Frequently asked questions

The entire course is online, so you can study from anywhere at any time. There are no in-person classes or meet-ups. The practical parts, such as draping, measuring and running a wardrobe audit, are taught in writing with worked examples, and you practice them on friends and family between units.

The course is written, not video. Each unit is a long read-through built around two working consultants and their clients, with worked examples, figures and real arithmetic, followed by a practice quiz and two short written assignments. You get instant access to your student dashboard the moment you enroll.

The Professional Course includes the first 6 units: image consulting foundations; setting up your consulting practice; color analysis and personal palette; body shape, proportion and fit; wardrobe audits and personal shopping; pricing, packages and your first clients. The Advanced Course adds the remaining 4: marketing and building your image consulting brand; client systems and virtual consulting; corporate image consulting; scaling: products, associates and long-term growth.

No. There are no education requirements and no fashion industry background is expected. If you care about how people dress, have a device and internet access, and are willing to practice on real people, you are ready to enroll.

We offer two options depending on how far you want to go. The Professional Course is $247 and the Advanced Course is $498. You can compare both on the courses page.

In-person programs have to pay for a classroom, an instructor for every day of the course, and often your travel and accommodation. This course is written and delivered online, so none of those costs exist. The honest trade-off is that there is no supervised practicum: you practice draping and measuring on people you know, using the method each unit sets out.

No hidden charges, subscription fees, membership dues or renewal fees. You pay once for your course and that is it. Optional add-ons are offered once at checkout and are never required to finish the course or earn the certificate.

Both courses come with a 100% money-back guarantee. If you decide the training is not right for you, just email us within 30 days and we will refund your payment, no questions asked.

You take an open-book online exam of 30 multiple-choice questions and 4 short written answers. You need at least 70 out of 100 to pass. You get up to 2 attempts and a resit costs nothing, with no waiting period in between. The exam is one sitting rather than something you save and come back to, so give yourself a clear hour.

The multiple-choice half is scored the moment you submit. The written half is read by a person, usually within two business days, and your result arrives by email. If you do not pass, you get notes on what would have earned full marks rather than just a number.

Yes. Once you complete the course and pass the exam, you receive a personalized digital certificate with your name and the date you finished, naming you a Certified Image Consultant Professional (C.I.C.P.).

You resit it, at no cost, up to 2 attempts in total. Your result email tells you your score, splits it between the multiple-choice and written halves so you know where to focus, and includes any notes your marker left. You can sit it again as soon as you are ready.

No. The Certified Image Consultant Professional (C.I.C.P.) is a training certificate. It records that you completed our course and passed an exam with written answers marked by a person. It is not a government license, and it does not need to be one: image consulting and personal styling are not licensed professions in the United States, so no state requires a license to advise clients on color, fit or wardrobe. Our certification standards set out exactly what the credential covers.

No. There is no legal requirement to hold any certification before you work as an image consultant or personal stylist. What clients pay for is a reliable result, and training is how most people get there faster than trial and error on paying clients. A certificate also gives a new consultant something concrete to point to before they have a portfolio. Our guide on how to become an image consultant covers what you do need, such as business registration and insurance.

It is worth it if it teaches you a method you can repeat and makes you practice it. Look at what the course actually covers, how you are assessed and what it costs. This one teaches color analysis, proportion and fit, wardrobe audits, pricing and finding clients, then tests you with an exam that includes written answers read by a person. It costs $247 or $498 once, with a 30-day money-back guarantee if it is not for you.

As long as it takes you to work through the units and sit the exam. The course is self-paced with no deadline and no expiry, so some students finish in a few focused weeks while others fit it around a job over several months. Each unit is a substantial written lesson with a quiz and two assignments, and the exam covers the first 6 units, so you can sit it once those are done.

Here, the certificate is included in the course price: $247 for the Professional Course or $498 for the Advanced Course. There is no separate exam fee, no resit fee and no annual renewal. Elsewhere, costs vary widely, from short online programs to multi-day in-person training with travel on top, and association certifications carry their own membership and application requirements. Compare what each includes rather than the headline price alone.

No, and we would rather say so plainly. The C.I.C.P. is not accredited by an outside body or a government agency, because image consulting has no government licensing and no single accrediting authority. It is our own credential, awarded on a published standard: complete the training, then pass an exam scored out of 100 with a pass mark of 70, part of it marked by a person. Every certificate can be checked on our verification page.

The Association of Image Consultants International (AICI) is the main professional association in this field, and it runs its own certification levels, including Certified Image Consultant (CIC), Certified Image Professional (CIP) and Certified Image Master (CIM). Those involve portfolio review and, at the higher levels, years of practice. The C.I.C.P. is a training certificate from our course and is not connected to AICI. Many consultants train first and pursue an association designation later, and the two do not conflict.

Color analysis is taught in depth in Unit 3: reading value, contrast, chroma and undertone, running a draping session in a repeatable order, and delivering a palette a client can shop from. It is part of the one certificate rather than a separate color analysis certification. The course does not certify you in any trademarked seasonal system, since several of those are sold as their own products. To see how clients experience color, try our color analysis quiz.

