself on the formula I’ve created, it’s unique to Style ME Training, it’s simple and it’s logical. As I take delegates through the slides looking at ‘Before’ and ‘After’ photos I can see them all nodding in agreement. It’s when I give them their first practical task and give them feedback that they begin to question their ability and loose their confidence…
The tasks are relatively simple, I may ask: “find me an outfit online on in store for a 40 year olds birthday party, who’s an Inverted Triangle with a budget of £250”. Now the delegate has to search for this perfect outfit not only understanding how to dress that shape, but being within budget, choosing an outfit that will make the client not only look amazing but feel like a million dollars, helping her to get all the compliments whilst looking like she put the look together herself without the help of a stylist! Most delegates will initially either play too safe or simply won’t be able to find the look they were hoping for within the stores or within that budget …
Then comes the realization that by the Thursday they will actually have a real life client that they will have to style. Now I can sense the sheer panic as they realize there’s so much more to personal styling than they thought! They start to doubt themselves and I assure them all this doubt is perfectly normal and now the real work starts! For the next few days I set them new tasks…. “Choose an outfit for a woman whose going to start dating after a messy divorce”.. “Choose an outfit for a woman who’s 50 going back to work after 20 years and needs a good interview look” or “Choose an outfit for a woman going on a hen do to Ibiza but has put on lots of weight since having a baby and is also on a tight budget” … Personal Styling is so much more than just putting outfits together, it’s about the psychology of the client. You have to put yourself in their shoes and imagine what they’re really going through and then you’ll see just how important it is to choose the right outfit!
Now it’s all about doing as much research as you can on the brief: What should you wear on first dates? What interview outfit will get you the job? What do people where in Ibiza? The client will always presume you know everything about clothes and styling, your job as the stylist is to build her trust reassuring her you know exactly the right look (even if you don’t) then spend time researching! This is where Google comes in, or phoning a friend or phoning me your mentor to double check you’re on the right page. It’s a fine line between making the client look over dressed for the occasion and underwhelming where they feel they could have created that look themselves without your exspensive fees!
Confidence is everything and to build it you have to practice practice and practice so that by the time you have a real client, you’re full of excitement and most importantly fully prepared!