Personal Stylists vs. Personal Style

“Fashion fades, but style remains the same,” said Coco Chanel.

“To hell with that,” replied the 21st Century stylists.

You will often hear celebrities complain about the paparazzi bothering them during their private days out, but the truth is that the two are currently committed to a toxic relationship. Celebrities’ images are not only promoted by the photos the professional stalkers post online, but they are essentially dependent on them. How else would we know that Kendall Jenner, Bella and Gigi Hadid have killer street style?

While fashion abandons you every few months, style is the security blanket that’s supposed to simplify your complexities and override your deepest physical and financial insecurities. Personal style is, inevitably, inserted into every avenue of your life. Whereas personal style used to be naturally trusted as an authentically individual creative process, you can’t find a single celebrity today without a stylist—that is, someone who is hired to advise and choose outfits.

That’s the point. In order to amass a following as a style icon or otherwise glamorous celebrity,  Jenner, the Hadid sisters and many other public figures manufacture an image with the intention that their picture will be seen by millions on the internet.

The rise of street style has all to do with the idea that bloggers, paparazzi, etc., will snap your picture in even the most ordinary moments. Still, the creative agony persists.

On the other hand, cultivating an image is just Public Relations 101, right? Why wouldn’t you pay an expert to help create the desired image or lewk? Hairstylists have become mainstream within American society, so why is paying a hair-stylist encouraged and hiring a wardrobe stylist shameful?

Because we’re all trained for the latter.

Whether one embraces style or ignores it, a person dresses because of who they are. There is no pressure to express anyone but yourself in style. This never used to be a gamble.

While celebrities paying stylists to dress them for a high profile events is nothing new, hiring a stylist for a casual coffee run is.  The stories behind how pieces were discovered are gone. Wondering what led celebrity muses to choose their outfits is endangered. Instead, almost everyone these days is put together. (Boring.)  Style is meant to be spontaneously individual and creative.

But that was then and this is now. Video killed the style star.