Since I keep getting asked by previous interns what to do when they’ve booked their first fashion editorial styling job, I love to dish out the advice.  Also, I love to see others follow my advice, so I thought I’d share my top 5 Stylist Do’s & Don’t s with you all.

1. DO: Get a letter of responsibility from the publication you’re styling for, stating that they are liable for any damage or theft of items pulled for the shoot.  Usually it’s either printed or a pdf on their letterhead. DON’T: Pull on your own credit card.
2. DO: Pull from the best quality showrooms possible.  This is your book & every piece reflects the quality of your work.  You have professional models, photographers, etc, so don’t skimp on the professional designers. DON’T: Use American Apparel, H & M, Urban Outfitters, Bebe, or Ann Taylor: they are blacklisted from the conde nast offices and  shouldn’t be in your portfolio.
3. DO: Contact designers, showrooms & misc contacts via email with all the info: your shoot dates, pull & return dates, photographer, publication, and ask for an appointment DON’T: Ask someone for their competitor’s contact info, they will be super annoyed.
4. DO: follow-up: return all items promptly, send images to the showroom and keep them updated when the images are published DON’T: Keep items unnecessarily, lie about a press project, or send them images of everybody else’s stuff, just theirs.
5. DO: Plan ahead.  Ideally you want to know how many looks you are doing & start planning your pulls 3 weeks ahead of time via email correspondence whenever possible, so you have more time to organize your shoot.  DON’T: Wait until the last minute, you will end up with out of season or not enough pieces!

Happy Styling!