How do luxury personal shoppers make money

You have to learn the basics of fashion — you can’t just «wing it. I’d ask, «Why this length of pants and not that length of pants? Besides styling people, you’re also running a business. You can be the best stylist in the world, but if people don’t know how to find you, you’re not going to be styling. In the beginning, I spent about 25 percent of the time working with clients and the other 75 percent of the time doing other tasks related to my business — working on developing my website, figuring out my accounting, and so on. The business side is not glamorous, and it has nothing to do with fashion, but if you want to make a living doing what you love, you have to think like an entrepreneur and a salesperson. You can get styling jobs at department stores, but most personal shoppers are independent entrepreneurs like me. You have to be prepared to take on a client of any age, body type, and lifestyle. We once had a male client with narrow shoulders and wide hips. It was challenging to find clothes for his shape because unfortunately, most retailers just don’t cut clothes for that body type.

More Money Hacks

I — a lifestyle reporter at BI — met with Mari Solazzo, head of private shopping for the British luxury retailer, at the glamorous five-star hotel on Regent Street. Solazzo and her team are usually based at the Matches Fashion headquarters on the 11th floor of The Shard, but we met in the hotel’s exclusive Regent Suite for a consultation under the new «Fashion Now» private shopping experience. Regent Suite, Hotel Cafe Royal. Hotel Cafe Royal. Fashion Now was initially designed as an emergency service for guests whose luggage had gone missing in transit. It now encompasses a specialised in-suite private shopping experience. The service involves a phone consultation with a stylist, after which a curated wardrobe edit is assembled in your suite, accompanied by the stylist who will run through the garments with you. The Regent Suite is one of the latter. I was met by Solazzo and Indre Dauniene, one of her Russian-speaking personal shoppers. Private shoppers Mari Solazzo and Indre Dauniene. Business Insider Solazzo explained that it’s really important to have people who speak different languages on her strong team to cater to their wealthy foreign clientele. Perhaps it’s down to the 30 minutes of meditation she said she fits into her morning routine. The pair were both dressed in pristine monochrome designer outfits, finished with perfect red lipstick and nails. Solazzo’s crisp white shirt and black trousers are both by Margiella — her favourite designer at the moment. Her outfit cost more than my monthly wage. Business Insider. Solazzo usually offers the service to guests over Champagne, but I settled for a cappuccino as it was only 9. Solazzo’s army of personal stylists are constantly on call to deal with any kind of fashion emergency a client might have — and they work across multiple platforms. Matches recently introduced an online private shopping service, and three of her team are now employed solely to reach customers via WhatsApp and Skype. They have around 90 clients each and spend their days furiously tapping and swiping away on their phones sending out new edits. For her «bricks and mortar clients» — who value the face-to-face experience — there’s also No. Private shopping appointments can also take place at No. Matches Fashion. The elegantly decorated 18th century townhouse offers clients bespoke personal shopping consultations by appointment only — providing their spend meets a certain threshold, which Matches declined to reveal. In a typical townhouse experience, customers will be presented with between 75 and 80 units of clothing. Solazzo said that while there’s no obligation to buy, they expect to sell at least half of those items. Her team also flies around the world to meet their clients needs. They also apparently love the international delivery service because they hate to carry shopping bags with them.

Latest on Entrepreneur

If you have a passion for fashion and like to shop until you drop, becoming a personal shopper could be the right career path for you. The plus side? What you do need is an outstanding knowledge of your shopping area and good connections with the sales assistants and store managers so they make your client feel like royalty. Although the job may vary between ages and genders, day-to-day tasks will usually involve the following:. It takes a specific type of person to succeed in the cutthroat fashion industry and deal with difficult clients on a daily basis. There are no formal qualifications for breaking into the personal shopping world, though obtaining some form of certification can be advantageous. Some of the best include:. The best thing to do is gain experience in a retail position and start off by offering free services to family and friends. Word will then travel and within a short period you should get your first proper job. Progressing in the fashion industry as a stylist can be difficult and requires a lot of hard work and dedication on your part. The following tips will help you advance in your career. For example, you might be better at styling women more than men or you might prefer accessories to clothes. To make yourself look professional, you need business cards — even if you are only offering freebies to begin with. This way they will not only get to see your work but will also get to know you as a person. Remember: most of the role involves communicating with people and listening to your clients, as well as networking and making lasting business connections in the industry. Does this sound like a career you want to pursue? If so, join in on the conversation below and let us know your thoughts…. Salary information is based on data compiled and published by the National Careers Service.

