Anand Gopal had never considered working with a stylist. "I always thought personal stylists were for the elite," the 45-year-old award-winning journalist and author told Business Insider. Then, he met Zahra Waliji at a party and saw the outfits she'd put together for his friends. He thought she was talented and enlisted her to style him for a friend's birthday party in January. Gopal, who's based in New York, said he spent a few hundred dollars on the service, less than he expected.