Trinny and Susannah: The interview
7 November 2007 - In their brand new series, Trinny and Susannah Undress The Nation, Trinny and Susannah are on a mission to tackle some of the major problems we as a nation have with dress and style.
Each week the girls take on different challenges including those of men, shape, age and uniform.
We asked them about the challenges they face on the new series...
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 learnt so much as we've always done and I think whilst 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 very much a result that we wanted to achieve at the end of it and we were determined together and we had each other's support. 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 about the amount of women that 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 and 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 I think that actually you know who I really love the way he dresses is Rufus Wainwright, the way he will wear a really tailored suit with a Dior necklace. Not that I like the gay look or anything.
Susannah, how did it make you feel when you were aged to 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 and I dread my old age even more than I did before, but having said that, I had so much support from women in their seventies and so much enthusiasm for life coming from them that I did see that there was a light shining at the end of the tunnel all be it 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 they are more embarrassed about discussing breasts and more personal details because of their age you think?
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 and yes it was a question of confidence going onto the high street and I think they felt much more comfortable going on 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.
How do you think uniforms in our country have become so dire?
Trinny: I think that the British, probably as a nation we 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 s**t 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 give a s**t about them because they put them in such ghastly clothes.
Quotes and images courtesy of ITV plc
