Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Do you want style advice from Trinny Woodall?

151 replies

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 21/04/2021 09:04

Genuinely interested - this is a woman who was on the tv in the late 90s, never been more than a size 6 and rarely leaves Kensington.
I’m 35 years old, two kids, my friends and I shop anywhere from Reiss to Pretty Little Thing. Tbh we shop at the same places as my 40+ year old colleague and my older friends teenage children- there are no longer shops per age only budgets.
I’m baffled as to who on bbc breakfast thought she would resonate with the tv audience - it pretty much sums up why place like marks and Spencer’s can’t shift clothes.
Am I wrong, does she still hold gravitas in the style world?

OP posts:
CoalHouseDoor · 23/04/2021 09:17

Did Saatchi invest in her company though? Genuine question.

I know a couple of people who know her; I had the impression he didn’t give her a bean; she had a few sales of her huge clothes collections to raise the capital.

GillBungalow · 23/04/2021 09:32

@LadyTiredWinterBottom2

Susannah had a drink problem didn't she? Might have taken its toll on her.
I thought it was Trinny who is a recovered alcoholic- I think she'd already become sober by the time WNTW first aired
Floisme · 23/04/2021 09:44

I seem to remember 90s magazines having lots of articles on which clothes suited which body size.
That's so interesting how we remember it differently! ! don't recollect anything before WNTW. All I knew was that some clothes looked ok on me and others didn't but I had never saw any explanation. That was why they made such an impression on me - it seems so obvious now but it was like someone explaining why toast sometimes burns.

beguilingeyes · 23/04/2021 11:25

@CoalHouseDoor

Did Saatchi invest in her company though? Genuine question.

I know a couple of people who know her; I had the impression he didn’t give her a bean; she had a few sales of her huge clothes collections to raise the capital.

He's a shareholder...so yes.
sansucre · 23/04/2021 12:40

Really outing myself her but many many years ago when I was a personal shopper, I got to know Trinny. She's a veritable whirlwind tbh. She's lovely, outspoken, enthusiastic and genuinely wants people, women in particular, to make the most of themselves.

She's very sure of her own style, and very good at teaching others to dress themselves if they follow basic principles. Not everyone enjoys or follows advice such as this.

It's only been in the last few years that I've dipped in and out of her social media and it's been strange for me to see items in her wardrobe that I actually remember her trying on/buying. I think she's still very much relevant and she knows what she's talking about. She understand style in a way many do not, and while she has got funds to indulge her passion for fashion, she does understand that others do not, so it good at styling those who have less money. Trinny is passionate, and I admire her for this, and I am not surprised she's reinvented herself and has a prospering make-up brand.

On a personal note, I last saw Trinny in real life a long time ago, shortly before she had her daughter. She was always slim, but not as toned as she is now. She's filled out a little due to menopause but she's still slim albeit a few dress sizes bigger, something she talks about in her videos. I really value how honest she is about herself, the fact she's had Botox and that she's dealing with hair loss. Some might say she overshares, but I find her honesty inspiring and also a comfort.

sansucre · 23/04/2021 12:40

Here, not her Blush

ApplyWithin · 05/05/2021 19:42

Did Saatchi invest in her company though? Genuine question

I’m sure I read an interview where she said she’s sold off a lot of clothes to fund her make-up business. He definitely invested something but not a lot. She said the most valuable thing she gets from him is business advice.

ApplyWithin · 05/05/2021 19:45

I find her completely mesmerising on a Instagram, but was her style always so bonkers? She’s like the woman in the poem about growing old and wearing purple. I’m sure in her younger days she was more stylish in a Chelsea mummy kind of way rather than eccentric in a “run through Harrods sale covered in glue sort of way”.

Love her anyway.

ApplyWithin · 05/05/2021 20:49

Oh, and one last thing, the OP is littered with errors. WNTW was on in the early 2000s, not the 90s. Trinny is not a size 6 at all, she’s talked a lot about the weight she gained around menopause and is now a 10-12 I’d say. She very often can’t fit into mediums at Zara - which infuriates her. Yes, she has loads of treatments but she is completely honest about it all and her imperfections.

beguilingeyes · 05/05/2021 21:07

@CoalHouseDoor

Did Saatchi invest in her company though? Genuine question.

I know a couple of people who know her; I had the impression he didn’t give her a bean; she had a few sales of her huge clothes collections to raise the capital.

