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I didn't get an image consultant. But I used a personal stylist after I lost 80lbs to redo my wardrobe, and it was amazing. Every outfit he created for me got

I didn't get an image consultant. But I used a personal stylist after I lost 80lbs to redo my wardrobe, and it was amazing. Every outfit he created for me got a bunch of compliments. Even today, years later, his choices still get me compliments. Using a stylist effectively taught me how to shop for stylish, high-quality clothes for myself. What surprised me the most is that now I enjoy men's style and shopping for clothes, whereas I always used to hate it with a passion.

xvector 4y ago
To add to this, instead of getting an "image consultant," hire an expert in each of your areas of concern. Fitness? I hired a personal trainer and nutritionist. Clothing? I hired a stylist that upped my fashion game, and taught me how to choose clothes. Then I got the clothes tailored to perfection. Public speaking? I hired a singing teacher that taught me how to project my voice, who would help me practice my presentations and not hold back when I was mispronouncing something. LinkedIn/Tinder Photos? I outsourced the selection of these to a third party that has many people vote so you can choose the best one. There is no way an "image consultant" could do half the job that the specialists can do combined.
- version_five 4y ago
  Personally I think there is value in someone telling you to need x y an z, I'll bring in specialists and instruct them to do those things for you. If you know you need a stylist and a singing teacher and know where to get good ones, that route makes sense, but many people benefit from higher level advice.
  - xvector 4y ago
    I can agree with that. I personally could not find any good ones in the SF Bay Area that were willing to focus on personal image as opposed to professional image. But in the end, I feel like I achieved similar results with a bit more flexibility.
  - bradlys 4y ago
    Yep. I need an image consultant to be like - “your body for this image needs to be X. Get a personal trainer to figure that out. Your voice needs to be like this - I can refer you to a voice coach. The style that will suit you is this - I can give you some basic advice here and if you’re struggling with this then I can find a stylist for you.” I need someone to evaluate me and then help me redefine the image. A personal trainer is great if you know the body you need. A voice coach is great if you know what kind of voice the image you’re going for is. A stylist is great if you have a perfect image for that person already and they’re already aware of all your other goals and where you are in this process. I think an image consultant could be more helpful with the entire process - and more importantly - point out the deficiencies and what I can and cannot fix/work-on. I don’t want to keep wasting my time working on things that won’t ever give results and right now - I don’t know what is and isn’t a waste of time.
    - yuppie_scum 4y ago
      You should watch the 2005 movie “Hitch”.
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    As we are on HN the analogy would be a marketing consultancy: “you wouldn’t benefit much from SEO so we will just do the basics, but an instagram campaign would be super beneficial, we will get this specialist to work with you…”
- alex_sf 4y ago
  > There is no way an "image consultant" could do half the job that the specialists can do combined. In construction, you'd call that a general contractor. It's a common model. You want a single point of contact that has a network of specialists available.
- jasmer 4y ago
  'Outsourced Tinder Photo Selection to Third Party' - 2022! I mean, it makes sense obviously. But still!
  - xvector 4y ago
    Yeah my number of matches skyrocketed after!
Beaver117 4y ago
How did you find a stylist? Do you think they're useful for every body type, muscular or not, skinny or fat?
- xvector 4y ago
  I found one through Thumbtack or TaskRabbit, I forget which app. My stylist also has their own website. I think they are absolutely useful for every body type. Good looking clothes and a tailor will help be a significant help regardless of your weight. FWIW I didn’t actually believe this until I tried it. At one point, I regained weight, but good looking clothes + a tailor was a massive improvement and image transformation over the alternative.
ZephyrBlu 4y ago
Curious what kind of outfits these were (E.g. casual fits, suits, etc) and where you bought the clothes from. I've found it surprisingly hard to find clothes that have good style, made of good materials and are not designer-level expensive. Most clothes have trash style and materials. I buy all my shirts MTM from Proper Cloth, couple of trousers, pants and overcoats from them as well. Casual t-shirts and long sleeves I get from Citizen Wolf, which is another MTM company but much smaller. I also have some polos from Berg & Berg and Paul James (Both from sales), and some denim from Tanuki. You can get some really good menswear stuff for 30-50% off or more if you're patient. Ex: Private White VC had a 30% off BF sale with everything on sale. Mr Porter has up to 80% off sales once a year (I think) as well. Many other places do similar stuff.
- xvector 4y ago
  Todd Snyder is a wardrobe staple of mine - good quality and designs that fit my style for not too much. Then Wax London, Proper Cloth, Suitsupply. Only Suitsupply in my list does MTM but I've had mixed results with their quality. I tailor anyways. There are some fabrics you don't want to get from regular clothing brands. Denim, leather, silk, cashmere all have their own rabbit holes. For example, for cashmere the micron count and method of harvest really matters. Age of the goat, location of harvest, length of the hair, storage and transport - all play a big role. Most cashmere sucks. You'll want to start at something like Johnstons of Elgin and step up to Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli if you're rich enough for that. So that's anywhere from 700 to 5k for a high quality cashmere cardigan. Looking into suppliers for the famous companies is also sensible. Malo, for example, supplies Loro Piana. You can get the same cashmere quality for a good discount, if you're okay with their design language. I feel that each fabric has its own rabbit hole like this. I missed the Mr Porter sale this year. Never missing it again!
  - ZephyrBlu 4y ago
    Sounds like you have a lot of good stuff! Proper Cloth does do MTM suits btw. I haven't bought a full suit from them yet though. > There are some fabrics you don't want to get from regular clothing brands. Denim, leather, silk, cashmere all have their own rabbit holes I will never buy any clothes from a "regular" clothing brand anymore haha. Definitely agree those fabrics have their own specialities. Haven't bought any silk or cashmere yet. I picked up a Matchless London suede jacket from Yoox and have been eyeing a Valstar Milano's Valstarino jackets for a while. Thanks for mentioning Johnstons of Elgin and Malo. Their cashmere actually seems reasonably priced compared to other stuff I've seen. Malo is a bit more expensive, but still somewhat reasonable. I didn't know they supply Loro Piana though. How did you find out they're Loro Piana's supplier? I don't know where their cashmere is from, but Stoffa has some pieces I really like the look of at a similar price like this: https://stoffa.co/collections/look-13/products/pearl-cashmere-ribbed-popover-22-07?variant=43856369189141 https://stoffa.co/collections/look-13/products/pearl-cashmer... I've also considered Proper Cloth's cashmere sweaters but again no idea where the cashmere is from or it's quality. > I missed the Mr Porter sale this year. Never missing it again! It's pretty amazing. I got a suede shearling jacket 60% off for $600 USD and a few sweaters for 60-70% off (Alpaca/wool blend from Auralee and SNS Herning FANG half-zip were my favourites). Now I'm aware of a lot more brands I'm definitely going to be on the lookout the next time they have a sale. It's such a good opportunity to pick up really high quality stuff for way below retail. I think I've seen Drake's do a similar sale as well.

