Shaquanna Chappelle is an Atlanta-based image and style expert, working to help women elevate their work wardrobes and achieve their career goals. Shaquanna's style services help her clients to break out of their comfort zone, identify their unique style, and create confident bold looks.

Form a connection

Shaquanna finds Zoom a very useful tool for client communication, not only does it allow her to get real-time visuals of her clients' wardrobes, it also allows her to form a deeper connection with them.

Put yourself in their shoes

Shaquanna explains, "When I truly understand my client's lifestyle, I can make informed decisions about what will make them feel their best."

There are lots of factors to consider when styling a client, their preferred style, body type, etc. but for Shaquanna, the most important factor is their lifestyle. "I like to ask clients about what they do at work, after work, on the weekends, what a typical day looks like for them, what they do with their kids and spouses, if they travel, etc." Listening to her client's answers helps Shaquanna to put herself in her client's shoes and make better selections when shopping and putting together outfits.

Avoid miscommunication

Challenges can arise from the difference in how people define certain styles or aesthetics. To prevent any miscommunication Shaquanna always asks her client to thoroughly explain their interpretation of their desired look. "A client might say they want to look modern, but everyone has their own visual definition of what modern means. I ask thoughtful questions to encourage a deeper explanation, which helps me paint a better picture of their desired outcome in my head."

Clear communication is key when it comes to finding the perfect style, and so is asking the right questions. We challenged Shaquanna to understand the needs of a client who wants to up her game when it comes to dressing for work—if she had just ~5(ish) questions to work with...

Who... do you look to for style inspiration?

What... is your profession?

Where... do you currently shop for your wardrobe?

When... would you like my shopping and styling services to be completed?

Why... is your style a priority for you? Is there something that recently occurred that made you want to step it up?

How... do you want to feel when you show up to your workplace in your elevated style?

Find out more about Shaquanna's services on her website, or find banks of outfit inspiration on her Instagram.

Erica Ball is a personal stylist based in Los Angeles. Erica combines the art of personal styling and curated shopping to help her clients create a brand, image, and wardrobe that they love.

Perfect fit

Erica finds that email is the best method for initial communication with clients, it lends itself well to fast-paced interaction and any quick-fire questions that clients might have such as, "Do you work with teens?" or, "What do you charge?"

If Erica and a potential client appear to be a good fit, she'll invite them for a quick chat on the phone. Once the pair decide to work together, Erica likes to conduct an initial face-to-face meeting if possible, "I find face-to-face meetings help to build our relationship and trust faster."

Set your goals

First things first, Erica needs to be aware of her client's goals and their expectations of working with her. To find out Erica asks, "What do you hope to have by the end of our time together?"

From there, Erica dives straight in. "Getting inside someone's closet with them and going through each item is probably the most helpful method of uncovering their style, I ask a lot of questions about each item in their wardrobe—do you wear this piece? Do you love it? Do you know how to style it?"

Self-investment

"Self-care is hard for many of us, but especially for women and even more so for mothers. Sometimes the hardest part of my process is getting a potential client to see the value in my services."

Erica often has to explain to clients that whilst her services may seem like a big expense upfront, she will in fact be saving them hundreds, if not thousands, down the road. "I teach my clients how to shop smart for their body type and lifestyle and stop throwing their money away on items they'll never wear."

Client deep dive

In Erica's experience, mothers often choose to invest in their teenage children's style before helping themselves. So, we challenged Erica to uncover the values and goals of a teen girl who's ready for a style transformation—if she had just ~5 questions to work with.

What... is your ideal look for...

1. school?

2. hanging out with friends?

3. spending time with family?

When... you look in your closet, how do you feel? How would you like to feel?

Why... do you want to change your style?

Who... do you admire for their style (celebrity, influencer, friend, etc.)?

Where... do you like to shop? Do you even like to shop?

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Learn more about Erica's services on her website, or subscribe to Erica's YouTube channel for a bank of styling tips and tricks.

Meet Lisa Wisdom, the founder of Style with Wisdom. This is a styling and shopping service for men and women who want to build confidence through their clothing.

