Fashion Stylist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a fashion stylist. Feel free to use our fashion stylist job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a fashion stylist.
Who is a Fashion Stylist?
A fashion stylist is someone who has a career in fashion styling and provides this service to anyone who needs it. They help people find the right fashion and lifestyle products. Fashion stylists need to keep up-to-date with the latest trends and fashion brands. They need to be able to identify the occasion and the silhouettes that will flatter it. This will help them in creating fashion looks or styles. Thes stylists create new looks that match the client’s personality, identity, and personal aesthetics.
They are also responsible for choosing clothing and accessories and then putting them together to create outfits that meet clients’ visual expectations. They may work for an individual, a film or television studio, or magazines and catalogs. Although they don’t usually need to have any specific education, many fashion stylists study fashion design to get a better understanding of how clothes are made and how they will look on the body.
A fashion stylist hired by an individual will first discuss the type of look they want for a particular occasion. Clients may use fashion stylists to help with styling outfits for formal events or photography sessions for aspiring models. The stylist will meet with the client to discuss their preferences and to help them choose the right accessories and clothing.
Professional studios may employ a fashion stylist to design outfits and costumes for models for film, television, print, or other media. The stylist will meet with photographers and producers to discuss the types of clothing, colors, or costumes that would best reflect the visions of the producers. To ensure that everyone is on the same page, the stylist might draw ideas onto paper and give producers an example of the clothes or costumes.
A fashion stylist may be responsible for fitting the clothes to the clients or models after they have selected the outfits or costumes for the client. A fashion stylist can quickly adjust a garment to fit clients if it is not fitting properly in certain areas. Fashion stylists can attach pins to the backs of clothing items so that they fit more closely to models’ bodies. This is especially true for long dresses or skirts. This tighter fit gives photographs a customized look without having to alter the clothing.
A fashion stylist is perhaps the most highly-paid and prestigious of all the fashion consultant positions. Celebrities often hire stylists to help them find the right clothes and accessories and create a unique style. Celebrity stylists work for a variety of celebrities and are often self-employed. Some of the specializations in fashion styling include:
- Editorial stylists
These stylists select the clothes and accessories that celebrities and models wear, especially in magazine photoshoots.
- Wardrobe stylists
Wardrobe stylists select the clothes actors, musicians, dancers, and hosts wear in television broadcasts, movies, music videos, and theater productions. They can work with or under a costume designer for movies and theater productions.
- Corporate stylists
These stylists design different styles for government officials, business executives, and candidates for government offices and their spouses.
Fashion Stylist Job Description
Below are the fashion stylist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a fashion stylist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a fashion stylist include the following:
- Advising on dynamic styling.
- Helping clients in creating a wardrobe, and ordering clothing, accessories, and makeup.
- Creating comprehensive looks for clients by coordinating with photographers, hairstylists, makeup artists, and other professionals.
- Creating unique, creative, and unusual designs
- Organizing the wardrobes and other outfits for a photoshoot.
- Traveling to find the right fabrics or props
- Purchasing and organizing props and accessories.
- Maintaining track of current, emerging, and changing trends in fashion, design, and other areas.
- Establishing relationships with magazines, wholesalers, and retailers.
- Adapting to the client’s interests in color, style, and shape.
- Ensuring coordination in shooting locations
- Facilitating the delivery of any design or product.
- Developing new objectives following market trends
- Selecting clothes and accessories for editorial features, advertisements, concerts and music videos, films, and TV shows
- Researching the right fashion accessories, clothing construction, and fabrics for different clients
- Keeping up to date with fashion labels and designers
- Organizational fashion shows
- Predicting and spotting fashion trends
- Establishing professional networks
- Choosing the appropriate attire for actors, models, musicians, and others who will be appearing on photo shoots for magazines, music videos, TV or movie shows, or for other roles.
- Collaborating with hair and makeup artists to create a theme or style, and making sure clothes match the theme.
- Collaborating with designers and other clothing distributors to purchase, borrow, or buy clothing for events.
- Continuing your education to be updated with industry fashion trends
- Writing articles for fashion magazines and blogs about emerging fashion trends
- Collaborating with models, designers, tailors, photographers, hair- and makeup artists, retailers, and members of the media.
- Selecting clothes and accessories for advertisements, concerts and music videos, films, and TV shows.
- Creating a professional image for your clients, and celebrities.
- Attending fashion shows, brand showrooms, and other events in the fashion industry for enlightenment about the latest fashion trends
- Sourcing clothing to different brands and manufacturers around the world.
- Collaborating with public figures to create a personal visual aesthetic. This could include personal shopping or serving as a personal stylist.
- Assisting major retailers with clothing purchases
- Designing an appropriate aesthetic for a particular period by researching the fashion trends of past eras (via magazines and movies or an old lookbook).
- Organizing meetings with models, photographers, makeup artists, stylists, costume designers, brand creative directors, art directors, magazine editors, and film and television directors
The main duty of a fashion stylist is to make people look good. A fashion stylist can help clients choose clothes that fit their figure while keeping in mind current trends as well as the client’s tastes and financial resources. The stylist will help clients put together outfits for special occasions and everyday wear. They can also assist with choosing shoes, clothing, and accessories. The stylist might take the client to the shop to help them choose the right clothing, or they may bring the clothes to the client for them to try on. Fashion stylists need to stay current with the latest fashion trends. They meet with designers, retailers, and clothing companies to see the latest and greatest designs. Fashion stylists often work alone and manage a small business. This means they have to handle payroll, billing, and marketing.
