P.S Online Styling is here to help you become more stylish

As many of us start venturing out again after what feels like forever spent at home inside, you’d be forgiven for feeling like you’ve lost your style spark. How do you dress up jeans without it being too much? Which heel works with your new dress? Can you actually do double denim?

To try and help combat this now-common feeling, P.S Online Styling was born. The service was launched last year during the pandemic by celebrity stylist Ella-Louise Gaskell, with the aim of bringing expert styling to all.

P.S. offers bespoke online and in-person styling that's within all budgets, to encourage clients to create a longer-lasting, more sustainable wardrobe; to essentially, buy less but buy better (the service's motto). Its team of expert stylists are industry-recognised and all have the same passion for making the once-elite service of personal styling more accessible to all.

We sat down with founder Gaskell to learn more about the service, how it can help clients become more sustainable, and which key pieces everyone should have in their wardrobes.

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How did you come up with the concept of P.S Online Styling?

“Myself and most of our team are stylists in the entertainment industry, so we work with actors for red carpets, musicians for music videos and TV presenters. Obviously back in March last year, the pandemic halted all our work, so we got thinking about how we can use those same skills that we use with our VIP clients but bring them to a wider audience. No one was going to the shops so it made sense to introduce it as an online styling offer. But [the problem] with online, is that there is so much choice.

Courtesy of P.S Online Styling

“When you search ‘black jeans’ you get a million results; it’s very overwhelming. So we thought, as stylists, we are always working with so many cool independent brands and are always on the hunt for new labels, so it made sense to use that knowledge and be a bridge in showing them to clients and friends and people who want to use the service. We are that bridge in the middle really - it’s kind of like a matchmaker service. It grew really organically; it was just me bored in my bedroom doing some styling for friends and I just thought, 'Why don’t I try this online?'”

Your platform helps shoppers by connecting them directly to stylists through different packages, why was this important for you?

“We have a network of stylists that are all still working in the industry, so we juggle it with our normal jobs and do this as well. Different people specialise in different areas - we just launched a bridal service where you enter your preferences online in a questionnaire, then we recommend brands based on your preferences. If clients have a lower budget, we recommend for them to rent their bridal dresses. It’s better for sustainability and for price.”

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What do you think your service changes about the industry?

“It was important for me to make it accessible to any budget. Myself and all the other stylists had been asked to do personal shopping before, but there wasn’t an offer out there that I felt hugely comfortable with. Personal shoppers tend to be upwards of £400 or £500 per day and I wanted something that I could offer my friends and anyone that was looking to buy less, but buy better. It’s about investing in better pieces, but if the service is really expensive then no one is going to do it. We wanted to make it accessible to all - we start it at £30 to £70 for our online service and it’s the same for bridal.

“I think there are definite misconceptions about the industry. In the entertainment industry, it’s very normal to have a stylist, but in day-to-day life it’s not. There hasn’t been an offer so far that has given access to expert stylists at low costs, so we really wanted to be able to offer a really good styling service for anyone who can be helped with our knowledge to use their time better.”

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In what ways does your service help people be more sustainable with their wardrobes?

“Our whole motto is ‘buy less, buy better’, which essentially means stop buying so frequently and make more considered purchases. I think it is going to take a long time to change that perception of fashion, but we are doing it slowly. That’s one of my favourite things about the service; we aren’t people from the fashion industry and we aren’t aiming it at people in fashion. We are aiming it at people who don’t really have the time to know about fashion but appearance is important to them. So many people say they want to shop more sustainability but they don’t know how and it can be really expensive, so we partnered with lots of smaller conscious brands instead.”

What should consumers look out for when shopping sustainably?

“Sustainability is a very broad term but there are things you can look out for, like what the items are made of and if they are made from recyclable materials. A lot of brands have that information on their websites, so it’s worth always having a read in the 'about' section to see what they are doing. It’s also just about changing our mentality; it doesn't always have to be about buying something brand new - there are so many ways of using things that already exist. We just need to learn how to wear things in a different way so it feels new.”

What are the key pieces you think are vital for any wardrobe?

“Of course it depends on the person, but I always advocate for a good blazer. Have a good black blazer and you can literally throw that on with a pair of pyjamas and you’ll look good. Also, a pair of wide-leg high-waisted trousers are so elongating for any silhouette and they make any outfit look so put together. A good quality white T-shirt is essential, and a pair of biker boots; they always last for years and you can get so many good vegan options now. There are so many options for everything out there.”

COS Black blazer

Ninety Percent White t-shirt

Victoria Beckham High-waisted trousers

Now 43% Off

AllSaints Biker boots

What’s next for P.S Online Styling?

“This is the first time we’ve been live when the world is open, as we began in lockdown. We’ve just launched bridal which is so exciting; bridal is a world that I knew nothing about going into this and it’s so lovely being able to help all of these brides find the perfect sustainable dresses. Being able to help point people in the right direction is so great.”

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