"Why every girl wants to be a fashion stylist"

So apparently EVERY, little girl growing up wants to be a stylist [according to Gemma Soames of the TIMES ONLINE] A rather unfounded and slightly general view I think, as there are some of us girls who would rather write about the world than dress it.  However the article rings very true and should be a guide to young girls everywhere seeking the stylish life, a WARNING almost, that fashion has its pitfalls and its not all glamour and glitz.

The rise of the stylist is undeniable. The IT career for young girls embracing the world in the noughties, taking over from last decades dream job, the PR superwoman, styling has been kicked up the style stakes in terms of most wanted job, mainly thanks to rise in celebrity stylists (who unfortunately, are misleading young girls into not such a glamorous career path as they think).   
Take Rachel Zoe [right] as an example, celebrity stylist to some of Hollywood's hottest young girls, Lindsey Lohan and Nicole Richie to name just two, has developed a following of girls who admire her style credentials and worryingly praise her (despite the whole zoebot anorexic Hollywood actresses she is breeding). She has become a celebrity in her own right.

However she is the exception not the rule. Not all stylists endure such fame and fortune. Most are penny pinching and hungry, suffering for their love of style and fashion, trying to carve a career in something that makes them, but certainly not their purses, HAPPY.

FASHION has become such a big business, thanks, very much to the writers, photographers and stylists, not to mention the plethora of fashion publications, that have emerged with abundance over the last decade - and with that comes big bucks. 

Grace Coddington 
style supremo at American Vogue 

Carine Roitfeld

leading the style stakes at French Vogue

The variety of career opportunities within the fashion industry, previously not available, have become more accessible (well, that's a loose term) to young girls [and boys] everywhere, and stylists leading the fashion pack forward. The London College of Fashion styling courses have received an influx of interest from the youthful generations which have been brought up on fashion, social media and the over-abundance of images. 

Even the not so prestigious university I attended had to adapt its courses due to huge interest. By the time I graduated in 2009, they had introduced new and specific tailored creative fashion styling degrees, and fashion writing courses had doubled in capacity. Young girls now a days are picking up on the importance of fashion, not only in terms of magazines but from a visual and theoretical viewpoint. For many people The Devil Wears Prada was a humorous film depicting the fashion industry and in particular fashion magazines. There are so many people, who assume fashion to be frivolous and without meaning. More over, I think fashion misunderstood. Those famous words Meryl Streep says when the young misguided journalist ends up at a fashion magazine, which she thinks is a ridiculous environment, always ring in my ears. Theoretically speaking fashion is probably one of the most dynamic, delicate and multi-faceted modern day PHENOMENON'S - so intuitive, so responsive, yet so forthright in it's presence and its influence. 

So you see, the stylist is an everyday tour guide for the fashion industry [that's my metaphor anyway] For some it is glamorous and well-paid, but for most it is a struggling art form. 

Now, does EVERY girl want to be a stylist. I think I'm quite happy trundling along in the penniless world of fashion writing. [the connection here - between styling and writing - is that the world of fashion is a hierarchy [further fashion arguments will be following], you make the money at the top. As for the bottom, well its a more humble lifestyle] 

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6957360.ece