Image consultant Joyce McCluskey did not so much launch a business as stage a sartorial coup. Long before “Image Matters” opened its elegantly polished doors in Scotland, McCluskey’s runway began thousands of miles away—in a desert kingdom where style was hidden behind an “Abaya” and everyday life unfolded inside a gated “compound”.
From Abaya to Armani: The Culture-Shock Catalyst
In the late ’90s, McCluskey swapped Britain for Saudi Arabia with her husband and two young children. Inside the family “compound”, life felt almost utopian—pools shimmering, barbecues crackling—yet beyond the walls women couldn’t drive, cafés shielded female patrons behind screens and clothing stores outlawed fitting rooms. “My life became wearing shorts and T-shirts or an Abaya,” she recalls.
After five veiled years the family decamped to Dubai, a city that dazzles even the most jet-set of Vogue fashion journalists. The skyscrapers glittered, the malls mesmerised, and locals sashayed through marble atria in head-to-toe splendour.
McCluskey, fresh from fashion exile, felt like a wallflower at Couture Week. “I was a fashion disaster!” she admits—with the kind of candour that wins hearts and clients alike.
The Power of Colour: A Transformational Gift
Enter the birthday present that changed everything: a professional colour and style analysis. “Suddenly I realised that I had been wearing the wrong colours and a lot of my ‘dressy’ clothes were unflattering for my body shape.”
Guided by her own image consultant, she edited her wardrobe with surgical precision—saving gems, discarding duds, and sketching a capsule collection worthy of any front-row street-style gallery.
Compliments flooded in, and so did confidence. Looking good on the outside, she discovered, could recalibrate the inside. A decade later, back in the UK and with children grown, McCluskey decided to return the favour:
“I imagined the satisfaction I would get if I could help other people achieve what an image consultation had done for me.”
Training, Covid…and a Daring Leap
She spent two years earning a diploma, polishing skills from colour theory to silhouette science. Then Covid arrived, the world pressed pause, and the newly minted stylist took an admin position in private healthcare.
But milestone birthdays have a way of sharpening focus. When a “big birthday” loomed, McCluskey delivered her own runway finale: “It’s now or never!!”
The Birth of “Image Matters”
Launching a consultancy is no featherweight challenge; persuading Britons to invest in personal branding can feel like talking anyone but Anna Wintour into ditching her sunglasses.
Yet McCluskey’s pitch is disarmingly practical. An image consultation, she explains, prevents “mistake buys”, saves hours wandering rails and, most crucially, “your confidence soars in all aspects of your life when you walk into a room knowing you look your best—because, despite what people often think, ‘Image Matters’.”
Why an Image Consultant Is Your Secret Weapon
- Time is money – A targeted shopping list beats random retail therapy.
- Wardrobe sustainability – Fewer impulse purchases, more mindful investments.
- Professional polish – Whether pitching to investors or walking down the aisle, first impressions set the tone.
- Inner-outer harmony – Style is psychology in fabric form; dress the part and the mindset follows.
Throughout each session, McCluskey deploys the same alchemy that transformed her own life: colour draping, body-shape decoding, and strategic outfit planning—all delivered with a Vogue-worthy wink.
The Next Chapter
Today, Image Matters operates from a sunlit studio in Fife, welcoming clients who crave clarity in a world of endless trends. Bookings are brisk, word of mouth is gospel, and McCluskey is living proof that resilience never goes out of style.
If you feel that spark of inspiration—or simply want to banish wardrobe paralysis—contact Joyce McCluskey (Image Consultant) at [email protected].
After all, as every fashionista knows, transformation begins with taking the first step into the fitting room—and sometimes the key to that door is an expert by your side.
