Take a look at some of the awesome photos that photographer Chris Beyer shot at Smashbox Studios. He captured some sweet snaps of our students getting their learn on and of Luke getting his teach on. OK, I think I’ve reached my 90s slang quota for the day. Just take a look at the photos and check back on TheSchoolofStyle.com for the rest of the photos.

When you are on a job, you really need to have a digital camera handy for a number of reasons:

Reason #1- To take photos for credits

Reason #2- To keep track of the items (specifically jewelry) that were pulled for that particular job

Reason #3- To capture the magic of the job itself :)

All three are important reasons but today, SOS Assistant is focusing on reason #2 … keeping track of the jewelry that was pulled for the shoot.

Why take pictures of the jewelry? Well because jewelry is small and can be misplaced/lost if you aren’t careful. Also jewelry can be pretty darn expensive and losing that means losing money. Not good. So here is what you need to do to keep track of your jewelry and to be the perfect assistant stylist that key stylists just love …

TAKE PICTURES!!! Once you unpack the jewelry, take photos of everything. SOS Assistant likes to take a few different types of photos. Type one is from each individual place you pulled from. For example if you pulled from Showroom Seven and they loaned you seven pieces of jewelry, take a picture of all seven images together in one photo. Repeat that process for each place you pulled from. Then, for the second type of photo, SOS Assistant likes to take a photo of all of the jewelry together in one picture.

These photos will come in handy when you are checking items back in after the job wraps. Its a simple little task that goes a long way. Trust.

Here is an example of what SOS Assistant is talking about:

Photo type #1- From one location (showroom, store, etc)

Photo type #2- From all locations (every single piece of jewelry on that job)

** Side note ** DO NOT be a foolio and have a sheet of paper lying over top of the jewelry. Lucky for SOS Assistant she has x-ray vision and knows exactly what is under there ;)

As a stylist, there is a lot involved in prepping a job — meetings, emails, research, pulling clothes, getting your paperwork in order, etc. However, one of the most important tasks involved in preparing for a job is pre-styling. What is pre-styling? Pre-styling is the act of getting your hero looks together before you go on set (didn’t we sound all Webster’s Dictionary with that one?).

The SOS team had a little pre-styling party this past Friday night in preparation for a weekend full of shooting. Our pre-styling ritual involved setting up racks and racks of clothes, ordering a pizza, turning on some music, and going to town … styling town!!

Our party went well into the night (we were putting together looks until almost 2am). Sure we lost a lot of precious sleeping time but getting our looks together the night before and in a nice relaxed environment totally took the on set stress level down a notch or two (or ten).

This past Sunday we had another fantastic Day 1 class at Smashbox studios. Even with the long holiday weekend/ food comas in full effect; we had 16 devoted, up and coming stylists join us for 8 hours of hardcore learning!

Join us this month for our next Day 1 class on December 20th. Head over to TheSchoolofStyle.com to register and don’t forget we are offering 20% off all classes if you enter the promo code “HOLIDAY” during the month of December.

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.