Ask Fashion Girl

Dear Marion,

You're right, styling is a super-hot career right now! Stylists work with advertising and special events people to select appropriate props and accessories to be used in photos, music videos, TV, movies, and live performances. Stylists are the visual "gatekeepers" for the print ads and celebrities you see in magazines. It's a highly competitive career field that requires flexibility, creativity, and strong visual senses.Start styling now by contacting magazines in your area and inquiring about internships. Look in the credits section (usually in the very front after the contents) for names and contact phone numbers or e-mail addresses. Inform them that you are especially interested in styling and would love to work on a photo shoot. If you live in a small town, try local magazines, even if they aren't the "trendiest." Even catalogs need stylists for their products. What you want is experience.Just like fashion designers and photographers, stylists use a portfolio to show their work to prospective clients. Invest in a decent portfolio and start filling it up! Style your own photo shoots! Come up with a theme that would likely work for one of your favorite magazines. Gather props and clothes (use your own or hit thrift stores). Get some friends together and make a day of it! Then use the pictures in your portfolio. Like other jobs in the entertainment industry, connections are extremely important in the styling world. It will take time to build connections, and you can start now by asking friends and family if they know anyone in the industry. Remember that styling incorporates many specialties within entertainment, so make friends with photographers, designers, makeup artists, writers, actors, models, everyone you can! Be sure to let them all know that you want to be a stylist. FIDM's Visual Communications Program is perfect for you! The program prepares students for a range of cool visual jobs, including styling. Check it out: Visual Communications Major. FIDM also offers an Advanced Study Program in Film & TV Costume Design that focuses on jobs in the entertainment industry. Find out more: Film & Television Costume Design Major.Good luck!

Sincerely, Fashion Girl