The Added Cost of Fashion Styling Classes

The training of image and fashion stylists is bound to cost more than just base tuition.  As you create your budget for your education in this field, make sure to anticipate additional expenses and plan for those extras.  Don’t let the added cost of fashion styling classes catch you off guard.

Equipment

Make a list of any special equipment you may need that will not be supplied by your school.  This could include anything from a computer to a dress mannequin.  As a rule, the smaller the school, the less equipment you’ll have at your disposal.  Larger, better established programs are more likely to have tools you can use in their labs.

The vast majority of fashion courses today teach digital design.  Owning a lap top or handheld touch screen computer is essential.  Even if you do have access to a computer lab at school, the amount of time you can spend there will be limited.  You’ll want to have something of your own that you can work with off-campus.

Any reputable design academy will have sewing machines.  The question is, how many per student?  On a large campus each student may be lucky enough to have his or her own machine.  If the school is small, you may have to share.

You will probably still be able to complete projects, but you won’t have as much freedom to experiment and make mistakes.  If you have your own sewing machine, you’ll be able to test, practice and get creative.  There is also something to be said for the comfort you derive from using a machine you are completely familiar with.

Fabric

Fashion styling classes will typically offer students a small selection of economy fabrics.  The emphasis is on the word economy.  These certainly won’t be chic, luxurious materials and you won’t have yards and yards to play with.

Upscale fabric in fabulous prints costs money and most colleges cannot afford to buy enough for everyone to use.  Plan ahead and set aside money so you can get the necessary fancy materials for big projects.

Thread, Bits & Bobs

As with fabric, your classrooms will be stocked with buttons, zippers, thread, etc.  Expect these to be low cost inventory bought in bulk.  If you have a taste for ornate, high-end bits and bobs, you will be responsible for buying them yourself.

Patterns

Your textbooks will, of course, include certain clothing patterns.  Your professors will assign specific texts so that you can learn how to construct apparel.  To satisfy your craving for designing clothing beyond what’s in the book, you’re may be your own.

Also, design students tend to collect pattern books like a culinary student collects cook books.  They become a part of your career library and a resource for you when learning the foundations of tailoring so that you can deconstruct new fashions and invent new looks.

Travel & Lifestyle

Finally, when you embark on fashion styling classes, your lifestyle will change.  If you think it’s hard to resist that super fly new designer bag now, just wait until you’re living and breathing fashion day in and day out. 

Every serious fashion student can benefit from a trip to New York Fashion Week, and an aspiring designer who has never visited Paris will never truly understand couture.  Most importantly, you must hang out in the hot spots of the fashion world in order to stay in touch with the next great fad.

All of this takes money and if you don’t want to end your education owing more than you can afford, you should take the time you need to assess your financial situation in advance.  There are plenty of good student loans, some that are even subsidized, that will help you pay for your education.  That way, you can focus on your learning while you are at school rather than where your next tuition payment will be coming from.