Lisa has over 20 years of experience in the fashion industry. She started in retail, moved to fashion buying, and now runs her own styling business.

This article explores...

• How Lisa Wisdom, a seasoned personal stylist, meets her clients.
• What Lisa finds most challenging about the styling process.
• Questions for Lisa to understand a new client's style situation.

After 10 years working in personal styling truly understands the power of dress and seeks to share the secret with her clients. "Personal styling is about more than organising your wardrobe and buying new clothes, it's about building confidence to take forward in your everyday life, whatever you do. Every morning, whoever you are, you have to get dressed—everyone should enjoy that process, it can totally impact how that day turns out!"

The face says it all

Most of Lisa's clients contact her through email or social media. They usually follow her for a while before reaching out or come via a recommendation.

Then, Lisa and the client schedule a Zoom consultation. After that, they meet face-to-face. "Face-to-face meetings with my clients are so important because it's their facial expressions and body language that allow me to really understand how comfortable they are in the outfits we have styled. I can usually tell immediately if they love or hate what they are wearing just by how they stand and their facial expression."

The client's feelings are always the most important, "It's not about clients wearing something that I love, it's about them finding clothes they are clearly happy and confident in—which I love to see!"

The person behind the clothes

Dressing for a new job? Adapting to a new body shape or lifestyle? Before thinking about clothes, Lisa seeks to understand her clients' mindset and goals—whether it's gaining confidence in daily dressing, dressing for a new job, or adjusting to a new body shape or lifestyle.

Lisa measures her success through client feedback. She often senses a tone shift in how they communicate and discuss their style. Good feedback sounds like, "Wow! Every day I have received compliments on my outfits" or "I am having so much fun dressing every morning, I love my new wardrobe!"

"I know I have done a good job when clients go on to have confidence in creating their own looks and are excited to go shopping! I love receiving mirror selfies!"

What’s the most challenging part of this process?

Lisa knows many clients seek her help because they feel low and vulnerable about their body and confidence. "It is only natural for us all, including myself, to focus on our negatives. My job is to work closely and consciously with my clients to build up their confidence and encourage them to focus on their positives. Once we focus on those positives and find the right shape and colours everything comes together."

We challenged Lisa to understand a new client's style situation and goals with just five questions...

What... are the 5 key items you are wearing on repeat right now?

When... have you felt most confident in what you were wearing?

Why... are you looking to update and move your style on?

Who... in the public eye or personal to you do you admire for style?

Where... do you currently shop the most?

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Learn more about Lisa's services on her Instagram.

Four years ago, Ginny Hudnut opened her House of Colour franchise and has been making her clients decidedly more colourful, stylish, and confident ever since. House of Colour is a London-based organisation that offers incredible colour and style analysis services.

Personal styling encompasses Ginny's love for art, fashion, teaching, and relationships—truly her dream job!

Personal styling services

Ginny offers two distinct services, colour analysis and personal style analysis.

"Colour analysis must be done in-person using natural daylight and with a clean face—no makeup. I need to see how a client's skin reacts to various coloured drapes. The wrong colours can make you look older and tired. The right colours can make you appear younger and more rested—almost as if you are already wearing makeup."

Ginny's style analysis services spans two in-depth sessions—a preliminary zoom call followed by a meeting face-to-face. During these appointments Ginny assesses her clients' body architecture and personality to uncover the clothes that will flatter them the most and work with their lifestyle.

Inside out

Ginny knows that understanding personality is crucial to uncovering style. "Finding clothes that flatter the client’s body is actually the easy part. It’s combining that person’s body architecture (what’s on the outside), with their personality (what’s on the inside) that takes time. Having a signature style is about honouring who you are both inside and out. Trends come and go but knowing which ones work for you helps you to curate a closet where you are the anchor piece. It is a joy to help people unlock this!"

Unravelling individuality

Ginny finds that her clients' tastes can be very eclectic! "A client might want to look sultry and cute, glamorous and understated, edgy and minimalist." Ginny's job is deciphering which of those descriptors is simply something her client appreciates on others, and which will truly honour them.

