Has anyone used a stylist?

[Lottapianos]

I used to love clothes. I guess I still do, but I've been perimenopausal for the past year and I feel like I have completely lost my way. I'm 45 and I want to look youthful and energetic, but not like I'm trying to be 25. I love colour, print, comfort. I'm letting my hair go grey and I love it but I'm aware that it can be ageing and I don't want to look 15 years older than I am.

I am struggling to make head or tail of my wardrobe or to work out what I actually need to buy for Spring / Summer. I was thinking about getting a fresh pair of eyes and a professional perspective, and was wondering if anyone had used a stylist for a one off session. How much was it and would you recommend it? I can travel anywhere within greater London. Thanks!

I haven’t but my sister did and I honestly think the person she used must have been colour blind and clueless!

My sister ended up buying a red skirt suit for her son’s wedding amongst other items that were recommended and it looked dreadful. She and I are different shapes and she’s a Pear shape with wide hips and a very slim waist, small boobs and narrow shoulders. The jacket was boxy and just didn’t suit her at all and the skirt was below knee length and the colour was totally wrong for her colouring and she ended up looking frumpy.

We live in different countries so I wasn't around to go clothes shopping with her so I assumed that a ‘professional’ would have some basic understanding of clothes cut to flatter different body shapes and colours that work with your skin tones?

Slight bias here because I work for a styling business. Of course I can only speak by client reviews but so many women find their confidence with style from using our services. In terms of cost, you can make it what you want, an online styling session starts at £120 an hour or you can do the full blown shopping trip for much more. When looking for a stylist I would recommend finding someone who posts their work and if that aligns with the style you would like to achieve. I'd stay clear of house of colour types that focus a lot on your season (most of our clients have had this done then come to us saying that they have a wardrobe full of e.g periwinkle but can't put an outfit together).

That's really helpful @Isthatarealname , thanks. The online styling session - is that looking through your current wardrobe and deciding what to keep / chuck, or is it looking together online at potential new pieces that you might want to buy?

It varies on the clients needs, but usually you might start by showing us an oufit you like in your wardrobe and we would ask if you have X item that goes with it to wear it in another setting, we would then guide you through your wardrobe getting you to try many pieces on and how to style them, and at the end of the session we would create a shopping list of things you are missing. That would usually be a 3 hour session with 2 hours with you and 1 hour sourcing your missing items. But we do have lookbook services where you purchase a lookbook for e.g a capsule wardrobe and we would find all of the items and show you how to pair them.