Trinny & Susannah Undress the Nation
Encyclopedia
Trinny & Susannah Undress the Nation is a British
reality
fashion-themed television documentary
series on ITV
featuring fashion advisors Trinny Woodall
and Susannah Constantine
.
The newly formatted series, stemming from Trinny & Susannah Undress...
, began to air on ITV on 7 November 2007, and explores some of the major fashion problems in Britain. Numerous eye-catching stunts were filmed for the first series of the show in order to emphasise the points raised by Trinny and Susannah
. One stunt included Susannah Constantine being transformed into a 70-year-old to look at how people dress for their age. Breast
s, bra
s and uniform
s were also some of the themes investigated during the first series.
. An ITV spokesman commented "The context of this programme fully justified the use of footage of women topless and in bras. The presenters were pursuing a serious subject in an engaging and entertaining way."
The new show aims to tackle some of the main fashion problems in Britain, where ITV filmed numerous stunts to be broadcast on the programme to promote Trinny and Susannah's points. Some of the stunts included Susannah being transformed into a 70-year-old to look at how people dress according to their age, and Trinny and Susannah accomplishing a redesign of the supermarket Somerfield's uniform in just two weeks. Somerfield's bosses later decided not to use the newly styled uniform after it had been deemed too impractical. The themes covered during the first series included breasts and bras, men, shape, age and uniforms. Constantine stated "it is putting a microscope on certain areas that affect us all."
The scene filmed for Undress The Nation on 2 July 2007 generated some controversy. The culmination of the programme involved Trinny, Susannah and 100 women giving the East Sussex
chalk figure, the Long Man of Wilmington
, a temporary female form by adding pigtails, breasts and hips. The women created the effect by lying down in white boiler suits to make different shapes. The hillside chalk carving was not permanently changed or affected. However the scene prompted twenty-two Neo-Pagans to protest at the historical site during filming. The Long Man is claimed as "sacred" by the Council of British Druid Orders, who said the "stunt" would "dishonour an ancient Pagan site of worship". A statement made by ITV stated that they were given permission for the event by Sussex Archaeological Society
and that they took "the utmost care... to protect this historical site". The owners, Sussex Archaeological Society, later apologised for any offence caused to any "individuals or groups" by the filming. An e-petition
demanding that the broadcast be stopped attracted 782 signatures.
and The Seven Network
on Vitaya
on BBC Canada
on TV3
on HOT3
on Granada International
on TV ONE
on Lifestyle Network
on TVN Style
on The Home Channel
on Cosmopolitan
on Kanal 5
on ITV
Network
s and bra
s in Britain where Trinny and Susannah state "British boobs need help!" Trinny and Susannah aim to investigate why many British women wear the wrong size bra and aim to promote wearing the correct size bra, and emphasize the benefits.
The fashion duo take their large pink box around the country in which women reveal their bra fittings for Trinny and Susannah to explore how women's bras generally fit. They have stated that the box "provided a very intimate environment in which women could feel safe and be very honest." In order to investigate how breasts are measured, the two fashionistas go to three leading high-street stores to have their own breasts measured incognito
, so as not to get any special treatment. They both leave each store having been given three different breast measurements, implying that women are disillusioned when choosing which size bra. Then, to have an awareness of what it is like to have large breasts, Trinny has fake moulded silicon
breasts fitted by prosthetics experts, taking her from a 32A bra size to a 32D for the day. She later walks down the red carpet at the Classical Brit Awards
, causing speculation that she had had a "boob job".
Their ultimate stunt is arranging for nearly 1000 women in Rothwell, Northamptonshire
to have their bust measured professionally, complemented by receiving free correctly-fitting bras. Trinny, Susannah and the 1000 participants then take off their tops in public, revealing their new bras and ultimately disposing of their old bras in public, emphasizing the importance of wearing the correct bra size. The results find that 976 out of the 1000 women, averaging at about 90%, actually had the wrong size bra.
