All About Becoming a Fashion / Wardrobe Stylist

[BetteT]

As an assistant ... I know that they want someone who won't balk at all the physical work, will be able to work the long hours, and won't waste the stylist's time by chatting up the crew instead of working hard. Your focus will be how to help the stylist do a better job ... to free him/her up to do what they do. Grunt work! So they might ask for a resume (I think they call it a CV in Europe) just to see what your work background is ... so anything related that can proove that you are dedicated to fashion and a reliable person would be helpful.

Congrats on the Chanel job ... I'm sure you'll be drooling over the merchandise ... I know I would!

As a stylist ... your portfolio is your resume. Rarely does anyone ask for a resume or anything about training or previous jobs. It's pretty much a visual thing.

If you have any idea where you will end up, now is the time to do some research to find out what the market it there and work on testing to gear your portfolio for that so that you can show it around once you get there ... if you ever want to actually be more than an assistant.



And yes ... in this biz of freelance styling, it takes years to build a clientelle, so every time you move, you have to start over. Scary, huh?

 

[Fabulyss]

Great thread! Thanks everyone for their contributions. I searched but I couldn't find the answer to this one,

Do styists' assistants get paid? Even just a little bit? Does it depend on how big the stylist is or...??

 

[BetteT]

Yes... and it does depend on the stylist and thier level of work. In addition, lots of people volunteer to intern, so a stylist usually has a choice of using a free assistant/intern or to pay an experienced assistant.

For ordinary stylists like me (catalogs, ads, etc., only sporadic work), I don't often need an assistant ... so when I do, I negotiate for one in my contract with my client. Usually pays about $100 to $150 for the day ... that's up to a 10 hour day. So I just email the list that I have of freelance assistants to see who's available that day. If I can't get the client to pay but I still feel that I need help ... there's dozens of people out there who would do it for free ... but it's taking a chance on getting someone really flakey ... I really beleive that you often get what you pay for. But then ... if they are not helping enough ... they just get sent home to get them out of my way.

But for a stylist who is constantly busy and in demand ... a regular, paid assistant is better ... someone he/she can train and who'd always got his/her back. So the stylist will pay the assistant directly... probably a salary. No idea how much they pay full time assistants ... I'm sure it's negotiated to everyone's satisfaction.

 

[XavierRaphael]

How many outfits minimum does anybody suggest for a story in my portfolio as a stylist?
Also how much does a job like this pay for the average stylist and more succesful stylists?

 

[BetteT]

See the Portfolio thread for info on stories/number of looks. Two can be a story and it's fine. In a magazine 20 can be perfect if that is the number of pages the need ... but probably it's too many for a portfolio, so you'd have to narrow it down to 4 or no more than 6. I think that if a story is too long, people looking at your portfolio will get bored ... they want to see lots of different stories ... so more stories with fewer images. Make every image count and only use the best from the story.

If you are talking about catalog work ... it pays anywhere from about $400 a day from small start up companies to $1,000 a day from high end large companies with an average of about $600-$800 ... but that is L.A. and NY rates .... smaller cities pay less.
Ads often pay more than catalogs. For top stylists (well known, highly publicized) l doing the top companies ads and things ... well, that's a whole other world ... thousands can be made in a day.

It's a negotiation with the compay ... so each job will be different. You quote your rate, they decide if it's within their budget, if you are worth it and whether or not they can get just as a good a job done by someone else for less money. Most of the time you will get a yes or a no. Sometimes they will counter your rate and then you must decide if you want to do it for less or not. If you go too low ... you will get a rep of being a "cheap" stylist ... and that can harm you in the future because your name will be passed around to "cheap" cilients ... so it's a very delicate balance. If you find that they always just walk away when you quote your rate, then perhaps you are overcharging based on your experience, your portfolio and your market. So you reduce it a bit to see what happens.

Editorial work pays nothing to about what an assistant gets. It's not considered work ... it's marketing to get tears.

To learn more about how much stylists (and photographers) make ... there's a thread about it ... here.

 

[XavierRaphael]

What is considered to "little" pay wise?
I want a good rep

 

[SnejanaIsMyMuse]

I know I asked this before but I didn't ask it the right way.Are there any stylists that are also freelance photographers? Meaning they do styling jobs separately from photography jobs?I love photography and I would really love to be a stylist also but I know you couldn't do them simultaneously.

 

[XavierRaphael]

Im sure some people an do both jobs!
Just like some business men do cooking on the side for example

 

[SnejanaIsMyMuse]

Cool,That's what I wanted to hear.Thanks.

 

[sill]

Not sure if this question has been asked but, it's not the stylist who comes up with the 'theme' of the editorial (if it's an editorial), right?

