I Hired a Professional Stylist
I was in the middle of getting ready for a bridal shower a couple of weeks ago when I absolutely lost my mind. I was rummaging through my closet, trying to figure out what to wear, and I got completely fed-up, hopped on Insta, and scheduled an appointment with a wardrobe stylist I’ve been following for a while now, @M.G._Style.
I’ve recently lost quite a bit of weight, and almost none of my clothes fit. For things like running shorts this isn’t a big deal, I just tie the string and move on, but for most things, I just look like my clothes don’t fit. Because of that, I have fewer choices when getting dressed than I normally would, and before I just started buying everything on Shopbop, I decided to call in the professionals.
If you’ve been around for a minute you might remember my capsule wardrobe experiment from 2018. For the most part, I’ve avoided huge fast fashion shopping sprees and I’ve been able to keep my closet size manageable. Unfortunately, it didn’t help me define my style. I still buy clothes trying to figure out what my style is, and until I figure that out, I’m never going to be happy with the contents of my closet.
To avoid filling the empty space with a bunch of clothes just because they fit I wanted to go about this more intentionally, and I knew I needed help. Just like hiring a financial advisor, mechanic, or hairstylist, I felt like this was something I needed to leave up to the professionals.
So, enter my experience with Styled by MG.
Mary Glenn is one of the sweetest women I have ever met, and she is so effortlessly chic, I could swear I was in a room with Audrey or Jackie. Once she arrived we immediately hopped up to my closet and after a few minutes of discussing my goals for this session we dove right in.
The first few minutes were going through all of the clothes I already had and making snap decisions on whether or not I could get rid of something. This mainly consisted of items like the faux linen blouse I got from Forever21 back in 2010 that looked severely tired, or items that didn’t make sense for me to keep, like the majority of my business casual office clothes. We also made a pile of things to try on.
While I began trying on pieces, Mary Glenn started pulling items to make outfits. She literally pulled pieces from my closet to build outfits I hadn’t even thought of trying. Not everything worked, but that was usually due to the fit of the garment, rather than her idea, and it gave me ideas for what I might want to buy and try later.
Y’all, she literally blew my mind with what she brought together. She used this $1 belt I found at an estate sale a year ago but have NEVER worn and styled it with so many things! It made a basic top and bottom look like an actual outfit. Plus, she gave me the confidence to wear a couple of trends like 90s jeans and chunky heels, as well as my Nike blazers with a skirt.
Overall, in just a couple of hours, she gave me over 20 ready-to-go outfits, including shoes and accessories. Throughout that time she was also working on a list of items she thought would be great additions to my wardrobe; that was the part that scared me the most.
I fully anticipated a list of dozens of items that I would need to achieve the looks I wanted, but I was absolutely FLOORED when she only had around 5 for me to pick up. She suggested a pair of casual nude heels, another color in my slip dress, a tan belt like my black one, and maybe 1 or 2 elevated basic tops. I asked to add a new bag to that list, but honestly, less than 10 items!? Not only is that affordable, but it’s feasible because I also know how to style these new items. Plus, if I wasn’t sure about something, she offered to help style any new pieces I picked up.
A few days after our session she sent an email with links to lots of options for each item type she had suggested. It was so nice and it made shopping so much easier! Plus, there were a lot of different price points, so if I saw an item I liked, but not a price I loved I could do some Googling of my own and find a similar item at a price I was comfortable with.
So, in just a couple of hours I was given some great outfits to get me through the warmer months, a list of things that can help extend those outfits, and the confidence to try some looks I may not have had previously.
This is something I will be doing again in the fall, and probably twice a year from now on. I would much rather spend money to learn how to use what I have, rather than using it to buy a shit ton of clothes I don’t like or need.
Styled by MG isn’t just available in Birmingham, so even if you’re out of state you can use her too! You can find her website here, and she’s on Instagram here.
This has been the absolute best money I have spent in a long time, by far, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with this fall!
Have you ever hired a professional stylist, if so, drop a comment? If not, what are your thoughts?
Love,
Lilly