Men - In the second installment of the series, Trinny and Susannah investiage the fashion issues of men, and ultimately aim to get a nation of well-dressed British men. To start their campaign, Trinny and Susannah attend a dress-down day at a civil engineer
s where they entice the engineers into their pink box to talk about their outfits. They duo are shocked at the way in which the men dress, with Susannah remarking "You've got amazing coloured eyes but you look like you've just crawled from under a stone." Trinny and Susannah then monitor how men shop via secret cameras. They find that the men they have observed do not actually shop but get taken shopping by their wives.
In order to get into the male psyche, they spend a day at Walthamstow Stadium dog track
and subsequently decide to invent six rules of fashion for men based on the way that the betting information is arranged. The six basic body shapes include man boobs
, beer belly, short legs, thick neck, broad shoulders and skinny. With each body shape, there includes a list of clothing items men must avoid, and others that are suitable. To test out the rules, Trinny and Susannah travel to a Cumbria
n slate mine for the miner
s to take the rules and go shopping on their own. After the trial, they fear the rules are not simple enough. They seek the help from an advertising company who come up with the idea of arranging the six rules in the form of the Highway Code
, therefore re-naming the rules The Male Dress Code. Meanwhile, the fashion duo have arranged for the male section of an Oxford Street
department store to be sectioned off to allow a male only day. The section has the six important rules displayed, complete with six live male manikins, one for each body shape, to demonstrate the clothing rules. They also invite some of the civil engineers and slate miners to test the newly formatted rules. Then outside of the store, Trinny and Susannah unveil the six male manikins in the shop window to the women outside.
Shape - The third episode features Trinny and Susannah exploring the theme of shape, where they promote wearing clothes suitable to body shape rather than clothing size. Trinny and Susannah get 60 size 16 women to wear an identical size 16 dress in order to discover how many women the dress fits properly. They find that the dress only fits two women, despite all 60 being classed as a size 16. To explore how women see their own bodies, the duo take their pink box in which women can draw their impressions of themselves, finding that they all see their bodies in different shapes. Then 60 of the women from the investigation are introduced to 12 different objects which Trinny and Susannah believe can represent all women’s body shapes. The shapes include 'apple', 'hourglass', 'skittle', 'vase', 'cornet', 'lollipop', 'column', 'bell', 'goblet', 'cello', 'pear' and 'brick'. The different objects are displayed around a gallery where twelve women with tightly fitted outfits, to show their figures clearly, stand next to the object which they best represent to demonstrate the general idea. Each model is then given a makeover according to the rules which Trinny and Susannah have applied to each body shape. The rest of the women are then required to go shopping to buy themselves clothes, complying with the rules. Only the women with the correct shape clothes receive their money back. Also around the town are the 12 live manikin
s, standing by a list of the rules for their body shape.
To end their body shape campaign, Trinny, Susannah and 100 women go to the hillside chalk carving, the Long Man of Wilmington
, where Trinny parades a made over woman from each shape category. Meanwhile in the distance, Susannah organizes the others into changing the shape of the Long Man into a more feminine one by lying down in white boiler suits to give the symbol pigtails, hips and breasts. The event does not come without protest, where Pagans gather in an attempt to stop the proceedings. The episode ends with Trinny and Susannah taking off in a helicopter to view the Long Man with a female form.
Age - During the fourth episode Trinny and Susannah investigate the theme of age. They aim to encourage the older generation to reclaim the high street
and become more comfortable with shopping. Trinny remarks "I think for older women it becomes far more complicated as you age because you've got issues, such as what is age appropriate, their budget, their bodies are changing and it can just get worse and worse and more and more difficult." To view the way in which women age, a human timeline is created by arranging some 20 to 70 year-old women in a line wearing just their underwear.