Ginny explains, "My work is all about identifying clothes and makeup that honour a body just as it is. I never want a client to leave a colour or style analysis feeling like they've lost something. In fact, I want them to feel as though more doors have been opened!"

Client deep dive

Opening the door to a brand new you, starts with answering a few simple questions. We challenged Ginny to get to know a client who wants to shop efficiently and build a minimal, fuss-free wardrobe—if she had just ~5 questions to work with.

What... do you want to look like?

Step 1: clarify how my client wants to be perceived. Thinking about how you’d like to be described by someone else can help you to hone in on your wardrobe.

When... do you get frustrated whilst shopping or getting dressed?

Some clients come to me because they love to shop and want to shop more for the right items, others come to me for opposite reasons—they are hoping that a set of personalised guidelines can help them learn to love shopping! Recognising the most stressful point in the process for them is hugely helpful.

Why... do you feel like a style analysis will be helpful?

I help clients clarify their objectives so that I can make sure I hit each one. Some clients need new clothes for date nights and social events, and some need my help because they feel frumpy in their everyday clothes—you should feel cute even when running errands!

Who... are your style icons?

We’ve all got them! This is a good starting point, but rather than copying someone else’s signature style we'll find cuts, silhouettes and details that work for you.

Where... are your favourite places to shop?

Background information on the stores my client frequents can help me understand what might be missing in their wardrobe. I want clients to shop with intentions and steward their money well. Shopping should not be a limiting process, it should result in loving everything you own instead of leaving things unworn in your closet.

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Got a question for Ginny? Find out more about Ginny's services, or discover a world of colour on her Instagram.

Christen Johnson is the founder of personal style consultancy, SCB Luxury Styling. Christen works with professional, executive and entrepreneurial women to help them make an impact on their audience and a statement with style.

Client involvement

SCB Luxury Styling is entirely virtual and has been since 2020. Because Christen doesn't meet any of her clients in person, it is important that clients understand their role and how much of their attention is needed to make their styling experience run smoothly. "As the expert, I handle all the grunt work that needs to be done when it comes to shopping and determining their personal style, but the growth doesn’t stop after the service is completed.

"I make sure to provide each of my clients with the necessary tools for them to continue making intentional wardrobe decisions and accomplish their style goals."

One way to keep clients engaged is to set them homework! Christen asks clients to show up at closet cleanse sessions with 5 items they love but don’t really know how to style. taking a close look at individual garments helps Christen to really solidify her understanding of a client's personal style and preferences.

Establishing trust

"Most of my time is spent building an authentic relationship with my clients and making them feel comfortable because I know that if they like me, they’ll trust the brand. I aim to retain that personal touch in my digital products—which is a little different but just as simple. I primarily incorporate videos and linkable content to make the experience more personal and welcoming."

"I’m also really big on communicating the steps in my process to my client—what each step consists of and why. When a client understands the steps they need to take in order to get the results they want, they are more inclined to move forward."

Empowering clients

Christen focuses on helping her clients to make a statement with their style. "I do that by showing my clients how to properly take their measurements so they can determine their unique body shape. When you know your size and your body shape, you’ll be able to determine which styles flatter your body best."

Language is also important. Christen has developed a dictionary of body shapes that she uses in all SCB consultations such as 'Heart of Hearts' and 'Perfect Pear'. Christen explains, "Words mean everything. If you’re constantly calling yourself something that makes you negative about yourself then that is how you’ll feel. Changing the names of body shapes to something that represents beauty and sophistication will make someone feel valuable and luxurious—which is exactly how I want my clients to feel when they work with me."

Client deep dive

Dress for the life you want to live, and the boss you already are! We challenged Christen to understand the priorities of a of an impactful woman wanting to refresh her everyday wardrobe and superpower her life and career—if she had just ~5 questions to work with...

What... does your everyday lifestyle look like?

When... do you feel the most confident about yourself?

Why... do you love what you do?

Who... do you want to impact?

Where... do you see yourself at your fullest potential?

