Let’s face it – sometimes you could use a little help in getting the look you want.
Personal shoppers are a small investment to perfect your appearance. Don’t confuse them with fashion stylists who tweak or sometimes alter your style for a given effect – say a big event, or to provide you with a makeover to make you look younger, slimmer and so on. Personal shoppers on the other hand, take notes on your own style and the pieces of attire that you wish to buy, match that up with current trends and help you get hold of what you have in mind. They will also tell you how to wear a product. You want a neon green belt embellished with studs to keep up the psychedelic and S&M trends? Your personal shopper will help you source it and give you suggestions on what to wear it with – she might suggest adding it to an otherwise classic fawn outfit to bring it up to date, for example. Their profile also makes them an effective gift-shopping service.
You can choose between an independent individual – such as Neha Kapil Pathak, Tania Tapel or Parul Shukla – or go with a personal shopper agency such as XY Personal Shoppers or Persona Stars.
- Your style is a little behind
If you feel that your ensembles are a little passé and do not want to undertake a big time wardrobe replacement exercise, a shoppeuse, as they are sometimes referred to, might be able to catch you up. They have a great network with brands and standalone stores in their given geography.
- You have frequent wardrobe malfunctions
Clothing mishaps are the product of either the wrong fabric or the wrong fit for a certain body type. Shopping assistants are expected to have a clear understanding of fabrics and cuts, together with what these do to various body types.
- You need an appropriate new look
Do you have a new job that demands a different kind of dressing – a power job and you’re not used to corporate clothes? Or a creative job and you’re not quite aware of how to bring fun to your power suit? Or one that demands a sudden switch-over to ethnic clothes? Or are you getting married? A personal shopper is an ace when it comes to getting a new wardrobe. The assistance of personal shoppers for big budget weddings is already seeked out more often than not. Neha Mahajan is one of India’s famous wedding shoppers.
- You’re often criticized for being badly turned out.
If your friends and colleagues snigger about mistmatched ensembles, much too quirky ones or a generally OTT or the reverse – boring – wardrobe, you might want to consider assistance. For instance, if you have your eye set on a tribal-print dress, your personal shopper will help you get a print-size, fabric and silhouette that will suit your frame and social environment. Or if you only wear drab suits, you will be aided in experimenting with fabrics and hues.
- You’re lazy. Or too busy
The thought of shop-hopping, rummaging, making choices and trying on a whole lot of garments is not just annoying, but daunting for some. Rigorous routines which relegate shopping to the weekend make the process even less enjoyable for busy pursuants. Personal shoppers, who by virtue of their work know just what to get where, can cut into the time and effort spent. They will create a time-efficient itinerary and also fix appointments with designers where necessary.
- For things you have no expertise on
One occasion when you could really use assistance is when you have friends and relatives visiting the country and they want to buy handicrafts. Personal Shoppers India (www.personalshoppersindia.com) can come to your rescue.