Qualifications
Fashion stylists do not need to have any formal education. However, it takes more than a keen eye for a fashion stylist to succeed in this industry. Fashion stylists who are interested in a career as fashion stylists can also pursue other fashion-related degrees such as fashion design, fashion merchandiser, or retail. There are many traditional colleges, universities, community colleges, and fashion schools that offer fashion degrees. Experience is also valuable — aside from getting the boss cups, a fashion internship/apprenticeship is a great way to gain valuable experience on the job that you can use in your future full-time role.
Experience
Stylists need to have the experience to get noticed by employers and break into the fashion industry. Potential fashion stylists can showcase their skills to potential employers by participating in trade shows or interning. The experience required to work in this field requires basic styling skills, knowledge of different types of fabrics, and experience with computer-aided designing and project management.
Essential Skills
A life in fashion is glamorous but stylists often work long hours and are anonymous before they achieve success. A successful fashion stylist has a few qualities that are both natural and learned.
- Good styling sense
Fashion stylists keep up-to-date with the latest fashion trends so they can dress clients accordingly. Music, film, and street style can all be sources of inspiration. Good fashion stylists are also able to understand the style of a client. For example, a star known for his quirky style would lose credibility if he suddenly wore a business suit on the day of the appointment. A stylist who is creative and has good visualization skills will be able to thrive in this field.
- Communication skills
The stylist must communicate well with the art director to ensure that the product is photographed in the best possible style. This is possible only if the stylist has good communication skills. Stylists must communicate their fashion vision to clients in a way that is easy to understand and accept. Stylists interact with stars and editors every day during their workday. If this is your profession, you will not succeed if you are too introverted or unable to communicate with people.
- Organizational Skills
Fashion stylists are responsible for coordinating the movement of clothes between shoots and clients’ homes. They manage large inventories of clothes, shoes, and accessories. Many of these items are borrowed from retailers or designers and must be properly accounted for and tracked to be returned later. This occupation requires organization. To avoid embarrassing red carpet moments like duplicate looks or outfits, fashion stylists track what their clients wear to ensure that they are not disorganized. Fashion sense is almost as important in the world of stylists as organization and tracking skills.
- Business Sense
At the beginning of their career, most fashion stylists often work for different employers and companies before becoming independent. It is important to have some business acumen once they start their own business.
Fashion stylists can also work as freelancers. It is essential to learn how to start a business, file taxes, and calculate expenditures and expenses. Rachel Zoe and Andrea Lieberman are two examples of successful stylists who have created their clothing lines. This requires a lot of business knowledge. Although their success is rare, it is proof that fashion stylists with the right qualities can make it big in the fashion industry.
How to Become a Fashion Stylist
Fashion styling is a career choice for fashion enthusiasts who are passionate about fashion. If fashion styling appeals to you and you have a flair for curating clothes, then this is the course you should choose. This is how to become a fashion stylist.
- Find Your Unique Styling skills
Fashion stylists look fashionable. Charity starts at home. Let’s do it! To get a better understanding of the world, you can watch different fashion shows, documentaries, Fashion movies, and fashion podcasts and then put them into practice.
Social media is taking center stage. Anyone can create a mini portfolio that will help clients and you get work! You can create different photos, work with designers to choose mini-projects for interns, or, even better, a fashion internship.
- Earn a degree in fashion styling
You have many options for getting educated. Education is essential and is also important.
Fashion stylists are mostly involved in fashion styling, designing and merchandising, or communications and public relations.
Studying courses related to fashion will help you to master the basics of the course. To get an in-depth understanding of your field, you should consider enrolling at the best fashion colleges nearest to you.
These are some degrees that you can choose before you pursue fashion styling.
- Graduation/ Bachelors (3-4 Year Course)
- Master’s (2 years)
- Diploma (6-8 months!)
- Find Internships
You can gain confidence in your expertise and build trust with your clients by becoming certified. If you are enrolled in a fashion college, you will likely get a certification. That’s the best part!
You can get the certification you want from any of the fashion courses that you choose. Fashion colleges offer internships that will expose you to more brands.
- Create your Portfolio
Fashion styling portfolios are a crucial part of any styling course you choose. You may be a fashion student and are already familiar with the term.
This allows the companies to have a better understanding of who is getting hired, and what to expect. It also helps students find the right clients after they earn their fashion degrees.
- Create a strong Network
Being a fashion stylist is all about networking. You will gain more clients if you build your network.
- Do Extensive Research
Research is key. Learn about the industry and the experiences of stylists. Make sure you understand what you’re getting into before you enter the fashion industry.
Where to Work
Fashion stylists are needed in multiple areas. This is part of their job responsibility. These are just a few to be aware of:
- Professional photoshoots
- Celebrities videos
- Advertisements on social media and television channels
- Campaigns for politics, movies, and sports
- Personal styling tips for celebrities
- Television and movies
Fashion Stylist Salary Scale
The average salary for a fashion stylist in the United States is $50,954.