STYLIST OR IMAGE CONSULTANT?
I am often asked whether I am a stylist when investing time on a complimentary consultation call where I discover if I can really help you.
When I am asked this question my standard response is, “actually you get that and much, much more because I am a bespoke tailor who has fifteen years experience which includes measuring hundreds of women. Plus I have been hands in the crafting over a thousand bespoke pieces.”
So what that means for you, is that you get a stylist, image consultant, fashion designer and tailor all rolled into one. That might sound like a big claim so let me explain how that is possible. Also, that I am only explaining in response to the questions I am often asked by women seeking the way to better outcomes.
When you measure and fit hundreds of women you gain an innate understanding of the body. Let me just take a moment here to remind you too, I work only with professional women on clothes they wear everyday, not size 8 runway models in froufrou.
So you can guess which bodies take more skill to measure and fit, right? To draw a parallel that you may have experienced in your own life, it’s the difference in skill level and execution between stuffing off the shelf invites into off the shelve envelopes versus gorgeously and expertly wrapping a fine bottle of wine, with consideration, respect and care.
Before I fit, ‘we’ the MATERIALBYPRODUCT (MBP) team cut each piece one by one. Before we actually do that we customise your pattern first. Yes, this means we apply your measurements to it but that is just the start. We also adjust the pattern to your bespoke requirements and take the liberty to adjust the style in a way that we know from experience will work better for you. Sometimes client arrive for a fitting and we have added or subtracted a seam. At first I take great care to explain our reasons but after we have collaborated for a while, clients say, “just do it Sue, I trust you.”
Can you spot the difference from standard made-to-measure? When you shoot your measurements to a tailor overseas who wasn’t seen you and doesn’t know you, of course they cannot, however skilled work with the same level of nuance that we not only apply but relish!
So you are probably wondering how the stylist
and image consultant still rolls in? Well here’s the thing, the MATERIALBYPRODUCT language is iconic but it’s not in our interests to land a piece in your wardrobe that sticks out like an alien has landed. If I did that, you probably would not wear it much, so you probably would not feel like you got value for your investment and you probably would not come back. Also if I landed an alien in your wardrobe that essentially required you to go out a buy two or three more things to go with it, you should rightfully feel that you have experienced a disservice. It’s precisely this disservice that you have come to accept as normal that I work to repair and reprogram when we develope bespoke solutions.
So when I am working with clients, especially on their first acquisitions, my aim is to facilitate your selection of pieces that are going to have the biggest positive impact in your wardrobe. Pieces that just fit right in as well as upgrade how you feel when you get dressed in the morning, simultaneously. Pieces that you will just find your self going to over the other stuff. That is not an easy balance to strike. Often in a consult, I appear to be just chatting to you but what I am actually doing is looking for a very specific moment, the moment when you look like you have walked in, in it (the piece I have recommended you try on). Your body is relaxed and I don’t see my piece on you, I just see and hear you. You feel it first and then you see what I see too. This is before the piece is is actually customised and cut to your bespoke requirements so from here things start to get really exciting.
A lot of my hell busy professionals don’t like trying things on but I can still find this moment, pretty much the same way, through conversation, listening, watching their face, observing their body language and respecting their intuitive responses. Like the way they stroke a piece of cloth. Sometimes it’s the smallest thing they say that reveals the most.
All this ‘conversation’ becomes the basis of a fundamental understanding about you. What I am doing is building an understanding about you that goes with and beyond your measurements. It also allows me to go beyond just effectively styling pieces that will slide into your exisiting wardrobe. I also probe beyond a basic understanding of what you do into a more subtle understanding of how you do it. A more subtle understanding of how you do life. This is fuel for true fashion design and powered with artisan craft creates transformative outcomes for you that will accompany you on your life’s journey. These are excellent cloths that will not squat in your cupboard or flit through briefly on their way to landfill.
Life is so complex now and I really love it when I can really help by applying our craft for you, not the image you thing you should project. The image ‘people’ have told you to conform to. The authentic you is the most powerful way you can show up in any area of your life. Don’t you think that is worth investing with some expert help?
If this explanation sounds like an elaborate sales pitch, take this into account, our process is slow, invested and meticulous. I want to make sure I have the right person before I put my scissors anywhere near a piece of cloth and invest the efforts of an entire team into crafting pieces that will be on high rotation for minimum 2-5 years, ON YOU and not in your wardrobe. Pieces which will save you so much wasted, time, money and energy burnt up in anxiety which is precisely why MBP has loyal clients who have returned again and again over ten years after the first acquisitions. It’s worth noting here we can only add a capped number of new clients annually.
So if you would like to replace low level anxiety and high level frustration with MBP’s unique process and beautiful outcomes, message me and I will give you 60 minutes of my time compliments on the phone discovering what it is that you need and how I can turn that need into an outcome that adds beauty and value (X 3) to your life.