Trinny and Susannah then take their pink box in search of older women to talk about their clothing. They find that many of them feel a lack of confidence and hide themselves behind clothing, and do not have any knowledge of what to wear. Then the process of Susannah being aged through prosthetics begins. To give an accurate depiction of how Susannah would look at 70-years-old, a plastic surgeon and prosthetic expert take details of her lifestyle and examine past pictures to see how she is aging. When the face mask and body suit are fitted, Susannah is clearly distressed and states "There is no way I’m going to look like this when I'm 70. I will not dress like this and I will not allow my face to become like this." An elderly woman, Shirly Tripe, then takes Susannah shopping to find her some clothing from her own favourite shops. Susannah comments on Shirley's choice: "It's a sack. This is a testament that older women, or mature women, benefit so much from tailoring." Susannah then meets a shocked Trinny with her new appearance. The two fashionistas then aim to tackle what they believe older women should avoid; wearing loose fitting clothes. They take Shirley shopping to get some tighter fitting clothes, although Shirley shows much resistance and claims she looks like 'mutton dressed as lamb'.
Trinny and Susannah arrive at Worthington
, where they hold a clothes master class. They makeover three older women, fitting them with high street clothing. One woman in her 70s is given a new look with a jacket from Kate Moss
's TopShop
range. Susannah comments "if any of you worried about not finding things in a top like Topshop, you're wrong." This is aimed to persuade the group of older women that they will find clothes to suit them in high street shops. A convoy of limousine
s arrive to take 100 of the older generation to Oxford Street
where they reclaim the high street. They explore shops such as New Look and Miss Selfridge
in search of fashionable items to enhance their figures. After the spree, all of the women attend the nightclub, The Ministry of Sound where the selected women model the catwalk.
Uniforms - For the last of series one, uniform
is investigated by Trinny and Susannah where the duo want to promote wearing fashionable uniforms to work. They set out to prove that uniforms can improve morale and make a workforce feel better about themselves. Trinny and Susannah both accompany their pink box around the country, to get a better idea of how the nation's uniforms look. They then descend upon the annual Somerfield
supermarket manager's meeting. Trinny and Susannah then persuade the managers to let them do a re-design of the whole of supermarket's uniform.
Before they perform their project on a grand scale, they decide to get some experience by dressing a small business of all-female driving instructors in uniform. A uniform had been optional, but all of the instructors were keen on the idea. The duo's next step is re-designing the uniform of the catering department at the Princess of Wales Hospital
in Bridgend
. To get a feel of what it is like working in these uniforms, Trinny and Susannah spend a few hours working at the establishment. One worker commented "We were surprised. Although they are quite posh, they did have a go. They weren’t too worried about slops. Although Susannah did say it was making her ill." Before the renewal of the uniform, it consisted of old-fashioned mismatched items, until it was replaced by matching pink gingham
outfits. Then came the task of designing a practical outfit for the Somerfield workers. When the items are made, selected members of Somerfield model the catwalk in the fruit & veg section.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
reality
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
fashion-themed television documentary
Television documentary
Documentary television is a genre of television programming that broadcasts documentaries.* Documentary television series, a television series which is made up of documentary episodes....
series on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
featuring fashion advisors Trinny Woodall
Trinny Woodall
Trinny Woodall is an English fashion advisor and designer, television presenter and author. She was raised in a wealthy family and was privately educated...
and Susannah Constantine
Susannah Constantine
Susannah Caroline Constantine is an English fashion journalist, advisor, television presenter, author and designer. Her second book, entitled What Not to Wear, has won her a prestigious British Book Award and sold 670,000 copies....
.
The newly formatted series, stemming from Trinny & Susannah Undress...
Trinny & Susannah Undress...
Trinny & Susannah Undress... is a British reality makeover and fashion-themed television programme on ITV featuring fashion advisors Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine....
