A personal stylist client questionnaire you can copy today

A personal stylist client questionnaire gathers what you need before the first session: how the client lives, what’s in their wardrobe, how clothes fit, their budget and their goals. Below is a ready-to-use version in five groups, about 30 questions and 15 minutes to answer, followed by how to use the answers and keep them safe.

Why send a questionnaire before the first session

Without one, the first half hour of every session is an interview. With one, you arrive knowing the client spends three days a week on video calls, wears the same two pairs of trousers and has a wedding in May, and you can spend that half hour styling instead.

It helps the client too. Answering questions about what they wear, and why they don’t wear the rest, is often the first time they’ve thought about it clearly. Some arrive at the session having already made a few decisions on their own.

And it protects you. A written brief, in the client’s own words, is what you check the work against at the end: did we do what you came for?

The personal stylist client questionnaire

Copy it, put it in your own words and delete anything you won’t use. Open questions get better answers than yes or no, so most of these invite a sentence or two. Start with the basics: name, email, phone, how they’d like to be contacted, and an address only if you’ll be visiting.

1. You and your week

1. What do you do for work, and what’s the dress code there, written or unwritten?
2. Roughly how does a typical week split between work, home, social life, exercise and travel?
3. Which moments do you find hardest to dress for: commuting, meetings, video calls, the school run, evenings out?
4. Do you have any events, trips or changes coming up in the next six months?
5. How do you get around day to day: on foot, by car, by public transport?
6. How long do you want to spend getting dressed on a weekday morning?

2. Your wardrobe now

7. What do you wear most often, and what do you like about it?
8. Which three pieces do you love most?
9. What do you own but rarely wear, and what stops you?
10. Is there anything you keep buying again and again?
11. Which part of your wardrobe frustrates you most: work, weekends, evenings, coats and layers, or shoes?
12. Which colours do you love wearing, and which do you avoid?
13. Is there anything you would never wear?

3. Fit, sizes and comfort

14. What sizes do you usually buy in tops, bottoms, dresses or suits, and shoes?
15. Do you shop in menswear, womenswear or both?
16. What’s hardest to find in your size or fit?
17. How do you like clothes to fit: close, relaxed or oversized? Any preferences on waist heights or lengths?
18. Are there fabrics or finishes you can’t stand, like scratchy wool or anything clingy?
19. What do you like to show off, and what do you prefer to keep covered?

4. Budget and shopping

20. Roughly what would you like to spend on clothes over the next three to six months?
21. Would you rather have fewer, dearer pieces or more, less expensive ones?
22. How do you like to shop: in store, online, second-hand, or with me?
23. Does anything guide what you buy, such as second-hand first, natural fibres or particular values?
24. How do you feel about shopping: love it, put up with it, or find it overwhelming?

5. Your goals

25. What made you decide to book now?
26. If this works, what will be different in three months?
27. Which three words would you like people to think of when they see you?
28. Whose style do you admire? It can be anyone, including people you know. Pictures are welcome.
29. Is there anything that worries you about working with a stylist?
30. Is there anything else you’d like me to know before we meet?

Questions to leave out, or ask with care

A questionnaire can drift into collecting things you’ll never use. UK data protection law says personal data should be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary, so test each question: will this change what I do in the session? If not, it goes.

• Date of birth and age: rarely needed. If an age matters for a brief, the client will tell you.
• Weight: you don’t need it to style anyone. Sizes and fit preferences do the job.
• Measurements: useful for buying on someone’s behalf, so ask at that stage, not before the first session.
• “Problem areas”: skip the phrase. “What do you like to show off, and what do you prefer to keep covered?” gets the same information without making anyone feel like a list of flaws.
• Health: some clients want you to know about an injury, a disability or a condition that affects what they can wear. That is special category data, which covers physical and mental health. Don’t ask for it by default; if a client offers it, record only what you need, such as “prefers no buttons”, rather than the diagnosis.

