Being Styled By John Lewis

Oh, I really have been excited about this.  Not only about experiencing the styling session for myself, but also to share it with you all.

Ok, so first of all, I have never experienced a one to one appointment with a stylist before.  I think I was hesitant to actually take the plunge.  Well if, I could convey anything with this blog post, it would be, please please try this, it is AMAZING!

I was greeted by Lucy (my stylist) at the Nottingham John Lewis store, and shown into the very well-appointed, private fitting room and lounge area.  John Lewis, offer free fashion advice with one of the in-house ‘Experts on Hand’ stylists.

We sat down, and chatted about what I wanted from the appointment.  I have a blogging event I am going to (BritmumsLive) so really wanted to have a new outfit or dress for the occasion.  Lucy asked me lots of questions.  She was professional but I felt so at ease, it was like chatting with a good friend.

Lucy soon decided that she thought a dress would be the way to go,  picking up on the fact, I love Maxi dresses and concentrated on those.  Lucy then explained she would go on the shop floor and find some options for me to try on.  I was left sipping my champagne, and reading magazines, absolute bliss!

I was having my styling session on a very busy Easter Saturday, John Lewis in Nottingham was so bustling with shoppers, but I felt unrushed, calm, pampered and excited by the thought of trying some new clothing on, in my secluded corner of the store.

So Lucy came back around 10 minutes later, with around 12 different options for me to try. I felt like she was excited to see me in them too, and Lucy ushered me to try on her first selection. Well the first dress, I absolutely loved, I fell in love with the colour and the material, it draped beautifully.  What I loved most about it, is I would never have even picked it up. I just simply wouldn’t have thought it would suit me.   I think I have a strong sense of my own style, however, since going to the styling session, I think I most definitely realise that I need to rake more risks especially with colour.

As we went through all of the dresses, I felt so confident that Lucy and myself were on the same page.  At the Nottingham store, there is a fitting room, so you can try the clothes in private, but you then enter the lounge area, where the stylist is waiting.  Sometimes, as I entered the area, we simultaneously would say yes, and in the same respect, we both said no when the dress didn’t suit me.  There were actually many more dresses I liked, than disliked and was only one dress that we disagreed on. However, it was the length of that dress that Lucy was unsure of, so she recommended that I could in fact have the dress lengthened by the in house seamstress.

Some dresses, needed accessories  or even a different bra.  Nothing was too much trouble, and Lucy simply went to find the items, so that I could make an informed decision. I, at no point felt that I was being pressurised to purchase anything. Sometimes, we would talk about other items, that I had in my wardrobe that could be worn with the new items.  Even considering whether items would travel well, honestly Lucy, seemed to think of everything!

I thought I would produce a mood board to illustrate the items that I loved, and purchased, and ones that we talked about that I had at home to complement the looks.