, began to air on ITV on 7 November 2007, and explores some of the major fashion problems in Britain. Numerous eye-catching stunts were filmed for the first series of the show in order to emphasise the points raised by Trinny and Susannah
Trinny and Susannah
Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine are two British fashion advisors, presenters and authors. They originally joined to write a weekly style column in The Daily Telegraph which lasted for seven years, but they are best-known for presenting the BBC television series What Not to Wear for five...
. One stunt included Susannah Constantine being transformed into a 70-year-old to look at how people dress for their age. Breast
Breast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s, bra
Brassiere
A brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
s and uniform
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
s were also some of the themes investigated during the first series.
History
The first series of Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation, which consisted of five episodes, started to air on 7 November 2007. The first episode gained high viewing figures of 5.35 million, becoming the most-watched programme in its timeslot. The first episode, which featured breasts and bras, prompted numerous complaints to ITV when scenes of topless women were broadcast before the 9pm watershedWatershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
. An ITV spokesman commented "The context of this programme fully justified the use of footage of women topless and in bras. The presenters were pursuing a serious subject in an engaging and entertaining way."
| "But this series is more campaigning. It is more journalistic, but still hugely entertaining. It's a show we feel more proud of than anything we've done to date." |
| — Susannah Constantine talking about Trinny & Susannah Undress the Nation. |
The new show aims to tackle some of the main fashion problems in Britain, where ITV filmed numerous stunts to be broadcast on the programme to promote Trinny and Susannah's points. Some of the stunts included Susannah being transformed into a 70-year-old to look at how people dress according to their age, and Trinny and Susannah accomplishing a redesign of the supermarket Somerfield's uniform in just two weeks. Somerfield's bosses later decided not to use the newly styled uniform after it had been deemed too impractical. The themes covered during the first series included breasts and bras, men, shape, age and uniforms. Constantine stated "it is putting a microscope on certain areas that affect us all."
The scene filmed for Undress The Nation on 2 July 2007 generated some controversy. The culmination of the programme involved Trinny, Susannah and 100 women giving the East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
chalk figure, the Long Man of Wilmington
Long Man of Wilmington
The Long Man of Wilmington is a hill figure located in Wilmington, East Sussex, England on the steep slopes of Windover Hill, northwest of Eastbourne. The Long Man is tall and designed to look in proportion when viewed from below....
, a temporary female form by adding pigtails, breasts and hips. The women created the effect by lying down in white boiler suits to make different shapes. The hillside chalk carving was not permanently changed or affected. However the scene prompted twenty-two Neo-Pagans to protest at the historical site during filming. The Long Man is claimed as "sacred" by the Council of British Druid Orders, who said the "stunt" would "dishonour an ancient Pagan site of worship". A statement made by ITV stated that they were given permission for the event by Sussex Archaeological Society
Sussex Archaeological Society
The Sussex Archaeological Society, founded in 1846, is the largest county-based archaeological society in the UK. Its headquarters are in Lewes, Sussex...
and that they took "the utmost care... to protect this historical site". The owners, Sussex Archaeological Society, later apologised for any offence caused to any "individuals or groups" by the filming. An e-petition
Internet petition
An Internet petition is a form of petition posted on a website. Visitors to the website in question can add their email addresses or names, and after enough "signatures" have been collected, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail.-Pros and cons:The...
demanding that the broadcast be stopped attracted 782 signatures.
International broadcasting
on The Lifestyle ChannelThe LifeStyle Channel
LifeStyle is an Australian television channel. The channel launched on 1 September 1997. The channel has an emphasis on contemporary lifestyle interests...
and The Seven Network
on Vitaya
Vitaya
Vitaya is a Flemish television station. The station got its license for 9 years in 1999 and it started to broadcast on 25 August 2000.Vitaya can be seen on Flemish cable and satellite services...
on BBC Canada
BBC Canada
BBC Canada is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel. It presents programming primarily from the BBC. BBC Canada is a joint venture between Shaw Media and BBC Worldwide.-Programming:Main article: List of programs broadcast by BBC Canada...
