Sunday, August 30, 2009

What is a Personal Shopper?

By Erika Chloe

What you wear is an outward reflection of your inner being. Many people, male or female, have a hard time visually displaying their personality. The job of a Personal Shopper is to help express your inner-being and personality so that your appearance can reflect who you are both on the inside and out. A personal shopper will usually gather information and details regarding your lifestyle, personality, body structure, skin tones, hair color, shoe size, and many other elements that help them determine the most flattering styles that compliment you.

A personal shopper will also help you coordinate your outfits. Many people spend countless hours trying to figure out what to wear to your interview, work, school, special event, presentation, or any of the other plethoras of events that one may encounter throughout life. With the help of a personal shopper, these decisions are made easier. Image is everything and making sure you are sending the right message is extremely important! Learning what to wear and how to wear it makes a huge difference in your daily wardrobe selection. For example, you would not dress a woman who is 59 and about 150 lbs in the same gown you would dress a woman that is 54 and 120 lbs. Even if the sizes are different, it may not flatter the taller woman the same way it flatters the smaller woman.

It is necessary to remember that the individual style of your personal is not a reflection of how they will dress you! Sometimes people get confused in thinking that a personal shopper has to style every person similar and that if the personal shopper dresses a certain way then everyone they dress will reflect that. However, one of the most important characteristics of a qualified personal shopper is to remain open-minded and even neutral when it comes to picking out clothes for each person. Everyone is unique and will not look like they walked off the page of Vogue or some other high end fashion magazine. While that may be the goal for some, it is not always realistic.

Taking an optimistic approach is useful, but can be risky when a personal shopper does not consider the clients lifestyle or personality. Everyone has a comfort zone and breaking bad habits can sometimes be uncomfortable. However, taking a chance on something that may have been otherwise over looked and finding a way to make certain garments work for a client is an essential part of being a great personal shopper.

A personal shopper will show the client the keys to a successful and possibly life changing wardrobe. A personal shopper should not just be considered the hired help but should build and develop a lasting relationship with each person they work with. Knowing how to dress and projecting the right image is a universal form of communication in any language. People are always going to be evaluated on how they present themselves. How you portray yourself can be a huge asset and what sets you apart from the crowd.

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