Debenhams relaunches personal styling service

Department store chain Debenhams has relaunched its personal styling service at its Oxford Street flagship in London as part of the store’s 25 million refurbishment. According to the retailer: “Women are no longer just apples and pears and most men want to be a parsnip”, so the department store has teamed up

with 10 Years Younger presenter Nicky Hambleton-Jones to devise a new body-shape guide that will be utilised by its team of personal stylists.

The free service, which has been rebranded from ‘Personal Shopper’ to ‘Personal Stylist’ will see the team retrain with a bespoke training programme designed by Hambleton-Jones and his NHJ Style Consultancy, showing the stylists how to translate fashion trends to meet the consumer’s personal brief, body shape and budget.

Gaynor Davey, personal stylist manager at Debenhams Oxford Street, said: “Since Trinny & Susannah brought dressing for your shape to the nation 13 years ago, we’ve based our wardrobes on a set of rules designed around what we believed our shapes to be.

“For many this has created confusion about anything outside those few shapes – and it has never been extended to men. Our new free Personal Stylist service and body-shape guide is about giving shoppers simple tools to help them look and feel fabulous – while letting men get in on the action too.”

Debenhams launches new body-shape guide

To coincide with the relaunch, Debenhams has created a body-shaping guide for both men and women, after research revealed that 86 percent of customers felt confused about dressing for their body shape.

The guide reveals that that the modern-day female form has evolved into a “fruit cocktail” of silhouettes, from the “double cherry” depicting curvy bust and hips with a small waist to the “rhubarb” for women with slim hips and small busts. While men’s changing contours inspire a whole vegetable patch of comparisons such as the “Aubergine” for men with rounded shoulders and slim arms with a bit of a tummy and possibly larger bottom and the “Leek” for men with slim shoulders, hips and legs.

Davey added: “We launched size 16 mannequins in our Oxford Street store at the end of last year and we’re continuing our commitment to promoting body confidence with more shapes and sizes for both men and women in our body shape guide.

“Our service is not about being too prescriptive, but instead helping to inspire people to try new things and identify when something isn’t quite right.”

The free service is available on the third floor of the Oxford Street store and shoppers can book appointments online or in person.