on TV3
TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...
on HOT3
on Granada International
on TV ONE
on Lifestyle Network
Lifestyle Network
Lifestyle Network is a Direct-to-Home lifestyle & entertainment cable channel owned by ABS-CBN Corporation.It can be available through DTH Cable Service . Initially, the channel aired from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m...
on TVN Style
TVN Style
TVN Style is a Polish channel aimed at women featuring the latest in fashion, health and beauty. It launched in August 2004 and is a part of the TVN network, owned by ITI Group.-Line-up:...
on The Home Channel
on Cosmopolitan
on Kanal 5
Kanal 5 (Sweden)
Kanal 5 is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation ProSiebenSat.1 Media.After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people...
on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
Network
Series one (2007)
Breasts and bras - The first episode of Trinny & Susannah Undress the Nation tackles the theme of breastBreast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s and bra
Brassiere
A brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
s in Britain where Trinny and Susannah state "British boobs need help!" Trinny and Susannah aim to investigate why many British women wear the wrong size bra and aim to promote wearing the correct size bra, and emphasize the benefits.
The fashion duo take their large pink box around the country in which women reveal their bra fittings for Trinny and Susannah to explore how women's bras generally fit. They have stated that the box "provided a very intimate environment in which women could feel safe and be very honest." In order to investigate how breasts are measured, the two fashionistas go to three leading high-street stores to have their own breasts measured incognito
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
, so as not to get any special treatment. They both leave each store having been given three different breast measurements, implying that women are disillusioned when choosing which size bra. Then, to have an awareness of what it is like to have large breasts, Trinny has fake moulded silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
breasts fitted by prosthetics experts, taking her from a 32A bra size to a 32D for the day. She later walks down the red carpet at the Classical Brit Awards
Classical Brit Awards
The Classic BRIT Awards are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical music, and are the classical equivalent of pop music's BRIT Awards....
, causing speculation that she had had a "boob job".
Their ultimate stunt is arranging for nearly 1000 women in Rothwell, Northamptonshire
Rothwell, Northamptonshire
Rothwell is a market town in the Kettering district of Northamptonshire, England. It is located south of Desborough, southeast of Market Harborough, southwest of Corby and northwest of the larger town of Kettering. It is twinned with the French town of Droué...
to have their bust measured professionally, complemented by receiving free correctly-fitting bras. Trinny, Susannah and the 1000 participants then take off their tops in public, revealing their new bras and ultimately disposing of their old bras in public, emphasizing the importance of wearing the correct bra size. The results find that 976 out of the 1000 women, averaging at about 90%, actually had the wrong size bra.
Men - In the second installment of the series, Trinny and Susannah investiage the fashion issues of men, and ultimately aim to get a nation of well-dressed British men. To start their campaign, Trinny and Susannah attend a dress-down day at a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
s where they entice the engineers into their pink box to talk about their outfits. They duo are shocked at the way in which the men dress, with Susannah remarking "You've got amazing coloured eyes but you look like you've just crawled from under a stone." Trinny and Susannah then monitor how men shop via secret cameras. They find that the men they have observed do not actually shop but get taken shopping by their wives.
In order to get into the male psyche, they spend a day at Walthamstow Stadium dog track
Walthamstow Stadium
Walthamstow Stadium was a greyhound racing track located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London and was one of a limited number of remaining greyhound race tracks operating in Greater London...
and subsequently decide to invent six rules of fashion for men based on the way that the betting information is arranged. The six basic body shapes include man boobs
Man Boobs
Man Boobs is a comedy album by The Bob and Tom Show, which was first released in November 2006. It is a triple disc CD which represents original material recorded during their syndicated, daily radio show and other studio numbers which had not been previously presented on air.-Track Listings:...
