Unfortunately, crowded discount stores do not cater well to the personal styling process. The customer service, dressing room, sizes, and organization of garments are incredibly inefficient. You may save money on garments, but it will end up costing much more in my hourly fee because of the time it will take to find the items.

I do occasionally use discount stores like Nordstrom Rack and Saks Off 5th when online shopping though.

If we are shopping for one outfit or a certain garment, you can spend less than $1000. If you are looking to remodel your wardrobe, anything less than $3,500 is inefficient. $3,500 – $5,000+ is best for a new core wardrobe. Another way to look at it is, on average, a quality garment costs $200. This average takes into account more expensive items like cashmere, silks, coats, and boots as well as less expensive garments and items on sale. For clients with high-end interest, suit needs, or a varied lifestyle a much larger budget is needed.

I no longer work with tight budgets, but I can most definitely refer you to a few trusted personal stylists that do. They work differently than me, but they are a delight. Simply contact me and I will send you their information.

Fun Tip: For free style and shopping advice from me, sign up for my free monthly newsletter. I also post a lot of free shopping advice on my Instagram stories.

I like to do 2-3 hour sessions, versus an all-day excursion, for a more energized and enjoyable experience. I find people get very tired after 2 hours. It is also nice to go home and let the first round of purchases settle in. We generally do 1 – 2 stores per session.

In San Diego, I generally stick to Fashion Valley Mall unless a client requests otherwise. The stores I prefer to take clients to are Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie, Madewell, J.Crew, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Hugo Boss, GAP, Macy’s shoe section, DSW, and more. For online shopping, I use the stores mentioned above as well as Zappos, Revolve, Net-a-Porter, Shopbop, Amazon, Farfetch, Matches, MyTheresa, Etsy, and much more.

 I do not make any sort of 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. 

Yes, I do make commissions on most online purchases I recommend. If you are a reader of my blog, V-Style or V-Style For Men, or my monthly Newsletter, and you click on a link and make a purchase online, most of the time I make a commission through affiliate marketing programs, like Linkshare or RewardStyle. Through these programs, I am partnered with virtually every online retailer in existence, so no store is favored over another.

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.

Most everyone needs at least two shopping rounds. Sometimes this is one in-store shopping session and one online shopping session. Most of the time though it is two online shopping rounds. When booking me for online shopping, select the “Wardrobe Planning” option on my booking software. After that, clients tend to book another two shopping sessions for the next season, about 3 months later. Once their summer and winter wardrobes are covered, clients book another couple of sessions each year for updates, events, or personal changes. Clients who travel often and attend many events prefer seeing me regularly, so they book a session with me every month.