Have you ever thought about working with a personal stylist but couldn’t take the leap?
We get it. When it comes to the world of personal styling and image consulting, there’s a lot of bad advice and confusing information.
In this article, we’re getting to the bottom of things. We’re taking the six most common myths about working with a personal stylist and putting them to bed once and for all.
Table of Contents
Myth 1: Personal Stylists Are Just for Celebrities
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Let’s face it; when you hear the word “stylist” you probably think celebrity.
That’s because celebrities are the people who talk about working with stylists the most. You hear them raving about the fashionista that helped them get ready for a red carpet or special event.
That association might sound unrealistic, irrelevant, or unattainable to you.
But that’s not all a stylist is.
Yes, there are plenty of “stylists to the stars.” But there are also talented stylists for modern professionals just like you.
These stylists work to save you time, and energy, and to teach you how to spend your money on the right items. They’re fit experts and keen to help you find the wardrobe of your dreams.
That’s the niche that NLW fits. We work with successful, driven female and male professionals of all ages, sizes, and industries. We help them streamline their closets and create a style that’s 100% THEM.
Look at our reviews and you’ll spot clients from ages 25 to 65 in fields such as healthcare, law, tech, finance, and education. Yet no matter the situation, we’ve made their daily lives easier with clothes that fit their bodies, lifestyles, and goals.
They may not be walking red carpets or runways, but they are walking through life with confidence.
Myth 2: Personal Stylists Are Too Expensive
So if you heard stylist and thought celebrity, you also probably thought expensive.
A huge misconception is that personal stylists are an unaffordable luxury.
In reality, there’s a stylist option for just about everyone, no matter your budget or goals. Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for.
The upfront cost of a seasoned, well-reviewed stylist may seem more expensive than say, paying for a style box subscription. However, play that out and you might end up spending the same amount of money for drastically different results.
The right stylist will listen and work with you. They’ll know the best brands for your needs and shape. If they’re like Next Level Wardrobe, they’ll take the stress out of shopping and curate your experience from top to bottom with pre-pulls, private dressing rooms, and a customized buying guide.
Go for a styling box or quick-fix and you might get the occasional great outfit. But you’ll also end up with a bunch of clothes that miss the mark. You might be getting styled by an algorithm instead of a human, or receiving a bunch of dead stock the company couldn’t move.
No matter what route you take, you should ask your stylist all your important questions before committing to working with them.
Learn what their service cost is, hourly rate, and if clothing is included in that quote. Some stylists may charge you a lower fee but then make a commission from what you buy. (AKA, they only show you products that they make a percentage from.)
At NLW, we charge a service fee, and then clothing is an additional spend. However, we don’t make a commission from what you buy. We show you what we actually think you’ll like.
Myth 3: A Stylist Will Force Me Into A Style That Isn’t Me
Caption: Recent outfits Stylist Maggie created for a client
Maybe it’s not sticker shock that’s keeping you from working with a style expert. Maybe you’re worried that a stylist will dress you like someone you’re not.
After all, a lot of those Hollywood stylists follow trends or go for bold, outrageous looks.
Or perhaps you’ve seen someone else work with a stylist and totally lose their personality in the process. (Old reruns of What Not To Wear, anyone?)
This doesn’t have to be the case!
We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: when it comes to working with a stylist or image consultant, there’s something for everyone.
A great stylist will get to know you and listen to what you want. They’ll ask you loads of questions to understand your day-to-day lifestyle, travel schedule, goals, preferences, and more. From that, they’ll create a style strategy just for you.
That’s what NLW does. We interview each of our clients and have them fill out a detailed questionnaire so we know as much about them as possible.
But that’s only half the equation. It’s also your responsibility to be an active participant in the process! Tell your stylist if they’re way off base or if something is nagging at you. Just make sure you’re also willing to try new things. After all, you’re working with them for a reason: they’re experts.
A great stylist ALWAYS has your best interest at heart.
Myth 4: I Can’t Hire a Personal Stylist Until I Have My Dream Body
Caption: NLW Founder, Cassandra at two different sizes.
Too many people think that they have to earn great style. They think that if they don’t have this idealized, fantasy body, they can’t invest in a stylist.
But what that translates to is years of dressing poorly and not doing yourself justice. Wearing clothes you don’t like or that make you feel bad about yourself holds you back. It lowers your confidence and can even affect your interactions with others.
The bottom line? Everyone deserves to have great style, no matter their size.
We all have to get dressed every day, so let’s make sure what we wear makes us feel READY for the day.
Our stylists have worked with clients who range from XXS up to 2XL. We’re constantly researching and trying out new brands and fits for every shape and size.
Myth 5: I Don’t Need a Personal Stylist, I Can Do It Myself
Ah, the DIYers. If this is you, you like to do things on your own. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Yeah, okay. I could pay someone to dress me, or I could save myself the money and go it alone. It’s just clothes, it can’t be that hard.”
Sure. You could do it yourself. But do you have the time it takes to overhaul your wardrobe? Furthermore, do you want to spend all that time in your closet when you have other priorities and things to do?
There’s so much “noise” coming at you at all times when it comes to fashion. From influencers hawking products to magazines to sales trying to move deadstock, a lot of people want your time and money. It makes it hard to figure out what’s best for you.
You might end up on that hamster wheel of chasing the latest trend without gaining real style. Or you might get frustrated and just buy whatever’s on sale, even if you end up regretting it in a month.
DIY can only take you so far because it’s not personalized to you and you don’t have all the information you need.
When you work with NLW, you’ll get a 1-1 style education for YOU. We use our years of experience and up-to-date industry knowledge to curate your wardrobe picks and experience from beginning to end.
No more guesswork, no more worrying. We’ve got all the heavy lifting covered.
(Just watch the video above to hear our clients rave about how personalized working with NLW is.)
Myth 6: My Mom/Friend Offered To Help Me
Okay, so maybe you know you can’t do it all by yourself. If you could, you would have done it by now, right? Instead, you have a friend or relative who says they can help you out.
They’ve got great style, or perhaps they know a thing or two about fashion from an old college course or part-time retail job.
We’re going to save you the stress: don’t go down this route.
Having someone you personally know has too many emotional ties. They won’t be able to make those ruthless cuts to your wardrobe or give you objective advice. Or if you two disagree, you could end up ruining an important relationship.
On top of that, they aren’t an expert.
You need an unbiased third party to come in and form a strategy for you. That’s what we do at NLW. This is so you don’t have to redo it in 6 months.
At NLW we take a gentle but educational approach with every single client that we work with to ensure that they are learning and we’re setting them up for style success after our work with them is done.
NLW lives and breathes the fashion industry– we know all the new brands, the new products, and deliveries into stores, and we have special relationships and insider access to help our clients get to style success. This is our full-time job. Not a side hustle.
Get the wardrobe of your dreams with the experts at Next Level Wardrobe. If you’re ready to simplify shopping and change your style habits for good, apply for our women’s and men’s styling services.