How to use the answers

Read the answers twice: once when they arrive, and again the day before the session. Then boil them down to a one-page brief you can glance at while you work:

• The goal, in the client’s words.
• The life: where their week goes and what they’re dressing for.
• What works: their favourites, and what those have in common.
• What doesn’t: the unworn pieces and the reasons.
• Limits: sizes, fabrics, budget, things they’ll never wear.
• Questions to ask on the day.

Then use specific answers to shape the session itself:

Look out for mismatches between the goal, the life and the budget, and raise them kindly at the start, not at the end. If the three words a client chose don’t match a single piece they love, that’s not a problem; it’s the most interesting conversation of the session. Our guide to finding your personal style has exercises you can borrow for it, and if the client shops across sections, shopping across menswear and womenswear covers size conversion.

Keeping client data safe

A completed questionnaire holds a lot about a person, and in the UK the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) sets out what that means for you. In short:

• Tell people up front. Under the right to be informed, you tell clients at the point you collect their answers why you’re collecting them, how long you’ll keep them and who you’ll share them with, in plain language.
• Take extra care with health information. The ICO says special category data needs more protection, and that you need both a lawful basis and a separate condition to use it; explicit consent is one of those conditions.
• Don’t keep it forever. Storage limitation means keeping personal data no longer than you need it. There’s no fixed period; choose one you can justify, write it down and delete on schedule.
• Keep it secure. The ICO’s guide to data security asks for security appropriate to the risk, recommends encryption when you store or send personal data, and suggests backups, for example three copies, on two different devices, with one stored off-site.
• Check the fee. The ICO says organisations, including sole traders, that use personal information need to pay a data protection fee unless they’re exempt, so check whether that includes you.
• Ask for consent properly when you need it. For photos you’d like to share, valid consent is a clear, freely given yes, never a pre-ticked box, and easy to withdraw.

In practice: keep answers in one secure place rather than scattered across email, DMs and a notebook; lock your phone and laptop; and never forward a client’s answers to anyone without asking. Rules differ in other countries, so check the local equivalent if you work abroad, and ask a data protection adviser if your situation is unusual.

When and how to send it

• When: as soon as the booking is confirmed, asking for it back three to five days before you meet. That gives you time to read it properly and ask a follow-up question or two.
• How: an online form is easiest for most clients, and its answers are easy to keep in one place. A document works, but answers get lost in email chains.
• For people who hate forms: offer a 20-minute call and fill it in together. Some clients say far more out loud.
• For virtual sessions: add a request for photos of the wardrobe, as covered in how to run a virtual wardrobe consultation.
• For in-person edits: add practical questions about access, parking and what happens to clothes they let go, from our wardrobe edit checklist.

Revisit the questionnaire every few months as you learn which answers you actually use. If you’re building your service from scratch, how to become a personal stylist covers the rest of the groundwork.

Questions

How long should a stylist’s client questionnaire be?

Aim for about 15 minutes to complete: around 30 questions, most of them short. If you won’t use an answer in the session, cut the question.

Should I use a shorter form before a free discovery call?

Yes. Before a free call you only need a name, contact details, what they want help with, a rough budget and their timing. Save the full questionnaire for clients who have booked.

Should the questionnaire ask for photos of the client?

Only if you’ll use them, for example to plan a virtual session. Make photos optional, say why you’re asking and how long you’ll keep them, and never use them anywhere else without separate permission.

How often should returning clients update their answers?

Ask them to look over their answers each season, or whenever life changes: a new job, a move, a new city or a big event coming up.

Sources

1. Principle (c): Data minimisation, Information Commissioner’s Office
2. The right to be informed, Information Commissioner’s Office
3. What is special category data?, Information Commissioner’s Office
4. Special category data, Information Commissioner’s Office
5. What are the conditions for processing?, Information Commissioner’s Office
6. Principle (e): Storage limitation, Information Commissioner’s Office
7. A guide to data security, Information Commissioner’s Office
8. Data protection fee, Information Commissioner’s Office
9. What is valid consent?, Information Commissioner’s Office