Congratulations you’ve come to the realisation that you want to become a stylist; you love clothes and fashion and your friends and family always come to you for fashion advice, you’d happily style them free but now you’ve realised you can make money from it, you can’t stop thinking about becoming one. Your mind is probably racing with questions and the one of them surely must be, what qualifications do I need to become a Stylist?
The first thing you need to decide is do you want to become a Fashion Stylist or a Personal Stylist. The two are very different. A fashion stylist works on editorial shoots, ad campaigns, music videos and is responsible for creating the right look for the brief and is essentially styling models/ actors whilst a Personal Stylist styles ‘real’ people, with real life issues regarding their personal style. For example, styling someone to nail that interview, or get the date or get a look for a special occasion.
Although fashion styling may sound more glamorous, it should come with a warning. It’s very competitive, in entails long longs and initially being prepared to work for free or as intern. Because it’s so competitive it would be beneficial to get a qualification such as a degree or a diploma to stand out from the competition. Having said that, all the fashion stylists I’ve met didn’t study to be one, they just started very young and as runner, just happy to be on set.
Personal Styling on the other hand does not require you to have any qualifications such as a degree or diploma, as you are essentially working for yourself, building your own client base, there’s no one there to interview you and none of your clients will ever ask to see your degree certificate.
That does not mean you don’t need training, of course you do. Yes, you may have the knowhow on how to style yourself, but do you really have the confidence to style someone who has a completely different body shape to you, with a different background or budget to spend?
At Style ME Training we train you on everything you will ever need to become a successful Personal Stylist and yes you will get a certificate at course completion, it is something to be proud of, as it will always remind you of your journey, but trust me in the 15 years I’ve been a stylist no one has ever asked to see mine.
If you are unsure on which route to take, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I will guide you the best I can, so you don’t waste your precious or money by going in the wrong direction.
Nisha x