What Personal Stylists Wish You Knew Before Hiring One
Six a.m. call times and 15-hour days taught stylist Emily Mazur a lot about fashion while traveling with Vogue editors. They packed light, repeated outfits, and still looked effortlessly chic.
Thinking of hiring a personal stylist to dress like a fashion editor? Let's unpack their secrets. The best-dressed people don’t necessarily own the most clothes, have the most time, or wear the most outlandish outfits. They buy smartly and wear what works.
Emily Mazur’s approach to personal styling was shaped by years spent behind the scenes of high-fashion editorials. After earning a degree in fashion design from Parsons, she quickly began assisting editorial stylists on shoots for Vogue and other leading fashion publications.
“I traveled the world. I worked with the best, you know, the biggest models with the biggest, the best clothes. And it was just amazing training. Amazing training,” she says.
Mazur watched the best of the best, deepening her perspective on style and wardrobe building along the way. Now she applies that perspective to personal styling.
So what should you know before hiring a personal stylist? A professional personal stylist does much more than shop for clothes. They evaluate your existing wardrobe, understand your lifestyle and preferences, identify what's missing, and select pieces that work together. The goal isn't necessarily to buy more clothing. It's to create a wardrobe that makes getting dressed easier, reflects your personal style, and helps you feel confident.
The Best-Dressed People Don't Necessarily Own the Most Clothes
People at the highest levels of fashion don’t necessarily wear something flashy and new every day. Some of the most stylish people Emily Mazur encountered in her career relied on a surprisingly simple formula.
She recalls working with esteemed fashion editor Sarahjane Hoare, who has worked for British Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vanity Fair. Operating at a high level in the fashion industry demanded a streamlined yet elevated way of dressing.
“She always dressed so simple and so chic. You know, always a gorgeous, gorgeous pea coat,” Mazur says.
Hoare created an impeccable signature style by investing in what she knew worked for her. "She would just buy them repeatedly. Really simple, perfect jeans, like a gorgeous boot or a loafer, a simple knit, and really good jewelry. And like, it was chic."
The lesson stuck with Mazur. A stylish wardrobe doesn't have to be extensive or constantly evolving, it just has to be incredibly good.
The Most Important Pieces Might Be the Boring Ones
Working with a professional doesn’t always mean they're bringing you the most enticing eye candy. Your stylist is going to recommend a lot of pieces that won’t get you excited. At first. Mazur calls them the boring pieces.
“I like garments that you can wear the shit out of, garments that you can really wear in an endless amount of ways, and create as many different looks as possible,” says Mazur.
A Great Wardrobe Should Take Five Minutes to Get Dressed
You can get dressed and look great in five minutes. Don’t think it’s possible? Mazur learned the value of efficiency on fashion shoots, where editors had to look polished through early call times, jet lag, and impossibly long days. “But we still have to look good,” she says.
That experience shaped her belief that getting dressed shouldn’t be a daily production. “You should really be able to just open the door, grab this and this, and it should be 5 minutes,” she says.
That’s the goal of a successful personal styling service: a capsule wardrobe of pieces that work together effortlessly. The same goes for packing. You should be able to grab the greatest hits from your closet without overthinking it. “You know they're all going to work together, and you could probably mix and match six different outfits out of it.”
There's a Lot More Work Behind the Scenes Than You Realize
A rack of clothes might look like a collection of easy choices. For a personal stylist, it represents hours of searching, inspecting quality, considering fit, and visualizing how each piece works together.
“It's a lot of digging,” says Mazur. Finding the right pieces means working through countless options to identify the few worth bringing to a client.
And a piece can be beautiful without being right. Mazur considers quality, fit, budget, and how each garment works with a client's existing wardrobe and lifestyle. “Everyone's bodies are different, so 100% I approach every body, every single physical body, differently,” she says.
Clients see the edited selection, not all the options that were rejected along the way. A stylist's value lies in that discernment: knowing what works for a particular person and what doesn't.
The Magic Is In How You Style It
The difference between an outfit that looks fine and one that makes you look twice might be a sleeve rolled just so, or a necklace that pulls everything together. Often, the magic isn’t in the clothes themselves; it’s in the styling.
“It's really about the styling and how it's put together,” says Mazur. “Do you tuck it in? Do you front tuck? Do you roll the sleeve? Do you pop a collar?”
Small adjustments can change an outfit's proportions, sharpen its silhouette, or give it a different attitude. “It's all these little things, like how you put it together, that I think creates the wow,” she says.
