In the closet
The Eurovision winner has a place in her heart for bold 80s fashion
Singer Cheryl Baker reveals her style secrets
Cheryl, 65, won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 as part of the band Bucks Fizz, which went on to have seven top 10 hit singles. Cheryl has also worked on a number of TV shows, including Record Breakers,
Popstar To Operastar and Dancing On Ice. She now performs alongside Jay Aston and Mike Nolan as The Fizz, which will be part of the 80s Invasion Tour, featuring seven of the decade’s acts, this year. She lives in Kent with her husband, Steve. They have two daughters, Kyla and Natalie.
How would you describe your style?
I was a proper tomboy when I was young and I still like quite boyish clothes – jackets, shirts and trousers. I’m not really into froufrou. I get my legs out onstage but generally I’m a jeans girl.
Which colours and shapes suit you best?
Bright colours suit me, like red, blue and pink. Greens, beiges and autumnal colours drain me. I like tailored clothes as I don’t have much of a waist. I was athletic when I was younger and I’m still very straight.
Which is your favourite fashion era?
It has to be the 80s, hasn’t it? I like the big shoulders because they gave you a really good shape, although they did get a bit extreme. The one thing I hated about the style of that decade, though, was the puffball skirts.
Who is your style icon?
No one. I don’t care enough about what other people wear. I buy things because I like them. Jay is the one who’s always got her nose in the fashion magazines. We opened the Topshop store on Oxford
Street in London in the early 90s and she was asked to do her own fashion line for them, although it never happened.
What can people expect from The Fizz in the 80s Invasion Tour?
Nostalgia. We’re in the studio now creating new music but that’s not what people coming to this show want to hear, so we give them the
80s hits and the dance routines, and yes, we still rip our skirts off. I gave the [original] rip-off skirt away to charity years ago but I’ve got so many others at home. All you need to do is buy a skirt one size bigger, cut it down the seam and attach Velcro. Apparently after Eurovision all the haberdasheries ran out of Velcro.
Which was your favourite costume?
A pewter-coloured leather costume from 1981, bought from a market in South Kensington, with pointy boobs and a skirt that laced up the sides. It was quite saucy. Jay is the one who comes up with all our costume ideas. She made our costumes for the single If You Can’t Stand The Heat out of chamois leather. They were fantastic.
And the worst?
We did a photoshoot once and I was supposed to wear this short, puffy dress. I looked like a chandelier in it. It was far too girlie for me. I ended up borrowing an evening dress from our producer.
Which are you favourite stores?
My favourite shop is a small boutique called Mousetrap in Sevenoaks in Kent. I know I’ll always find what I need in there. They sell not-too-expensive designers like Isabel de Pedro and Save the Queen that I know will suit me. I also like Phase Eight, Mint Velvet and I can’t go past Topshop without popping in.
Do you own anything vintage?
Yes lots, but it’s all stuff I’ve hung on to for years. I don’t buy vintage clothing. Coming from a big family, all my clothes were secondhand, so now I don’t have to I can’t bring myself to wear secondhand clothes. My daughters love vintage clothing, though.
Are you a hoarder or do you clear out your wardrobe regularly? I’ve got a chest of drawers full of jewellery that I’ve never thrown away, which I sorted out recently and took lots of to a charity shop.
What is the most expensive item in your wardrobe?
Probably evening dresses – and I’ve got Right: This military-style red jacket is an old favourite that Cheryl wears for performing onboard P&O cruise ship Britannia. She has worn it to present The Duke of Edinburgh Awards, too, and was complimented on it by Prince Philip. Her trousers are by Joseph Ribkoff
Facing page: The singer bought this jumpsuit in London’s King’s Road for a photoshoot for a Bucks Fizz album cover. “I also wore it for an 80s-themed party more recently,” she confesses
a lot of them. When i did Popstar To Operastar they let me buy the dresses i wore for 50 per cent off, so i stocked up.
How much do you spend on clothes a month? i can easily spend £1,000 in Mousetrap, but i wear their things forever and a day. They’re not the kind of clothes that go out of fashion.
How many shoes and handbags do you own? hundreds of pairs of shoes. i’ve got two whole cupboards and another room full of them, but even that’s not enough space. My dad was a shoemaker and when i was a size 4, which was the average shoe size in the 50s and 60s, he would bring samples home. i’d have a new pair of shoes every week. My clothes were secondhand but my shoes were on point. i’ll sometimes buy
a matching bag but otherwise handbags aren’t my thing.
What is the best piece of fashion advice you have been given? it’s helpful to go shopping with someone with a really good eye. a lady who used to work at the BBC was brilliant at this. i’ve still got some of the things she bought me. she also really looked after clothes and would fold them up in tissue paper for trips. What is your best beauty secret? Don’t go out in the sun too much. i’ve never been a sun-worshipper, but back in the day people used to advise getting sunburned in order to get a good tan. i think my skin is good for my age.
The 80s Invasion Tour starts on November 1 in Hull and ends on November 10 at London’s Eventim Apollo. See ticketmaster.co.uk.