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StyleChic's Aly Scott Tracks Down Birkins for Princesses

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Aly Scott. Image via <a href="http://thelistcollective.com/lists/dept/style/aly-scott-stylist-personal-shopper-founder-stylechic/#">List Collective</a>.
Aly Scott. Image via List Collective.

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Aly Scott got her start at Cynthia Rowley in New York, then worked for years in publishing at places like Gotham, Hamptons and LA Confidential—all the while, maintaining a side styling and personal shopping business. Then, a few years ago, Scott leveraged her experience, connections and clientele to launch StyleChic, a service that provides closet overhauls, shopping guidance, the sourcing of rare designer goods and more.

Clients include "everyone from the Saudi Royal Family to high-worth individuals to pro-sports players"—people with unlimited budgets who think nothing of "dropping $20,000 on clothes in a few hours" and want everything and anything at the drop of a hat.

As you'd imagine, Scott's encountered all sorts of demands and has plenty of tall tales to tell of her work. Luckily, the busy entrepreneur was willing to give us a few stories from her time in the field.

Ballpark, how much are your services?
"My services are around $250 an hour and the high for a day rate is $2,500. That's a full eight-hour day including town car pickup at their hotel and bringing them to destination boutiques around LA that they wouldn't find on their own. I also do new client promotional packages that I price for people that might think oh, stylists are fancy and not affordable and out of their reach."

What are some of the more outrageous requests that you've encountered?
"I've had someone request a Balenciaga bag in a discontinued color. It was a princess from Egypt and she called me on a Sunday at 5pm. Obviously they didn't make the bag anymore, much less on a Sunday at 5pm. Everything was closed and she was leaving for Egypt the next day. I finally found one of the bags in a store in Vegas. I had it driven in in its own town car in the back seat. Because of traffic and work on the freeways, it had to meet her at the airport (in its own town car) before she left.

Once, I flew to Ohio because one of my Saudi clients was at the Mayo Clinic and she was having surgery that day. I brought about $50,000 worth of clothes so that when she got out of surgery all of the racks were in her hotel room. She didn't come out of her room so I waited in mine for five or six hours after flying in on a red-eye. She finally came out and in thirty minutes was like, 'I want this, I don't want this,' and then went back in. I flew in on the red-eye and was there at 9am but she didn't even see me until 3pm. So everything is on their time.

They ask for everything and anything because they can. It's funny, a lot of them, when they lose items they don't really look for them. They just ask you to buy another pair of whatever it is."

What are the most in-demand labels for this group?
"Definitely Birkins. I get Birkins—again on a moment's notice—flown in from all parts of the world. Hermes is a big-ticket item. Isabel Marant sneakers are also really hot right now.

The pro sports players love Louboutin Men's. They barely get on the floor before they're scooped up. Clients can avoid being on the wait list by going through me."

Do you tell customers up front how much these scouting sessions will cost?
"Yeah, they'll say, 'I want this Birkin in this color and this size.' I'll tell them how much we charge for sourcing and that we keep 50% of the fee if we don't find it. But I've never had an item I didn't find. Then we charge a three-hour minimum sourcing fee and then I'll lay out the cost of the bag for them."

What/who is your service for?
"Anyone who wants to lean how to shop for their body type, their budget and their lifestyle. Sometimes a stylist is cheaper than going days on days looking for that dress or those jeans. It's easier for my clients and then they get the tools to shop on their own."

To inquire about StyleChic services, you can fill out the contact form here, call Aly direct at (323) 806-2626 or email her aly@stylechicla.com
· StyleChic [Official Site]
· Hermes, Chanel, Loubs: 13 of Decades' Most Prized Pieces [Racked]