Becoming a Virtual Stylist: Necessary Skills and Responsibilities

The world of fashion is mostly and effectively available at our fingertips, thanks to the digitalization of everything. Most of us rarely visit any brick and mortar store to get the clothes we need. With the availability of trying and buy, easy return policies, and dependable fashion sites, online shopping has become the new norm. Nevertheless, despite its advantages, shopping from online stores does not necessarily make a person a good dresser.

Fortunately, the trend of online shopping also comes with the option of hiring a virtual stylist so you can choose the clothes and apparel that best suit your personality and make you look dapper.

On the flip side, if you are someone who loves and understands fashion and has a passion for dressing up yourself and others around you, a virtual stylist job could be for you. With multiple companies offering personal styling services, virtual stylists are in demand. In this article, we will go into detail about what the job of a virtual stylist entails and how you can go about becoming one.

What is a Virtual Stylist

A virtual stylist is a personal stylist who assesses your personality, nature, body type, profession, and develops a style for you that goes best with your persona. The difference between a personal stylist and a virtual stylist is that the former has to visit you personally and help you shop while the latter guides you through an online medium such as FaceTime or Zoom.

What does a Virtual Stylist Do

Working as a virtual stylist is quite the same as a personal stylist. You research your client thoroughly, analyze their personality, and come up with a style that brings out the best in them. The job of a virtual stylist also depends upon the needs of the client. A client could need a wardrobe upgrade, to redefine their personality, or pick out a dress for a special occasion.

As a stylist, you don't have to ask your client to wear certain clothes. Instead, you will need to create a lookbook with various clothing suggestions that will go best with the client's needs and characteristics. With a lookbook with a variety of recommendations at the client's disposal, they can try on multiple pieces of clothing and give you feedback accordingly.

As a virtual stylist, you will never have to meet your client, which means you will be dependent on several online tools to better help your clients.

Most virtual stylists have their clients fill out a form to better understand their needs. Some of the topics on the form include describing their current style, what style they dislike, and what they hope to achieve with the help of a stylist.

When the questionnaire and the personality assessment is done, virtual stylists create various style suggestions and share them with the client. If the client likes the suggestions offered to them, they go along with it, and if they don't, the stylist edits and rehauls their suggestions until the client is satisfied.

Virtual Stylist Skills

You need to be passionate about fashion, clothes, dressing up to be a good fashion stylist. However, there's more to being a stylist that having an interest in fashion. Here are a few skills that you must ace to become an influential stylist:

Listening Skills

As a virtual stylist, you need to have excellent listening skills, so you better understand your client's needs and desires. If a client specifically asks you to suggest classic looks, you can't offer them modern fashion trends. Listening to your clients help you understand them better, what they want, and especially what they don't want.

Communication Skills

Another must-have for a virtual stylist is excellent communication skills. You might suggest to your clients a range of clothes and styles, but if you are not able to communicate how those clothes would enhance their personality, chances are your clients won't believe your opinion. If you choose specific clothes for your clients after assessing their personality, you need to be able to convey to them how the clothing will benefit them.

Trend Awareness

This should go without saying. A stylist is aware of the latest fashion trends as well as the outdated ones. If a specific piece of clothing is outdated, you need to know before you ask your client to invest in it. Not to say, you can't make your client wear old-fashioned clothes, by all means. As a personal stylist, your job is to combine different fashion trends to create a fresh one that best suits your clients. But being aware of the fashion trends is equally important.

Understanding of Clothing and Body Type

There are a million and a variety of body types out there. Which piece of cloth goes well with what body-types is something a personal stylist should have an eye for. To fit a body, the pattern of clothes, color, and fabric should all be taken into consideration.

Moreover, determining a client's body type will help you choose the style for them. For instance, for short-heighted clients, vertical stripes are a good option. Similarly, if your client is on the heavy side of the weight spectrum, you might want to suggest dark pieces of clothing to make them appear leaner.

Who Hires Virtual Stylists

Virtual stylists can be hired by anyone who is looking to improve upon the image they project on the world. Celebrities, political leaders, sportspersons, TV personalities, and common people need personal stylists in their lives.

As a personal stylist, you can offer your services on your own, or you can join any of the multiple companies offering styling services. Since virtual stylists would not have to deal with clients in-person, you will need a good computer or laptop, several online tools, and an excellent internet connection.

Shahid Ibrahim is a blogging Enthusiast. He is so passionate about writing, traveling and sharing an idea to the rest of the world through the power of the word.