Tell Me who you aRe and I’ll Tell You What to Wear

The Everlasting World of Personal Shoppers

By Beatrice Nicolini (AMC ‘25)

We all need to feel a little special, cared for, listened to. And as much as one tries to find it from within, a lot of our confidence comes from the outside. Appraisal, winnings, feedback, everything matters in the race toward uniqueness. A race that, inexorably, starts from the closet, and the question of “who am I going to be today” – although the answer to it is often hard to figure on one’s own.

Personal shoppers are the heralds of that answer. By definition, they “assist shoppers to choose their purchases.” By heart, they are much more than a Merriam-Webster cue. They’re listeners, therapists, problemsolvers, confidants. Yet, they’re hard to spot between spare hangers and regular personnel these days.

Certainly, data over the existence – and persistence – of this occupation is also hard to quantify, especially as the nature of this role is behavioral, and the courtesy offered is often mistaken for a branch of customer service.

Besides, shopping has drastically changed due to factors like globalization, fast production, the pandemic, or the exponential rise of online retail, which have prompted customers to redefine their shopping habits, and personal shoppers to adapt accordingly.

But some, still remained steady on their ground. At least, Betty Halbreich did. As the first personal shopper employed at Bergdorf Goodman and author of “Secrets of a Fashion Therapist,” Halbreich credits her success only to one gift of hers: listening. “You have to understand that it’s not only selling. You’ve gotta give something back to these people,” she reveals in an interview with The New Yorker, “whether you buy or not...I strike out a lot, but I don’t feel it.”

To lose sight of a job’s purpose could either be a sign of inconsideration or utter passion, but Halbreich’s case surpasses all odds, making of this role a treasurer of intimate sharing,and providing evidence on how it could solely come to life through a physical, personal, and custom-made interaction with the client.

“Boutiques are successful because they’re more than just stores: they’re style educators,” says indeed Ashley Alderson, founder and CEO of The Boutique Hub, to Forbes Magazine. “Amazon is functional and useful when we know what we want, but there’s a difference between buying and shopping, and Amazon does not address the shopping experience.” having somebody on the inside being your eyes and ears, keeping you up to date on trends, texting you, seeing what you can’t see…it’s such a good feeling.”

This lack of involvement gives a comparative advantage to personal shoppers, forcing many in the industry to pose new questions on the relevance of the in-person thrill, and the answer might just be in front of our eyes.

“People used to go to the modiste and get their clothes fitted on their body, and that idea of having someone tailor a service for you is something people have always wanted,” tells Armelle Fleurenssaint (AMC, ‘22), now assistant personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman. “Just

We all need to feel a little special, cared for, listened to. The marketplace may be traveling at a different pace – between the colossus of e-commerce and Zara-like franchises –, but personal shoppers remain the light of guidance for many customers. Perhaps, we just have to meet them along the way. After all, they have never left.