Nia: How do you feel when you look at yourself in the mirror, and what do you hope to get out of this experience?

Carys: It depends completely what I’ve got on, but sometimes I think ‘Oh God, I look awful!” But then if I’m going out and I’ve put a bit of make-up on I might feel a bit more sexy or whatever. Most of the time, I look like a frump I think. I hope to get a little more confidence in myself and find out how to dress, what goes with what and what suits me. I want to stop just grabbing things from the wardrobe, and start matching things up. I’m also looking forward to getting my hair done – my hair has just been left and has been like this for years. I’d like a change.

Nia: What about your personal life? You were married for a while weren’t you?

Carys: I was married for eighteen years and then divorced. Then I was in another relationship for ten years and that came to an end. At the moment I’m not quite sure where my life is going.

Nia: Here to give Carys some direction is Cwpwrdd Dillad’s stylist, Eleanor Gardener.

Eleanor: Firstly, I’m going to talk about your body shape. You have a full hourglass shape and a small waist hiding under that bust so you need to wear clothes that have structure to them.

With this top, the colour isn’t great, it’s not really going to give your skin warmth and there’s no structure there. It’s not going to show your waist at all and it’s going to draw too much attention to your bust. You have a great bust, lots of women want big breasts but wearing a vest-top like that isn’t going to do anything for them. You see these colours, a lot of them are light or pastels colours, you need something a bit stronger.

Eleanor: This suit is also a bit shapeless. Your hips are quite big, and these trousers are quite narrow at the bottom so they’re going to make your hips look bigger – wide-legged trousers would suit you better. And this jacket will do nothing for your shape.

But before I show you your new clothes, we have to tackle the hair. We’re going to put layers in it, cut it to chin length and put some brown and copper highlights in it.

Nia: Well the transformation is totally incredible, I hardly recognise you! Before I ask you how you feel – Eleanor, what did you do exactly because there’s such a difference!

Eleanor: Yes, but the biggest change for me is the hair. We’ve got rid of the length and the grey. Then the hair has been warmed up and because it’s shorter, you can see Carys’ face and her eyes shining. With the clothes, I’ve created a more sophisticated image. The cardigan is about £30 from M&S and the coat is £120 from Debenhams – Betty Jackson, the trousers again from Betty Jackson and the simple beads are from Principles – so it’s easy to create this look from the high street.

Nia: And of course Carys, the big question, how do you feel?

Carys: I’m really happy, it’s lovely and it’s totally changed me – I feel a lot more confident and smart, and I’m comfortable too. I’ve really enjoyed it and I’d like to say a big thanks to Eleanor.