MY DAY OUT WITH MY PERSONAL STYLIST

A few years ago, I’d never heard of a personal stylist, much less engaged one.

Each day I was faced with the same, mundane question “what to wear”? I was sick to death of it! I’d fling open the wardrobe doors with a glimmer of fresh hope, only to be met with the same conundrum of clothes crammed into an ever shrinking space. Worse still, I noticed with horror that many items still had their sales tags on or were stashed in boxes. OMG What to do? A total waste of time and money! I ended up wearing the same few clothes each time .... my “go to pieces”

I was pouring my problems out to a friend over a glass of bubbly, when she said, “Well why don’t you get a personal stylist”? WHAT? I was no celebrity, just a 50 something professional in a corporate environment. I needed to look and feel my best but was losing the plot as well as my confidence. Next day I engaged Nikki ... An extremely courageous move on my part.

After an initial conversation, I realised how “stuck” I really was in my clothing purchases. I’d bring home similar items of clothing each time I went shopping. I was bored and over the whole experience. Nikki gently encouraged me to broaden out, to go beyond my comfort zone and try new things. Wow, what a change. We started with the wardrobe edit, identifying gaps, and creating all sorts of new permutations and combinations. Suddenly I had a load of new outfits!

Shopping was the next step and what fun! We explored new styles that flattered and others that didn’t (lots of laughter), but all the while, the coaching was ongoing and there was a lot to be learned. Nikki showed me how to update chic, classical looks with the addition of fashionable accessories. I was beginning to feel that I was gaining control and there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Fashion can be very confusing and the pressure to keep up with changing trends far too overwhelming. Nikki worked with my body shape, taught me how to work with it and more importantly, how to enhance it.

Shopping with Nikki was insightful and inspirational. I felt I no longer needed to rely on random guessing or impulse buying. The theory was fast turning into practice. I wasn’t looking like “mutton dressed as lamb” but my new look was fashion forward and more edgy, whilst retaining my classical, chic demeanour. I loved the outcome and had a new found confidence in experimenting with boundaries.

I guess the biggest barrier to my booking a session with a personal stylist was the initial outlay. But I ended up saving heaps in the end, by asking key questions that justified my purchases.