One of my strongest, all-time, recommendations that I love introducing people too is booking a personal shopper. It sounds like a crazy, high-maintenance thing that only celebrities or the super-rich do - but you would be shocked at how many stores offer this service for free and how easy and fun it is.
One of my first jobs was working at the flagship location of the trendy Canadian chain, anne.x. I can't find any photos of the now-defunct store, but their claim to fame when I worked there was that many of the outfits from Mean Girls (filmed in Toronto) were bought there.
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Karen's halloween costume in the movie was from our store. This was a shirt, not a dress, and it was my "going-out-top" through my early 20s.
One of the highlights of the job was always when I would get a personal shopping appointment. As the salesperson, I'd usually get some notice they were coming in, along with their size, a few comments on their style, and any details on what they were looking for. It was so much fun I started asking other stores I'd visit if they did it and started booking appointments for myself.
It's so much fun to arrive to a room full of clothes in your size, in already arranged outfits with matching tops/bottoms. It's such a great time-saver and I love that it makes me try on things I might not choose when shopping myself. The staff who work in the store watch people try stuff on all day and know how things hang and look on and often make great recommendations.
It's almost always free (a few places I've been to have had a reasonable minimum spend and may ask you to buy a gift card for the store to secure an appointment) because the store makes money when you buy more because they're so good at recommending to you.
As the fall clothes are starting to arrive (can't believe summer is almost over) now is the perfect time to make an appointment. A few of my favourite stores to book at are:
Anthropologie - they have a great process where they ask for all your social media handles you'd like to share (especially instagram and pinterest!) to get a sense of your aesthetic and what you like.
Topshop - They do a great job of staging the fitting room for your arrival, and their questionnaire is really thorough to get a sense of your style, asking for your celebrity style icons (Posh Spice Forever).
Aritzia - Half my wardrobe is from here now anyways, and they keep on file what you've purchased and your wishlist on their website, so they can make recommendations to go with things you already have.
Department Stores - Here in Toronto our Canadian department store, The Bay, is the best choice. They carry a million brands, and treat you like royalty when you arrive. But every major department store worldwide has free personal shopping services and it's one of my favourite things to do when I travel. I hate to spend too much time on a vacation shopping, and it's a great way to spend an hour with most department stores carrying a big selection of local designers. Galleries Lafayette in France, Selfridges in England, El Corte Ingles in Spain all have amazing services, and I'm sure your local department store offers this too.
Have you ever used a personal shopper? What did you think?