Incomes and Qualifications

Personal shoppers aren’t just for big spenders—they can help regular folks find clothing and accessories that are flattering, stylish, and budget-friendly. We spoke to a few of these fashion mavens to get a behind-the-scenes look at their job, whether it’s how they can save you money, when they might encourage you to step out of your comfort zone, or why their feet are probably sore.

While buying clothing is a big part of the job, it’s not as simple as it may sound—personal shoppers work closely with sales associates at retail stores to hunt down elusive pieces, put promising items on hold, and determine when new clothing will arrive at the store.

And whether they are working with sales associates or advising their clients on what looks fashionable, personal shoppers need excellent communication and people skills. Personal shoppers who work as independent consultants also spend considerable time running their business: they write blog posts, search for new clients, and manage their finances.

I load the dressing room with the items, then the clients arrives. Personal shopper James Gallichio adds that a desk job would be much easier on his body. Personal shoppers emphasize that shopping for other people requires a vastly different skill set than shopping for oneself. A personal shopper must understand styles for all ages, budgets, and body types. Personal shoppers who are employees of department stores are usually paid a salary and receive commissions on any items they convince a customer to buy.

But independent personal shoppers, who are not affiliated with a store or line of clothing, have more flexibility.

Because they directly bill their client, they can charge a variety of fees for their services, whether it’s an hourly fee, a flat rate, or a package of multiple sessions.

Some personal shoppers even offer a «complete makeover» package that includes additional services such as makeup application and hairstyling. But personal shoppers disagree. By guiding them toward quality pieces that will last many years rather than pieces that wear out after a few monthspersonal shoppers can save their clients some serious moola. That said, personal shoppers also know how to cater to big spenders. Nicole Pollard, a celebrity stylist and personal shopper in Los Angeles, tells The Hollywood Reporter that she arranges for stores to open early, has a tailor on call, and pops expensive champagne for VIPs.

The sky is the limit. Pollard will also go far to ensure her celebrity and royal clients don’t end up in the same clothes as someone else at a how do luxury personal shoppers make money event—for example, by researching the colors of a particular dress shipped to local department stores and then ordering other hues unavailable locally for her clients.

Besides giving their clients advice on which garments complement their body and skin tone, personal shoppers also encourage people to go a little wild. Now that I have it on, I love it! They immediately see the benefit of my expertise.

Personal shoppers don’t just bend over backward to please their uber-wealthy clients—they also go the extra mile when it comes to their regular customers. Many clients text and email their personal shoppers at the last minute for fashion emergencies, and personal shoppers often work on tight deadlines to find the perfect outfit.

When Borsuk worked with a client who was hard to find tops for, she scoured stores looking for the perfect outfit for an upcoming bris. They had items overnighted and had a courier take outfits to her house. Thankfully, a skirt that Borsuk threw in at the last minute worked with the original top.

She was thrilled! In the course of working together, some personal shoppers may even spot signs of body dysmorphia, compulsive buying disorder, or hoarding in their clients. Personal shopper and stylist Michelle McFarlane tells Cosmopolitan that helping people try on clothing requires vulnerability and trust. Personal shoppers stress that helping people find clothes they like is about more than clothing. With the right skirt or top, people may experience profound shifts in their body image, confidence, and self-esteem.

The first weather forecast to hit national network television was given in by legendary weatherman Clint Youle. To illustrate weather systems, Youle covered a paper map of the U. A lot has changed in the world of meteorology since then, but every day, millions of families invite their local weatherman or weatherwoman into their living room to hear the forecast. Here are a few things you might not know about being a TV meteorologist.

Thanks to the wonders of special effects, a digital map can be superimposed onto the green screen for viewers at home. TV monitors situated just off-camera show the meteorologist what viewers at home are seeing, which is how he or she knows where to stand and point. Nothing reflective.

Nothing that makes sound. Myers says she has enough dresses to go five weeks without having to wear a dress twice. This is especially true for women, which is why when they find a garment that works, word spreads quickly.

Since their feet rarely appear on camera, some meteorologists take to wearing casual, comfortable footwear, especially on long days. For example, England told the New York Times that during storm season, he was often on his feet for 12 straight hours. And occasionally female meteorologists will strap their mic pack to their calves or thighs rather than the more unpleasant option of stuffing it into their waistband or strapping it onto their bra.

I have to be really hot when I go out for winter storms. Your local TV weather forecaster is ad-libbing from start to finish.