 

[Juliax]

Thats a great topic. I am thinking of taking a course in that.

 

[BetteT]

Not sure if this question has been asked but, it's not the stylist who comes up with the 'theme' of the editorial (if it's an editorial), right?

Sometimes ... it depends on the situation, and the client. Sometimes the client decides what they want and the stylist must comply with their vision. Sometimes the photographer decides, sometimes it's a collaboration, sometimes there's an art director in charge. So a stylist has to be able to come up with and create themes to inspire the whole team and also has to be able to get inside other people heads and find a way to create what someone else is thinking about. And they need really good interpersonal skills ... because it's still a bit of a colaboration and you have to be able to negotiate what you want and make everybody happy at the same time.

Oops ... you said editorial ... so in the case of a magazine ... they are considered the client or if you are salaried you have a boss who acts as a client ... so it still depends.

 

[XavierRaphael]

Sometimes ... it depends on the situation, and the client. Sometimes the client decides what they want and the stylist must comply with their vision. Sometimes the photographer decides, sometimes it's a collaboration, sometimes there's an art director in charge. So a stylist has to be able to come up with and create themes to inspire the whole team and also has to be able to get inside other people heads and find a way to create what someone else is thinking about.

Editors bring in ideas to the editor in chief, and also they may all decide on the issues theme in a magazine.

 

[taj76]

I have a question, is it necessary for a stylist to take fashion designing courses in order to add to their qualifications as a stylist? I feel my technical drawing skills weak :-(

 

[MsBeej]

I have a question, is it necessary for a stylist to take fashion designing courses in order to add to their qualifications as a stylist? I feel my technical drawing skills weak :-(

No. I just know how to hand sew and hem a little, ew a button... unless you want to be a stylist AND designer it's not neccessary. It is helpful to know the basics though... including sewing machine (which I will learn one day!)

 

[MsBeej]

I have two questions which are appropriate for this thread, I guess! (Kinda longgggg) First thing is, I am currently a contributor to a small fashion mag... I don't get paid but I get great tears. So far I've done it three times for three issues. The editor really likes the way I style, and she even added me to the contributor page which only the more permanent people are a part of. Is there ever a point I can ask her if I can be the fashion editor? The staff at the magazine is already very small and it just launched in 2007, so I'm suspecting if they're making a profit it is really small and they wouldn't be able to pay a/an extra salary...?

Second question involves the same magazine... a while back I was to shoot a story for them, so I recruited a photographer that had never heard of them before and very slightly acted like the mag wasn't that great. But she was willing to do it for the tears. Anyway, the shoot fell through and we didn't shoot and when I contacted the photographer again to see if we could work together in the future, I never got a reply (a stuck up person but great work). So now, all these months later, I found another photographer to work with and we shot a story for the magazine and it came out great. Recently the editor contacts me saying a photographer would like to work for the magazine- and who was it? The one that I was supposed to shoot with who never got back to me! So the question is, don't you think that is kind of shady & underhanded... she kind of took my contact and wants to shoot for the mag with her own team? The funny thing is the editor said she was going to tell her to work with ME!

 

[taj76]

Hey MsBeej,

Thanks for the response whew, I know the basics too I was concerned I had to know how to draw technically.

 

[Muse_Views]

I am not in the fashion industry, but I am a trained art historian and curator who has been fascinated with fashion all my life. Styling, in my opinion, is about making memorable images: gorgeous, haunting...well, memorable 2 And 3 dimensional pictures. And, like other visual artists, stylists need to learn about history of aesthetics: portraiture, design & costume, etc...! I would also add the absolute necessity to learn about aesthetic norms and ideals in different cultures; be it Ming Dynasty China or Masai People of Kenya!


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[cesarcmma]

I'm new in tFS and This has been the most helpfull site and thread I ever read. Thanks everyone...Bette, Softgrey and all of you out there.

I wanna become a stylist when I move to NY (hopefully next year) and I have read the entire thread and I don't find somethig related about hiring models, so my question is:

How does one cross over from free models (like test shots for our portafolios) to actually a well known model (not a famous one)...Does the photographer hire her/him??? or the mag???

thanks beforehand.

 

[BetteT]

The client hires the models ... and usually hires you too. Sometimes the client hires the photographer, who in turn brings in his own team ... so he would hire the stylist.

A really good photographer might test good agency models from time to time ... so if you are working closely with good photographers, you will probably get to test with them.

Magazines are not actually considered "clients" ... since they usually don't pay much, if anything at all. We work for the "tear sheets" and the credits. We do it for marketing ourselves to real clients. The paying clients are retail stores and designers mainly ... anyone who needs to advertise or get photos of their line for their web sites, look books and catalogs.

All the details about clients and magazines is in this thread somewhere.