Ask A Stylist's Assistant

What Does it Really Take to Survive New York Fashion Week?

Living in New York has given me a whole new perspective of New York Fashion Week. Why? Because I'm no longer thousands of miles away, bound to getting all of my information and updates via social media. This year I lived right in the heart of it. I noticed how the whole city's vibes changed the second Glamazons from around the world planted their stiletto strapped feet firmly down on the NYC concrete.

I suddenly found myself head up and eyes wide open as I walked around the streets of New York; my attention no long compelled by what was going on in the virtual universe within my phone. How could it be when at any moment I could be bumping shoulders with a super model, a world renown magazine editor, a celebrity, or one of my favorite blogger babes?

On top of all the excitement that buzzed around me, I suddenly had a better understanding of what it took to make it during Fashion Week. I had been to New York plenty of times before moving here, but the struggles you overlook while visiting, become incredibly apparent once you become a resident. I was now astonished by how show goers don't just drop dead after the week, having now experienced first hand the struggles of HEAVY traffic, how hard it is to get a shot without a thousand people in the background, and how strenuous it is to walk a city block in high heels.

So, how does one really survive New York Fashion Week? Especially when their job depends on it? I decided to go straight to the one person in my friend group, who I knew could give me the inside scoop. Hope and I went to college together and moved to New York within a year of each other. She is now working as an assistant for one of The City's biggest fashion stylist. Having survived (and conquered) her first Fashion week, I had to wonder....What is it really like on the inside? Time to play Twenty-One questions:

Name: Hope Carroll

Age: 25 (We were actually toasting to her 25th birthday on the day of the interview)

Stylist she assists: Hilary Harper Neal




The Chic Observer: "What did your average day look like?"




Hope Carroll: "There isn't any average day. No day will ever look the same. You'll do the same processes, but it's completely different. I would get in in the morning and start pulling products with my boss for whatever clients we had that day, or for whatever events we were working on. Then, we would work on any 911's that came in. There was one morning when I didn't even set my stuff down; I just went stright to operations to send out messengers. The very first day my boss sent me to do all her errands. I went downtown a fitting, then uptown to my boss's hotel to check her in, then back downtown with all my stuff to set up for the next day's event."

TCO: "What was the highlight of fashion week for you?"


HC: "I have this client and she is the most chic older woman! She's a power house,  bad a** b****. For some reason, ever since I have been on the team, she has been obsessed with me and we have so much fun during her appointments. I was wearing my fake Balenciaga sock sneakers that day, and she was like “I need those sneakers!" She got the Prada version, but it was so cool. I got to sit down with one of New York's biggest power houses and sit and talk and relate with her."




TCO: "What was a low point of fashion week for you?"

HC: "We have some clients that are very difficult to manage. So sometimes you have to sit down and manage everything for them. There's one that emails us like 12 times a day. But really, once we handle it all, she's great. When preparing for her appointment, I made a few mistakes that weren’t easy to fix. I ordered some of the wrong sizes and when I went back to get the correct size, they were sold out. Sometimes I literally have to make clothing fall from the sky...”

TCO: "Cab or Uber?"

HC: "Uber, it's ,more reliable and I can share the status with my boss."


TCO: "One thing you never left your house without?"


HC: "Heels and lipstick and my appointment book. I write everything down in my appointment book..."




TCO: "How much or little did you eat?"

HC: "I like never ate. I was stealing leftovers form client lunches like "Oh cool, a cracker!"

TCO: "Go to snack?"

HC: "Cheese and crackers...everyday."

TCO: "Average hours of sleep per night?"

HC: "I would get home and go through this to-do app that I kind of cultivated with my team. I would update it and add things, and then go through emails. Then I would go through looks for the week. So by that time I went to bed it was 12:30-1am, and I would get up at 6:30am everyday. So about 5 hours a night."

TCO: "Average number of emails per day?"

HC: "I have NO idea."

TCO: "Average number of coffees a day?"

HC: "One in the morning, one instant coffee mid morning, then 1-2 mid day. So four or five a day plus adderall. I'm ALWAYS shaking."

HC: "Oh, hold on my sister is facetiming me."

HC: "Sorry about that!"

TCO: "No worries, it is your birthday! Any celebrity sightings?"

HC: *Deep in thought* "No….we have a lots of VIP clients but no celebrities."


TCO: "Who’s number one on your style watch list?"


HC: "Mary Lawless Lee of @Happilygrey - I love how unique her style is and the way you can tell she really challenges herself to try new trends that are relatable to her followers, while also keeping her aesthetic consistent. I also love Lydia Rose of @Fashionflux - I find myself scrolling through her posts and videos A LOT when planning outfits. Especially when I'm in a pinch in the morning & need some inspiration. She does videos of multiple ways to style one piece and how to make your style more versatile. For me, I find that really inspiring since I'm constantly trying to reinvent my own wardrobe each week. My number one fashion icon will always be Twiggy though."

TCO: " Favorite show from NYFW?"

HC: "Brandon Maxwell!"


TCO: "Number one tip for surviving NYFW?" 




HC: "Cigarets? Martinis? Ooo! A really good makeup setting spray, and a good pair of shoes you can run in and stand in for at least 12 hours. I havent found [those shoes] yet..."




TCO: "What will you do differently next year?"

HC: "Try to sleep more at night. I think a lot of my mistakes came from the fact that this was my first fashion week. Next year I'll go in everyday with an action plan...Definitely just better strategizing."

TCO: "What was the number one fall trend your clients were asking for this season?"


HC: Every client is different because no one's taste is the same. I guess I would say pleats. People are learning how to take their summer pleats into winter by adding a sweater or buying the right color. A lot of oversized and slouchy [pieces], the blazer dress trend. Tailored fitting clothes are important and still relevant, but people are styling it in an oversized way." 

TCO: "Finish the sentence: I am dying to splurge on..."

HC: "Shoes!"

TCO: "The item of clothing I wear most often is…"

HC: "Dresses! I wear a lot of dresses. I love dresses because  I can style them so many different ways. I wear a dress three of the five days a week."

TCO: "When I am at work, I love wearing…"

HC: "I like wearing and styling blazers and vests."




TCO: "What is the number one quality someone needs to have to be a stylist's assistant?"

HC: The one quality you have to have as an assistant is you have to be able to problem solve under pressure. And, also, you can't take anything personally."

TCO: "Is there anything else you want the readers to know about Fashion Week, or just being a stylist's assistant in gerneral?"

HC: I feel like my job sounds like... really terrible whenever you say it out loud. But you have to be a certain type of person to love it. You have to thrive in chaos. I am the number one person to complain about my job, but I never think about doing anything else. Being a fashion assistant is one of the hardest jobs, but you set yourself up for so much success. I think you also have to have a great team; it is one of the most cruital things to being successful at this. You spend the most time with the people you work with, so being able to get along with not just my boss, but also my team and the other associates! And how they help me grow is amzing and incredibly rare."

TCO: "Cheers!"

HC: "Cheers!"

*Clink!*

Hope Carroll

Vivre dans le luxe,

Jordin