Yes. He's a shareholder in the company.
unwuthering · 06/05/2021 03:02

Yes, she has loads of treatments but she is completely honest about it all and her imperfections.

I wonder if she's completely honest with herself about the fact that she's shacked up with an abusive man? I can't get past that, and feel for her.

beguilingeyes · 06/05/2021 05:44

@unwuthering

Yes, she has loads of treatments but she is completely honest about it all and her imperfections.

I wonder if she's completely honest with herself about the fact that she's shacked up with an abusive man? I can't get past that, and feel for her.

This is the crux for me and I can't get past it either...and I don't for one minute believe that she set up a pretty large-scale cosmetic company by selling a few frocks. 'So, Ms Woodall... what attracted you to billionaire Charles Saatchi?'
Frownette · 06/05/2021 06:01

I honestly don't know much about her other than I read an article where she and her 3 friends all made a pact to quit drink/drugs, which was incredibly moving. The others died but Trinny survived.

I didn't use to watch her so can't comment on style advice but have some respect for her for surviving the grip of an addiction.

BlackSwan · 06/05/2021 06:01

No way. The woman is a snake.

Team Nigella.

KarensChoppyBob · 06/05/2021 06:16

@LadyTiredWinterBottom2

Susannah had a drink problem didn't she? Might have taken its toll on her.
It was cocaine I think. So she had that in common with Nigella.

Must be Saatchi's type?

KarensChoppyBob · 06/05/2021 06:18

Sorry mixed Susannah up with Trinny there (too early !).

Retailqueenie · 06/05/2021 08:00

Trinny is bonkers & I like that. Her honesty about brands is brutal, her shop ups at Zara are refreshingly real & she’s spot on about how to dress yourself. She is a size 12 not a 6?! She also has Friday twinning with her mate in France who’s a beautiful size 14-16.. they wear the same item in different ways which I really like..

She does live on another planet tho. But I find her amusing so watch her insta & you tube..

AnaViaSalamanca · 06/05/2021 08:12

Eww no. She has no style and is unnecessarily theatrical. Should work only if you are a kindergarten teacher.

Northernlass99 · 06/05/2021 11:30

@QwertyGirly

She comes up once in a while on my FB feed and I can't stand the women. Her voice, her faffing around, her attitude that 'if I can do it, so can you' which is complete balls. She's had some serious done on her face, and she uses a ton of beauty products, very expensive creams etc. probably has her own personal nutritionist and shops in expensive places. No, I wouldn't take advice from Trinny.

All those women who are proud of 'being 50' but have had multiple surgical tweeks to their faces and bodies and pretend it's all natural. No thank you.

She is pretty open about what she does and what she has had done. She has had a thread lift, botox, fillers and other treatments. She talks about them regularly and doesn't pretend at all. But she also says you can have all that stuff and still look terrible if you don't look after your skin.

I'll never look like her (I haven't got the energy!) but I love listening to her rabbiting on, I find it inspiring.

RainedOn · 06/05/2021 17:09

I have found watching Trinny and others like her uplifting in lockdowns. She is honest about things like her hair thinning due to lockdown. I can't say I relate to her from a fashion point of view, but she's a good, light hearted watch when there is so much gloom and doom around. Ditto Kat Farmer.

RainedOn · 06/05/2021 17:09

*hair thinning due to Covid, not lockdown!

Sssloou · 06/05/2021 17:24

Thanks for this thread - since found her on insta and now addicted to her hyper, self deprecating, enthusiastic energy. She talks a lot of sense. Totally open and down to earth on SM whereas I find her tedious on TV.

ApplyWithin · 06/05/2021 17:24

Ah, now Kat Farmer I can’t be doing with. Everything is an advert.

Sssloou · 06/05/2021 17:46

I am mesmerised by the make up she applies. May well have had loads of work but she starts off dull and grey and her makeup is transformative - so glowy and bright.

BrilliantBetty · 06/05/2021 18:03

I follow her. I'm 30 and think she's got some good ideas. She's genuinely passionate about clothes. Seems to know what works for her figure, which is similar to mine so it's helpful.

She's a size 10 / 12 so a size larger than me and about the same hight. A lot of her stuff comes from Zara and she features smaller British brands/ designers too sometimes. I haven't bought any of her make up but it does a lot for her. I like the tips she gives on tailoring outfits to make them a better shape or fit for the body shape. I've had a few bits taken up or in and it's made a big difference

Swipe left for the next trending thread