xvector 4y ago

To add to this, instead of getting an "image consultant," hire an expert in each of your areas of concern. Fitness? I hired a personal trainer and nutritionist. Clothing? I hired a stylist that upped my fashion game, and taught me how to choose clothes. Then I got the clothes tailored to perfection. Public speaking? I hired a singing teacher that taught me how to project my voice, who would help me practice my presentations and not hold back when I was mispronouncing something. LinkedIn/Tinder Photos? I outsourced the selection of these to a third party that has many people vote so you can choose the best one. There is no way an "image consultant" could do half the job that the specialists can do combined.

version_five 4y ago
Personally I think there is value in someone telling you to need x y an z, I'll bring in specialists and instruct them to do those things for you. If you know you need a stylist and a singing teacher and know where to get good ones, that route makes sense, but many people benefit from higher level advice.
- xvector 4y ago
  I can agree with that. I personally could not find any good ones in the SF Bay Area that were willing to focus on personal image as opposed to professional image. But in the end, I feel like I achieved similar results with a bit more flexibility.
- bradlys 4y ago
  Yep. I need an image consultant to be like - “your body for this image needs to be X. Get a personal trainer to figure that out. Your voice needs to be like this - I can refer you to a voice coach. The style that will suit you is this - I can give you some basic advice here and if you’re struggling with this then I can find a stylist for you.” I need someone to evaluate me and then help me redefine the image. A personal trainer is great if you know the body you need. A voice coach is great if you know what kind of voice the image you’re going for is. A stylist is great if you have a perfect image for that person already and they’re already aware of all your other goals and where you are in this process. I think an image consultant could be more helpful with the entire process - and more importantly - point out the deficiencies and what I can and cannot fix/work-on. I don’t want to keep wasting my time working on things that won’t ever give results and right now - I don’t know what is and isn’t a waste of time.
  - yuppie_scum 4y ago
    You should watch the 2005 movie “Hitch”.
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  As we are on HN the analogy would be a marketing consultancy: “you wouldn’t benefit much from SEO so we will just do the basics, but an instagram campaign would be super beneficial, we will get this specialist to work with you…”
alex_sf 4y ago
> There is no way an "image consultant" could do half the job that the specialists can do combined. In construction, you'd call that a general contractor. It's a common model. You want a single point of contact that has a network of specialists available.
jasmer 4y ago
'Outsourced Tinder Photo Selection to Third Party' - 2022! I mean, it makes sense obviously. But still!
- xvector 4y ago
  Yeah my number of matches skyrocketed after!

