Nicky Hambleton-Jones
Former presenter of 10 Years Younger and Style Guru to the average lady, Nicky Hambleton Jones has it all. We chat to the young looking star about her new projects, what to buy in the credit crunch and her own personal style.
Hi Nicky, what have you been up to recently?
Well, I've got a lot of corporate clients that I work with, like Freemans and Clairol Nice and Easy, and Transitions lenses and I've just finished my new book- so all sorts really!
Tell me about your Freemans Catalogue involvement...
Well basically I'm the style advisor to Freemans and what that means is that just really giving customers more value, rather than just a catalogue trying to sell clothes. So we've done a mother and daughter makeover, and we're doing another one soon for the next catalogue and basically we give them tips on how to look and feel good and transform themselves and then I've done little videos for the website, you know what to watch out for come spring and summer. Also we'll have an e-mail address for customers to e-mail me, so if they need any tips or if they are faced with some style dilemmas, hopefully I'll be able to help. It's very much being a personal stylist for Freemans customers really.
What made you want to get involved in this style advisor role then?
Well I've been involved with Otto for quite a while, you know Gratten and Freemans is just a little bit more edgy and younger and the clothes are different and they have a fashion twist to it. But the Freemans customer is your average woman who is stuck in a bit of a rut and needs a change, picks up the catalogue, is swamped with clothes and doesn't know what to do. So hopefully we will help them make better choices and change the way they feel about themselves a little bit.
What's your style advice during these credit-crunching times?
l, you know the credit crunch isn't going to go away, straight away at least, and people do feel awful about the situation, you know we'll all be sad couch potatoes by the end of it, so people must keep there spirits up somehow. I think if you go out and find the bargains, and you know so many retailers are struggling now, that the prices are getting lower and they are more bothered than ever, but you shouldn't go crazy on the bargains really, you should buy something classic that will last you longer.
What top style tips can you give us for Winter?
gosh, my mind is already on spring/summer, right ok, cast your mind back to winter. Well, there's a lot of tailoring right now that's big on the scene and of course a huge military influence. Red is the must-have colour of the season, and oh goodness tartan is just everywhere. Wide leg trousers too are big news, which look great with the whole tuxedo look right now and are also really flattering. There's also a lot of contrast right now, you know you've got the whole punk look which contrasted the 1940s pencil skirt and pussy bow blouse look. And also the shoe boot is huge for autumn/winter- taking the gladiatorial style into winter.
And how about for Spring/Summer next year?
it's going to be big bright colours, with blue being a huge focal point- primary blue, azul blue you know. Also orange will be huge come summer and surprisingly fuchsia and orange combinations are going to be really really big. Also, sequins are set to be huge in the summer, which is unusual because we usually see a surge in sequins at this time of year. Next year they will be everywhere, big and bold sequins, embellishments, everything really. Of course, nautical makes an appearance, however this time it's much more what we call pyjama stripes, so washed out nautical will be the big trend. instead of crisp red, it's much more toned down to a washed down red, and then we have tiered prints which are hugely popular for next year. Literally florals, tribal prints, geometric styles all in one skirt, which isn't my cup of tea, but it works. We're also looking as fringing being a huge deal on jackets, skirts etc and of course the 1920s style flapper dresses too.
You've got quite a unique sense of style, where does that come from?
Erm, well I'm just really passionate about colour really, I love things that really show off a woman's shape. I mean my mum influences me a lot, she always wore things that were incredibly colourful clothes, and I think that was a huge inspiration and erm, in terms of the structure that I like to wear, that comes from when I was growing up as a teenager, I was very body conscious and I think I discovered that when you wear clothes that have tailoring to them or are a lot more fitted then they give you a lot more shape, that helped to boost my confidence I think.
You're also known for your trademark glasses, how many do you own?
Erm, I think it's about 15/16 pairs.
Ah, you see we spoke to Gok recently and he has loads more!
Oh god, you know everything Gok says, take with a pinch of salt (laughs) I bet they all look the same, whereas mine are all different.
You've got your own Style Consultancy, NHJ, how did that develop?
It started out about eight years ago and I just got set up and thought I really want to do something on my own, something where I could really help people feel good about themselves, and boost their self-esteem with some styling tips, bearing in mind back then there wasn't any personal styling, so everyone thought I was crazy! It was initially called Tramp2Vamp when it started and ever since I thought right, I'm going to re brand because it all became really confusing with all the different things I was working on and people didn't know that Tramp2Vamp was my business, so it made more sense to just work under my name, so I started the academy in March this year, where we train people to be personal stylists.