Yes, in the sense that matters. Personal styling (wardrobe audits, capsule building and shopping to a brief) is a core part of the course, alongside color and fit. The certificate is titled as an image consultant credential because it covers the wider role, including corporate work in the Advanced units. Many graduates describe their service to clients as personal styling, which is accurate as long as the certificate itself is named correctly.

Yes. Every certificate carries a unique verification ID, and anyone can enter it on our certificate verification page to confirm your name, the credential and the date it was issued. That lets you put the credential on your website or proposals and let a client or a corporate buyer confirm it in a few seconds without contacting us.

No. The credential does not expire and there is no renewal fee or continuing education requirement attached to it. You are asked to keep to our code of conduct, which mainly means describing the certificate accurately as completed training and never as a license.

An image consultant helps people present themselves the way they want to be read, through color, fit, wardrobe and, for some clients, how they come across at work. Typical services include color analysis, body proportion and fit guidance, wardrobe audits, personal shopping and workshops for businesses. The work ends in something the client keeps: a palette, a working wardrobe, a shopping list. Read more in what an image consultant does.

The titles overlap and neither is legally protected. Personal stylists usually focus on clothes: wardrobe audits, outfits and shopping. Image consultants often cover that and more, such as color analysis, fit and proportion, and corporate work on presence and dress codes. Clients care less about the title than about what you deliver, so describe your services by what the client walks away with.

Color analysis is a method for finding the colors that work best with a person's natural coloring. A consultant reads the skin, eyes and hair for value (how light or deep), contrast, chroma (how bright or soft) and undertone (warm or cool), usually by holding fabric drapes near the face in good natural light. The result is a palette the client can shop from. Our free color analysis quiz gives a rough first idea, though it is no substitute for an in-person draping.

Prices vary widely by location, the consultant's experience and what is included. A session that comes with physical swatches and a written report costs more to deliver than one that ends with a verbal verdict, because the report and swatches take real time to prepare. If you are setting your own price, build it from your hours, including preparation, travel and follow-up, with our rate calculator.

Personal stylists charge in different ways: by the session, by the hour, as a package combining an audit and a shopping trip, or on a day rate for corporate work. What drives the price is the total time involved, including preparation and follow-up, as well as local demand. Our guide to what image consultants and personal stylists earn explains how those rates translate into income.

Income depends on your prices, how many sessions you can genuinely deliver each week, and how much unpaid time each one carries. Part-time consultants and those with corporate contracts can end up in very different places, so one headline figure is misleading. Our guide to personal stylist salaries and image consultant income works through the models, and the income calculator lets you test your own numbers.

Learn a reliable method for color, fit and wardrobe work, practice it on people you know, then set up the business properly: register it, insure it and write a client agreement. Price each service from your real hours, and book your first clients mostly from people who already know you. Our step-by-step guide on how to become an image consultant covers each stage in order.

Not as an image consultant or personal stylist, since the work is unlicensed in the United States. You may still need to register the business, get a local business license from your city or county, and collect sales tax on any products you sell. The one common exception is makeup: applying makeup to clients can require a cosmetology or related license in many states, so check with your state board before offering it.

Less than most businesses, because there are no premises or stock to buy. The main costs are a consulting kit (drapes, a cape, a tape measure), insurance, registration and a simple website. What you choose to buy up front makes a large difference, so rather than quote a figure, our startup cost calculator lets you tick what you actually need and see your own budget.

Mostly through people who already know them: friends, colleagues, former coworkers and the people those contacts recommend. Offering a small number of practice sessions, asking for honest feedback, and building referral relationships with hair salons and photographers all help. Unit 6 of the course works through booking the first ten paying clients, and our guide on starting as an image consultant summarizes the approach.

There is no password. Enter your email address on the sign-in page and we send you a six digit code that lasts ten minutes. The code only works in the browser that asked for it, so request it on the device you want to use. If it does not arrive, wait a minute before asking for another one, and check your spam folder.

Payments are confirmed by our payment provider a moment after you pay, and access opens automatically when that lands. If you sign in during that gap you will see a page saying we are confirming your payment, and it opens your course by itself. If it has been more than a few minutes, email us with the reference on that page.

Sign in and open your account page. Every purchase is listed there with its invoice number, and the "Open billing and receipts" button takes you to our payment provider where you can download the receipt itself.

Yes, and you only pay the difference rather than the full price. The option is on your dashboard once you are signed in. It charges the card you enrolled with, and if that card no longer works you can complete it at the normal checkout instead.

No. They are yours to work through and nobody marks them. They matter for a different reason: the written half of the final exam is drawn from the first assignment question in units 1 to 4, and your own answer is already in the box when you sit it.

No. Each unit quiz is practice, your score is not reported to anyone, and it has no effect on your certificate. It exists so you can check something landed before building on top of it. The final exam is the one that counts.

No. Access does not expire, there is no schedule, and nothing is lost if you put it down for a few months. Your progress is saved as you go.