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Got a question for Christen? Visit SCB Luxury Styling's website, or find a bank of ideas for refreshing your wardrobe on their Instagram.

Name: Pablo Lara H.

Profession: Illustrator, photographer, and web designer

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Instagram: @deer_and_daggers
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Tumblr: @pablolarah‍

Pablo Lara H. is a freelance creative specialising in illustration, photography and web design.

Notebook

I use different paper for different mediums. For sketches in graphite pencil, standard blank paper. For watercolours, gouache, and markers, blank Fabriano paper (or any thicker paper variety).

I use Brazilian notebooks from Tilibra for sketching and note-taking, they are an old trademark in the field.

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Source of inspiration

I love the '70s and the Baroque (+ Rococo) era. I’ve been making an archive of vintage magazines (from the '50s-80s) for colour palettes and layout ideas.

Designer on speed dial

Massimo Vignelli, Eiko Ishioka or Saul Bass. I can't decide.

Colour

I call this colour palette, "70's Nordic Sweater."

Fonts

Firm favourites

• All fonts by Margot Lévêque Studio
• Erotique from Zetafonts (Stephen Keller's chosen font of the month for I Love Typography)
• Artem Nevsky's New York
• Mathieu Triay's free font: Bricolage Grotesque (available on Google Fonts)
• Sorts Mill Goudy (and all the free fonts at The League of Moveable Type)

A distant love

I love the new serifs experimenting with old and new trends. There are new foundries and freelance type designers doing amazing typefaces. For example, Magilio.

Never again

A cliché, but Comic Sans or Papyrus.

Pablo also curates a bank of free typefaces.

Organisational method

I use several apps/websites to help me get things done like presentations, sketching projects, trees of ideas, etc.

Trusted advisor

For the project itself, the client. You have to satisfy the expectations of the client. But you can always provide guidance and negotiate some of your ideas. For general knowledge, growth as an artist, critical appreciation, and learning I look to other designers or colleagues.

Name: Tim Preut

Profession: Owner and designer

Location: Martinez, CA, USA

Instagram: @tickyboomdesign

LinkedIn: Tim Preut

Tim Preut is a designer, and co-creator of Tickyboom Design—the home of "hella bomb brand identity and web design."

Tim strives to use his skills to spark growth in purpose-driven businesses.

Notebook

I use square gridline paper. Always.

I love how the squares act as both a constrictions and a guide—encouraging you to follow the rules, and them break them.

Colour

Era of inspiration

The '50s-70s.

Designer on speed dial

Milton Glaser

Fonts

• Firm favourite: Helvetica Now
• A distant love: Whyte by Dinamo
• Never again: Any "dyslexia-specific" fonts. They are worthless. Use a solid typeface that is easy to read, pare down your content, and make things easy to digest.

Organisational method

Digital tools. Trello, Todoist, and Craft.

Trusted advisor

Someone who is open-minded, but also clearly articulates what they want. Also, someone who has a strategy in mind and identifies whether my design is accomplishing those goals or not.

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Name: Alicia Stenger

Profession: Designer, artist and educator

Instagram: @a.hl.stenger

Alicia Stenger taught art and design to young people for 7 years before returning to the pursuit of her own art. Her work plays with light, projections, sound, video, and print mediums to connect with her interest in human emotions.‍

Inside the toolkit

Notebook

I like a notebook with blank pages.

Colour

Era of inspiration

Late Modern and Swiss design are two favourites of mine.

Designer on speed dial

While designers are wonderful, I find a lot of inspiration from artists. So I’m going to say, Henri Matisse.

Fonts

• Firm favourite: Futura.
• A distant love: Bodoni.
• Never again: Yikes, I have never used a font I’ve become allergic to!

Organisational method

I use a combination of physical post-it notes and digital tools—Notion for personal use, Asana at my 9-5. But I also often find myself just flowing with what feels natural on the day.

Trusted advisor

My creative friends!

