To what extent have you two influenced each other’s style over the years?

Heledd: My mother wouldn’t be very happy if I said she influenced my style! When I young, clothes were practical things for me, something to keep me warm, dry and to stop me being naked! I loved going out on my bike, climbing or riding horses, I had no interest whatsoever in clothes. Then I went through a stage when I was a teenager, you know when you feel embarrassed by your parents, well I think my mother was embarrassed of me! My mother is on the complete opposite of the scale to me! I remember feeling embarrassed because my mother obviously had to dress quite glamorous, so she always had a lot of make-up and big clothes and I would sometimes think – why can’t she just dress like the other mothers?

Elinor: To tell you the truth I would dread what Heledd would wear from one day to the next. But it was fantastic; she would never spend money on clothes because she bought everything from Oxfam! She came home one day having bought something that I would have thrown out a decade ago! It was a maroon velvet jacket with big lapels from the 70s and I remember her telling me how nice it was and all I could say was ‘great!’

In the 80s I had big shoulders, big jewellery, big lapels – big everything! I also wore high heels which I still wear today! But our styles are completely different. I tend to dress more formally than Heledd; I wear tailored, structured clothes whereas Heledd tends to wear dresses and clothes which are more fluid.

This is a very nice suit.

E: I haven’t kept a lot of my clothes from the 70s and 80s, but I have kept this one. It’s a Janice Wainwright suit and I bought it in the late 70s early 80s and wore it a lot on my S4C show. I don’t wear it now, but I might start wearing it again. Because it’s a classic and not a fashion suit I can wear it again. It’s so well made and I still love the colour and feel of it.

This is a retro dress, where did it come from?

H: I was invited to a 60s and 70s party in Llandeilo and needed something to wear, then I remembered my mum had this 70s dress. It’s suede and quite heavy. You could wear it inside out because it’s so beautifully hand made. I also think that this dress works today as well and I’ve worn it on television on Wedi 7. It’s like history repeating itself!

Does it help to have a mother with such taste?

H: I have to be quite careful sometimes because we can both go for the same kind of clothes, and that has happened once or twice!

Do you two go shopping together?

H: We tend to shop separately but I will call mum up and tell her if I have been shopping so that the next time she comes round I can show her my new clothes. I think I’ve now reached a point when I can say I’m confident enough to know what suits me.

Where did you get this suit?

E: This came from a dress shop in Llandeilo called Mela. It was the colour that caught my attention and the shape of the puff-ball skirt. When I put it on it’s very tight around my waist, and because I’m so small I like to wear clothes that highlight my waist otherwise I look like box!

This looks like a fun dress!

H: This is a fun dress. I liked the cut of it and there is also something very feminine about it, it’s quite kitsch!

Do you follow fashion?

H: I’m aware of fashion but I don’t follow it, I’m not a slave to it. I think it’s very important not to lose yourself in fashion.

E: It’s funny because fashion takes everyone over in the end. It’s around us everywhere and so you can’t help but be influenced by it. But I think my style is quite simple really and unfortunately all my clothes revolve around being on television.

Do you remember the first thing you wore on television?

E: Yes, it was a red leather suit, waistcoat and trousers. I had to hold a monkey on my lap, and it made a little mess, so I was quite fortunate that it was leather really!

H: One of the first things that I remember getting was a red jacket when I started on Uned 5 on S4C when I was 21 – over 10 years ago! I remember a woman from the wardrobe department, Bet, buying it for me. We’d gone shopping to Chester for the day and I got this which was quite expensive. When I wore it I felt special and safe. I went through a phase when I wasn’t sure what my style was and what suited me, but when I wore this I knew I looked good because Bet had bought it!

Because you were on S4C right at the beginning, was there pressure on you to look good?

E: Yes, there were high expectations of me. But there was a period of feminism in Wales at the time and there was a lot of cruel things written about me by women in papers such as Y Cymro and Y Faner saying things such as “who does she think she is in her satin suits sitting on that settee!” I had a lot of stick form a lot of women in the press because it was the time when women wore dungarees, and if you believed in feminism, clothes weren’t important to you!

Where did this jacket come from?

E: I went to the opera one night wearing this, and you know that feeling you get when you know that somebody’s watching you? I turned round and they said “it’s all right, we’re just reading you!” And they were reading what I had on the back of my jacket which is “You can’t judge a girl by her clothes!” So they really were reading me!

What’s your style?

E: Style evolves. And of course when you get to my age you’ve seen it all before! Clothes from the 50s, 60s and 70s, they’ve all come back – none of it is new!

H: I think it’s very dangerous to say ‘this is my style’ because I think it’s very healthy for it to evolve over time. I also believe that if you keep an interest in your clothes you also keep an interest in yourself and that’s very important and healthy mentally as well.