To join the Stylist career in The Sims 3, you need the Ambitions expansion and a Young Adult or older Sim: go to the salon in town and choose the option to join the Stylist profession, or pick Stylist from the job listings on a computer or in the newspaper. The Sim starts as a Fashion Fledgling and earns through makeover jobs rather than just clocking in. Below we cover the requirements, both ways to sign up, how a makeover job works, and how to raise your success rate.
What You Need
The Stylist is one of the playable professions added by The Sims 3: Ambitions, the same pack behind Firefighter, Ghost Hunter, Investigator and Architectural Designer. Without Ambitions there is no Stylist, no salon venue, and no makeover mode.
Professions in Ambitions are full-time jobs, so the Sim must be a Young Adult, Adult or Elder. Teens are limited to part-time work. If your Sim already has a job, taking this one replaces it; see our quitting guide for what leaving a job costs.
How to Sign Up
At the salon. Ambitions adds a salon venue to your world. Click the salon and choose the option to join the Stylist profession. If your world has no salon, place one from Edit Town on a community lot.
From job listings. Click a computer or laptop and browse the job listings, or have the Sim read the newspaper. Stylist shows up there alongside the other Ambitions professions.
Per the community wiki, stylists work Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 7 PM, and are paid a weekly stipend that starts in the low hundreds of simoleons at level 1 and climbs past two thousand at level 10. Unlike a rabbit-hole job, the Sim does not vanish into a building for the shift. Stylists are active: during work hours they can travel to clients’ homes, work the salon floor, and come and go.
How Makeover Jobs Work
Makeover jobs are where the money is. Each completed job pays a fee on top of the stipend.
- Find a job. Open the Career panel, or switch to Map View and turn on the jobs and opportunities filter Ambitions adds, to see open makeover requests around town.
- Travel to the client. Head to the client’s home or meet them at the salon.
- Start the makeover. The game opens a makeover room, a trimmed-down version of Create-A-Sim with hair, makeup and clothing only.
- Meet the brief. The client’s requirements appear in the upper right corner of the makeover room. A request might need several everyday outfits plus formalwear, athletic wear, shoes and a new hairstyle. Use the plus button to add extra outfits in a category when the brief asks for more than one.
- Finish and wait for the verdict. The client decides whether they like the look. Success pays more, raises the relationship, and lets you take a photo for the Sim’s Fashion Design Portfolio. Failure lowers pay and the relationship.
Stylists can also deliberately give a bad makeover, which the client does not appreciate. Per the community wiki, a well-executed makeover can still fail occasionally with a message that the client is “just too picky.”
As the Sim levels, more options open. The community wiki lists freestyle makeovers at level 3 and the ability to solicit styling services on other Sims during work hours at level 4, with fashion advice socials further up.
How to Get Better at It
Painting is the key skill. The Stylist career uses the Painting skill as its main skill, so a high level raises success rates. Build it at an easel, or at the drafting table Ambitions adds, where the Sim can study fashion and produce fashion sketches that sell like paintings. If you would rather skip the grind, our skill cheats guide covers the shortcut.
Read the brief carefully. Missing a single requirement risks the job. Check every line before you finish.
Friendly and charismatic Sims do better at selling services, according to player reports, which helps when soliciting new clients.
Work from home. Ambitions adds a styling station in Buy Mode, so the Sim can see clients at home as well as at the salon. Wiki sources disagree on whether home styling pays from the start or opens at a higher career level, so check the station’s options on your own lot.
Keep the portfolio full. Successful makeovers go into the portfolio, and building it is one of the career’s listed responsibilities along with styling and earnings.
Career Rewards
The community wiki lists these rewards for the profession:
- Stylist Trophy for making over 10 Sims
- High Style Ribbon for 50 makeovers
- Fashionable Medal for 100 makeovers
- Stylist’s Key to the Town for reaching level 10
- Dazzling Looking Glass for 25 makeovers after reaching level 10
Top-level stylists also get a permanent positive moodlet, per the same source. If you also own Late Night, a stylist can chase fame of their own; our celebrity guide covers how.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which pack has the Stylist career? The Sims 3: Ambitions. It also adds the salon, the drafting table and the makeover room.
Can teens be stylists? No. Professions are for Young Adults, Adults and Elders.
What skill does a stylist need? Painting. Leveling it at an easel or the Ambitions drafting table raises makeover success.
Why did my makeover fail even though I met every requirement? Low job experience and plain bad luck can still sink a job; the game sometimes marks a client as too picky. Keep leveling Painting and taking jobs.
Can I do makeovers without leaving home? The styling station from Buy Mode lets a stylist work on clients at home. Player sources differ on the career level at which home styling earns money, so expect to rely on salon and house-call jobs early on.
For every other Sims 3 walkthrough, see our Sims hub.