Is my wardrobe crying out for a kilt? It’s not a question I thought I’d ask myself. But then I didn’t reckon on the Claudia Winkleman effect. In the second episode of The Traitors’ second season, the presenter strode into the breakfast room wearing a tartan pleated skirt in shades of green and navy, and I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it since.
In theory, Winkleman should’ve appeared like she was cosplaying as a bagpiper or harking back to an old school uniform. And yet she didn’t – she looked incredible. But the presenter has form for pulling off looks that perhaps shouldn’t work, but undeniably do. Think of the eye-skimming full fringe. The thick eyeliner. The orange tan. If the rest of us tried to recreate this signature style, it’d probably raise eyebrows, or lead to pointed comments about whether we’d been on holiday recently. For Winkleman, though, it’s part of her unique appeal, making her one of the most recognisable women on British telly. She’s even joked that her distinctive look helped her build her career: “I used to get work because if you couldn’t remember a name, they’d say ‘That weird one with a fringe,’” she told The Times last year.
