This is a very common question, especially from people who’ve already worked in fashion for a few years. I’ll often hear, “I know designers, I follow trends, I style my friends all the time — do I really need training?”
And my answer is yes, I really do believe you do.
Not because you don’t understand fashion. In fact, if you’ve worked in fashion, you probably already have a strong eye. You likely understand fabrics, silhouettes, trends and how to put a look together, that’s all valuable.
But working in fashion and being a personal stylist are not the same thing.
When you work in fashion, you’re often creating a look for a brand, a mannequin, a campaign or a shoot. Personal styling is very different. It’s one-to-one work with real people, with real styling dilemmas, and it’s about understanding how clothes interact with their body shape, colouring, lifestyle and personality.
It isn’t just about what looks good. It’s about what works for that person.
I can relate to this myself. Before I trained, I had a good eye, and I’d been styling friends and family for years. But looking back, I can see I was often putting my own style onto them. I wasn’t properly breaking down their body shape or identifying style personality in a structured way. I was choosing pieces I loved and making them work on them.
That’s exactly why I trained. I didn’t want to feel like a fraud, I wanted structure, accreditation and confidence. I wanted to know I could work with any client, not just people who naturally leaned towards my taste.
I’ve seen this happen many times with delegates from the fashion industry. Take Eve for example. She worked in fashion for 20 years and initially questioned whether the training would add anything new. But what she found was depth — the structured side of personal styling, from body shape to colour analysis to style personalities.
Clients may be impressed by your fashion background, but they also want to know that you understand their specific needs.
So yes, a fashion background can absolutely be an advantage. But personal styling is its own discipline, and proper training gives you the credibility, consistency and confidence to build a real business from it.