Did you enjoy doing 10 years younger?
Loved it, it was really really really good fun to work on. That said, I'm not coming back for the next series, it just got to the point for me where, well I've never been one to do things for too long and I just wanted to do something different and move on and it's as simple as that really- but I will miss it, but you have to keep moving on in life, or you'll just stand still.
What is the next project you've got lined up then?
Well, at the moment I'm just in talks with production companies, and I've got quite a few new things lined up, but I can't really say!
Thanks for speaking to me Nicky! good luck with everything!
It was no problem, you take care. Have a nice weekend!
FemaleFirst-Laura Terry
Former presenter of 10 Years Younger and Style Guru to the average lady, Nicky Hambleton Jones has it all. We chat to the young looking star about her new projects, what to buy in the credit crunch and her own personal style.
Hi Nicky, what have you been up to recently?
Well, I've got a lot of corporate clients that I work with, like Freemans and Clairol Nice and Easy, and Transitions lenses and I've just finished my new book- so all sorts really!
Tell me about your Freemans Catalogue involvement...
Well basically I'm the style advisor to Freemans and what that means is that just really giving customers more value, rather than just a catalogue trying to sell clothes. So we've done a mother and daughter makeover, and we're doing another one soon for the next catalogue and basically we give them tips on how to look and feel good and transform themselves and then I've done little videos for the website, you know what to watch out for come spring and summer. Also we'll have an e-mail address for customers to e-mail me, so if they need any tips or if they are faced with some style dilemmas, hopefully I'll be able to help. It's very much being a personal stylist for Freemans customers really.
What made you want to get involved in this style advisor role then?
Well I've been involved with Otto for quite a while, you know Gratten and Freemans is just a little bit more edgy and younger and the clothes are different and they have a fashion twist to it. But the Freemans customer is your average woman who is stuck in a bit of a rut and needs a change, picks up the catalogue, is swamped with clothes and doesn't know what to do. So hopefully we will help them make better choices and change the way they feel about themselves a little bit.
What's your style advice during these credit-crunching times?
l, you know the credit crunch isn't going to go away, straight away at least, and people do feel awful about the situation, you know we'll all be sad couch potatoes by the end of it, so people must keep there spirits up somehow. I think if you go out and find the bargains, and you know so many retailers are struggling now, that the prices are getting lower and they are more bothered than ever, but you shouldn't go crazy on the bargains really, you should buy something classic that will last you longer.
What top style tips can you give us for Winter?
gosh, my mind is already on spring/summer, right ok, cast your mind back to winter. Well, there's a lot of tailoring right now that's big on the scene and of course a huge military influence. Red is the must-have colour of the season, and oh goodness tartan is just everywhere. Wide leg trousers too are big news, which look great with the whole tuxedo look right now and are also really flattering. There's also a lot of contrast right now, you know you've got the whole punk look which contrasted the 1940s pencil skirt and pussy bow blouse look. And also the shoe boot is huge for autumn/winter- taking the gladiatorial style into winter.
And how about for Spring/Summer next year?
it's going to be big bright colours, with blue being a huge focal point- primary blue, azul blue you know. Also orange will be huge come summer and surprisingly fuchsia and orange combinations are going to be really really big. Also, sequins are set to be huge in the summer, which is unusual because we usually see a surge in sequins at this time of year. Next year they will be everywhere, big and bold sequins, embellishments, everything really. Of course, nautical makes an appearance, however this time it's much more what we call pyjama stripes, so washed out nautical will be the big trend. instead of crisp red, it's much more toned down to a washed down red, and then we have tiered prints which are hugely popular for next year. Literally florals, tribal prints, geometric styles all in one skirt, which isn't my cup of tea, but it works. We're also looking as fringing being a huge deal on jackets, skirts etc and of course the 1920s style flapper dresses too.
You've got quite a unique sense of style, where does that come from?
Erm, well I'm just really passionate about colour really, I love things that really show off a woman's shape. I mean my mum influences me a lot, she always wore things that were incredibly colourful clothes, and I think that was a huge inspiration and erm, in terms of the structure that I like to wear, that comes from when I was growing up as a teenager, I was very body conscious and I think I discovered that when you wear clothes that have tailoring to them or are a lot more fitted then they give you a lot more shape, that helped to boost my confidence I think.