I’ve been doing closet consults and personal shopping for more than six years now, and it is one of the best parts of my extremely varied work life. It’s where my style-focused side and my body image-focused side meet: By illustrating style concepts and helping clients better understand their figures and wardrobes, I help them gain confidence. I have gotten a hug from every single client I’ve ever worked with. It is quite literally THE BEST.

As we’re approaching the holidays, I’m starting to get a few requests for gift consults, which I’m always happy to do. But I’ve had to turn away a few folks because they were hoping to hire me to work with the men in their lives, and I only do consults for women. Men struggle to feel stylish, men grapple with body image issues, and men can definitely gain confidence from working with stylists. I certainly don’t think that stylist services should be offered exclusively to women, and when people ask I happily refer them to colleagues who work with both men and women. (Carly loves working with male clients!) But I’ve chosen to focus on women for two reasons. read more