passion for fashion?

by Hanzky — Saturday, February 17th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could shop for a living? visiting those high-end boutiques of the world one day and small local boutiques on another day and to be surrounded by beautiful clothes and the latest accesories of the season, everyday?

yea being a fashion stylist does sound like so much fun, especially when you add in the travelling part, the free stuff in the goodie bags, meeting new people, etc. but i’m sure it’s not always party and champagne in the fashion stylist world, and honestly i think it’s one of the jobs that i don’t think i will be able to do. well..i believe i can do the ‘shopping’ part but being a fashion stylist requires much more than that. to me, the hardest is probably the planning part of it, deciding which location the photo should be taken, (if it’s in the studio then what kind of furniture/lighting is needed) and then the pose of the model, the story behind the look, etc..mostly the creative part of it since i’m not creative like that and have a pretty limited imagination..:o). i’m sure the planning part takes much more time than the actual photo session itself. belum lagi di tambah cari model dan booking modelnya, fotografer, make up artist dan tempat pemotretannya, hunting baju keliling kota and hauling those heavy shopping bags yang nanti nya harus di laundry dulu baju baju nya sebelum di balikin lagi ke butik masing masing. selesai pemotretan juga ada yang namanya editing and retouching. dan pasti nya kan nggak semuanya selalu berjalan mulus, kalo ada model yang cancel at the last minute atau baju yang di pinjem sobek kan nambah kerjaan lagi untuk si fashion stylist. trus jadi fashion stylist juga berarti dealing with big egos and strong personalities, contohnya bitchy boss kaya di devil wears prada, (well nggak semuanya sih pastinya). you need to have a big heart to be able to work (dressing them, pinning, clipping so the clothes could fit them nicely) and stay patience with (some) of the models or celebs who think they are all that. not to mention dealing with the sales associates in the boutique who think they own the store or something. and i give them kudos for that.

yah namanya juga kerjaan ya, semuanya ada enak dan nggak enaknya, but this is one of the jobs that you really have to put your whole heart into it, harus passionate dan nggak bisa setengah setengah if you don’t wanna be done before you get a chance to make a big splash in the fashion world.

anyway, speaking about fashion stylist, i came across this portfolio the other day, it belongs to novita and resti, fashion editors of eve magazine. the portfolio shows extensive images of all the amazing works they have done, not only in eve magazine but also in other magazines like harper’s bazaar, spice!, cosmopolitan, seventeen, etc. i had fun browsing through their portfolio, it feels like i’m browsing a stack of magazines. i like the fashion spread that they did in eve magazine too, especially the speed shopping section. there’s always something unexpected in there from a small boutique in ITC that is totally affordable. i love how it features the mix and match between big labels and bargain hunter items. go take a look and you’ll be amaze yourself..=)

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Devi says:

February 18, 2007 at 7:23 am

enakan jadi personal assistant artis2 gtu kali ya.. tinggal temenin belanja hahaha..

cheyqua cuomova says:

February 18, 2007 at 1:35 pm

bulan agustus lalu klub fotografi kampus gua bikin lat-sar model ngundang mbak regina dari a+, dia juga cerita2 bgitu.. pernah karena kesalahan model, rok prada (which is bole minjem) robek parah aja lohh dan harus ganti.. atau si model keringetan trus ninggalin noda di baju juga harus ganti.. bisa2 gaji abis buat ganti rugi yahh.. haha..

Anonymous says:

February 18, 2007 at 8:40 pm

fashion stylist lumayan gak sih gajinya? musti kuliah di bidang fashion gak untuk bisa jadi stylist? gue pengen sih tapi gak pengen sekolah khusus, takut kalau ternyata gak suka nanti susah cari kerjaan laen.

socialitee says:

February 20, 2007 at 9:06 pm

devi: nah iya kalo gue juga kayanya lebih seneng jadi personal shopper atau personal stylist gitu yaa..celeb2 jakarta banyak tuh yang perlu personal stylist..heheh..

cheyqua: haduh sedih bener deh kalo harus ganti pake uang sendiri..itu lagi model yang keringetan kok nggak ok banget sih..heheh..”kebayang sih kalo foto studio pasti yang panas gitu ya kena sorot lampu2″..

anonymous: wah kalo di jakarta saya nggak tau sih, kalo di sini sih tergantung jadi fashion stylist di mana, jadi fashion stylistnya seleb ya pasti nya ok banget, freelance juga not bad kok. trus kalo di majalah sini kayanya awalnya cukup standard ya but it comes with a lot of perks and really give you chance to go places and meeting people. soal sekolah sih kayanya nggak harus ya as long as you have a good eye and really into fashion, not just the shopping part but also in tune with the trends and the history of it. hope that helps..=)

