I write this with a heavy heart.
Covid (or probably more accurately, the Governments of the World) are yet again ravishing my business.
I had literally over the last couple of weeks sorted out the new dates for the Style Retreats, both in Italy and the UK, for 2022 with a feeling of hope and optimism. Only to have the news last week and at the weekend of new restrictions on travel, more money added to any trip you want to take in the guise of PCR tests, confusion, uncertainty and the most insidious of the lot - fear. That drip, drip, drip of fear they feed us on a daily basis.
Of course, I have the systems in place to work online. I have services that I offer that aren’t as full on as the Style Retreats and I am still doing those. But, the Style Retreats are my passion. I absolutely and deeply believe that style is so much more than the clothes you wear and I passionately believe that your style is instrinsantly linked with your self-confidence, your self-respect and your mental happiness and also how others view and react to you.
Yes, you can of course buy new clothes and feel great in them without going too deeply into it, but then they end up in the cupboard with the other stuff, never worn, because there was something about them that made you feel uncomfortable, not quite “you”.
The Style Retreats are all about finding out who you are, or re-finding who you were, looking at why and how you have changed, who you want to become and to achieve that in careful, small steps, to make sure that the change is for life and not just for those few days. Learning how to dress for your personality and body shape with the colours that best enhance you are the next steps and the shops and boutiques we visit to put it all into practice, are the icing on the cake.
But, I can understand why people don’t want to commit to travel at the moment and I can also understand that people don’t want to share the same house or studio with others they don’t know.
I am hoping that this madness will stop soon, that we will be able to get on with our lives and live with Covid in the same way we have learnt to live with all the other deadly diseases and illnesses.
But in the meantime, as we can’t get to Italy easily, I am bringing it to you - in the form of a Blog and, in the New Year, a Youtube channel called “Italy Inside And Out”. It is my love letter to Italy. I will be talking about anything and everything Italy has to offer from food, history, art and culture, music, traditions, stories from people I have met, about places I have visited and of course there will be a lot about fashion, style, brands, designers and artisans.
Because, for me, as Robert Browning said, “ Open My Heart And You Will See, Engraved Inside Of It, 'Italy'”
www.italyinsideandout.com - Click Here
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