The lovely Claire in her latest collection for Fashion World
I had the pleasure of speaking with Claire Sweeney recently about her collection for fashion brand Fashion World – a brand that deals with fashionable clothing for sizes 12 – 32. Claire took time out from her UK wide tour Educating Rita currently showing in Edinburgh the night before to talk to Evolve about her collection. Best known as Lindsay Corkhill in Brookside, Clare regularly appears on stage and also did a documentary My Big Fat diet by gaining 2 stone, going to a size 14 and going from a C cup to G cup in six weeks to show how easy it is to put on weight to see what people’s perceptions on size are. She laughed and said she was never chatted up as much as when she was a size 14 – it must have been the boobs! Claire is as nice as she appears on screen.
Congratulations on another AW collection for Fashion World. How did you first get involved with it?
CS -They approached me. I love clothes, I always have. I like to dress clever and know certain clothes suit me. Fashion World asked me to be an Ambassador and design my own range for them. I LOVE it, it’s a real labour of love. I am involved in every aspect of the process from design, to choosing the fabrics and modelling the clothes. I travel a lot for my work and I need a perfect action wardrobe, mix and match and finding a balance. I wanted to find a nice dress and it look fantastic regardless of whether you are a size 14 or a 22. So once the final designs were made up into samples we got a size 14 lady and a size 22 lady and put them on and asked the girls what they liked. One didn’t like her arms showing, so we brought the sleeves down a bit and another wasn’t bothered about that. I worked very closely with the buyers and designers who were fantastic at pointing out what works and what doesn’t
Have you always had such keen interest in fashion, coming from the super fashion conscious Liverpool must definitely help?
CS -Yes, In Liverpool everyone gets dressed up to go out. Not so much in London, until that is until I saw TOWIE and realised down south they get dressed up too. I think it’s a provincial thing, a working class thing.
How involved were you in the whole process from concept, design and final product?
CS -From the very beginning, I was very involved in the whole process. It was and is wonderful. It makes me feel so proud when a lace dress from my first collection was worn by Sharon Marshall on This Morning recently.
What’s your favourite piece from the collection (mine is the berry furry gilet)?
CS -I know that gilet is great, I love gilets and that wine colour is gorgeous. My favourite though is the Blue evening dress, I love the colour, the elegant style, it looks expensive. So you can wear it at night or with boots and a leather jacket during the day.
What inspired the collection (some of it nods to the 60’s)?
CS -No, it wasn’t really 60’s inspired. Its just based on what I like to wear. When I go out shopping, I just think, lets do this, I don’t follow high fashion or trends and my belly sticks out like everyone elses.
Who inspires you in terms of fashion and in general?
CS -I love elegant fashion, I love Victoria Beckham’s style and I love Roland Mouret’s dresses, I like the 1940’s, trousers and blazers with a top underneath, I like elegant and streamlined.
You have curves in all the right places and a lovely figure, how did you get involved with a brand that does cater for much curvier ladies?
CS – They approached me. Like everyone my weight goes up and town and I do struggle with my belly. It does depend on the day especially now I’ve turned 40.
We here at Evolve are constantly striving to make the point, you can be curvy but you must be healthy and get fit, how do you stay healthy and fit (the lead in Chicago notwithstanding)?
CS – Keep active and keep moving and healthy. If it impacts your life then you need to deal with it.
Have you ever had negative comments (Twitter/Facebook/Press and media in general) about your looks and weight?
CS -Yes, I’ve had a full page in the Daily Mail calling me a beached whale! I keep it in perspective though, I take the good with the bad and that’s the deal. If I can’t get my belly and bum out in a bikini on holiday while having a cocktail, then sod it I’m going to have a drink, this is me. It can still hurt though, but what do you do, this is what I signed up for and is part of it, so you brush yourself off and keep going.
The pressure on you in terms of appearance as you are in the public eye must be huge, how do you maintain a healthy perspective and stay sane?
CS – Take pride in your appearance, I get it from my mother who is very stylish and glamorous. We have that in common. Mum always looks good and loves fashion and I love fashion too.
Liverpudlian lassies and lads are know for their super keen interest in fashion, dressing up, glamour and having a good time, are you a typical Liverpudlian?
CS – I am TYPICAL – we are famous for it, I love it. My Mum encourages it as well and I have always been the most overdressed.
I bet you get loads of freebies?
CS – No freebies, I wish, I would love them!
Any fashion advice for Evolve readers?
CS – Yes, learn to dress cleverly, know your danger parts, mine is my belly, so I wear a loose vest top and heels and jeans to deflect attention away from it. If you have a good bust, emphasise those assets. Get a push up bra – men love it and don’t get what we are on about. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.
What’s next on the horizon for you in terms of career etc?
CS – After this (Educating Rita in Edinburgh), I start rehearsals in November for White Christmas at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester which starts on the 30th November. The SS13 collection for Fashion World is also in the pipeline.
Evolve’s motto is Be Proud….Be You….what makes you proud to be you?
CS – I still love my job, I look forward to my work at Fashion World, fashion is great, I have a lovely family and man and I am very blessed. Enjoy whats around you and focus on the positives and not the negatives.
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