Let me ask you a question: When was the last time you really took the time to consider prints and patterns during a colour or style consultation with your client?

If I had to guess, I’d say not very often. And you wouldn’t be alone.

Many personal stylists , even really good ones; barely touch on print and pattern. Maybe they mention a floral here, a stripe there, and that’s it. It gets tacked on to the end of a colour or style session almost as an afterthought.

And you know what? That’s a huge gap in our industry. It’s a crying shame, to be honest.

Print and pattern are one of the hardest things for clients to get right on their own.

Time and again, I see clients who show up to their session with wardrobes full of solid colours and hardly a print in sight. And when you ask them why, they’ll usually say “I can never find a print that looks right on me.”

That’s exactly the problem. No one ever taught them how to choose prints that work with their unique features, their natural lines, their personal style, their colouring. They’re left trying to figure it out for themselves, so most just avoid prints altogether.

So let’s talk about this today. Because I believe wholeheartedly that prints and patterns deserve their own consultation. They’re too important, too impactful, and honestly too complicated to be squeezed in at the end of a colour or style appointment.

​I’m going to show you why this is such a powerful opportunity for you as a stylist and how to structure and price a dedicated print and pattern session that will absolutely delight your clients and keep them coming back for more.

First, let’s call out the elephant in the room: prints and patterns are hard.

Hard for clients. Hard for stylists.

Why? Because there’s so much going on with a print:

• Colour combinations
• Levels of contrast
• Shapes and lines
• Scale
• Spacing
• Personality and style vibe

…and how all of that interacts with the client’s own natural features, their colouring, their body lines, their face shape, their hair texture, their energy.

It’s a lot to think about, right? And yet so many consultations just say, “Oh, you’re a Summer, so wear a soft floral.”

I mean, what?

That doesn’t cut it. I don’t know about you, but if someone had told me to only wear florals because I’m a Summer, I would have run a mile. I’d feel like I was dressed as a grandmother. It would do nothing for my sense of style or confidence.

Prints and patterns deserve so much more care, because they have the power to bring a wardrobe to life. They add excitement, personality, movement. They can elevate a look from good to absolutely amazing but only if they truly harmonise with the wearer.

I’ll say it again: prints and patterns are often a missing piece.

When I first trained as a personal stylist, no one really talked to me about print and pattern beyond those standard seasonal stereotypes. There was no real depth, no method for analysing a client’s unique features and translating that into a print that flatters them.

What I see in the industry is that stylists try to squeeze absolutely everything into one single consultation - colours, body shape, wardrobe detox, personal style, sometimes even shopping plans and then they toss in a sentence or two about prints at the very end.

The problem?

The session ends up exhausting for you

The client is overwhelmed

There’s no time to dig deep enough

And most of the information goes in one ear and out the other

So the poor client goes home with no real clarity on how to choose a print or pattern. And they keep buying safe solids, day after day.

We can do better than that, can’t we?

Here’s what I believe: if you really want to set yourself apart as a personal stylist, if you want to become unforgettable; start offering a dedicated print and pattern consultation.

Why? Because there is so much to explore and so many decisions to make when it comes to prints and patterns. It simply deserves its own space.

Think about this:
• You could analyse the client’s natural lines - straight, curved, a mix - and find prints that mirror those lines
• You could look at their feature spacing - close-set or far apart - and match the spacing in a print
• You could consider their hair and skin texture, and pick prints that echo or contrast beautifully with those textures
• You could match the scale of their features and their body proportions to the scale of the print
• You could align the personality of the print with their unique style identity

There is no way you can do that well in 5 minutes at the end of a colour consultation!

By separating out a dedicated print and pattern session, you give this area the respect it deserves. Your client will feel seen, understood, and supported in a whole new way.

And here’s what happens then:

• They’ll be delighted
• They’ll tell all their friends about you
• They’ll come back for more work with you

Let’s list out the wins:

✔ You stand out from other stylists. Hardly anyone goes into this level of depth on prints, so you immediately become the expert.

✔ You build more client loyalty. A client who has had a thorough, empowering print consultation will remember you every single time they pull on a beautifully chosen patterned dress.

✔ You can charge more. Breaking this out as its own consultation means you’re not giving away more for free — you’re packaging up extra value that people will happily invest in.

✔ You prevent overwhelm. Instead of an exhausting 3-hour session covering everything under the sun, you break things into digestible, actionable chunks.

✔ You get to share your love of prints. Honestly, patterns and prints are fun! If you love them as much as I do, you’ll enjoy spending an entire session playing with options for your client.

OK, so let’s say you’re convinced: how exactly do you run one of these sessions?

Here’s how I’d recommend you structure it:

Step 1: Pre-consult prep
Ask your client to send you clear photos of themselves before the session; good lighting, no filters, with and without makeup if possible. This gives you time to analyse their natural features in detail:

• their lines (curved vs straight)
• feature spacing
• face shape
• skin and hair texture
• colouring and contrast

Step 2: In-session analysis
Spend the first half of the session walking through those observations with them, showing them what you see. This is so empowering; clients love to understand why something works on them.

Step 3: Education & guidance
Talk them through how these features translate into print recommendations. What shapes, what scales, what levels of contrast, what spacing, what style mood.

Step 4: Practical examples
Pull out sample swatches, mood boards, or even online shopping links to demonstrate prints that would work for them. Make it real and visual, so they can see exactly what you mean.

Step 5: Wrap-up plan
Give them a takeaway summary: either a one-page PDF or a printed card; with their key print and pattern guidelines so they can shop confidently in the future.

Stylists always ask me: How should I price a print & pattern consultation?

My honest answer is to value it properly. Don’t treat it like a free add-on. This is a powerful, transformational service that saves your client months or even years of trial and error.

I would recommend pricing it similarly to a stand-alone colour analysis or personal style session. If your colour consult is $250–$350, your print and pattern session should be in the same ballpark.

Or, if you’re offering a more premium, deep-dive version with personalized mood boards, you could price it higher. There is huge perceived value here because no one else is giving this level of detail.

If you’re concerned clients will say “But why can’t you just tell me during the colour consult?”; don’t worry. It’s all about how you position it.

Explain to them that:

“Print and pattern recommendations are as powerful as colour recommendations. They deserve the same attention and detail. That’s why I offer them as a separate, focused service.”

Clients respect this; they want to feel fully supported, not rushed through. And when you position this as a premium, empowering session that will completely change the way they shop for clothes, they’ll see the value.

Look, prints and patterns are where the magic happens.

They are what give a wardrobe energy, fun, personality. They help a client stand out. They make them feel memorable and uniquely themselves.

But most clients, and most stylists: don’t know how to harness that power. They don’t know how to select prints that align with their natural features, their personal style, and their colouring.

That is why you, as a skilled stylist, have such an amazing opportunity to fill this gap. Become the print and pattern expert. Offer a stand-alone consultation that goes deeper than a generic seasonal recommendation.

Your clients will love you for it. They’ll come back to you, again and again, because you’ve solved one of the biggest mysteries of their wardrobe.

So don’t treat prints and patterns like an afterthought. Give them the focus and time they deserve. Build a consultation around them. Price it fairly. And enjoy seeing your clients light up when they finally feel confident about wearing prints.

They’ll tell their friends. They’ll spread the word. And they’ll remember you every time they wear that perfect print.

So, what are you waiting for?

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