DRESSED TO KILL
I love my new slim figure but I wish I didn’t have such big feet!
TELEVISION presenter Kirstie Allsopp, 45, lives in London and Devon with her partner Ben Andersen. She has two sons, Bay, ten, and Oscar, eight, and two stepsons, Orion, 17, and Hal, 14.
Trousers or frocks?
I DON’T wear trousers ever, unless I am on the ski slopes. It doesn’t matter how much weight I’ve lost, I don’t suit trousers: I am not long enough in my thighs and my waist is too high.
I mostly wear shirt dresses and my favourites, like this grey one with big flowers, are by New York label Tucker. They are designed by Gaby Basora and every year she does a version of this dress — I have an extensive collection.
I always wear a slip under my dress, especially when filming as I have to have a mic pack tied around my waist, and I don’t want to start the day standing in front of a sound man or woman in my bra and knickers.
High street or designer?
I DON’T find shopping a pleasurable activity — I would rather be with my children — so I mostly buy online from sites that have lots of different labels, such as Matches Fashion, Net-a-Porter and Farfetch. If something works, I multi-buy.
Since I went to Tanzania with Comic Relief and was given a piece of fabric I helped to print, I have also been having things made by a dressmaker. I have got in the habit of buying bolts of Ghanaian block-printed fabric in shops in Shepherd’s Bush. It’s £25 for five yards. I have dresses made of stuff that I originally bought to make into tablecloths.
Heels or flats?
MY FAVOURITE shoes are my Harrow boots from Rag & Bone; they are the most comfortable and flattering things I have ever worn. I wore them for filming last autumn and had so many tweets asking where they were from. Now I have ten pairs.
Body hates?
SPEAKING of feet, mine are very big — a size 8 (European size 41/42). I spend a lot of time trying to make my feet look smaller. I’ve never understood the fashion for ugly footwear. When I was growing up, nice girly shoes weren’t available in my size.
I am scarred by the Cinderella story — bad people having big feet and not getting their man. It’s ridiculous. Thank God I don’t have a girl child because she would be guaranteed big feet!
Prada are good for size 41. There are certain brands who don’t do it. Years ago, when I was single and fancy-free and spent irresponsible amounts on clothes, I went to New York often, as my brother lived there, but also as Manolo Blahnik in New York sold size 41. In London they did not.
I said so in an interview a while back and got a baity letter from Manolo Blahnik saying: ‘We are now selling size 41 in London.’
I thought, how extraordinary. Why didn’t they send me a letter saying we are now selling size 41 in London, I am sorry we didn’t before and if you come in we’ll give you ten per cent off? But no, the letter suggested they were affronted I had cast this slur.
Hoarder or a minimalist?
I DO a lot of recycling. I keep clothes in my attic in Devon and bring them out again. I do the odd clear-out as you have to. You make mad decisions, particularly when you go through two pregnancies and are half deranged!
Gym bunny or lazy bones?
I AM very lucky; I live in Holland Park, West London, and the streets have quite steep hills. So I do half an hour of running up and down hills in the morning to get my heart rate up. It’s a myth that you can exercise yourself thinner; exercise has to be done in conjunction with eating differently.
Nip and tuck?
I DON’T have any moral objection. I have a few friends who I feel are going overboard. I can see that it’s addictive; you do it once and it makes a difference so you do it again, and then again a bit sooner. I am holding off for as long as I possibly can so I don’t get into that situation.
Since I lost weight, people have tweeted saying, ‘You look drawn’. One downside is the weight comes off your face and boobs.
As much as I’d like not to have to wear a bra all the time, I am not sure I could have a boob job. My mother had a mastectomy and my sister Sofie did, too. I am sure a mastectomy is a lot more dramatic than having augmentation, but having seen my mum and sister have surgery, and then my sister need further surgery as hers went wrong, I don’t think I could go under the knife.
Feast or famine?
BEING overweight on your 50th birthday is the number one risk factor for breast cancer, which my mother got when she was 41; she died in 2014 when she was 66.
I put on two stone between 40 and 44 and decided that I was being irresponsible as a parent and a partner and it had to go.
I went to see celebrity nutritionist Amelia Freer last July and I am on the metabolic balance diet. I have stopped eating bread and potatoes and I don’t drink wine. I eat three meals a day — I do not leave the house without having breakfast.
What is key is having five hours between meals and not having anything except water during those five hours.
I’ve lost more than two stone and gone from squeezing into a size 16 to squeezing into a size 12. Because I’ve got very broad shoulders and quite a big bust, I am halfway between a size 12 and 14. I was late for filming this morning because I tried on three coats and none of them fitted — I definitely need to do a clear-out.
Guilty pleasure?
INSTEAD of wine, I drink vodka and fizzy water which, once you get used to it, is delicious.
Last night I went round for a catch- up with my next- door neighbour and friend Emma Freud. She is a great cook and had made some almond and rhu- barb cake so, as well as a fizzy water and vodka, I had two slices. I felt fine about that — the diet is not about deprivation.
High or low maintenance?
IT TAKES me no time at all to get ready. I can’t afford the time and I have never been able to. When I met Ben he had a twoyear-old and a five-year-old. Then I had my children and for the past 20 years, I’ve always had a dog.
This morning I got up at half past six, exercised for half an hour and had to be out of the house within 20 minutes — I was a bit late because of the coats not fitting!
We don’t have a make-up artist on Location, Location, Location, so I do my own make-up in the car on the way to filming. Some people who have shows like mine — no names — don’t care about their clothes, but I do. I am not trying to keep up with whatever’s fashionable, but I do mind about looking nice and neat.
Style icon?
MICHELLE OBAMA always looks amazing, and she wears pattern, too. I love pattern and colour — I don’t think there’s enough of it.
Wardrobe treasure?
MY CURRENT handbag by Pierre Hardy: I liked it so much I bought two, both in the sale from Matches Fashion. One has a hexagonal design in blue, red and yellow, the other is black, cream and dark red.
It’s a rectangular tote style and is perfect for shooting because it’s made of fabric, so it’s light. Since I have to do my own makeup on the show, I have to take my bag with me into the houses and hide it. It gets chucked all over the place.
THE Handmade Fair at The Green at Hampton Court Palace is on from 15-17 September. Visit thehandmadefair.com for tickets and more information.