Today we are again visiting Vic de Rocco, a personal stylist from Paris, and we will talk about how to find your own unique style!
“My job is to help people express themselves appropriately with the help of clothing,” is the personal stylist Vika de Rocco defines his mission. We are talking about why “searching for yourself” should be treated as a creative project. And also: can a personal stylist be a free artist and impose his opinion on clients? Do trends conflict with our personality? Do I need to listen to others and where to start working on myself?
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For those who prefer not to listen but to read, we have prepared a transcript of the conversation!
Marianna Makarova: Good afternoon, friends! You are listening to the podcast of Burdastyle magazine about fashion, style and trends. With you, I am the chief editor of Marianna Makarova. And today, our guest is again the personal stylist Vic de Rocco. Hello, Vika!
Vika de Rocco: Good afternoon, Marianne! Good afternoon friends! Everyone is very glad to hear!
MM: I am very glad that Vika came to visit us again. Last time we spoke on such an interesting topic as French fashion. And today I would like to turn to the direct work of Vika, because she is a personal stylist. You can see her profile on Instagram. Vika describes her work in this way: “My job is to help people express themselves adequately with the help of clothes. And to express oneself means to be ourselves in accordance with social tasks.”
I know that Vicki has a wide variety of clients, of different ages and professions. They lead a different lifestyle and even live in different countries, so they all have different tasks. What does it mean to help people according to their needs?
BP: This is an interesting question. Indeed, this is what I conditionally advocate from the Union of Stylists, and for which I always fight and fight. I believe that a personal stylist is not a free artist, he cannot just come to you and say: here I see you and go, please, now every day in latex!
A personal stylist is, in fact, a tool that helps a person look the way he wants and how he considers it necessary! For example, a person has some new career tasks, and you need to look more status. Or he wants to look more elegant. Or you want to look younger, more interesting, to show some facets of your personality. A personal stylist just has to cope with these tasks, so we have such a conditional creative profession.
MM: It turns out that the stylist should not impose his opinion? And shouldn't he turn the client into something like himself?
BP: Well, yes, it’s true, sometimes there are times when we buy a client something that is in my wardrobe. And I always joke that I dress all clients for myself. But of course not!
Anyway, even if the stylist is a great professional, has his own views, it happens that we buy clothes that I personally, as a person, do not like at all. But I understand that it meets certain stylistic tasks that we set for ourselves.
MM: But it’s good when a person has his own style or he knows how he wants to look.And what if the person just does not represent what is his highlight? And he just wants to find her. When a person is in search of himself, what can you advise in this case?
BP: Search! I can only advise you to search, because if we do not find it, then all further work: shopping or compiling lookbooks, costume ensembles - all this is pointless! It's like digging from a fence to lunch. Personal style is a creative project, and in any creative process there is always an idea and an implementation. An idea without implementation is meaningless, because everything that we fantasized in our heads and then did not do - this does not exist.
But implementation without an idea is even more meaningless! It is not possible to do what is impossible! There are, for example, some tools to help sort out myself and look for what I call "my personal inspiration." Tools to find out, this is how I feel for myself some kind of courage? This is what I want to show the world and how I want to tell about myself with the help of clothes? There are some methods for this ...
MM: Well, tell us, perhaps, briefly about one of them.
BP: One of the simplest and most understandable, but nonetheless very effective methods is to try and pick up a prototype for yourself. Well, you just have to start somewhere: think, look for some kind of prototype for yourself, but this does not mean that you need to absolutely repeat it. And just pay attention to any woman or man, a movie star or your favorite writer, or any other character that excites you and sets you in some kind of mood. You need to look at it and put it on the subject of clothing: what does this person wear? And, of course, the prototype, of course, should more or less correspond externally. For example, if I suddenly decide that I like the image of Monica Bellucci and begin to try it on myself now, then this will not work out quite adequately. But this will already be enough to begin. And when we begin to dig further in ourselves and try on it ourselves, we will soon understand what we like. But here we have to start and it can be very useful.
MM: And please tell me, does it happen that your clients do not accept your advice? Even those that clearly benefit them. But they just do not accept it internally.
BP: Of course, and this happens in 99% of cases! Because a person lives for himself and lives, then he suddenly realizes that something is not right and begins to want something different. If he himself knows how to do it differently, then he himself will do everything. And if he does not know how, then he comes to a specialist. And then - what the specialist recommends to him may go beyond his own informational and aesthetic circle. And this may turn out to be something completely unacceptable to him. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right pace: someone wants to move in small steps, and someone can immediately jump far.
If you choose the pace incorrectly and push the person to great achievements, then it is almost impossible to change everything. Better to go in small steps. Why do not I believe in these TV shows with alterations when they immediately change people dramatically? Because it is difficult for people to take such sudden movements.