, beer belly, short legs, thick neck, broad shoulders and skinny. With each body shape, there includes a list of clothing items men must avoid, and others that are suitable. To test out the rules, Trinny and Susannah travel to a Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
n slate mine for the miner
Miner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
s to take the rules and go shopping on their own. After the trial, they fear the rules are not simple enough. They seek the help from an advertising company who come up with the idea of arranging the six rules in the form of the Highway Code
Highway Code
The Highway Code is the official road user guide for Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the applies while the Republic of Ireland has its own Rules of the Road. It contains 306 numbered rules and 9 annexes covering pedestrians, animals, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers...
, therefore re-naming the rules The Male Dress Code. Meanwhile, the fashion duo have arranged for the male section of an Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
department store to be sectioned off to allow a male only day. The section has the six important rules displayed, complete with six live male manikins, one for each body shape, to demonstrate the clothing rules. They also invite some of the civil engineers and slate miners to test the newly formatted rules. Then outside of the store, Trinny and Susannah unveil the six male manikins in the shop window to the women outside.
Shape - The third episode features Trinny and Susannah exploring the theme of shape, where they promote wearing clothes suitable to body shape rather than clothing size. Trinny and Susannah get 60 size 16 women to wear an identical size 16 dress in order to discover how many women the dress fits properly. They find that the dress only fits two women, despite all 60 being classed as a size 16. To explore how women see their own bodies, the duo take their pink box in which women can draw their impressions of themselves, finding that they all see their bodies in different shapes. Then 60 of the women from the investigation are introduced to 12 different objects which Trinny and Susannah believe can represent all women’s body shapes. The shapes include 'apple', 'hourglass', 'skittle', 'vase', 'cornet', 'lollipop', 'column', 'bell', 'goblet', 'cello', 'pear' and 'brick'. The different objects are displayed around a gallery where twelve women with tightly fitted outfits, to show their figures clearly, stand next to the object which they best represent to demonstrate the general idea. Each model is then given a makeover according to the rules which Trinny and Susannah have applied to each body shape. The rest of the women are then required to go shopping to buy themselves clothes, complying with the rules. Only the women with the correct shape clothes receive their money back. Also around the town are the 12 live manikin
Manikin
A manikin is a life-sized anatomical human model used in education. The most famous of these, the Transparent Anatomical Manikin is a three-dimensional, transparent model of a human being, created for medical instructional purposes. The first TAM was created by designer Richard Rush in 1968...
s, standing by a list of the rules for their body shape.
To end their body shape campaign, Trinny, Susannah and 100 women go to the hillside chalk carving, the Long Man of Wilmington
Long Man of Wilmington
The Long Man of Wilmington is a hill figure located in Wilmington, East Sussex, England on the steep slopes of Windover Hill, northwest of Eastbourne. The Long Man is tall and designed to look in proportion when viewed from below....
, where Trinny parades a made over woman from each shape category. Meanwhile in the distance, Susannah organizes the others into changing the shape of the Long Man into a more feminine one by lying down in white boiler suits to give the symbol pigtails, hips and breasts. The event does not come without protest, where Pagans gather in an attempt to stop the proceedings. The episode ends with Trinny and Susannah taking off in a helicopter to view the Long Man with a female form.
Age - During the fourth episode Trinny and Susannah investigate the theme of age. They aim to encourage the older generation to reclaim the high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
and become more comfortable with shopping. Trinny remarks "I think for older women it becomes far more complicated as you age because you've got issues, such as what is age appropriate, their budget, their bodies are changing and it can just get worse and worse and more and more difficult." To view the way in which women age, a human timeline is created by arranging some 20 to 70 year-old women in a line wearing just their underwear.
