Millie Mackintosh’s New Favourite Outfit Is £45 From This High Street Collection – And You Can Shop It Now

Millie Mackintosh is busy. Mother-of-two, model, podcaster, author, businesswoman and content creator, her time as an original cast member on Made In Chelsea – while we remember it fondly – almost feels like a lifetime ago.

To add another string to her already-impressive bow, Millie has launched her first collection with the retailer Very. A celebration of all the roles we play in modern-day life, it's a mixture of cosy knits and jackets, tailored blazers, functional day-to-night pieces and festive party favourites.

We sat down with her ahead of the launch to discuss the autumn/winter essentials she's loving from the edit, how her style has changed since becoming a mum, and how her eldest daughter, Sienna, is already a fashionista in the making.

We find her in a moment of quiet, as Hugo Taylor, her husband and fellow MIC alumni, has taken their daughters, Sienna and Aurelia, to the park. To kick things off, we delve right into the good stuff - discussing the experience of creating the collection with Very and her favourite pieces.

'It was really good fun - collaborating with [Very] and creating my edit of my favourite autumn/winter pieces. I definitely wanted to put a lot of pieces in there that I would wear a lot in my wardrobe, that are my key staples, that I know you would get a lot of wear from and you can wear different ways.

'I really love the teddy coat - it’s a staple that you can wear with anything. You can literally wear it to the gym over your leggings, you can wear it over a dress in the evening, wear it with your jeans and your knitwear and it looks good.'

'You can wear it more oversized and dress it up or down and I love the texture. I love mixing textures for autumn - it’s a really fun way to keep warm with layering, even though you want to be warm, you want to look nice.

'I also really love the denim jumpsuit - I’m wearing it now - it’s got these cute little puff sleeves and definitely since having my children, I’ve really found my love of denim again. I’m really enjoying getting back into jeans and separates and blazers which I didn’t wear so much when I was pregnant.'

There must be a piece that Millie feels will be a fan-favourite... The zig-zag dress, she says, is a perfect option for Christmas parties and festive events.

'It has a really lovely swish to it. I think it’s a really gorgeous one for parties but again you could dress it up or down - you could wear it in the day with a blazer and boots or you could wear it with heels and a glam bag or a smokey eye and a red lip to make it more dressy.

'There are lots of wearable pieces - there’s a gorgeous green padded parka in there I think that will do really well if you want a more casual outerwear piece. I love that for walks in the park when you want to throw on something really warm.'

Millie has previously spoken about discovering her maternity style but as she now has two children under three, there's no doubt her look has evolved once more. 'It definitely has been quite a style journey but I think certain aspects have stayed the same,' she says.

'I do still like to play with different proportions and lengths and sometimes still wear a super short skirt or short dress, but that’s not always practical now if I’m with the kids. You end up bending down half the time to pick them up – I flashed my pants at a kids’ party and I was like, I’ve got to think about that.

'It’s changed a bit in terms of the place I’m at in my life now. I’ve always really loved clothes and enjoyed the transformational feeling I get when I put on a nice outfit and how it can transform my mood and make me feel great... I get a lot of joy from clothes and expressing myself through what I wear.'

And as for dressing for toddler life? It has to be machine-washable, naturally.

'I’d say jeans - a good pair of blue denim jeans, at this time of year, a knit - something quite casual. I’m probably going to be putting it on with a pair of chunky flat biker boots or a pair of trainers, something easy if I’m running around with them. If I’m going somewhere a bit more dressy with them I might wear a heeled pair of ankle boots - something I can actually walk in and not twist my ankle.'

Any follower of Millie's will note her passion for wellness, and it will come as no surprise that fashion plays a huge part in that. When asked if there's a specific outfit she goes to in order to instantly feel better, she told us, 'Definitely - I’ve found, from experiences like lockdown, and having the kids when you don’t have much time, it’s easy to just reach for the same thing every day or just live in activewear or loungewear - that became such a thing over lockdown.

'It’s so comfy but I would sometimes be like, 'ok I need to actually put a nice outfit on and spend even five minutes putting a bit of make-up on' and just put something on that makes you feel good. For me, I really love dresses and a nice pair of boots or heels and spending five minutes even just putting dry shampoo in your hair and giving it a quick brush and putting literally three make-up products on. That can really transform how you feel.'

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and when we asked about fashion advice Millie would give her younger self, she laughed, 'Wear a coat! I would literally just go out in a tiny outfit and no coat all year round and I was so cold.

'Older women would say to me like ‘love just put a coat on’ - but now I’m that woman. You need a coat. Now I’m a mum I know I’ll be like that to the girls when they get older.'

If you follow Millie on Instagram, you won't want to miss her posts documenting her daughter Sienna's fashion chronicles. We're calling it - #StyledBySienna will be big. So, does the mum-of-two already envision two little fashionistas in the making?

'I can. Obviously, their choice of style is edited by me because I’ve bought their clothes - they have to choose from what’s there. [But] Sienna loves flowers, she always wants to wear something with flowers on it. That hasn’t come from me pushing it on her - I do wear a lot of floral prints as well, and prints in general, so maybe she picks up on that.

'She has a couple of different tutus, she often wants to wear them with her pink glittery wellies - that’s a favourite outfit which is just so cute. And I’m like 'yep, you can wear that. It’s going to get muddy but we can wash it'. It’s so cute that I’m just like, go for it.'

'She really wants to get into my make-up bag, so that’s the current battle. She makes me draw flowers on her arm with lip liner, it’s a bit of a trap because every time she comes into my room she asks me to draw things on her arms, like little tattoos. Then just has them on her the whole day. I don’t know if that’s bad but she’s into it.'

When she's not at home with her family, Millie can quite often be found jet-setting, having recently visited Paris and Turkey. This penchant for travel must have resulted in some ingenious packing tips.

'It can be really overwhelming when you’re packing for a trip, I find planning is really good. Thinking about the place that you’re going to and building your wardrobe from there.

'I do tend to pack quite differently depending on the place I’m going - it’s normally inspired by [the destination]. If I’m about to go to Paris, I’ll be thinking about Parisian style and packing things like blazers, denim and stripes - taking inspiration from the person I feel like I want to be when I'm there is quite fun.

'Use packing cubes, I find that really helps your case be really organised, I quite like rolling things that crease easily, pack a little handheld steamer if you’ve got stuff that you think will get creased in your case.'

Her favourite tip? 'Use half your husband’s case as well…'.