The holidays are fast approaching, and you haven’t even started your shopping. You know who you are. Or maybe you bought everyone cute travel socks months ago…and now you can’t remember where you put them. Besides a long gift list to fulfill, you have events to attend. Do any of your holiday party outfits even still fit? Consider hiring a personal stylist to rescue your shopping experience. “It’s like having a therapist for clothes,” confides South Coast Plaza personal shopper Jackie Rose. “It’s someone there to help with your confidence.” This arrangement offers advantages to shopping with family members, especially the ones who chime in with helpful comments like, “You aren’t going to wear that, are you?” “People hire me for family members,” Rose confirms. “Wives hire me for their husbands, husbands hire me for their wives, and moms hire me for their daughters.”
So whether you love shopping or hate it, one of South Coast Plaza’s 30-plus stylists can enhance your experience. Rose confers with new clients, asking about their lifestyle, their budget, their preferences. Are they someone who prefers to buy a few timeless, top quality classic pieces? Or do they consider fashion a form of performance art, where they are looking to turn heads and raise a few eyebrows? Stylists need to be diplomatic. If a customer is shopping for a major event, such as an awards gala or TV appearance, and is leaning toward buying a dress that’s too tight, too low-cut or a drab color, a stylist will try to tactfully point out more flattering options. For shoppers, it can be a tough moment staring in the mirror, wondering why a style that looked sensational on that actress turns strangely lumpy when you try it on.
“WIVES HIRE ME FOR
– JEANNE BOYER
THEIR HUSBANDS,
HUSBANDS HIRE ME
FOR THEIR WIVES, AND
MOMS HIRE ME FOR
THEIR DAUGHTERS.”
But Rose strives to never make a client feel embarrassed by criticizing a questionable choice. Instead, she’ll say, “If we can do better, let’s do better! Let’s keep going,” as she presents additional choices. “You have to love it,” she says firmly. “I want people walking away absolutely loving what I’ve selected.” If it’s a premier local event where many customers will be shopping at South Coast Plaza, like the recent grand opening of Orange County Museum of Art, stylists can coordinate to make sure the leading ladies don’t commit a social faux pas by showing up in the same designer dress. Personal shoppers have sources and insider information that can help you secure exclusive items that are hard to ever find on shelves. Items by French design house “Hermes are very coveted,” Rose notes, and their “sourcing is best left to a stylist.”
Founded in 1837 in Paris, Hermes is known for fine craftsmanship of its famous silk scarves and ties, sought-after handbags, belts, and elegant luggage, as well as jewelry and beauty products. Handmade, hard- to-obtain handbags are only made in limited quantities. A stylist’s knowledge of the Costa Mesa 128-acre shopping center can also save valuable time, meaning shoppers don’t have to trudge from wing to wing and keep consulting a map to locate a particular store or restaurant among the more than 250 available. South Coast Plaza is home to high-end boutiques featuring exquisite luxury goods from Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, and many more, but it also has department and specialty stores with a wide array of merchandise at various prices. Maybe your current budget is leaning a bit more toward practical than luxury, especially if you’re shopping for a teen whose taste changes frequently, or fast-growing youngsters who are unlikely to wear a party outfit more than once or twice. Rose respects that, and will work to get great looks in your budget range. Can’t decide what to get that person who’s hard to buy for or you don’t know very well?
Rose has a list of suggestions from highly regarded makers. “Diptyque candles are a great gift,” she says. “I love Jo Malone perfume.” Other ideas include Tiffany pendants, Saint Laurent wallets and accessories, and those always chic Hermes silk scarves. Depending on the amount of time involved and services requested, fees are charged for the personal shopping service. When working with a personal shopper, customers can use South Coast Plaza’s VIP Lounge, which has spacious private dressing rooms, plus a comfortable seating area, and enjoy cappuccino or champagne and small bites while making their selections from items presented by the stylist. “The whole point of a stylist is to take the stress out of shopping and make the magic happen,” Rose says.
