Am I a bad feminist to always look at what Arlene Foster is wearing...

[Juells]

...and think she has either a great dress sense or a great stylist? I don't like AF's politics, but whenever she appears on TV I find myself scrutinising what she has on, and admiring her.

Her expression is always that of a bulldog licking piss off a nettle, but by God her haircut is good, and everything she wears suits her in an invisible kind of way - you're not distracted from what she's saying by unsuitable jackets, fancy silly shoes, huge necklace etc..

Runs for the hills

Not really getting the Arlene Foster thing particularly. Her clothes are very ordinary.

That's what you need though, as a female politician. You need people not to be distracted by a manky haircut or clothes that make you look like a sack of potatoes.

It's noticeable when you see her on television that she dresses much more smartly now.

I suppose one might discuss whether that was off her own bat/ was she told to/ does she personally feel the better of it/is she uncomfortable with it but that wasn't the point of your OP.

Clothes send out signals. That applies to male MPs as well. For example Corbyn's dreadful anorak and its inside out hood last Sunday. The signal sent to me was Corbyn is a vain, egotistical prat who thinks he is above the convention, which everyone else followed, that the official attendees at the Cenotaph wear formal black.

Cannot stand Foster, or anything she stands for so I tend to switch off when she starts speaking because life is too short to listen to that kind of bullshit. I'll have a wee squint at her clothes though next time she is wheeled out to opine on something. Feminists can talk about anything they like, and have no need to listen or pay any mind to the censure of non-feminists of either sex, so there's that.

OlennasWimple: "I couldn't get over the fact that Helle Thorning-Schmidt had the Kinnocks as her in-laws."

Me neither. It seemed so unlikely. She was (is) so incredibly stylish. I say that as someone for whom dressing up means putting on a clean pair of jeans. I do enjoy looking at women who dress well, though, and even men, sometimes, though men's sartorial range tends to be narrower.

I was really proud of a Hobbs colour block dress jacket combo I had and wore all the time and I saw her wearing it and no longer felt so chic!

I am baffled that anyone would think Arlene is stylish. She is only about 45!!! Nicola way ahead in the style stakes.

I'm with you Flossie.Although I think she is 50 or thereabouts.
Her dress sense is matronly imo.
Her hair is usually shapeless and in need of a colour touch up.
I think I read once her sister and mother do her clothes shopping for her.

She just seems to wear suits. Nothing quirky or different about them.

I loved wearing this outfit. It’s taken the shine off, even though I am not the same body shape and have a different hair colour to Arlene.

I used to have this suit. It was made by Windsmoor (a now defunct British make, more expensive than high street but not silly prices so just the right sort of image for Mrs Major) Norma Major is older than me but it was just a very, classic tailored suit. The jacket was quite long with a straight knee length skirt.

Theresa May and I have a jacket in common and the Duchess of Cornwell and I have a dress in common.

Nothing wrong with being interested in clothes!

flossietoot

She just seems to wear suits. Nothing quirky or different about them.

But there shouldn't be anything quirky or different about a woman politician's clothes. The aim surely is to well-turned-out, and as good as it's possible for you to look? I think she's achieved that.

Politicians who go for the quirky or different would never get my vote (not that I'd vote for AF anyway). They almost always turn out to be narcissistic flakes...