Hey Cosmo Girls!
I’ve been receiving a lot of questions on how to become a stylist, so I decided to sum up some guidelines for you to follow:
1. Familiarize yourself with different styles. Being a stylist means delivering different fashion looks—not just the current trends or the ones you personally like to wear. You need to know the different styles of different eras, personalities, industries, etc.
2. Be prepared to do the legwork and not just strut around in the latest trends. A lot of beginners think that this is a glamorous job, and while it is to a certain level, being a stylist means you have to source for clothes and accessories, carry them around, steam them, clean them, make sure you return borrowed items in good condition, and also keep a good relationship with everyone you work with. A lot of shows portray fashion people as divas, but nobody wants to work with a difficult person. So stay humble, work hard, and be friendly to everyone you come across. The industry is very small, so it pays to have a good reputation.
3. Watch and learn. Attend fashion school, intern for a magazine or a stylist, read up on fashion—do everything to help your eyes get familiar with what works and what doesn't in the different avenues of fashion styling.
4. Pay attention to details. The wrong shoes, over- or under-accessorizing, the wrong fit, even the slightest change of an untucked shirt vs. a tucked one or rolled and unrolled sleeves, can dramatically change the mood and look of your shot. Study how these subtle changes can make a huge impact on your work.
5. Never stop learning. Fashion, although quite cyclical in nature, is also very fast-paced and ever-changing. What is in today can just as easily be over in two months or less. Be ahead of the curve, or at least keep up, especially if you want to work in the magazine industry (We work at least two to three months ahead of time.). This means we work on our summer issue in January and our Christmas issue in September. You need to forecast what will work for your market in the future. The relevance of the images you send out there is of utmost importance. It's not just about proving to everyone that you know what's on-trend. What's more important is translating the trends so your target market understands it and is inspired to try it out as well.
Good luck with everything! I can’t wait to hear from all of you.
Love, D
You can now get advice straight from our Fashion Director, Donna Cuna-Pita. For your style inquiry, send your name, age, and question to Donna with the subject "Fashion 101." Email her at cosmophilippines@gmail.com. She'll answer one question every week!