I recently interviewed Caroline Baker (former super-stylist and fashion editor) for my next book and we talked about her favourite styling ‘tool’, the safety pin. Returning from a Nova magazine shoot in Japan via Thailand in the 1970s, she spent 24 hours in Bangkok where she noticed a recurring styling detail on the locals; their blue jackets fastened with safety pins.
“So I did a spread with Harry Peccinotti. Nova loved double page spreads, so we did a safety pin over a double page spread, holding together this sweet little jacket. I love safety pins, so when John Lydon came out, that was his symbol and suddenly safety pins became it. It came to be an outside thing and it was OK. Because [previously] if you safety pinned your clothes, you would hide them if you were a well bought up girl. And as a stylist, you become aware of safety pins, because you have to safety pin the clothing to fit the model, so that you never shot anybody from the back.”
We then laughed at the equally secret weapon of the humble bulldog clip and photographer’s clamp (hardcore metal clamp with sharp teeth for cinching heavyweight fabrics like denim – use with tissue paper!); the assistant’s eagle eye would have to ensure it was never visible in the shot.
All this came back to me on discovering the book, Assistants by French stylist Virginie Benarroch and photographer Lola Raban. The book looks at fashion assistants’ style and the idiosyncrasies of their individual kits, tricks and style codes. Niche, but relatable! (Think, ‘what’s in my bag’ for fashion BTS insiders.)
“I think the assistant stylists are fascinating,” says stylist Virginie Benarroch“Their work kit reveals a lot of their personality.” As photographer Lola Raban observed, “I wanted to photograph on several scales. A face. One hand. A clip in a kit. The same assistant who adjusts a millimetre of fabric will, ten minutes later, force twelve suitcases in an elevator.”
My own styling kit (now retired) was an old Hysteric Glamour mini backpack with integrated bumbag, stuffed with lint rollers, fringes of different sized safety pins, a never-ending supply of sheer nude thongs, and a metre of leather cord (always great for an impromptu necklace with some random charm or other strung on it). And of course, the essential industrial strength bulldog clamps.
Assistants is out soon (with three different covers). See more here. 
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Assistants by Virginie Benarroch and Lola Raban
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here.
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