Styled by Susie - anyone done it?

[Alanis41]

Hi all, I've been following the tribe group on Facebook for a while but just wondering if anyone here has tried it. I can't seem to get to the bottom of what they advise, seasons etc. Is there something similar closer to London. And she keeps advising chunky trainers, is this a thing now?

Typical me before Styled by Susie:

Try on something that my stylish friend looked lovely in. I look awful, fat and self conscious. I feel deflated. Buy something else in a bigger size. Run back to old things I feel safe in. Cover up in baggy things. Still feel self conscious.

Me now:

Don't try on the outfit because my friend is a different shape and colouring. Choose things for my shape in the colours that suit me. Feel happy, look slimmer and more stylish. Get compliments.

That is worth every penny of the £45 fee.

I also complained to susie and was also shot down and basically silenced and was told I was being mean. My complaint was sheer constructive and not at all horrible.

Every business has good and bad review. Deleting or threatening negative ones only means you have something to hide.

It is a money making scheme. It does not happen from kindness.

Agree about the approach to complaints. A gracious consideration of the customer’s point of view would be much better than shutting out any suggestions or feedback.

No issue with a business being a money making scheme though. Surely that’s the point?!?

Yes it is, sorry I just mean it all seems like how to get the most constantly and then adding in fake kindness stories. It's just all false.

It's been mentioned before on this thread but I cannot fucking stand to hear 'kindness' and 'positivity' and '#bekind' being preached about by someone who writes for and makes money from the Daily Mail. So sickeningly hypocritical.

#stopfundinghate

I do agree with whoever said it's quite MLM, the stylists especially the new local one to me seem to be constantly posting about how amazing every personal shop is. Surely at some point if you were meeting loads of clients you would come across one who's a PITA or the clothes that the client liked wasn't available in their size which would affect how much they could buy (happens to me all the time when shopping!)

I think a lot of the Instagram stories probably do the business more harm than good, one of the stylists looks so uncomfortable doing stories which makes me think she must have been told she has to do it and another posts constantly even before she's ran a brush through her hair which isn't the best image for a stylist

It's a great boost to many women who have lost their way though and I think susie has filled a massive gap in the "frumpy mum" market. I think over the next few years though loads of these stylists will start popping up.

Running off with screenshots is nasty, but talking about a business isn't, especially one in the public eye, which is based on what outfits look good.

Lying about who you are is lame. What are the chances that 'close relatives' of Susie are also good friends with her employees?

Threatening legal action is not only laughable, but unkind.

I think we all know that Mumsnet has had enough threats of 'legal action' over the years that if there was even a sniff of this thread becoming remotely litigious, it would have gone POOF.

@teaandtwix if you are truly a relative and good friend of Susie then you should tell her that not all feedback needs to be positive to be constructive. I made a comment on the Facebook page which was deleted because I questioned the analysis even though I complimented the clothes the poster was wearing. That's censorship and it's not healthy.

I also think it's shocking that she is selling cut and paste documents for £20. I bought one, and it was laughable.

There are some good ideas and I admire that she is giving many women confidence. But if you try to shut down any criticism then I think you'll find there will be a backlash.

Interesting thread. I had an online analysis and found some parts helpful but I was a little disappointed with the bad grammar and exclamation marks everywhere. I run my own business so I am very focused on good customer service and relations. I think that the main problem is that there is no room for feedback and this bothers me. In my case, it was obvious that some of the analysis was a cut and paste and there were parts that contradicted themselves. This isn't professional. There was also a comment that did not fit the photo so obviously a misprint. Again, not professional. I would have appreciated being able to provide constructive feedback but knew I'd be shut down so didn't bother.
I do happen to like the instagram stories. They stylists are likeable and fun. However, they can come across as 'living on the edge' sometimes. Is this the right branding/image? Not sure. One of them looks so shy and nervous on the stories, it's painful, one of them was chewing GUM during a video and you could see it, ugh. I felt it let her down, as she is stunning. Maybe I'm too old fashioned? One of them always looks so tired and run down and rubs her eyes and her face, it's uncomfortable. I find that her spots are distracting. Yes, keep it real but it's important to also keep it pro. I like Susie and admire her drive and ambition but she does seem to be on a tightrope mentally. It worries me! The problem is that their business is about personal style so they should be exemplary and at least professional. Don't chew GUM, cover up spots, relax, don't always complain about the kids, etc. I think they need some 're-branding and they'd be fine. There is a market for them but they just need to step up their game a bit. They all seem like nice girls. I would advise them to think about their image a little more.

