Happy Cyber Monday, aspiring stylists! As a special holiday promotion, we are giving everyone who signs up for classes in December 20% off. All you have to do is head to www.theschoolofstyle.com, sign up for the class package of your choice, and enter the promo code “HOLIDAY” at checkout.
Our next Day 1 class is December 20th from 11am- 8pm at Smashbox Studios.
Hope to see you in class!
The other day we had some returns to do. We started on Tuesday but ran out of time and they spilled over into Wednesday. Not a big deal … usually. However, this past Wednesday was the day before Thanksgiving and a lot of offices close early on that particular day. This of course taught SOS Assistant a good lesson in doing returns: Call before you come!
Making a quick call before you head over to a PR firm, a showroom, designer’s house, etc is a small task that can save you a lot time. SOS Assistant lost time and gas money AND arm strength after schlepping 50 million garment bags down the streets of LA only to find that her return spots were closed.
Another great phone related lesson (especially for peeps with iPhones) … save all of your return spots to your phone. Save their numbers, names, email address, and psychical addresses. Major time saver. Trust.
Here is a bit of information that you probably didn’t know about. When you become a stylist/assistant stylist you also become married — to your car. OK, “married” is a bit dramatic, but between driving to shoots, doing pickups, and returns — you really do spend a lot of time in your car.
All of that time spent in your car is pretty cool, if you are prepared of course. When SOS assistant started she wasn’t fully prepared for all of this car business. We all know about the time she got towed but you probably don’t know about the time she went into full on panic mode because her beloved iPhone dwindled down to 10% battery power. Or the fact that the 10% battery debacle almost resulted in her losing Google Maps (SOS assistant really should have had a GPS system in her car that day).
The instances above are just a few pieces of drama that could occur in your car if you aren’t prepared. School of Style wants you to be prepared at all times. So here is SOS assistant’s ‘Assistant Stylist Survival Guide: Road Edition’ for you to check out.
1.) GPS- For finding your way around town. You never know where your key stylists is going to send you and chances are you won’t know how to get there (at first). Trust us, you need one of these!
2.) Phone with email- You MUST be available at all times. ALL TIMES. So you’d better have yourself an iPhone or Blackberry or you are pretty much useless (harsh but true).
3.) A car charger for you phone- You will be using your cell phone all throughout the day. The battery will be drained by the middle of the day if you don’t keep it juiced. Get a car charger, it will be money well spent.
4.) Some good tunes- Plug in your iPod or get a hefty stack of CDs because you will want the entertainment while you are cruising the streets.
5.) Sunglasses- The last thing you want is the sun burning your eyes out while you are driving. Its distracting and its not good for you eyes. Keep a pair of shades in your car. Added bonus = you will look cool. Hehe.
6.) Healthy snacks- The worst thing about driving around all day is realizing it’s 4:00 and you haven’t had lunch yet. Don’t let the siren call of the nearest fast food chain woo you. Keep something healthy in your car for when starvation hits.
Those are just a few basic survival techniques for being a stylist on the road. Learn them. Live them. Love them.
Luke and the talented designer Julia Clancey
Last weekend we put on our party clothes on and headed over to Chloe (a hip little spot in Santa Monica) for Michelle Wendel’s Birthday bash. The very talented fashion designer Julia Clancey was there too. Be sure to check out her fabulous designs at JuliaClancey.com
So this is pretty funny … Today while doing returns downtown we decided to be responsible human beings and used the crosswalk instead of jaywalking. Well the crosswalk had other plans for us and decided to flip us off.
Nice!
Yes, we realize how random this post is but honestly this crosswalk sign had us laughing all day … so we just had to share.
There is a new online boutique on the block and you all just have to check it out. Why do we love it so much? We love it because it’s an online boutique that works with celebrity stylists! Go to Style Q to not only to find (and buy) the exact dress you saw your favorite celeb wearing, but to find out what exactly goes into that celebrity’s look and how to style your new item. Brilliant.
Right now if you visit Style Q you can find out how to interpret the “kitten” look. You can rock the kitten look like Rihanna, Leighton Meester, or Eva Longoria-Parker — all with the help of their stylists. It’s actually quite cool, there are sweet little videos and everything!
Of course, if you wanted to — although we don’t know why you would — you can ignore the whole stylist angle and just shop without guidance. Style Q has a great selection. Right now we are totally in love with the cage dress by Funktional, which is only $85 (hello, deal) and the cupcake skirt by Nuj for $315.
Happy shopping. Oh, and tell us what you are loving in the comments section.
It’s time for another exciting installment of Assistant Stylist 101!! A new little section that follows SOS’s assistant stylist through her day to day tasks. Today’s post is all about shopping and shoes. Those two words sound nice together don’t they? As stylists we love both words. However when you are shopping as a stylist those two words get a bit hairy when you put them together. Let us explain …
When you shop as a stylist (an assistant stylist to be exact) you are shopping not “shopping”. “Shopping” is a leisurely activity that you do with your girlfriends — you drink coffee, laugh, and dress all cute. Shopping, as an assistant stylist, is a full on physical activity. With any full on physical activity, some sort of uniform is a necessity. In this case it’s comfortable shoes (see how we bolded that one for emphasis), sunglasses, and clothes that aren’t constricting or overly ridiculous. Some people call that type of uniform “comfortable” attire.
Well our trusty SOS assistant got the memo a while back but clearly refuses to follow it. Today she wore 4 inch heels for 8+ hours of shopping. Lets just say, her feet aren’t exactly pleased with her right now. Our advice to you assistant stylist out there that don’t want to suffer (SOS assistant really does want to suffer in the name of fashion, silly girl) is to …
WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES!! You will be carrying a ton of heavy garment bags and you will be walking a lot. Trust us on this one. We tend to know what we are talking about.
One of the many roles of an assistant stylist is doing pick ups. A pick up happens after the key stylist pulls the looks from the store, showroom, etc. After the looks are pulled, the assistant stylist waits patiently for everything to be packed up and then loads it all up in his or her car. It’s a simple process really — pull, wait, pack, and drive to the next spot.
Simple, most of the time. Today we had a fun little experience when SOS’s trusty assistant walked out of an LA PR firm with an armload of clothes, only to find that her car had been towed. Yep, towed. Pouf, gone, and moved to another location. Rut roh.
All ended well but let this be a lesson, not only to assistant stylists but to all people who drive and enjoy seeing their cars when they get back: Read the signs and read them carefully!!! LOL!
