Personal shoppers and fashion consultants are people normally associated with celebrities or the superwealthy, but they don’t have to be. Sometimes you just need someone to help you pull your look (and your closet) together.

What Is a Personal Shopper?

A personal shopper (or fashion consultant) assists their clients with every aspect of the wardrobe process, including fit, color, and proportion. Most people shop for the latest trends, oblivious to what is actually flattering for their specific figure. A fashion consultant’s job is to determine which styles work best for the individual based on their body type. Dressing is about the art of illusion; you want to accentuate your finest parts and camouflage the others.

Helping You Find the Right Look

Whether you shop once a season or frequent the mall once a week, the amount of merchandise in stores is overwhelming. It’s really easy to walk past that perfect pair of pants you’ve been searching for all season because they are stuffed on a shelf behind a blazer you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. Fashion consultants have the advantage of knowing the merchandise really well—and therefore knowing that Jones New York, for example, has a fabulous new high-waist pant you just have to try. They can preselect outfits, saving you the frustrating task of wandering for hours trying to find the right look.

What Do They Do Exactly?

A professional consultant will start by putting together a profile of you. The more they know about your personality, lifestyle, and the image you want to project, the more help they can be. Many consultants will come to your home to take an inventory of what you have and what you need for the upcoming season. They will recommend how specific pieces can by paired with other items in your closet—things you may never have considered putting together. And yes, you will be encouraged to give away anything that doesn’t look great, leaving you both with a clear vision of what you have to work with and what pieces you now need to complete your wardrobe.

It’s Time to Shop

Now that you know what type of purchases you want to make, it’s time to get shopping. You can go to the mall with your personal shopper—because even if you hate it there, all you have to do is sit in the fitting room and try on the clothes the consultant brings to you. Or, if your consultant works for a department store, she can usually select merchandise and bring it to your home—and then you just pay for what you keep.

Find Your Personal Shopper

The easiest way to find a fashion expert is at your local department store. The service at stores is always complimentary (although wardrobe consulting will cost extra), and shopping one-on-one means you get undivided attention. Now that’s a real luxury.