A personal stylist sees possibilities you might overlook, making individual pieces work together in unexpected ways.
What to Expect When Working With a Personal Stylist
Your first personal styling consultation is an opportunity to discuss your lifestyle, wardrobe challenges, budget, and what you hope to accomplish. Once you begin working together, the process may involve closet editing, shopping, fittings, and experimenting with new outfits. Mazur encourages clients to approach those sessions with an open mind.
Then, the fitting process requires work. “Get ready to sort of pull your sleeves up because we have to try on a lot of clothes,” says Mazur. “You have to try things on. There's no shortcut.”
When it comes to fittings, expect things to get physical. You'll work through multiple outfits, share honest feedback, and experiment with pieces you might not normally reach for. Your stylist needs to understand why you're seeking help, what's missing from your wardrobe, and what your everyday life looks like.
You don't need to arrive with a fully formed vision of your style. Troubleshooting is part of the process. Keep an open mind, but speak up about what feels right and what doesn't. Think of each fitting or closet edit as a path to discover new ways to express your own taste.
You Don't Necessarily Need More Clothes. You Need the Right Ones.
Some clients have plenty of clothes but few combinations that work. The problem isn't always what they're missing; it's what they've accumulated. Their wardrobes are bogged down by jeans that don’t fit, dated accessories, or statement pieces with no purpose.
“I think a lot of them have the wrong clothes,” says Mazur. “They don't have clothes that work together. They have a lot of stuff that needs to be cleaned out of their wardrobe.”
Sometimes that means starting with a closet edit. Glamhive’s Closet Cleanse helps you sort through what you own, identify the pieces worth keeping, and pinpoint what's missing.
For Mazur, the payoff comes when clients see what's possible. “I can be a bit hardcore, but when you show people what they can really look like, they get it right away, and they love it.”
You Don’t Have to Spend More to Dress Better
Price alone doesn't determine whether a piece belongs in your wardrobe. Mazur considers options across price points, weighing quality, fit, and how a garment works within the larger wardrobe.
“I'm all for being economical and spending where you need to, but if you can fill it in with the dupe and it gets the job done, I'm like, we should do that.”
The goal is to spend strategically. Your stylist can guide you to invest in pieces where quality matters, but knows where to find quality in lower-cost items.
Get Clear on Why You Want a Stylist
“I can't get dressed.” “I don't know what to wear.” “I don't know who I am anymore.”
Mazur hears these frustrations from clients who feel stuck with their wardrobes. They may have plenty of clothes but struggle to put outfits together that reflect who they are now.
Before hiring a personal stylist, know that the process starts with understanding you, not just your clothes. “I just want to get a sense of where they're coming from, how they're feeling, and what's going on,” says Mazur.
That conversation helps shape the work ahead, from identifying wardrobe gaps to finding pieces that feel authentic to your lifestyle.
Final Word: Buy Less, Buy Better
After years in fashion, Emily Mazur’s advice is refreshingly simple: “Buy less and buy good stuff.” It’s a philosophy that runs counter to fashion’s constant push for something new.
Before hiring a stylist, know that great style comes from choosing pieces thoughtfully, wearing them often, and knowing how to put them together.
If Emily’s philosophy resonates with you, explore her Glamhive profile to learn more about working with her directly.
In her words, “Buy a good coat and wear the heck out of it. You don’t need five, you need one amazing one.”
About Emily Mazur
Emily Mazur is a professional fashion and personal stylist with a background in luxury fashion and editorial styling. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, she has worked on international fashion productions and brings her editorial experience to private clients through Glamhive. Her approach emphasizes versatile wardrobes, thoughtful purchases, and effortless everyday style.
Photo credits: @emilymazur on Instagram
Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Styling Services
What should I expect when hiring a personal stylist?
A personal stylist typically begins by learning about your lifestyle, wardrobe, preferences, and goals. Depending on the service, they may edit your closet, source clothing, recommend outfits, and help you refine your personal style.
Do I need to buy a whole new wardrobe when working with a stylist?
No. A personal stylist can work with clothes you already own, identify what's missing, and recommend strategic additions. The goal is to make your wardrobe work better, not necessarily make it bigger.
Is hiring a personal stylist worth it?
A personal stylist can be valuable if you struggle to get dressed, make purchases you rarely wear, or want professional help building a cohesive wardrobe. The benefit is personalized expertise that can save time and help you make more intentional clothing decisions.
