Stylist to the Stars
Manchester-based Celebrity and Personal Stylist Martine Alexander talks to Craig Hough about her career, clothes, and clients and also offers tips to detox your wardrobe
What does an average day look like?
No two days are ever the same. My job is so varied that I could be working with personal clients, where we go shopping, giving them a six-month update or sourcing an outfit for a special occasion. Or I could be in their home detoxing their wardrobe or waiting on the arrival of a clothes delivery. Alternatively, I could be working with “celebrity” clients where I could be a client fitting for a red carpet or a TV show (for example Kym Marsh on The One Show) or I could be contacting fashion PR’s for their lookbooks where I choose samples for them to send across to my clients.
What type of clients do you typically work with?
I work with men and women that want previews of the latest trends, they want to be unique and don’t want to wear the same brands their friends wear. I work with people that are bored with their style and stuck in a rut and need a fresh eye to come in and offer help. Some of my clients are ladies who have been a mum for years, but the kids are now at school and they stop being a full-time mum and think “who am I?”. I then work with them to help find themselves again
Other clients I work with want to look good but have no time to shop or simply don’t enjoy the activity of shopping. I offer a concierge styling service where I select clothes from stores or online retailers and take the clothes to the client’s house, so they don’t have to shop. I also offer a monthly retainer service to clients that want me to keep an eye out all the time for pieces that may be suitable for them. I have built a strong relationship with retailers so as to make sure my clients are always at the forefront of my mind.
What is your process of working with clients?
I start with a telephone conversation so that I can connect with my client, as not everyone is going to like each other and I totally accept that. The foundation of styling is someone is to understand who they are and what their wardrobe personality is, so that’s what I work on next. I work out what style boxes need to be ticked in order for my client to feel good. I usually sit with a client the first time for about 45 minutes to get inside their head and understand who they are and how I can help them, and what their style is so I can enhance it. Obviously everyone has a different need for using a stylist. So, after working out the reason for hiring me, I would then look at detoxing their wardrobe and take them shopping. Of old, my clients are designer shoppers or high street shoppers. Now people want a unique look, so combine the two.
What is your favourite and worst kind of client to work with?
My favourite kind of client is someone that’s open to letting someone in to make them look amazing. They are open to experimenting and letting go and letting me in to see their inner person. It is such a confidential, personal job, to be a stylist. You are dressing the mind as well as the body.
The worst kind of client is the complete opposite. In the past, someone has said to me “I’d like to try new things, new styles, I’m really open”. As soon as we were walking around the department store she just kept saying no to everything I suggested. I was thinking this is a waste of your time and your money.
How do you source clothes?
If I’m sourcing for a celebrity for a TV show I may contact the PR companies of the brands I think would work for that client, plus I may go shopping. If the celebrity is on-brand then the PR company will send out samples. If the show is daytime TV, then I tend to like to use high street brands to appeal to the show’s audience.
Alternatively, if its red carpet, I may contact a designer and ask them if they would consider making a bespoke garment. If they agree, I’ll work with the designer and their creative flair to bring my vision to life, by designing an outfit of dreams. I am also always searching for up and coming designers, new brands, or something a little bit different that I can show to my clients. They will then either buy the item or the brand will loan for exposure.
Why did you decide to become a stylist/personal shopper?
I used to work in IT as a Project Co-ordinator and was on a flight to Copenhagen for an IT conference. I was moaning to a colleague about hating my job and they turned to me and asked: “if you could do anything, every day for the rest of your life, knowing you would wake up feeling excited, what would it be?”.
That really stuck with me. I loved shopping in my free time and had worked in House of Fraser in the early 2000s where I was a jean specialist (I wasn’t qualified, I just used my intuition on body shapes and what would suit the person in front of me). Because of my passion and knowing how hard it is to get jeans to fit, people would buy three pairs of jeans, which meant on a Saturday I was occasionally turning a larger profit than the Oxford Street store. I then moved into managing the fashion department. I loved giving people what they were lacking and putting outfits together. Customers would come back to me and say “you won’t remember me but you put me in an outfit that I never would never normally wear and I loved it! Could you do it again?”. I wondered if there was a ‘job’ where I could combine the hobby of shopping with the excitement of putting outfits together for people.