MM: Does it happen that a person himself is ready to change internally or does he already adhere to some kind of his own style, but those around him do not accept it? For example, an employer, family, friends or girlfriends who condemn: what is it that you dress so too brightly and defiantly? What do you recommend in this case?
BP: This is a very interesting question, because none of us is a jubilee ruble! You cannot be all cute at the same time and everyone likes, even the way you look! Therefore, you need to determine for yourself, when we begin to work, our reference groups. And who are these people whose opinion is important to me? For example, if we have a stylistic task for career growth, then the opinion of the boss and the rules of the dress code will be important for us. And arguing with that is stupid.
Or our relatives: spouse, partner, girlfriend ... And, of course, it is logical that they want to like us, this is normal and this opinion should also be relied on.
If you lead a fairly secular lifestyle, meet with friends and discuss some new things, this forms a large part of your life, then the opinion of your friends will be important. But you need to understand for yourself where this line is. And it happens that a person begins to change, and people somehow cautiously begin to perceive it, but there is nothing wrong with that either. The main thing is to understand whose opinion is really important to me, and whose one will have to be neglected a little.
MM: Vika, this is another interesting question for you. Over the years, every person inevitably changes. And, it seems to me, a very big mistake is made by many women who, for example, at the age of 40 want to remain the same as they were at 18 and adhere to the same style. Often it looks a little funny, sometimes even sad ... Are there any age restrictions for the style? And should a person inevitably make any corrections to it over the years?
BP: No, I think I shouldn't. There is such a thing as the relevance of the image. Here a man has some kind of pronounced style, and he stayed in it at the age of 20 and 30. And people, his reference groups, perceive him adequately and harmoniously in this style. For example, in a miniskirt. Over time, the figure has changed in some significant way, and this skirt no longer looks harmonious at you - well, of course, you need to change something.
If there is still no contradiction with yourself and your reference group, for example, your husband is bastardized by the fact that you are wearing a miniskirt at 60, and you have no problem going out to a wide social circle - speaking at conferences, then why not no? This is your self-expression and this is your personal matter. The only thing is if there are tasks to look at a wide social circle, then you always need to look modern. Because the public does not forgive the timelessness, if a person looks up-to-date, it will cause a feeling of disharmony.
MM: What about fashion trends? Do trends conflict with individual style?
BP: You will allow this yourself! Now we live in such a world when trends have already lost value. And now there is no pronounced stylistics. Well, here we have such a cultural and political situation that we have nothing to produce from new fashion trends.
And so now, don’t let me, I’ll justify everything as a fashion trend. If we watch the catwalk shows - there is everything you want!
There is a general trend, wide - to increase the silhouette. We used to wear knee-length skirts, but now we wear skirts to the middle of the calf. There is no such fashion as it was in the forties, fifties or sixties. And so there is nothing to conflict with, let’s say so.
MM: Vika, and give such advice. I understand that not every of our listeners can have a personal stylist. Still, for this, too, you need to have a certain status. Where to start a person if he is concerned about this issue and want to somehow adjust his style? Where to go? And what should be guided by?
BP: Now there is a lot of information, but I am always for going a long way. It’s better to lose a day, then fly in 5 minutes. If you really want your unique personal style, then I do not support reading any fashion bloggers - this is a fairly common topic.
If you want to dig in yourself, then dig in yourself, think: what am I? And write to yourself what I am on a piece of paper? Externally and internally, cheerful or non-joyful, closed or open. Write down what I want to be and where this space is, where I want to develop. And then make yourself mudboards: draw pictures that would reflect this perception. And look what colors it can be. This is such a work on myself and, in my opinion, very interesting. And only then, look at the stores what might reflect this aura and this inspiration that you have dug up in yourself.
And the second is, of course, the development of artistic taste. It is generally useful to everyone. This and watching beautiful films, beautiful paintings, and trips to museums, and various shows. In the public domain can be found on the Internet almost all the catwalk shows.
MM: From our conversation, I realized that a personal stylist is also a little psychologist and a little sociologist. I know that in her first specialty, Vika is a sociologist, so all this will help those women who are interested in fashion and want to be in trend.
And I advise you not to forget about the magazine Burda, which gives a lot of advice on combining various things. Visit our site burdastyle.ru, where you will find many articles on this topic, and at the photo forum show your work and show your personal style, which will be appreciated by readers. Visit our social networks and listen to our podcasts on all platforms: Apple, Google, in Yandex.music. And with us today was a personal stylist Vic de Rocco, I thank her, see you soon! And I, the editor-in-chief of the magazine Marianna Makarova.
BP: Thank you very much, Marianne! Have a nice day everyone!