Trinny and Susannah then take their pink box in search of older women to talk about their clothing. They find that many of them feel a lack of confidence and hide themselves behind clothing, and do not have any knowledge of what to wear. Then the process of Susannah being aged through prosthetics begins. To give an accurate depiction of how Susannah would look at 70-years-old, a plastic surgeon and prosthetic expert take details of her lifestyle and examine past pictures to see how she is aging. When the face mask and body suit are fitted, Susannah is clearly distressed and states "There is no way I’m going to look like this when I'm 70. I will not dress like this and I will not allow my face to become like this." An elderly woman, Shirly Tripe, then takes Susannah shopping to find her some clothing from her own favourite shops. Susannah comments on Shirley's choice: "It's a sack. This is a testament that older women, or mature women, benefit so much from tailoring." Susannah then meets a shocked Trinny with her new appearance. The two fashionistas then aim to tackle what they believe older women should avoid; wearing loose fitting clothes. They take Shirley shopping to get some tighter fitting clothes, although Shirley shows much resistance and claims she looks like 'mutton dressed as lamb'.
Trinny and Susannah arrive at Worthington
Worthington
-Places:In England:*Worthington, Greater Manchester*Worthington, LeicestershireIn the United States:*Worthington, Indiana*Worthington, Iowa*Worthington, Kentucky, a city in Greenup County*Worthington, Louisville, Kentucky, a neighborhood...
, where they hold a clothes master class. They makeover three older women, fitting them with high street clothing. One woman in her 70s is given a new look with a jacket from Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
's TopShop
Topshop
Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...
range. Susannah comments "if any of you worried about not finding things in a top like Topshop, you're wrong." This is aimed to persuade the group of older women that they will find clothes to suit them in high street shops. A convoy of limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
s arrive to take 100 of the older generation to Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
where they reclaim the high street. They explore shops such as New Look and Miss Selfridge
Miss Selfridge
Miss Selfridge is a nationwide UK high street store which began as the young fashion section of Selfridges department store in London in 1966. Miss Selfridge got its name when Charles Clore, the owner of Selfridges at the time, saw a window display in the Bonwit Teller store in New York which...
in search of fashionable items to enhance their figures. After the spree, all of the women attend the nightclub, The Ministry of Sound where the selected women model the catwalk.
Uniforms - For the last of series one, uniform
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
is investigated by Trinny and Susannah where the duo want to promote wearing fashionable uniforms to work. They set out to prove that uniforms can improve morale and make a workforce feel better about themselves. Trinny and Susannah both accompany their pink box around the country, to get a better idea of how the nation's uniforms look. They then descend upon the annual Somerfield
Somerfield
Somerfield was a chain of small to medium sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth largest food retailer. The name is currently being phased out and replaced by the...
supermarket manager's meeting. Trinny and Susannah then persuade the managers to let them do a re-design of the whole of supermarket's uniform.
Before they perform their project on a grand scale, they decide to get some experience by dressing a small business of all-female driving instructors in uniform. A uniform had been optional, but all of the instructors were keen on the idea. The duo's next step is re-designing the uniform of the catering department at the Princess of Wales Hospital
Princess of Wales Hospital
The Princess of Wales Hospital, based in Bridgend, Wales, is a major acute secondary care district general hospital.Facilities include:*Accident & emergency,*mental health,*gynaecology,*surgery,*palliative care, and...
in Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
. To get a feel of what it is like working in these uniforms, Trinny and Susannah spend a few hours working at the establishment. One worker commented "We were surprised. Although they are quite posh, they did have a go. They weren’t too worried about slops. Although Susannah did say it was making her ill." Before the renewal of the uniform, it consisted of old-fashioned mismatched items, until it was replaced by matching pink gingham
Gingham
Gingham is a medium-weight balanced plain-woven fabric made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarn.The name originates from an adjective in the Malay language, genggang , meaning striped. Some sources say that the name came into English via Dutch...
outfits. Then came the task of designing a practical outfit for the Somerfield workers. When the items are made, selected members of Somerfield model the catwalk in the fruit & veg section.
Air dates
- Series 1 - 5 editions 7 November 2007 to 18 December 2007
- Series 2 - 8 editions 30 July 2008 to 28 August 2008 (remaining 3 editions scheduled for January 2009.