Secrets of a Stylist: Getting Personal with Personal Shopping

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a million times: knowing your personal style is so much more important than following fashion trends. I don’t really care much for fashion. I’m definitely not a slave to it — unlike so many people in the retail world. To me, there’s a huge difference between fashion and style; style is so different from person to person. It really has a personality to it, which I love. That’s why I was so excited when my store decided to start its own personal shopping program. And even more excited when I was chosen to be the personal shopper. I already did a lot of styling for the store mannequins, so I was eager to try my hand in styling real women.

I get asked by friends, coworkers and customers to go pick out outfits for them, but I always end up forcing them to come brave the shopping racks with me so that we can work together in finding something that they really love. That’s what’s so great about style: it’s a form of self expression. Even if you’re not an artsy type or into things like Pinterest or DIYs and don’t have an artistic bone in your whole body, you can still express yourself through your style choices. I think that’s why I’m so into the idea of personal shopping at the resale shop I work for: there are so many different types of clothing and so many different brands there — you can really mix and match what you pick out to find something that’s really “you.” It’s made me into a shopping addict for sure…even more so than I already was. Which my wallet isn’t happy about. But whatever.

Even though I’ve been so excited to have a new outlet for my styling addiction, personal shopping for other women makes me nervous — a good kind of nervous, but nervous all the same. Especially since I take style so seriously for myself. I’m not very good at drawing or painting, but I can put an outfit together that I really love and feel proud of. I want to help other women do that, too! I’ve given a lot of thought to all of this lately (obviously), and I think my biggest goal for this new venture is to help other ladies feel happy in their clothes — regardless of their shape, size or style preferences. So many women come into the store and are so unhappy with their size that they can’t even see how many awesome options are out there for them. I hope to change that. Yeah, there are probably more important and respectable ways to alter someone’s self esteem, but you have to start somewhere, right?

And maybe starting with style is a perfect step toward self-love. I know it won’t change the world, but it might change what a brand new mom sees when she looks in the mirror or help a lady have an awesome interview because she feels good about the first impression her outfit will make. Sure, an outfit is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to feeling good about yourself, but if I can help spread a little bit of happiness or offer an ounce of excitement, that’s more than good enough for me!

How do your style choices make you feel? Are you a slave to fashion trends or do you march to the beat of your own stylish drum? How would you define your style? Do you have any questions about styling or need help putting an outfit together? Let me know your thoughts with a comment below!