Name

Taylor Pitsilos

Creates

Creative and Personal Styling as Style By Tala

Find Taylor here

@stylebytala

Website coming soon

The Beginning

I am a Canberran, born and bred! As much as I love exploring different cities for weekends away or for work, I always enjoy coming back home to Canberra. After graduating college back in 2010 and travelling around Europe before settling back in Canberra, I knew that the fashion industry was really where I belonged. Following in my mother’s footsteps of owning her own fashion boutique, that quickly became the game plan. Designer Op Shop was born in 2012 where my mother and I bought and re sold pre-loved and vintage clothing.

As it was a new business and I was still only 19, I enrolled into FBI Fashion College in Sydney to broaden my knowledge of the possibilities within the industry. I knew I wanted a career in fashion, but Canberra unfortunately didn’t offer any education in my field. So… driving to Sydney once a week (for a year) to go to class at FBI studying Fashion Business, didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Mum came with me almost every time and went buying at the local op shops in Sydney while I was at class. It was tiring but well worth it.

Our little shop was going from strength to strength, so time flew by. My favourite part of my job was creating the fashion editorials to use for advertising and marketing. I am lucky enough to have a family of creatives. My sister is a photographer and the other was a model and I played stylist! It wasn’t until fast forward 5 years and we evolved into DOS Emporium that being a stylist was no longer just a fun hobby, it became part of my day job as a retailer. DOSE was a huge project for my parents and I to launch, so it wasn’t until after our first year had settled, I thought now might just be the perfect time to re focus on my creative passion and properly launch a side hustle as stylist. It was important to me to do something outside of DOSE that was truly me, reflecting my first love that is fashion.

The Process

My styling jobs could be at any point during the week but most likely on Sundays – my day off… but I don’t mind. Working for yourself, as many creatives could relate to, is no 9-5. Balancing work and play is a busy lifestyle, but I love it that way. It keeps it exciting and makes me cherish time spent with friends and loved ones. I try to stay fairly organised. Everything goes in the iPhone calendar and each morning I go through what I need to do that day and will set myself a to do list if need be. I try to keep my house in order too, tidy home – tidy mind.

Editorial styling starts with a brief from a client or another creative looking to collaborate. We then brainstorm a mood board, generally made on Pinterest, then from that point on I start collecting pieces together for my fitting with the model. Luckily being the co-owner of DOSE allows me to not only use my store’s clothing but also my vendors. They are happy for me to use their pieces, as they know the content they’ll receive will be amazing for their product advertising. I then prep looks for the model and confirm them after the fitting.

Photo-shoot day is where the magic happens then seeing the final images from the photographer of the looks you’ve put together is so rewarding. Most of the photo shoots I’ve worked with have been in Canberra or surrounding regions. As a stylist it is important to attend the photo shoot to ensure all of the details are precise. I make sure the garments are steamed, the model has the right earrings on, the shoes are clean or if something needs to be pinned into place. The last thing a photographer wants to do is edit out a garment tag!

Inspiration

I can get lost scrolling the explore page on Instagram and Pinterest, finding endless inspiration. I love seeing what other creatives, throughout all aspects of the industry, are exploring. I still love hardcover magazines and have subscriptions to Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. There is something special about seeing images in print rather than on screen. I also collect hard cover fashion and interior books. I have about 70 in my one bedroom apartment, but I dream of having them in a home office one day. My vintage fashion books are my most treasured in my collection.

I also love to take photos. I have a collection of Polaroids on my kitchen bench from over the years. I am by no means a photographer, but I have almost 50,000 images on my iPhone (thank god for the cloud!) of which a lot are of my French bulldog Frankie… but also just anything that calls to me. I am obsessed with the sky, Canberra has some of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen.

Future

I have been styling my own shoots for years but this year I have started collaborating with local businesses and creatives for editorial styling work, which I am excited to continue in the future. However, personal styling is an avenue I can’t wait to explore further. I recently conducted in an incredible week intensive course of Personal Styling at the Australian Style Institute in Melbourne and have set myself a goal to really delve into that area of styling early 2020. Canberra is home to DOSE and where my family, partner and friends are so for now I’m definitely settled here and wouldn’t have it any other way.