I have just spent a long weekend in a beautiful country house with a gaggle of image consultants from all over the world. Some are relatively new to the industry, and some are ‘old hands’ and real experts, but all are seriously lovely people (mainly women) who are easy to get on with, and happy to help each other out, whilst maintaining their own business edge.

Not being myself a very girly-girl, I have always had a dread fear of large groups of women together in one place. It can be very intimidating to have your peers apparently watching your every move, and in this case, every outfit you wear, whether you feel well put together or just flung something on (in my case because I put my heel through my trouser hem on the way in). But I have to say, I enjoyed it, and learned loads of things, not all of which were on the agenda!

As with most events, the unscripted sessions are usually the best. Nowadays we are taught to call these ‘networking’, but in reality it is chilling out with friends old and new, having a good whinge and a quick bitching session, then putting the world to rights over good food and wine. A bit of almost-work-related pampering never did a soul any harm.

As you can imagine, one topic recurring throughout the weekend is how image consulting will fare in a recession, or financial crash, or call it what you will, when we are all economising? Have you ever noticed how a group of women together will never admit that they are each not doing as well as everybody else in the room? So it is hard to judge the reality, but overall the mood was upbeat.

Personally I think that people reach a point in  their lives where they want to find out more about looking good, or are having a crisis of confidence, and that is when they seek out an image consultant. If you are not ready, you will not bother. I do not believe it is on a tick-list of ‘things I have to do before….’ so people will still want help and reassurance, to boost their confidence. It is just a question of how they spend their disposable income.

There is an argument that your clothes shopping becomes more effective (as in more value per £) if you have your basic rules, but whilst that is certainly valid, it is not, in my experience, a reason to seek out help. we will see over the coming months if articles written around the various subjects involved in image consulting start to contain cost-cutting references. It is not and never has been about spending loads of money on designer outfits or a new wardrobe, but it is still perceived as a bit of pampering, a treat, and to drive it forward on a cost agenda would, to my mind, be entirely wrong. The next few months will be interesting for all of us.