Every stylist needs a contact database to keep track of everyone, include the designers’ PR firm (for samples), studio services and boutiques (for pulls), and creative teams (for brainstorming). A contact database organizes and holds a stylist’s trusted network. Styling has its share of fashion emergencies (“I need a Dolce dress for a cover shoot in eight hours?! WHAT?!”), which means a stylist worth his/her day rate must keep a very resourceful and updated database.

Over the years, I have seen contact databases in many forms. Marie Amelie Sauve kept her “database” in a Hermes agenda when I was assisting her. In 2007 when I was at Pop Magazine, all of the editors kept track of their contacts via Blackberries synced with their iMacs. Nowadays, I prefer to keep my database in a Mobile Me account that syncs with my iPhone, iPad and MacBook (yes, I am a Mac nerd). Keeping my database in an account like Mobile Me or Gmail allows my trusted assistants to access and update my contacts from any web browser. I recommend keeping a stylist’s database electronically that can be backed up because even the best of us have suffered a lost address book. It can take weeks, months, and sometimes years to gather all of the information again from scratch.

A thorough database includes the following contacts by name, company, work phone, mobile phone, email, address, and notes (titles, agents, assistants, birthdays, other important applicable info) in every city and country the stylist works: