FAQ
For many, hiring and using a personal fashion stylist is new territory. Plus, my service has changed a lot. To get an idea of what to expect, listed below are answers to the most frequently asked questions I receive. All clients must read through each answer before booking their appointments each season. Feel free to email me if you have any additional inquiries, thank you!
No matter how well crafted the articles – I know a fashion blog is no replacement for one-on-one sartorial care. If you are looking for an expert in men’s style, I recommend Patrick Kenger who is based in Arizona, but travels to San Diego regularly and is skilled in virtual styling. For women’s fashion, I recommend local stylist, Andie Sobrato, who is skilled at virtual styling and available for travel. Please let them know I referred you, thank you so much!
As usual, please plan in advance if you have a special event or trip coming up. For instance, if you have an event in mid September, please book 1 session in mid to late July and book a 2nd session in early to mid August. 15-20 days apart is the best timing between appointments.
Fun Tip! Bummed you can’t work with me? Get small doses of my advice via my free monthly newsletter. I also post free shopping advice in my Instagram stories. Lastly, my shopping blogs, V-Style and V-Style for Men are encyclopedias of free shopping and style advice.
For travel by plane, I require reimbursement of airfare and hotel stay. I only charge a small fee for my travel time since I love to travel.
Update: Due to the high demand for my service locally and virtually, I am temporarily suspending service to areas that are more than 40 minutes away by car. Thank you so much for your understanding!
Lastly, after 15 years as a personal stylist, I have finally learned to carve out more time in my schedule away from work. Texts from clients can disturb this time reserved for myself. Thank you so much for your understanding!
If my rate is outside your budget, I recommend stylist Andie Sobrato, who is skilled at virtual styling and available for travel. If you are looking for a men’s stylist, I recommend Patrick Kenger who is based in Arizona, but travels to San Diego regularly and is skilled in virtual styling. Please let them know I referred you, thank you so much!
Fun Tip! For free style and shopping advice from me, sign up for my free monthly newsletter. I also post free shopping advice on my Instagram stories.
After the online purchases arrive we look through the items together at your home. If you are a virtual client, we go over the online shopping via a video call.
First time clients generally need 2-4 rounds of online shopping. When booking me for online shopping, select the “Wardrobe Planning” option on my booking software.
Note: If you would like me to purchase your online shopping for you, I just need your credit card information. If you want me to do your returns for you, it would be my assistant who does that, but I charge you the same hourly rate for her hours. These hours can add up, so I encourage clients to do their own returns if they want to save money.
Unique Sizes for Women:
- Size 00 or smaller
- Size 14+ in petite sizes
- Size 20+ in regular sizing
- 34-inch inseam or longer
- 25-inch sleeve length or longer
- 3+ size differences between one body part and another
- 10 shoe size or larger
- 5 shoe size or smaller
- Narrow shoe sizes
- Wide shoe sizes
Unique Sizes for Men:
- 35-inch inseam or longer
- 40-inch waist or larger
- Size 29 waist or smaller
- Size 50 chest or larger
- Size 36 chest or smaller
- Size 18 neck or larger
- Size 14 neck or smaller
- 3+ size differences between one body part and another
- 13 shoe size or larger
- 8 shoe size or smaller
I shop everywhere! It all depends on my client and their needs, but here are some stores that I use consistently: Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie, Madewell, Zappos, Revolve, Net-a-Porter, Shopbop, Amazon, Farfetch, Matches, MyTheresa, Etsy, J.Crew, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Macy’s, Hugo Boss, GAP, and more. Seriously, no store is safe from me 🙂
Note: I occasionally utilize discount retailers like Nordstrom Rack and DSW, but that is rare. Discount retailers lack quality and sizes, so I tend not to use them.
On the rare occasion I do in store shopping, I generally stick to Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego unless my client requests otherwise. I arrive 30-45 minutes prior to the shopping appointment to pull all the clothing my client will be trying on. Billing begins when I arrive. The session is 2-3 hours and we do 1 – 2 stores.
I do not make commission on your purchases when we shop in physical stores and I do not work for any of the stores that we shop in, nor am I affiliated with the mall in any way. The sales associate that assists us in the store makes the commission.
With that said, I want to emphasize, whether shopping in-store or online, every store and garment I recommend is based entirely on what I think is best for you, my client. Honesty and ethics are of utmost importance to me.
Please tell them I referred you, thank you so much!
Fun Tip: For free style and shopping advice from me, sign up for my free monthly newsletter. I also post free shopping advice on my Instagram stories.
You don’t need to do anything before the closet purge. I can show up and do my job no matter what situation your closet and wardrobe are in. But if you want to enhance efficiency, here are a few things you can do:
- Have all your clothing available. This means make sure you have all your clothing back from the Dry Cleaner and your hamper for dirty clothes isn’t full of garments we would want to work with during our session.
- Have all your clothing, shoes, and accessories in one room. Again, this is not a big deal, but it does make the closet purge more efficient.
- Having your wardrobe somewhat organized is always helpful, but again, not necessary.
- We often dip into the far reaches of your wardrobe where dust lies. Any sort of dusting before we dive in there can be nice for us 🙂
- Feel free to do a pre-purge without me. Identify unusually old, seriously outsized and unneeded items before I come over to get those easy to purge items out of the way.
- Donate overworn, ruined and stained clothing to For Days (do not throw it the garbage)
- Take Dry Cleaner hangers back to your Dry Cleaner (do not throw it the garbage)
- Donate gently worn clothing, accessories and proper hangers to Amvets or Father Joe’s
- Consign mid to high-end clothing and accessories to The Real Real (how to sell here)
- Consign high-end bags and jewelry to Fashionphile, (how to sell here)
- Send in mid to high-end clothing to sell on Thredup (how to sell here)
- Sell vintage and mid to higher end clothing at Buffalo Exchange (in person – how to sell here)
- Sell mid to high-end clothing and accessories on Poshmark. This is too much effort for most people. (how to sell here)
- Donate new and gently worn shoes to Soles 4 Souls
- Donate sneakers to a Nike store
- Donate coats and jackets to One Warm Coat
- Donate jeans to Madewell
- Donate formal gowns to Princess Project
- Bring Eileen Fisher clothing to Any Eileen Fisher Store, or Mail It In
My assistant routinely makes donation, recycle and sell runs, so I am happy to take a bag or two off your hands free-of-charge. If you want me to transport more than two bags of donations, or if you have a specific location you want your donations to go, I do bill you for that time. With this in mind, most clients handle their own donations/recycling/selling.
Note: my offer to take discarded clothing off your hands free-of-charge is to ensure no clothing ends up in a landfill. I am passionately anti-waste. On the rare occasions my assistant sells something from a client’s donation bag, we put the money towards recycling fees and my assistant’s time.