Photo Credit : Backstage at an editorial fashion shoot. Image by Richard Kelly.

I was 14, I was at a girlfriends house doing whatever it is 14 year old girls do.

We heard her mum who was in the next room screeching.

We ran into her mum’s bedroom.

Her mum was pretty upset to say the least.

She was shouting that the dress that she was wearing ( she was getting ready for a make or break business dinner party that she was hosting at home) was all wrong and made her look like an Oompa Loompa. (eerm her words not mine *smile*)

She was in a stunning bespoke cocktail gown but it was all wrong for her proportions. It did make her look a tad like an orange-skinned-chocolate-factory-make belief character. Remember those were her words, not mine.

While my friend tried soothing her mum by telling her she looked fine(blatant lie, sweet but a lie nonetheless), I went back into my friend’s bedroom for a pair of scissors and a boy-band sticker embellished box of safety pins, which she kept on her homework desk.

I dashed back into her mum’s bedroom and was like…
“I can make the dress look better on you.”

Before she could say a word I started snipping away at the dress, pinning it here and twisting it there.

Shortly afterwards she was screaming in delight and I was swapping her sedate pearls for vintage gold, her kitten heels for these divine shoes sat at the top of her shoe rack.

She looked completely different and was more belle of the ball than Oompa Loompa.

I think all three of us were astounded; at my guts to chop away her bespoke dress, at the fact that whatever I had done had actually worked and the fact that she still had five minutes to set the table!

At that dinner her look must have impressed because soon I was styling (and personal shopping with) her, those business contacts and then with time her friends (and their friends) regularly part time.

That friend’s lovely mother was my first client. The very first person I styled other than girlfriends( for their dates etc) and family (sorry sis!). I have styled a lot of people since then both in my personal styling and for my editorial fashion styling. Despite that, that power the right styling lends to an outfit and its wearer has never worn off for me.

I decided to share the above account as I get so many emails asking how I got into styling. The above is how.

I must add that my mother is an artist and so was her mother and so I grew up around a lot of creativity. I was intrigued by art and was exhibiting art work when I was pre teen.

I got that love of styling from my mother way before I knew what styling was. This woman could transform the most mundane ‘you should really be throwing me away’ sort of piece into a drool inducing couture like look. She encouraged me to create, to dream that the surreal fantastical creativity wise, was possible. She encouraged me that it was ok to see things in rainbow shades instead of the limiting black, white and occasional grey areas.

I always knew it was going to be fashion but it did however take me a while to figure what exactly I wanted to be doing fashion wise. Even though I had done that part time styling and personal shopping in high school I still didn’t realise that,that in itself, was a career. So I went and studied a degree in fashion design only to drop out as it wasn’t designing I wanted to do.

I went on to do other courses in fashion. The fashion writing began in high school too; I’d written since forever and started contributing to varying publications.

It has been a long hard road ridden with lots of sacrifice, lots of failure and lots of back breaking work.

Despite all that, I am still in love with the art of transforming and translating a designer’s creation into what I think it can become. I am still fascinated with falling in love with a specific piece for a client, only to see them waft down the red carpet looking amazing, just how I had envisioned. I am still thriving on the one to one appointments and helping someone find their stylish self (and some confidence sometimes!) along the way.

The best tips I can leave those interested in fashion, writing or styling as a career is…

Figure it out Fashion is a very large and varied sector. It is not enough to know that you want to be in fashion. What specific part of it excites you? It is fashion journalism? Do you want to get into PR? Or perhaps you want to style? Do you know if you are interested in editorial fashion styling or is it personal styling? Or perhaps both like me? Figure what you want to do out. Do your research.

Learn Learn Learn Learn as much as you can about the chosen area that you want to work in. Study formally if you can. You can learn informally too; intern, assist and shadow. As you do this it gives you an idea of what this job is like in reality. It helps determine if it is right for you. If perhaps you should be in fashion but maybe some other role. I cannot emphasis that it is important to really open yourself up to learn.

One destination, many roads If any one tells you there is only one specific way of getting to whatever career you have your mind on, they are telling fibs. I have known stylists who initially trained to be lawyers. They packed in the law and made that change in career. I have also known folk who just knew that it always was meant to be. Some studied formally, others did not. My point exactly? There are many roads to one destination!

Hard elbow grease & sacrifices Be ready to have to make sacrifices, to have to work so hard that sometimes sleep becomes a distant memory. It is not all glamour as you see in the magazines, it is very hard work that takes commitment and a willingness to keep keeping on even when the paycheck does not quite match the input. Be ready to work your Miu Miu embellished socks off!

Want to hear more on this? Well stay tuned because I will be featuring varying stylists (both personal and fashion stylists) and letting them tell you their paths to their current jobs and their tips on getting there.

Keep an eye out for the next installment in the How I became a stylist series.