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Trinny and Susannah on avoiding fashion boobs
FASHION gurus Trinny and Susannah return to our screens next week with their new series Undress the Nation. Here the pair give their uncensored views on all things fashion to Joni Ager and talk about getting Rothwell women to expose their bras.
Anyone passing through Rothwell's Market Square on May Day Bank Holiday would have been greeted by the sight of 1,000 women showing off their bras.
The stunt was for Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation, the new TV series featuring the unforgiving fashion gurus.
The first episode of the series aimed to demonstrate just how many British women are wearing the wrong sized bra.
Having enlisted the help of Desborough bra factory Eveden, the women who turned up on the day were measured and fitted with a brand new bra in the right size for them.
Out of the 1,000 people taking part, only 72 women were wearing the correct size.
Once fitted with the right size, the women were gathered in the town's Market Square and invited to show off their new bras – the whole thing being caught on camera and set to be screened to millions of viewers on
ITV1 next week.
Jenny Hunter, of Eveden, said: "The programme makers came and filmed in the factory then our fitting experts were involved on the day of the big bra fit.
"It's very common for women to be wearing the wrong size. We specialise in larger cup sizes, up to a J cup, and fit, comfort and support is of the utmost importance."
Cedwien Brown, a Rothwell councillor who took part in filming, said: "It was a great day. Everyone gathered in the Market Square and got measured and fitted with a brand new bra for free.
"Out of the 1,000 who took part only 72 people were wearing the right size bra. I was way out and I've now promised myself every six months I'm going to get measured.
"We were warned that Trinny and Susannah were planning the stunt at the end and our initial reaction was 'Okay, as long as it's not going to bring the town into disrepute'. We had quite a few meetings with the producers beforehand and we were quite happy with what they were planning to do.
"Trinny and Susannah themselves were lovely. Their personas on-screen are a bit fierce but they are both really lovely ladies."
What makes this series different to the last one?
Susannah – This series is far more about campaigns that we have felt have gained momentum through all our series and we've never truly dealt with as one subject matter, so instead of taking an individual person that we are going to change, we're taking a campaign that will change many people.
Which was your favourite episode to film?
Susannah – Shape, because it made us see that everything we felt for years had justification – all the research we've done. It was a really great scale of research realised.
What do you think is the nation's biggest style problem?
Susannah – I think the nation's biggest style problem is to be inspired by a celebrity whose shape they don't have and try and emulate their dress sense.
It's certainly not a 'makeover show' this series – has it been more difficult or has it been easier to tackle huge national problems?
Susannah – It's been much more interesting. We've done couples and individuals for a long time now and we felt ready to move on to tackle bigger subjects. And I think we learned so much as we've always done and I think while you continue to learn things you're always going to be interested and excited by what you're doing.
What has this series done for your relationship with one another? Is this series more focused on your relationship?
Susannah – Yes, the series is more focused on our relationship because we're both going very much on a journey of discovery. Yes we knew a lot about boobs before we started out but there was something we wanted to achieve at the end of it and we were determined together. Then with other ones it was a learning curve and we both gained great different things from it, from each experience but as a consequence it brought us even closer together.
Trinny, how did you feel when you had prosthetic breasts fitted? Were you relieved to have your own back?
Trinny – I was relieved to have my own back but in equal measure I missed what it gave to my body.
Were you surprised at the number of women who are wearing the wrong size bra?
Trinny – Staggered.
Do you think that women are just embarrassed to discuss the issue and actually go into a shop to get measured?
Susannah – No, I don't think it is an embarrassment. I think it is laziness and not realising the true benefit of being fitted correctly.
Do you think men will take on the dress code? How do British men dress compared to other nationalities? Who are the best dressed?
Susannah – I think men are very surprisingly responsive towards the male dress code. All types of men from builders to beer-bellied, to the more refined, to tourists, everyone. All men seem to get it. They find it quite interesting and I think that as far as British men are concerned they let themselves down mostly when they're abroad. I think the football shirt is so prevalent in this country, as is that sort of dark plain short-sleeved T-shirt.
As best dressed men are concerned, I like a man with a bit of flamboyance myself. I think Jake Shears dresses very well and David Furnish also dresses very well. And you know who I really love – Rufus Wainwright, the way he will wear a really tailored suit with a Dior necklace.
Susannah, how did it make you feel when you were aged to look like a 70-year-old woman? Has it made you appreciate how you look now?
Susannah – It was a hideous, awful experience being aged, it was one of the most shocking things I've ever done. I dread my old age even more than I did before, but having said that, I had so much support from women in their 70s and so much enthusiasm for life coming from them that I did see there was a light shining at the end of the tunnel, albeit very, very far away.
What did you learn about older women when they first hit the high street? Do you think it is purely a confidence issue or something else as well? And are they more embarrassed about discussing breasts and more personal details because of their age?
Susannah – Older women certainly aren't more embarrassed. I would say quite the reverse; they have very few inhibitions because they've been there, seen it all, done it all, read the manual. Yes, it was a question of confidence going on to the high street and I think they felt much more comfortable going en mass and doing it together.The other thing that we really noticed is how quickly they picked up any rules or regulations we laid down to help them shop. They really understood it and they got a tremendous buzz so they not only reclaimed the high street but they also reclaimed their youth.
Why do you think uniforms in our country have become so dire?
Trinny – I think that the British wear more uniforms than any other country. A lot of our culture has been built on uniforms, be it the police, the RAF, who all look very smart. Then suddenly you get some poor supermarket stacker who has to wear some fleece that makes him or her feel like something stuck on the bottom of someone's shoe. When a job is so invaluable they're so much part of the team, and yet a lot of them feel like the powers that be don't care about them because they put them in such ghastly clothes.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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