Beaver117 4y ago

How did you find a stylist? Do you think they're useful for every body type, muscular or not, skinny or fat?

xvector 4y ago
I found one through Thumbtack or TaskRabbit, I forget which app. My stylist also has their own website. I think they are absolutely useful for every body type. Good looking clothes and a tailor will help be a significant help regardless of your weight. FWIW I didn’t actually believe this until I tried it. At one point, I regained weight, but good looking clothes + a tailor was a massive improvement and image transformation over the alternative.

ZephyrBlu 4y ago

Curious what kind of outfits these were (E.g. casual fits, suits, etc) and where you bought the clothes from. I've found it surprisingly hard to find clothes that have good style, made of good materials and are not designer-level expensive. Most clothes have trash style and materials. I buy all my shirts MTM from Proper Cloth, couple of trousers, pants and overcoats from them as well. Casual t-shirts and long sleeves I get from Citizen Wolf, which is another MTM company but much smaller. I also have some polos from Berg & Berg and Paul James (Both from sales), and some denim from Tanuki. You can get some really good menswear stuff for 30-50% off or more if you're patient. Ex: Private White VC had a 30% off BF sale with everything on sale. Mr Porter has up to 80% off sales once a year (I think) as well. Many other places do similar stuff.

xvector 4y ago
Todd Snyder is a wardrobe staple of mine - good quality and designs that fit my style for not too much. Then Wax London, Proper Cloth, Suitsupply. Only Suitsupply in my list does MTM but I've had mixed results with their quality. I tailor anyways. There are some fabrics you don't want to get from regular clothing brands. Denim, leather, silk, cashmere all have their own rabbit holes. For example, for cashmere the micron count and method of harvest really matters. Age of the goat, location of harvest, length of the hair, storage and transport - all play a big role. Most cashmere sucks. You'll want to start at something like Johnstons of Elgin and step up to Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli if you're rich enough for that. So that's anywhere from 700 to 5k for a high quality cashmere cardigan. Looking into suppliers for the famous companies is also sensible. Malo, for example, supplies Loro Piana. You can get the same cashmere quality for a good discount, if you're okay with their design language. I feel that each fabric has its own rabbit hole like this. I missed the Mr Porter sale this year. Never missing it again!
- ZephyrBlu 4y ago
  Sounds like you have a lot of good stuff! Proper Cloth does do MTM suits btw. I haven't bought a full suit from them yet though. > There are some fabrics you don't want to get from regular clothing brands. Denim, leather, silk, cashmere all have their own rabbit holes I will never buy any clothes from a "regular" clothing brand anymore haha. Definitely agree those fabrics have their own specialities. Haven't bought any silk or cashmere yet. I picked up a Matchless London suede jacket from Yoox and have been eyeing a Valstar Milano's Valstarino jackets for a while. Thanks for mentioning Johnstons of Elgin and Malo. Their cashmere actually seems reasonably priced compared to other stuff I've seen. Malo is a bit more expensive, but still somewhat reasonable. I didn't know they supply Loro Piana though. How did you find out they're Loro Piana's supplier? I don't know where their cashmere is from, but Stoffa has some pieces I really like the look of at a similar price like this: https://stoffa.co/collections/look-13/products/pearl-cashmere-ribbed-popover-22-07?variant=43856369189141 https://stoffa.co/collections/look-13/products/pearl-cashmer... I've also considered Proper Cloth's cashmere sweaters but again no idea where the cashmere is from or it's quality. > I missed the Mr Porter sale this year. Never missing it again! It's pretty amazing. I got a suede shearling jacket 60% off for $600 USD and a few sweaters for 60-70% off (Alpaca/wool blend from Auralee and SNS Herning FANG half-zip were my favourites). Now I'm aware of a lot more brands I'm definitely going to be on the lookout the next time they have a sale. It's such a good opportunity to pick up really high quality stuff for way below retail. I think I've seen Drake's do a similar sale as well.