So you didn’t take the stylist’s advice, then… 50 and proud Carol Vorderman sticks with the sprayed-on T-shirt and jeans

By Marcus Barnes


Refusing to back down: Defiant Carol Vorderman wears her standard T-shirt and tight jeans for a visit to Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, London


Earlier this week she agreed to let a stylist advise her on what she SHOULD be wearing.

But Carol Vorderman has refused to conform, sticking to her tight jeans and T-shirt ensemble less than a day after she invited the Mail along to a styling session.

The former Countdown presenter, 50, visited Scott's restaurant in Mayfair where she was pictured wearing the youthful get up.

Looking great: The presenter was irked by the suggestion that she shouldn't be able to wear 'younger' outfits because she's 50


Carol wore a pair of tight jeans, accentuating the backside that won her the presitigious Rear Of The Year title in June.

She matched the jeans with a small navy T-shirt by Superdry, priced £24.99, a thick brown belt, grey heels and a large shoulder bag.

The outfit was a clear rebellion against the advice she was given during a styling class at House Of Fraser with Mark Heyes.

Advice: But Carol refused to change her personal style after a consultation with stylist Mark Heyes

Branching out: Carol wears dresses by Marc Cain and Mango during the styling session at House Of Fraser


Mark put Carol in a series of patterned and plain dresses, saying that she should flash her legs or cleavage but never both.

But the presenter stuck to her guns, stubbornly sticking to her ideals and refusing to let her age define her fashion choices.

She says: ‘If I told a 50-year-old man that he had to wear baggy trousers, a baggy top and a golfing sweater to befit his age, they would think it was unfair and ridiculous. So why is it that a woman of 50 suddenly isn’t supposed to step out in jeans? It’s my school run outfit and I feel comfortable in it. I wore it on the way home from the Lorraine studio one day last week. I was amazed - and very amused - by the fuss it caused.

‘I bought the T-shirt from Topshop ten years ago and it cost £3.99. I’ve worn it hundreds of times. The jeans are Levi’s and they are six years old. I’ve always had a sticky-out bottom, which I hid for years. But now I take the attitude of “live and let live”.’

Where it all started: The presenter has been criticised by some for her tight-fitting wardrobe choices


Rear Of The Year: Carol beat Pippa Middleton to take the prestigious title in June this year


And Carol - who beat Pippa Middleton to the title Rear Of The Year earlier this year - is very frank about why she suddenly embraced clingy clothes when she reached middle age.

‘There was a period in the Nineties – after my son Cameron was born - that I expanded to a size 14/16. I spent years camouflaging myself in the same black trousers and long jackets on Countdown,’ she says.

‘But when I hit 39, I lost weight and, more crucially, lost my fear. For the first time since my 20s, I started to wear clothes that designers sent to me as I was on the TV all the time. Even then, at 39, I was criticised for wearing dresses that were “too short” for my age.

‘Ten years on, if someone aged 39 was seen in those dresses, no one would bat an eyelid. We have moved on with our attitudes and I believe we’ll move on again. It shouldn’t be about age, but about how you feel and the shape you are. I’m in better shape now than I was 15 years ago. I like the Mad Men look, so I wear it.

‘In Italy, women of 50 wear incredibly sexy clothes. In France, women in their 50s look incredibly chic. But in the UK, it seems women of 50 shouldn’t be wearing T-shirt and jeans. Why not? There are hundreds of thousands of women in their Fifties with much better figures than me and who are far better looking. Why should they stop wearing clothes that they also like?’


source:dailymail