January 13, 2021
Interview with Liv Styler, Personal Stylist
As we enter 2021 in full swing, we sat down with Liv Styler, a Surrey-based personal stylist who has some advice for boosting our mood in the winter months and lets us in on some top fashion tips! We want to continue to shine a light on the local independent businesses that make Surrey what it is and lend some character to our lives.
Liv Styler offers a range of fashion-related services including body shape and colour analysis, wardrobe editing and personal shopping services both online and offline!
You're a qualified colour consultant; what would be your suggestions for winter wear in Surrey this year?
Try and wear some colour! It’s easy to resort to black in the winter, but wearing colour, even if it’s a bright scarf or a statement necklace, will lift your features, even your skin tone and make you feel happier. And if you feel happy, you can get through the winter! Otherwise layering is in, so pile on the jumpers and coats and you’ll also look stylish too.
We can see from your Instagram account that you wear a dazzling array of colourful outfits. Where did your love of fashion come from?
My love of fashion started with my mum who has always been super stylish and never afraid of wearing bright colours. When I was little I loved watching her getting dressed up for a night out. I wished that I could be as glamorous as her and I could always be found dressing up in whatever I could get my hands on. As a child, Mum would take me on shopping trips to Guildford - we would go to Benetton, or Tammy Girl and I could pick out an outfit. As I grew up, I tried lots of different styles and had plenty of fashion disasters, but now I love being individual and styling items my own way to get the maximum out of my clothes.
Your brand name is Liv Styler; is Liv Tyler a style icon for you?
No! (Sorry Liv!)I just wanted a fun Instagram name and I suddenly came up with Liv Styler as a play on her name, so I hope she doesn’t mind! I’m known as Olivia by my friends and family so Liv has become a bit of an alter ego!
I get a lot of my style inspiration from Instagram. I might see something I like on one of the many stylish ladies I follow, and then recreate the look in my own way.
You offer a Wardrobe Edit service, what's your philosophy behind what should stay and what should go?
It’s simple - if you love it, it fits you, it flatters you and you do a happy dance when you’re wearing it - keep it! At least twice a year, I will have a declutter of my own. I don’t have anything in my wardrobe that I don’t actually wear. I don’t have a massive wardrobe and I never store my clothes during season changes as I like to always see what I have. When you open your wardrobe you want it to reflect you and your style personality and picking outfits each day should be easy and stress-free. I love helping my clients find new combinations from their existing wardrobes which they might never have put together before. Once we have gone through every item (sorting into charity and selling bags etc), we then hit the shops to fill in the gaps, or I will send them style and outfit suggestions online.
Where do you shop locally?
The Gate Boutique is a lovely independent store in Guildford and her gorgeous sister shop, Catwalk, is in Godalming. The Shop At Bluebird in Guildford always has an excellent collection, as does Courtyard in Guildford and Quattro Rish in Reigate. I’m also a huge fan of Oliver Bonas and have been since the 1990s when they only had one store!
When you're not working, where are your favourite places to go in Surrey?
My husband and I love to take the dogs up to the top of The Mount in Guildford - the views are fantastic and on a clear day you can see across to Wembley! We also love walking around Pewley Downs and beside the river too. We both love cooking at home, but we do enjoy a good restaurant - my favourite being The Ivy Castle View in Guildford, as the food and service are always amazing. Other favourites are De Nada in Guildford which is a fab Spanish tapas place, and The Olde Ship pub does the best wood fired pizzas. I also have a new-found love for Gail’s Bakery in Guildford, but I have had to restrict my intake of cinnamon buns to weekends only!
2020 was a tough year for local businesses, what are your hopes for 2021?
My hope is that we can start to get back to some sort of normality in 2021, with my small business slowly being able to gain some new clients who would like to start their year with a beautifully organised wardrobe and perhaps some new clothes to make them look and feel great.
Liv has a fantastic deal for anyone wanting to enter 2021 in style! Any service booked during January will be discounted by 20%! To redeem this offer or to find out more about Liv Styler visit www.livstyler.co.uk