STYLING A FASHION SERVICE PIECE

 ( image taken from google; example of fashion service piece)

      Sometimes its hard to think of what to wear with that new dress or top you just bought. Since we all cant afford a personal stylist, magazine articles are always helpful! On November 16 in Fashion in the Media class Meg Goldman spoke to us about what it takes to create a fashion service piece. Meg is an editorial and advertisement stylist. She has been in the industry for 15 years. Starting her career she worked as an assistant at Italian Vogue. Then she worked with the photographer Mark Seliger in the music industry in editorial. Following that she started working for service magazines as a fashion editor of Ladies Home Journal. Finally she worked at NY Daily News, which she stated was very high stressed because of the fast paced environment. Now she is a freelance stylist. One of the most critical areas for a stylist is to stay on a budget. Since she has been in the industry for many years, she is really good at working in different positions, and with different types of personalities.

She explained to us what a fashion service piece was, and what she contributes to it. A fashion service piece basically is “news you can use.” It is meant to entertain and inform the reader. Some of the service pieces that Meg has worked on were ‘dressing for your body type’ ‘how to wear a certain style’ and ’30 finds under $100’. These are the articles in the magazines that give the reader a new idea for their style. It is important for the article to read in a positive way especially when it is about body types. Meg also styled for the Today Show for a mom and daughter winter coat segment. She mentioned it is very important to build relationships with photographers, and with the PR people working in the showrooms for the big fashion companies. She stated that InStyle was the best magazine for a fashion service piece, in her opinion. She said that the way to make a service piece successful is to know your reader, and be sympathetic to their needs and body types. A fashion service piece originates with a problem needing to be solved. When styling a fashion service piece being concise and sticking to one specific view is very important.  Most fashion service stores start with a new trend or color that demonstrates to readers how to wear or pair different items together. “It’s always fun at the end to see how a piece turns out, but stressful during the process”- Meg Goldman stated when describing her favorite part of her job. It is important to generate one job while still working on another job. Most fashion service pieces are based on visuals, and some words. Although there are service pieces with only words explaining to the reader how to exactly wear or do something. Fashion service pieces help all types of women learn how to wear the new trends and best ways to dress for their body types.

--Hopefully looking though more magazine for new ideas and inspiration can help you add to your wardrobe!


<3 Christine