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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Women on Apprentice

155 replies

Cosmos123 · 05/01/2023 22:01

Why do they have to be plastered with make up and have those funny inflated lips. Even Karen Brady is caked on.

OP posts:
Cosmos123 · 05/01/2023 22:37

Why can't they be natural and individuals.

I guess Why we have many 16 year old wanting lip fillers and the like.

Not great role models.

OP posts:
TheCallOfTheMild · 05/01/2023 22:38

Most of them look like grotesque caricatures of femininity. Really sad.

Cosmos123 · 05/01/2023 22:40

TheCallOfTheMild · 05/01/2023 22:38

Most of them look like grotesque caricatures of femininity. Really sad.

Agree.

BBC why are you allowing this?

Want to see natural people please not clones.

OP posts:
Kiwimommyinlondon · 05/01/2023 22:40

Most of them look ludicrous. Those comedy lips and bushy brows are hideous.

NameIsBryceQuinlan · 05/01/2023 22:41

I work in sales and marketing. I have a background similar I suppose to the candidates, I have never ever seen anyone dressed like this, it would be really bizarre and dated in tech world, the industry I work in. Even conference speakers wear trainers now.

arethereanyleftatall · 05/01/2023 22:41

Heartsofstone · 05/01/2023 22:22

The saddest part of all is that almost every post has made unpleasant comments about the way other women look. Not kind at all.

No. It's not about that. An unpleasant comment about how someone looks might be 'she has a big nose.' This is nuanced. These women are on a program to show off their business prowess. They have decided that injecting stuff in to their lips, wearing uncomfortable shoes and skirts etc is the best way to achieve this. Why?

unc79 · 05/01/2023 22:41

I'd be interested to know if they all usually dress like that; is it something they felt pressured to do personally; or did the producers make them do it; or if they actually are that high maintenance in RL and the producers just picked that "type" of female contestant repeatedly.

Feels like we are long way away from the days of Ruth Badger!

1982mommaof4 · 05/01/2023 22:41

Heartsofstone · 05/01/2023 22:22

The saddest part of all is that almost every post has made unpleasant comments about the way other women look. Not kind at all.

This

WarmWillowLeafy · 05/01/2023 22:42

faffer44 · 05/01/2023 22:15

Their dress sense seems really outdated too. Do businesswomen still totter about in high heels and wear those daft pencil skirts?

This..their clothes tend to be worse than the hair and makeup.
Who wears these bodycon dresses?

unc79 · 05/01/2023 22:48

And just to add if it was a couple of them dressed like that I think it would be unkind and unnecessary to critique it, clearly a personal decision, but the fact nearly all of them are dressed in this way means we really should be questioning what's going on here, because most women professional or otherwise aren't dressing in this way in RL. It's a programme that should (theoretically) be about aptitude but looks like a Miss World contest from the 1970s.

Ponoka7 · 05/01/2023 22:49

There's more than one female contestant that hasn't got fillers. Apparently Lord Sugar wants the women to be old style glam. Unfortunately the last few series contestants have been very poor. The ones who have won haven't had much of a business to offer. Perhaps the producers see the need for the way they look, because there's not much else on offer.

unc79 · 05/01/2023 22:51

I don't like the business partner format, they can go weeks through the process and prove to be a great candidate...then have a shit business plan not worth bothering with. Personally preferred it when it was a job interview for a role.

FlairBand · 05/01/2023 22:53

Mamette · 05/01/2023 22:04

It’s just the look de jour I guess.

Although hopefully it’s a look that’s past it’s peak.

Are they all still wearing the coloured body con dresses?

I have recorded it to watch later!

There are trouser suits and cameltoes this year.

IhateJan22 · 05/01/2023 22:53

I’m surprised at how many comments there are about how women look but then be outraged that the Daily Mail make a headline about bikini clad beauties. We can only have an opinion on it and whether it’s for us or not but surely we all do things to make us feel better about ourselves, whether it’s fillers and Botox or a new outfit. Each to their own.

MarieKlepto · 05/01/2023 22:53

I do think the women look a bit dated as examples of women in business. They remind me of the late, great Hilary Devey. Tonight's ejectee was going to run an adults only glamping concern, and good luck to her but I wonder if any of their business plans would succeed without a huge cash injection and access to all the background knowledge they need. I know it's not terribly entertaining for TV, but I was just running through things like drainage, sewage, electrics, licensing, H&S, policy . . .

ssd · 05/01/2023 22:55

Karen brady looks like their mum .
Isnt her daughter famous for something?

AlizeeEasy · 05/01/2023 22:55

I always feel very defensive of the apprentice candidates as I have a close family member who was on the show quite a few years ago (no one anyone would remember). She went on the show with a more natural look, and has since got Botox every few years due to the complex she got from people commenting on her forehead creases. It’s a shame anyone would feel the need to comment on others looks, it only tears people down

closingloop · 05/01/2023 22:55

They're all styled and colour co-ordinated. In the earlier series, the contestants wore more of their own stuff in their own styles, now there is a very obvious styled element to it which gives the cliched homogenous 'business' look - it's more difficult to do to the men, but there's always a beautiful array of ties that wouldn't be a co-incidence.

During tasks the shoes are often different from those at the start of the task and in the boardroom.

Whatsfordinnerglutenfree · 05/01/2023 22:58

They must be made to wear those outfits, because they look outdated. And the heels must be very limiting for the tasks they do.
plus the recruitment process must advise on makeup and clothing, I bet it’s written into the contracts, no joggers and trainers.

WandaWonder · 05/01/2023 23:03

Heartsofstone · 05/01/2023 22:22

The saddest part of all is that almost every post has made unpleasant comments about the way other women look. Not kind at all.

If it was comments on their natural look, I would agree

I am tired of the competion of who wears the highest heels, not just in this show

Mapletreelane · 05/01/2023 23:14

My DD13 is always telling me off for bodyshaming people if I ever make an offhand comment about lip fillers or botox and she (quite rightly) says everyone is entitled to look how they want.

Even she commented on it tonight, the lips and eyelashes and veneers. She said she couldn't take her eyes off them they looked stra

Mapletreelane · 05/01/2023 23:15

Mapletreelane · 05/01/2023 23:14

My DD13 is always telling me off for bodyshaming people if I ever make an offhand comment about lip fillers or botox and she (quite rightly) says everyone is entitled to look how they want.

Even she commented on it tonight, the lips and eyelashes and veneers. She said she couldn't take her eyes off them they looked stra

*strange.

bluebeardswife7 · 05/01/2023 23:16

It reminds me of the republican woman wardrobe under Trump. Flowing locks lollipop head high heels and dress suits. Male fetish idea of powerful women

bluebeardswife7 · 05/01/2023 23:16

But not too powerful obviously

BradfordGirl · 05/01/2023 23:19

They are obviously styled by the show producers. But it would put off many great business woman from going on the show.