Party season is here and for all of us Personal Stylists it’s the last bit of Personal Shopping work we have to do before the sales kick in and we take a well-deserved break! This year seems to be busier than usual for me as it feels like clients are wanting to shop for their party looks even earlier than usual and who can blame them as every shop window from Zara to Zadig and Volataire has been screaming out it’s party time! There’s so much choice from sequins to velvet, to lace to animal prints to tuxedos dresses to jumpsuits no wonder clients are calling on for our expert advice.

No matter who the client or what the party, my stylists are all trained on how find their client the perfect look.

Here are my 5 key steps when dressing a client for party season or a big night out:

1) What are her most flattering colours?

As much as she will gravitate towards buying another black dress, I will insist on doing her ‘colours’ to work out if black actually works for or against her. If it doesn’t trust me black is a colour I will avoid more than any other. In my opinion people pay for a stylist because they want to venture out of their comfort zone so at any opportunity I will most definitely choose another colour for an evening option… silver, gold, purple, red or even this seasons brown!

2) What’s her body shape?

Understanding how to dress your clients shape is the most crucial factor to get the perfect outfit, is she top heavy, bottom heavy, does she have broad shoulders or narrow hips? Once you know what shape she is, only then can choose the perfect look that will hide any flaws, draw attention to her assets whilst creating a slimmer balanced frame.

3) What’s her budget?

A lot of people don’t book a Personal Stylist because they presume the stylist will end up making them spends loads of money, money which less face it at Christmas time could most definitely go towards more gifts for others! But I have to insist a good stylist well at least our Style ME stylists are trained to appreciate every brand from High street to designer and more importantly are trained to make the client feel comfortable with her budget no budget is ever too big or too small!

4) What styles/trends does she like?

Now we’ve got the technical stuff out of the way, it’s time to have some fun! What trends does she actually like, is she a girlie girl? Is she a fashionista or more classic? Once I know what she likes I can choose looks that fit that style but also flatter her shape, complexion and budget.

5) Will this outfit make her standout?

Of course our priority is for our client to go to a party looking great, feeling comfortable with her choice of outfit but for any stylist what she really wants is for her client to call the next day and say the outfit was an absolute winner and that the compliments just kept on coming. Don’t forget the client is not only paying for the outfit but the additional stylist fees so the last thing we want is for the client to feel underwhelmed. We will always try to deviate from her existing style and be a little different from the rest of the crowd at the party. There’s a very fine line between looking amazing and looking like you’ve tried too hard. This fine line is exactly what we teach at our Academy.

If you can picture your life as a stylist, combining the science of dressing effectively with creative flair being your client’s styling fairy godmother it may be time to enroll on to one of our courses…