To like Kirstie Allsopp?

[plaingirly]

Pretty much all of my friends and colleagues seem to hate her! Something about setting women back 60 years.

I like her - and all the craft stuff. I don't see that she is setting women back or being anti-feminist. Surely feminism is about choice so she is choosing to live the way she does - and has the freedom to do that.

In interviews she always seems pretty straightforward and doesn't hide who she is. She is a bit posh but that is who she is - no point hiding the accent! Maybe I am biased because I love all the crafty homemaking type stuff. (And her clothes.)

"For some women, the wedding-veil canopies, crocheted jellyfish mobiles and calli-graphy place cards in Kirstie?s Vintage Home (more recession-friendly than her previous books and television series, it has tips on how to transform old fabrics and furniture into modern-day treasures) are not only off-message but demeaning. Sally Bercow called one of her shows 'condescending, too-good-to-be-true, middle-class nonsense?.

Allsopp is unflustered by such criticism. 'When people call me a 1950s housewife trying to take us back ? that?s so wrong,? she says. 'I consider myself a feminist. I have the most balanced and equal relationship with my husband. Likewise at work with Phil [Spencer, her 'TV husband? of the past 13 years]. He?s paid the same as me and I expect to get paid the same as any of the men on Channel 4.?"

www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9599318/Kirstie-Allsopp-televisions-crafty-lady.html

Oh I am not fond of Sarah Beeney, and her perma pregnancy.

When asked if she was involved in the local community she answered 'Yes Bens HUNTS with the mid devon hunt'

I'm not wealthy, but I knit. Even buying luxury yarn, it's a cheap hobby if you price it per hour. Made to measure bfl or merino sweater for less than the price of a night out, but lasts a lot longer.

God, she's down with the people isn't she.

I dislike her because of her political views and because she came across as a twunt on Question Time. I haven't seen her shows but wouldn't willingly search them out, even though I like craft.

Knitting is a fab skill to have.

That was in response to Noddy, not you ouryve

YABU. I used to love on Location... before she had kids, but now she's a mother she's like bloody Myleene Klass obviously the first people in the world to have had children and brought them up.

I wish I could knit :(

She was quick enough to complain about her neighbours basement extension saying people staying put made her local market stagnant yet she saw no irony in buying a 2nd property in an area specifically ear marked for affordable local housing.This thread has proved though she is definitely marmite!

I'm torn between....

Like:
Her common sense & breezy persona.
Her dress sense (clearly that divides opinion, but I love the boots, scarf & hourglass-flattering dress combo. I'd dress like her if I had the confidence and the money). And I like the fact she's an attractive non-stick-insect woman on TV (as far as i can tell) who wears what she likes and not what she's been told to wear (same goes for Sarah Beeney).

• Her upfront & feisty response to people who give her flak on Twitter for having a skin condition is admirable (she developed blotchy patches on her face during pregnancy & gets a lot of nasty comments about it).
• the chemistry between her & Phil really is genuine and you so rarely get that on TV.

Dislike:

• whatever her feminist credentials in the workplace, the comments I read in an interview that she does think women should defer to men in the home made me a bit .
• the craft stuff a bit too twee for me.
• she's a Tory.

On balance - I like her.

She's alright on Location, very silly on the crafty nonsense show (yes, let's all go glass blowing!? ).

I pay no heed to her silly political views - about as relevant as Jordan's.

I prefer Phil, and the Beeny.

Big fan of twee.

I was flicking through her latest book today - nice pictures, nice paper, but I don't think they are many projects that I would actually do.

Might be more tempted when the television show starts!

Would you say she has an hourglass figure? (Thinking back to the comment about trousers not suiting her body shape.)

plaingirly well, pear shape, then, but she accentuates the waist by often wearing belted dresses or coats. I tried to mimic this look for a while at work but failed miserably.

I love Nigella - and look how grand she is.

300 grand for a cottage on Exmoor is beyond most local people's wildest aspirations.

I have no idea how people knit - my gran used to knit really complex jumpers with patterns and shapes on out of her head. God knows how. I haven't seen a wool shop for ages (I remember really enjoying going to wool shops when I was a kid and looking at the different balls of wool and poking them).

Do you think she's responsible for this strange idea doing the rounds in the lifestyle sections of the papers that it's cheaper to buy a good second hand sofa and reupholster it than buy a new one?

I mean it is. If you usually spend >£2k on a new one.

For the price she had some poor dweebs reupholster some antique chairs I could have bought two of the Ikea sofas I'm sitting on.

I like her. I was devastated to read on a different thread that she was unpleasant. It's nice to hear some others say she's nice. Maybe she's just 'normal' and has good days and bad days.

I really don't think she should be implicated in people over-stretching themselves financially. That was always going to happen.

I enjoyed her crafty programmes too, nice to see different techniques being done, even if it is really being one by a minion.

Really don't see why it's acceptable to dislike someone based on their politics. Especially when it comes across as reverse snobbery.

I can't stand her. She's a Tory idiot of the highest order.

She thinks that everyone should stay at home with their parents until they can afford to move out and buy their own place. Er, Kirsty, with the economy being what it is at the moment, I would STILL be living at home instead of renting my nice flat in London.

And comely, why isn't it ok to dislike someone for their political beliefs? To me much of what Tories believe are morally reprehensible.

Actually, I have some very close friends who are Tories and I like them in spite of their political beliefs.

I would have thought disliking someone for their political beliefs is one of the most understandable reasons to dislike a person.

I love her and Nigella. I may not agree with either's political beliefs but I still like them. Nothing better than when channel 4 shows episode after episode at the weekends, especially when it's cold outside.

If you're going to dislike someone for their political beliefs, be damn sure you understand what they actually believe. A lot of people, asked why they don't like Tories, will basically say something only marginally more sophisticated than "Because they believe in putting babies on spikes". And it just makes them look stupid TBH.

Never voted Tory in my life. Just sayin.

Yes, but I don't think anyone here has said that? I'd imagine people who don't like her for being a Tory have a fair idea of what that constitutes.

Let's hope so. That would make all of the people here considerably more sophisticated than all of the people who usually seem to be commenting on political threads.

If you say so.