I have been living most of my daily life in yoga clothes for quite some time now. Possibly years. It isn’t just because I practice yoga and they feel so damn comfortable, but also because for an even longer time I haven’t really known what ‘normal’, day-to-day clothes do and don’t suit me.
I know what I feel good in – simple shapes, clean lines, comfortable materials, dresses in particular, anything that makes me feel elegant but that’s also practical. I’ve no idea, however, why something looks good on me, while something else makes me look like I’m 10 and The Queen Mother still dresses me.
No idea at all.
So to be safe, and though it’s not always good for us we all like to be safe – on go the stretchy trousers, the long sleeved top and the zipped cardigan, and on go the long boots or the flip flops depending on the weather. Occasionally I might venture into a pair of jeans, and I do love a floaty dress. Abroad somewhere hot, I tend to drape myself in long flowing silky things to avoid having to decide what proper clothes to wear. I travel in yoga clothes, naturally, but don’t ask me what I wear to have meetings in (even The Queen has meetings) or attend social occasions in – I prefer not to think about it.
The Queen of Retreats is fed up with her answer to wardrobe issues abroad, which is to cover everything up with silky skirts & shawls.
A tad fed up with the situation, I decided to give myself an early birthday present (who says I can’t?) and book a session with Maggie McMillan. This lady’s a style consultant based in London and the South East who offers intriguing ‘body mapping’ one-to-ones to help people a little stuck with their wardrobes – people like me.
I met Maggie in a room at The Metropolitan Hotel in London last month and I tell you, this woman knows what she’s talking about. She has a lovely way of saying it too – she’s warm and personable with lots of life experience, and we had a lot of giggles during our delightful 2.5 hour session.
So what did she do? Eschewing technology (my kind of lady, even if I do run a website), Maggie stuck a large roll of brown paper up on my hotel room wall, asked me to stand infront of it, then drew around my body shape in a thick black pen. She then sat me down and over a cup of mint tea told me which shapes, colours, items of clothing, jewellery, scarves and even make up would suit my shape, colouring and lifestyle.
Palazzo pants, maxi dresses, vesty tops, statement jewellery, kaftans, tunics, leggings – I loved all the suggestions she made and the words she used to make them. The feedback was fun and full of beautifully simple revelations. Ah! So that’s why I’ve always loved Kingfisher blue and why I look like a doughnut when I wear baggy shirts… you get the kind of thing.
Style consultant Maggie McMillan, who has saved The Queen of Retreats from wardrobe disaster
Maggie was especially talented at helping me identify what it is I really need for the kind of life I really lead, not the one I think I lead in my head. So that’s a proper balance between the beside-the-sea girl and mother in Devon, the writer and editor with her own office, and the travel journalist and spa/retreat goer (well somebody has to do it – don’t they?). She even gave me tips on where to buy stuff, too, whilst also cautioning that less is always far far more (again, she’s my kind of lady).
Maggie couldn’t sort through my wardrobe as it was a four hour journey away in Devon, but my session with her helped me decide what clothes I should get rid of once and for all and understand why some things suited me more than others. Her advice also means I’ll be far less likely in future to waste time and money buying dodgy items I only look at with horror the following week. She sees as many men as she does women, by the way! Mmm, maybe I should book The King in – it might get him out of his wetsuit a bit more.
I’m wearing yoga clothes as I type this, and I’m allowed, because I’m in my palace and I am going to do some downward dogs in a minute – really I am. I will however be putting on something a little different when I head out later to meet The Queen Mother for a cup of tea – I hope she likes it.
© Queen of Retreats
Maggie McMillan offers private consultations, accompanied shopping trips, pampering makeover weekends at Grayshott Spa and training at her Style Counsel Academy. Interested in any of these? You can ask Maggie a question here:
You will feel sooooooo much better! No more “Wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear2 and guilt building expensive mistakes ! Its therapy!!!!