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Name: Jenna Hagan

Profession: Graphic designer

Location: Tāmaki Makaurau, NZ

LinkedIn: Jenna Hagan

Jenna Hagan is an accomplished graphic designer, currently working for Ara Manawa—a creative team responsible for developing future products and experiences at Auckland City Hospital.

Notebook

Definitely blank paper. I like to sketch and illustrate my ideas, or just jot down thoughts.

The page shown illustrates a design sprint conducted with Doctors and Nurses.

Era of inspiration

I’m drawn to simplicity, geometry, and a sense of handicraft. Anything from the 50s/60s, such as Alvin Lustig or Saul Bass. They have a clean and brutalist design sense but with a touch of whimsy.

Colour

I recently used this pairing for a poetry installation at the hospital: a dusty robin’s egg blue, and a soft milk chocolate brown.

Designer on speed dial

My former mentor and colleague Elliott Scott. I worked with him at Applied—a brilliant little design studio in New York.

I do appreciate more famous designers like Paula Scher or Jessica Hische, but Elliott taught me so much! His work for the World Trade Center is beautiful.

Fonts

• Firm favourite: Benton Sans. I love Frere-Jones’ work
• A distant love: Tiempos by Klim—a New Zealand-based Type Foundry
• Never again: Calibri—the default typeface for Microsoft.

Organisational approach

I have to keep track of all tasks meticulously in ClickUp. I schedule blocks of design time, to ensure I get into a deep-thinking space without getting interrupted by a meeting.

The key to keeping a project organised is to communicate clearly with everyone involved.

Trusted advisor

Designers tend to give clients a bad rep in terms of feedback but at the end of the day, you are working with the client to create a visual solution to their problem.

If clients aren’t able to give constructive feedback, it’s on the designer to help give them the language to discuss the work.

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Name: Shaina Nacion

Profession: founder and designer

Website: shainancion.com

Shaina Nacion is the founder of a creative studio and productivity consultancy for free-spirited creatives. Shaina's studio helps with branding & design, SEO strategy, creative services and productivity support.

Notebook

I typically draw on my iPad but if I had to use a notebook, it would probably be made from dotted paper.

Colour

Source of inspiration

Victorian-type posters and scientific illustrations from the Renaissance.

Designer on speed dial

Chris Do.

Fonts

• Firm favourite: Montserrat—uppercase, with 1px letter spacing
• A distant love: Ogg by Sharp Type
• Never again: Papyrus

Organisational approach

ClickUp is my #bae.

Trusted advisor:

I try to rely on my clients' target audiences for feedback, but my designer friends are great too!

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Name: Caleb Jones

Profession: Multidisciplinary designer (web design, graphic design, branding)

Location: Mountain West, USA

Instagram: @calbeajones

Caleb Jones is a multi-disciplinary designer or, in his own words, "a systematic organiser of information, a visual problem solver, and an idealistic perfectionist who seeks to build functional end-products."‍

Notebook

Grid paper ranks top, with dotted paper coming a close second.

I’ve used a lot of grid paper to capture rough mockups for web layouts. It's a nice tool if you are working on technical drawings, font design, architectural layouts, floor plans, and more. It has so many uses and still works just fine for drawing and sketching.

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Designer on speed dial

Purely based on their work, I'd love the opportunity to collaborate with Angel Acevedo. He is behind the brand God is a Designer and Acevedo Aesthetics Corporation. He continues to put out cool streetwear, grow his brand, and do cool stuff in general.

Fonts

• Firm favourite: I recently fell in love with a number of relatively recent Grotesk fonts, specifically Founders Grotesk. It was released in 2010 by Klim Foundry based in New Zealand. I was fortunate enough to receive approval to use this for a website I built recently. I’m stoked to see Founders Grotesk in action. It's simple enough that I think I can use it for years to come without it looking dated or old, but still has more character and liveliness than the bare minimum Helvetica (no hate on the old classic though…)

• A distant love: I have always loved Pistilli, but I’ve never had the right project that I could work it into. Salome is my runner-up in the flamboyant fonts category, alongside Pompadour numbers.
• Never again: Quicksand is pretty terrible in my opinion. Whilst I try to be an optimist and say every font can find a home in the right project, misuse has ruined this one for me.