February 20, 2007 at 10:27 pm

to ms. anonymous..
actually believe it or not.. there’s a fashion styling studies.. at FIT NY, their continuing programs offer certificate in fashion styling.. and if im not mistaken, there’s also a fashion school in milan/italy, instituto di maringiani or sumthing like that, which also offers fashion styling courses.. BUT honestly, if you want to break into this industry.. it’s WAYYY easier back home.. smua cewe2 di jkt asal gaya keren pd jadi editor n stylist skrg.. BUT in the states and europe, it would take time and a lucky star.. one of my boss needs to be an assistant for at least 5-7 yrs before standing on her own feet as a fashion stylist, while my other boss was still in school and somehow accidentally met a prominent editor in the fashion industry and starting to assist her for only a couple of years maybe only 2 yrs then she left to work on her own

as for their incomes, it depends, in jakarta, id rather be a freelancer than a full-time fashion stylist/editor for a magazine.. u’d make more being a freelancer, esp styling for ads..tv com or print ads.. kl kerja di majalah mah fulltime gaji cuma sedikit doang..

but here in the states, upscale stylists could make quite an amount.. an ad campaign job could pay thousands of $$$ / day !!whereas an advertorial would only pay minimum from 250-375$/day..most of them are freelancers, altho’ they could also be contributing to a certain publication usually as editor-at-large or style director n such titles, dimana bisa dpt company benefits jg.. lain lg kalo celebrity stylist _which i hate the most_ mereka pasti juga lumayan dpt nya..

it’s actually an interesting job esp if u hv made it on the top! but it’s not as fun and glamourous as ppl think.. dealing with thousand of clothing and accessories, hundreds of trunks, travelling in a remote location and u need to keep an eye of each item, could be stressful as hell !
shopping for an ad job could sound exciting, but if you hv to get hundreds of shoes in 3 days and carry them are way beyond fun.

February 21, 2007 at 8:32 pm

wow…thank you info nya yaa miss anonymous (ini kenapa yaa kok banyak yang anonymous?..heheh). so you’re a fashion stylist too?…
kalo nggak salah london college of fashion juga offers short courses of fashion styling, yang cuma beberapa minggu gitu, it sounds fun.

btw, kalo di jakara gitu, misalnya untuk print/tv ads, are you hired by the ad agency apa dari perusahaan produknya langsung?..just curious. iya memang freelance kayanya lebih seru, doing different projects everytime.

wow thousand of clothing and accessories and shoes for one photo shoot? i didn’t know it would be that many..i wonder if they ever get sick of looking at clothes??!…i know i probably would

February 21, 2007 at 11:17 pm

to ms. socialitee..
i apologize for being anonymous.. im just shy huahuha how pathetic! i think ive posted my comments on one of your previous threads, if im not mistaken it was on your story abt your devotion to fash magz.. so im not that anonymous around here
well anw, im still far of being a successfull stylist myself, still climbing the stairs by assisting several senior stylists/editors in the industry and trying to get into the door..altho back home, im doing it for a living.

answering to your Q’s, in jakarta usually you are hired by the production house company but in some cases, the client could also directly hire you..it all depends on the project itself.. in another hand, if a client appointed an ad agency for the job, sometimes the ad agency could directly book the stylist or they choose a production company to book the stylist.
On the other side, here in the US & europe, a stylist usually has an agency just like models and photographers.. so most likely they’d be contacted through their agency to be booked.

Styling for an ad job in indonesia is totally a nightmare, a very tight budget for sure and everything is just so disorganized..a total chaos! unlike here in the states as well as in europe, an ad campaign job would be heaven on earth.. great budget, great coordination, totally professional, not to mention the perks of staying at top notch places _or a very uncomfortable place in the middle of nowhere_ and the celebration after successfully completing the job with the crew and the client..

as for being a freelancer, it’s great if you’ve already made it but if not, you’d be struggeling for sure..it’s an unpredictable profession.

for an ad campaign or a movie production, usually we would deal with thousands of clothing n accessories, an editorial job would most likely be less.. to b honest, at one point i did get sick of them, sometimes i didnt care if they worth thousands of $$ since most of the products we use r press samples.

February 22, 2007 at 10:28 pm

hehe nggak pa pa kok kalo anonymous juga, i’m *somewhat* anonymous too..:D..i just thought since you left a long and useful info, you might want to take credit for it by leaving your name..=)

iya kalo di states ada agency nya ya untuk fashion stylist, it makes being a freelancer so much easier karena ada yang nyariin kerjaan since the agency won’t get income if the stylists don’t get any job. btw, i read styebites.blogspot.com sometimes, a fashion stylist that is based in europe but i think she does quite a few jobs in the states too.

you seem to really enjoy the job yaa..and since you’ve already made your feet wet in the industry, you might as well make it to the top..=)

Dafne Spindler says:

November 5, 2009 at 6:41 pm

I’ll recommend this blog.