THE SET LIST
Apologies in advance for the inside baseball here, but this Sort is mostly for aspiring stylists. I used to get a lot of DMs asking for career advice and honestly, since I always feel like I’m figuring it out myself, I never feel confident I would be helpful dishing out guidance. And when I do, you’ll be sorry you got me started. At this time, I’m more than happy to discuss the nitty gritty of my set essentials, especially a list of the most practical tools of the trade. And perhaps through such minutiae I can reveal some overall wisdom I have gleaned on my journey.
Between the obvious things like Topstick and pins (I use safety, some prefer straight) and the extraneous things like roofing tape (to make a collar stand stiffly), I have lugged around everything from umbrellas to block the sun from myself and the model, a stack of wide brim hats for the whole crew, Shoe Goo in the event of busted footwear, and cartons of Hot Hands for warmth on location shoot. I’ve installed gridwall in my house and blown through a dozen steamers.
As I did fewer personal projects and editorials, refused to do test shoots, stopped working for free to build my portfolio, declined smaller budget shoots, and slowly raised by rate and my standards, I learned about this people called producers. They’re like the mamas of the whole crew and they take care of 99% of these things. Having such support, I was able to whittle my kit down to a few bare necessities which I find to be sufficient.
My narrowed down top essentials include a comfort shoe (I only had to make the total rookie move of showing up to set wearing a cute pump to learn my lesson there). I was an early adopter of Crocs which I think scared off some clients. Some love sneakers, some swear by Doc Martens. Whatever the footwear -clog, loafer, Birkenstock, Blundstone - comfort is key when you’re on set all day. But as the esteemed stylist, I recommend you choose a shoe that fits your vibe and your voice and makes you look and feel well put together for your morale’s sake.
Next, I rely on these small silicone tipped metal v-clamps and a small pair of snips which I have worn on a necklace fashioned out of a shoe string around my neck for almost 10 years. The former is for adjusting the fit of the clothing and the latter is for snipping stray threads. Since the western world behaves as if nipples could cause the collapse of civilization, we are forced to use silicone nipple covers. I’m interested in forking over a little more to try thinner, opaque covers in a range of flesh tones such as these by OKKO.
Makeup masks are crucial to avoid makeup stains caused while changing clothes. I buy disposable ones in bulk for work and a reusable one for my own closet. A lint roller is key obviously. I like the super sticky lint rollers from Target but also have a more eco-friendly velvet lint brush like my grandfather used.
Finally I would say to get the perfect set bag. I used to bring an actual rolling suitcase to set. It was intended for make up artists and had a set of drawers and a flip-up lid. This was back when I was prepared for anything and brought an entire CVS and Home Depot with me. Plus, I would bring a robe, slippers, steamer, and racks (!!!). But when I started being more selective with my jobs, when I chose to do jobs where production would provide some of the things I was once bringing, when I started styling ecomm and my days were spent in-studio and more predictable, I could fit most of what I needed into a canvas rigger bag like the ones used by painters or gardeners. However, I recently upgraded to leather GIO bags by Imago-a in two sizes. While I work photoshoots, I wear the meduim Gio bag crossbody with my v-clamps on the strap like a bandoleer. It holds all the items I need to have handy - clamps, pins, snips, lint roller and Topstick. I carry my other supplies like thongs, bras, camisoles, and nylon socks in the large Gio. Oh and I am one of those kinds of people who brings a Sharpie to set so people can tag their waters and not loose track of half full bottles.
Well, I know it’s not rocket surgery, but those are my instruments. I don’t meet a lot of other stylists. I spend a lot of time with hair stylists, make up artist, models and assistants. Sometimes they’re my source of tricks of the trade (like putting a water bottle in the small of the model’s back to make jeans fit for the photo when clamps wont hold. ) . If you are a fellow stylist, or have had your eyes and ears on a lot of sets and have any tips to share or products to recommend, please DM me and I’ll share in my IG stories.
Some items may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase. And I would appreciate that very much.