Clare Watson is a personal stylist who has worked with A-listers including Renee Zellweger, Naomi Campbell, Mariah Carey, Billie Piper and Sienna Miller. She also runs a personal styling service, www.miss-dress.com.
Here, she talks us through her 9-5.
What time do you get up?
Marrying a personal trainer means that I am a bit of a gym bunny and I prefer to fit in a work out first thing. This usually means getting up around 6.30am.
What’s for breakfast?
I am utterly addicted to peanut butter on toast and have been eating this daily meal for years.
What time do you start work?
Running my own personal styling company means that I am totally dedicated to looking after my clients as well as finding new ones. I always like to be in front of my laptop by 9.00am to give myself a head start on responding to emails before heading out the door to take a client shopping or go through their wardrobe, but quite often I will have already answered a few emails on my blackberry by 8am.
How do you start your working day?
I always like to start the day answering queires, especially if it’s to do with an outfit they want to wear that evening.
What trade/beauty press do you read?
Having started my career working on Glamour magazine, I love nothing more than picking up a glossy mag - not just for my own personal interest but also researching for my clients.
What’s a typical morning like? Meetings, brainstorming etc?
One thing I love about my job is that no 2 days are ever the same in a week. 1 day I might be shopping on Oxford Street with client, next I might be in Newcastle helping someone else with their wardrobe and the next I might be sourcing a dress for a celebrity to wear on the red carpet.
Is lunch a wrap at your desk or a meeting in town?
Normally I will be with a client at lunchtime which means that I tend to eat in rather glamorous cafes to add a touch of glitz to their unique experience of having a stylist for the day.
Do you still get the urge to shop for beauty and fashion products/have treatments being surrounded by it all day?
Clothes shopping, is my favourite past-time as well as my job - I never seem to tire of it.
What’s a typical afternoon at work?
Afternoons are pretty much like my mornings; bonkers busy and never the same twice.
When do you finish?
Running my own company means that I never seem to have an exact finishing time, it varies on a daily basis! Quite often I will go to a client’s house after they have finished work to sort out and restyle their wardrobe or I will be helping a celebrity get ready for an event which means that I often get home very late.
Networking eve or night on the sofa?
I have always enjoyed socialising so networking is something that comes easy to me as well as being compulsory. A lot of my business evolves from word of mouth so I never like to waste an opportunity at an event to promote my services.
When’s bedtime?
I am one of those fortunate people who needs very little sleep so I tend not to go to bed until around 1am. (Bearing in mind I normally get up around 6.30am).
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you do now? Any other careers appealed?
I can safely say that I wholeheartedly love my job. I knew I wanted to go into fashion when I was 16 and after university when I began working as a stylist I quickly realised that I had a very enviable job that plenty of others would give their right arm to do. The only other job I have sometimes caught myself wondering about would be a criminal profiler... Don’t know why but I am completely obsessed with Criminal Minds the TV show.
If you could offer one piece of advice to someone interested in going into the industry, what would it be?
Fashion, in particular styling, is a very competitive job and requires a lot of self motivation and determination to become successful. Be prepared to work for free for some time as it is one of those jobs that is built on experience of getting your foot on the first rung of the ladder. Contact stylists and ask for work experience, you will be surprised how many are happy to accept a free helping hand. In return, it will be the perfect opportunity for you will learn the skills and knowledge it takes to become a top stylist.