Sometimes you can fumble the words you want to say, and sometimes you may miss a beat, but I think what that allows you to do is have a little off-the-cuff moment, which I think the viewers enjoy. Where is the conflict?

What happens next? Weathercasters are often the only scientists that a member of the public will encounter on a regular basis on TV. Professional meteorologists spend a lot of time debunking bogus forecasts spreading like wildfire across Twitter. People plan their lives around the weather forecast, and when a storm rolls in, locals look to their meteorologist for guidance on what to.

He relies on a little bit of psychological maneuvering to get people to how do luxury personal shoppers make money cover. The competition for viewers is fierce, and local meteorologists are all rivals in the same race. They try to steal the shoes off your children and food off your plate. If they get higher ratings, they get more money. Background actors are the unsung heroes of television. Without them, most movie and TV scenes would be empty and unrealistic.

The chances of using background acting as a foray into stardom are pretty slim. Most of the people you see in the background of a film or TV show have other jobs and are just doing extra work for fun. And there are always a few extras on set trying desperately to stay in front of the camera.

These guys would learn where the camera was going and redo their vector so they walked in front of it. Days on set can be excruciatingly long, sometimes lasting more than 15 hours and starting at odd times or ending at the crack of dawn.

And a lot of that time is spent just sitting around waiting to be used in a scene, or repeating a single shot a dozen times. On the set of Easy Awhich was set in a high school, extras had to wear backpacks stuffed with bubble wrap to make them seem. While posing as party-goers in bar scenes, extras need something to fill their cups. But film sets are no place for drunk actors, so the props team uses a number of tricks to fool the camera, some less appetizing than.

There will be bottles that have been cleaned out and their labels removed and fake labels put on. Or, for the ultimate cheat, plastic wrap can be put in a cup filled with water to resemble crushed ice, according to Gale Nemecwho teaches a workshop for background actors. This approach also apparently makes for festive centerpieces. The same rule applies if your car is featured in a scene.

On a film or TV set, continuity is key. To create the illusion that a scene is happening in real-time, rather than over a series of hours or days, every little detail must remain the same in each shot and from every angle. Extras are meticulously examined for accidental inconsistencies in their wardrobes.

For the Homeland finale, I wore a pair of leggings and a raincoat for a solid week. Background actors are usually expected to bring their own clothes to set unless the production has a large wardrobe budget. Muted colors are preferred on set to make sure extras are as unremarkable as possible.

And pro tip: never look at the camera. This means pretending to conduct a conversation without actually making any noise, and every extra seems to have their own method. Also, dance scenes are often filmed in silence and the music is added in later. While filming a crowd scene for the movie Jersey GirlFeifer says he spent hours pretending to applaud and cheer. We would fake clap but not actually get our hands to meet.

For indoor scenes, air conditioning has to be turned off to eliminate background noise, which makes for a sweaty situation. Between takes, overheating extras strip their layers off to cool.

While filming on one movie, McHargue and her fellow extras were told to avoid looking the star in the eye. On the flip side, Francis was the victim of one star’s on-set meltdown. She will never work on a set. The quality of food on set varies depending on budget, but generally, extras eat some amazing grub brought in by professional caterers.

Extras are advised to bring a few snacks to hold them over until feeding time. BY Suzanne Raga. Subscribe to our Newsletter! BY Jessica Hullinger. Extras Are Not Professionals.

The Worlds most expensive suit? Daniel Johnson on BBC 2’s Millionaires Gift Guide

Incomes by State or District

Personal shoppers can earn higher incomes at Christmas when gift shopping is at its peak. Retailers shoppsrs personal shoppers in an effort to establish long-term relationships with customers, particularly in the fashion industry. For that reason, they are often called stylists or image consultants. But personal shoppers can also be independent consultants who shop for celebrities or politicians who want to keep up with the latest fashions or trends; others specialize in holiday shopping for busy middle-class families. Whichever target market they serve, sshoppers shoppers usually meet with clients and determine the types of items they need. Their incomes are relatively average compared to other occupations. There are no specific educational mak for this job; retailers typically prefer hiring those with two to five years of retail sales or management experience. Those who are self-employed must enjoy shopping and have a flair for style and fashion. Interpersonal skills, good how do luxury personal shoppers make money management, organizational and computer luxuryy are also beneficial. Average incomes for personal shoppers can vary based on geographic location. Independent personal shoppers usually earn an hourly wage as well as a dollar amount for each piece they purchase, according to «Seventeen. They also make more in Washington, D. Personal shoppers tend to earn more as they gain experience and build a larger client base.