Colour

For the longest time, I was a fan of—self-named—Charcoal 31 (#313131) and off-white (#f1f1f1). But I have recently refined that to Charcoal 22 (#222222) and off-white (#fafafa)—a similar combination with richer, darker charcoal and much more subtle off-white. I am here for the subtleties!

Beyond just the black and whites, I have also used Charcoal 22 and Lime Green (#9ed600) on a couple of projects recently—it just keeps looking good! It has good contrast and is lots of fun.

Organisational approach

Personally, I am a Trello Evangelist! I keep my whole life organised there. However, I try my best to show up for clients at their pace and in their space—I like to communicate with clients in their preferred channels. Sometimes that's tracking projects through email, other times it's Slack.

The environment I work in necessitates this flexibility; often times we are not given deadlines or timetables to manage a project. Additionally, I work in an environment where priorities are shifting sands—loosely organised chaos!

Trusted advisor

No question, other designers give the best feedback. We speak the same language. Although, I’m lucky—“other designers” and “family & friends” are one and the same for me. I routinely get critiques from my brother, who is a graphic and digital designer.

I do have to give a nod to non-designers who are aesthetic aware, i.e. it's not their day-to-day job, but they are adjacent to design and aware enough to be able to communicate legitimate constructive feedback—that outside perspective is very helpful.

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Name: Ben Hartley

Profession: Digital designer

Location: London, England

Instagram: @benhartleydesign

Website: hartley.design

Ben Hartley is a freelance digital designer specialising in type-driven visual design, branding and digital experiences.
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P.S. Ben is currently available for work!

Era of inspiration

For aesthetics alone, I love Art Nouveau for its shameless indulgence and organic textures. Especially when I need a break from the digital, and at times cold, design space we're in.

But Mid-Century Modern design is my go-to for communicating information and ideas clearly and pragmatically—distilling the content into a structured layout, bold typography and vivid colours.

Notebook

Dotted. My thought process is very structured.

For the first step of a project, I like to plan things out on paper in connected notes and sketches. This is fairly obvious when it comes to web design when you have blocks of content to organise. But even with illustration and font design, dotted paper helps me estimate proportion and divide the page up neatly.

Designer on speed-dial

Bethany Heck. I read her article on multi typeface design when I was in a formative stage of my growth as a designer and it completely blew my mind.

I had always been spoon-fed the idea that you should only use a maximum of 2 typefaces in a design but her rebellion against that taught me to question design conventions.

Colour

I’m using this green and yellow combo for a client branding project at the moment and it's giving me such fun, light-hearted energy. I've always loved yellow and how it seems inherently more bright and vivid than other colours—as though it refuses to calm down and step back.

Fonts

• Firm favourite: Inter by Rasmus Andersson.  If I ever need a reliable font that I can set and forget, this is what I fall back on. It’s open source, optimised for readability, and has a nice, neutral tone. It doesn't look half bad at headline sizes either!
• A distant love: Voyage by VJ Type. For me, it’s the peak of type design as art—with the most indulgent curves and details. However, I’ve never had a client project that I could justify using it in—it’s almost too dominant in its personality. I have tried it out on a personal project, where I could let it be the focus of the design. I've even considered getting the ampersand as a tattoo, it's just that stunning.
• Never again: Favorit by Dinamo. It’s not that I think it’s a bad typeface, it's a great design, but I had to use it as the primary font for a company I worked at where it just didn’t suit the information-heavy design I was doing. The quirks were a constant irritation—the 8 is heavier on top and I would constantly be asked if a bug had flipped it upside down!

Organisational method

Digital tools, but as basic as possible.

Simplenote and Clear are my go-to. The minimal functionality keeps me focused on the work itself, not the productivity.

Trusted advisor

This may be an unpopular opinion, but... clients. At the end of the day, they know what the result needs to be.

I had to learn how to navigate client relationships in a way that gets the right kind of feedback from them. Of course, there are difficult clients that make things hard but the good ones have helped me produce some of my best work.

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