When you think of getting professional help for something you can’t do yourself, the first thing you may think about is the cost. But when you weigh the cost against the benefit of getting the help you need, things come into perspective. Remember your friend who decided to take on a home project and ended up having to call in a professional when it didn’t go as planned? Did you give up on doing your own taxes when life got more complicated? Hiring a professional really took the headaches away, didn’t it?
What about the cost of mistakes? One area that most of us can relate to is the cost of doing last minute shopping for events we need an outfit for. Rarely is anyone satisfied with the results when shopping under pressure. You wear the outfit because there’s no other choice but you never wear it again. It’s easy to berate ourselves and wonder why, after all these years, we still don’t know how to be smart about shopping.
There are professional shoppers, people who have been creating great wardrobes for others for years. You could call on a professional. But wait, there are other choices.
What about asking a sales associate to help you in a local boutique or chain store? A salesperson in a store is eager to sell today’s merchandise without thought to your needs for next month. The sale comes first. Their commission depends on it. They may see you again, but they’re certainly not managing your wardrobe for you. You’re still stuck with the problems you walked in with. You need someone to see the whole of your wardrobe and help you be efficient while making choices that will last more than one season.
If you do make purchases that you’re happy about, they can hang in your closet all season and never get worn. You just couldn’t figure out how to work them into actual outfits that you wear. After a while you get tired of looking at the tags hanging on the clothes and you decide to run it down to your consignment store as it’s past the date of return.
You don’t have time for in-store shopping but you could follow the prompts that come to you from online shopping. You’re interested in a dress and the website offers you suggestions for the rest of the outfit: shoes, bags, or jackets. You’re in a hurry so you order the whole package. When it arrives, you’re likely to be disappointed.
The items are dropped off at your doorstep. When you open the box you realize the quality of the fabric is inferior, something you couldn’t tell from the computer screen. Or you get the item that was going to solve all your problems and the sizing is way off. You start dealing with returns, which is time-consuming. You could get distracted by life and pass the date when you can get your money back. Online shopping can be quick on the front end but slow about getting what actually works.
The returns can get confusing. When does it have to be in the mail by? Which purchase goes with which return sticker? Then having to get it in your car and to the delivery store can seem easy but it sits in your trunk, then weeks go by, and you might even lose out on the window of return and that’s a complete 100 percent loss in investment.
Letting go of things that could have been useful if someone else’s eyes had been there.
No ROI. You invest in clothing that never get the full use of them.
You buy items that you like or love in the store, you bring it home, and somehow it lingers in the closet and you don’t know how to put it in an outfit. You keep turning back to it, thinking “I’ll wear this,” but months go by. Then you finally give up and get rid of it. A professional could have made it work.
Now consider this:
Working with a professional wardrobe consultant can be life changing. Here’s why.
An initial investment will be amortized over time because the new wardrobe pieces were so well-chosen.
They know how to style and make outfits out of what you have instead of making more purchases.
A professional listens and figures out your needs, your goals, and your current lifestyle. The professional works with all important aspects that make up wonderful you to create wardrobes that work. They know your current wardrobe. They know the gaps that need to be filled. They know what you’re moving towards. And they’ll get you there.
Schedule a session now and get your wardrobe up to date!
By Tehillah Blech Harris
I’m Tehillah – a NYC based image consultant, style assessor, wardrobe planner, closet editor and personal shopper. I have over 30 years of experience in the fashion industry and am now doing what I love most. I help people express themselves better and more authentically through their appearance. Through our work, my clients streamline their closets, and look and feel more confident by wearing and buying only clothes that look great on them. And we have fun doing it together! www.up2date.nyc Be sure to connect with me on social media for more styling tips, event info & other fun things you won’t want to miss: @up2date_nyc – Facebook up2datenyc. To sign up for my monthly newsletter www.up2date.nyc/subscribe
