What attracts you to clothes?

I’ve liked spots since I was a little girl. Spots and stripes. But the majority of my clothes are black and white.

Why have you got two dresses that are so similar?

The dress in the cupboard is one I’ve bought for a wedding so I haven’t worn it yet. But that dress and the one I’m wearing now reminds me of the dress I wore while I was getting married and standing on Carmarthen Train Station waiting to go on my wonderful honeymoon to Falmouth. This is my favourite dress, and was designed by Gina Fratini, a big name in the 70s and 80s. This, in a way, is my Welsh dress. It looks like a traditional Welsh garment and is made from fine wool.

Are you sentimental about your clothes?

Yes, I do tend to keep clothes. I have boxes upon boxes full. I really should get rid of them, but just like a man drowning sees his life flashing before him, I see my life flashing before me in these boxes!

I remember being a young girl in Llandysul walking home from school with my friend Siân, and seeing a pink dress in Mrs. Jones’s shop window. I said, “I must get that dress!” But I’d just had a new dress from David Morgan and my mother refused to let me have another. However, my grandfather was a softy and he gave me the money to buy the dress so I had great pleasure wearing both.

Then I went to university in Cardiff and opened an account with Wallis – paying £5 a month so I could buy dresses and suits. But by the end of the sixties I was pregnant, and had to make do with baggy trousers and slacks!

Are there clothes that bring back particularly fond memories?

When you see old clothes they bring everything back. I remember when I went back to work, I started making my own clothes, buying material from a shop in Carmarthen. The style and patterns of the dress I made is back in fashion today! I remember moving to Whitland in the seventies and it was a period of making new friends and going to dances and lunches and everyone wearing maxis. When I returned to full-time work, I had a bit more money and I found a shop in Carmarthen that I adored. I’m afraid that I spent most of my money in that shop!

How has your style changed over the years?

Well, I tended to buy dresses of the same shape then, as I do now, simply because that’s the style I like. I have a dress I used to wear when I was eighteen and a dress that I wore when I was President of Merched-y-Wawr and they’re both the same shape!

Have clothes played an important role in your life?

When you see a garment, I think it’s important you see yourself wearing it for a particular occasion. I’m sure I should have been an actress, but no one discovered my talent – so instead I’ve always enjoyed dressing up. If I felt that if I looked the part I’d always feel more confident!