I was considering an analysis and/or personal shop and the fact if I'm not happy with a service I can't complain and be taken seriously puts me off. I mean maybe I would be happy, but if not I'd like to give at least constructive feedback?

I don't think you can give feedback without Susie coming back at you to say you're not being kind. A friend had her analysis done too and they mentioned the wrong eye colour. She told them and they just re-sent a corrected version, no sorry or anything. It made it seem not very personal. Having said that, the service is quite affordable and it seems that they have a lot of work on. I didn't pay for the video and would love feedback about how that goes?

Have to agree that it's not fair to make personal negative remarks on stylists, especially as we know how deeply it can affect people and they are people with feelings not just sbs stylists at the end of the day. As far as the service goes it's fair to give an honest opinion on it and I don't think that should be censored.

@teaandtwix When you know some of the people involved directly, it must be hard to read criticism - even fair and honest criticism - but the customer has paid for a bespoke service, so it’s not kind of Styled by Susie to give clients PDFs which haven’t been proof edited. It would #bekind to clients if the PDFs were rewritten perhaps with the services of a professional editor with new images used.

So it’s wrong to voice the opinion that a stylist seems grossly unqualified?
If it was a plumber who posted a photo of a toilet installed upside down, I would say precisely the same thing. Would that be hurtful too?

To clarify before I get censored again, the plumber’s toilet is in his own house and he is posting a pic on social media with the purpose of advertising his skills and showing off his work.
I am NOT criticising the individual, I’m questioning her professional credentials as a stylist and therefore the quality of the services she (and SBS whom she represents) is offering to her customers.

@outofyourhand I completely agree with you about that re the DM (I already said it up thread). It really disappointed me when she started writing for them. I do like Susie - I lover her enthusiasm for what she does! But I think she's getting very defensive... threats of legal action are a bit silly and not really justified (otherwise, yes, this thread would be taken down). We learn from mistakes, and from constructive criticism - and sometimes we need to admit we got it wrong! If someone tells me I've got spelling errors... I think 'great, thanks for letting me know... I'll fix that/I'll employ a proofreader to check through documents... that's helpful constructive criticism, not bullying or 'not being kind'. If someone tells me that improvements need to be made in customer service - I wouldn't ignore it or take it as 'unkind', I would think 'ok, let's review! What kind of comments or responses are we giving that customers have a problem with?' Saying 'I don't give time or acknowledgment to negativity' just makes me think she's not even open to helpful criticism and just sees it all as negative 🤷🏻‍♀️

What qualifications do you need to be a stylist?

I think you just call yourself one?

I'm not sure that they are qualified, but I do think that some of them on the Facebook page always look good as they know what suits them and are very bubbly and positive. There are some very good things about Styled By Susie but for her to reject any criticism is unprofessional and the threat of legal action is ridiculous.

Not keen on how they dress. I think they could use a makeover tbh.

I don't think it would take much to make the business better. Some proofreading, editing, place for constructive feedback so the client feels heard. Sound ridiculous but when I saw the PDF with the errors, it grated on me. It would have been good to have been able to have a dialogue. I know it's affordable but it's still not that cheap and it's money spent. No possibility to provide feedback is not ok. Also, writing for the Daily Fail is so hypocritical. It's the mid market tabloid that loves to #bekind NOT!

I think Susie needs a bit of PR advice, I suspect she’s driven people like me to this thread to see what the fuss is about and by threatening legal action she’s made herself look a bit silly.

I like her Facebook page and know about five people who have been styled by her in real life a couple of years ago and they look great but I do find on the Facebook page that it seems about fashions / fads rather than style so at the moment lots of tucks and white shoes that I don’t think suit all the women. And there was a recent trend to wear a jumper over a dress. It doesn’t surprise me when people say on this thread that their personal report seemed cut and pasted, I suspect Susie is a victim of her own success and too busy to put much thought into the style assessments and that could explain the vast numbers of women all wanting to wear white trainers.

Ironically, she does have a PR rep. She likes to mention this frequently on her Instagram stories. It was immediately after she announced she had a PR rep that the Daily Mail articles started, and that 'story' about the sunglasses intervention in Primark surfaced 🙄

I've followed her on insta for a long time. Initially I really liked her and the way she went about things. But recently it feels things have turned really unsavoury.

White trainers are in fashion though - there's a thread here on S&B every week about them, one running at the minute about what white trainers to wear when you're over 40. One last week about white trainers with a bit of leopard. So it's hardly surprising that everyone on that fB group is talking about white trainers, everyone is actually wearing them everywhere . You only have to walk down a high street to see how many people are wearing white trainers - it's not unique to SBS.