I left my career and retrained in 2005 to be a personal stylist and for a year I sat thinking “why is the phone not ringing?”. No one told me I had to network. One day, whilst having my nails done, my friend asked if I would consider styling a photoshoot for Michelle Keegan as a favour. Although I had never done a photoshoot before I said yes and used clothes from Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser. After that, a friend of mine (Catherine Tyldesley) had just landed a role in Coronation Street and asked me to style her for the Soap Awards. Again, something I’d never done before but I contacted a Manchester designer and asked them to lend Catherine a dress, they said yes. From there, Coronation Street asked me to style a photo shoot, which then got me in front of magazines. The magazines then asked me to style other celebrities, which included one of my now regular clients, Olympic Gold Medallist, Rebecca Adlington. The rest is history.
What do you enjoy most about the role?
The goosebumps I get from seeing the look on my clients face when they are really happy with their wardrobe, new clothes or outfit. The thing I enjoy the most is that this isn’t work for me because I love what I do so much. It’s so varied. I also love seeing my work in magazines and online, I look and think “I did that! That’s me!” (especially when the press are saying your client is ‘best dressed’).
What are some of the benefits of being a stylist? Do you get to attend all of the awards ceremonies for instance?
The benefit is getting to see collections from brands six months ahead so you know the trends and you can forward plan for clients, so they are ahead of the curve. In terms of awards ceremonies, I don’t get to go! My job is to get to glam – hair, make-up, styling before the awards start and dress each client. I can dress up to seven clients in one evening. The celebrities want you there to make sure the accessories and shoes are right. I’m usually running around, up and down different floors of the hotel, trying to see as many of my clients as possible. As they step onto the red carpet, I am generally a sweaty mess, in my car ready to drive home.
Have you had any red carpet disasters?
Oh my God, yes! One awards ceremony, we had arranged for a client’s dress to be dropped to her hotel room on the day of the event. I’d been present at every fitting, so I knew the zip kept sticking at a certain part of the dress. On the day, my client got into the dress and I managed, with some gentle manoeuvring, to zip the dress up. Two seconds later, the zip fully burst open but the puller of the zip stayed at the top of the dress.
We had five minutes until she needed to be on the red carpet so I grabbed a needle and thread and had to literally sew her into the dress. The fabric was so fine that it could have laddered on her at any point of the night and the dress would have fallen apart, but thankfully that didn’t happen. She did tell me her Mum (who she took to the ceremony) spent over an hour unpicking her from the dress once they got home.
You mentioned earlier a wardrobe detox, what exactly is this?
This is an amazing service I offer where I visit a client’s house and go through their wardrobe and discuss their style. Initially, I spend some time getting to know them, their likes and dislikes, their lifestyle, their personality, so that when I look at their wardrobe, I can see it through their eyes, my eyes as a stylist and also as ‘Martine’, the woman that also has fat days and can be insecure. I love getting to know my client as its when I can really connect with them, and they know I’m just a normal woman that is there purely to make them look and feel amazing. This is also the foundation to styling anyone.
We then go through their wardrobe or dressing room and pull out clothes they aren’t wearing – it’s a known fact that we wear 20 per cent of our wardrobe, 80 per cent of the time. I will liaise with my contacts to sell certain items from their wardrobe online or through designer boutiques, to take the pressure off clients having to do it themselves. I’ll create new outfits with the clothes they already have and will also reorganise their wardrobe. We become regimented with our clothes, styling them with specific pieces only, and there are probably so many different ways to style them. For example, we only wear a certain top with jeans, or in our mind consider an item of clothing to only be worn for work. I come in with a fresh pair of eyes and challenge their existing style. Clients feel cleansed once the detoxed is finished.
How are you changing the way you work in times of isolation?
With everyone currently socially isolating I’ve launched a virtual 1:1 Wardrobe Detox, which is exactly the same service but offered on Zoom or Facetime. I have also launched online 1:1 packages to help my clients better understand their body shape, plus I can then send links to clothes or accessories I’ve seen that they can order direct to their door – my job is to take the pressure out of looking amazing – whatever that pressure may be. At the moment, men and women are struggling with their wardrobes as loungewear may not be something they usually wear and are totally consumed with working from home or homeschooling. I’ve had quite a few clients and new clients contact me asking me to source them loungewear and sportswear. One hour later, they have their list to shop with and it’s all done.
Martine is offering a Virtual Wardrobe Detox experience for all readers. For a unique quote please contact Martine directly quoting “Cheshire Style”
email: martine@martinealexander.co.uk instagram: martinealexander twitter: @yourstylist
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