Do you like shopping together?

Lisa: I ‘d rather go shopping with mum than any of my friends.

Nia: There’s something different about going with your daughter – there’s that bond between mother and daughter, it’s nice. She’s honest with me and if I try something dodgy on she says ‘Mum, put it down!’. It’s nice when we go together, because we help each other choose.

Have you always liked clothes Lisa?

Lisa: I think I’ve grown up since I was a tiny baby to like clothes because I was always dresses nicely by my mother.

I would never go shopping without wearing make-up because I want to look myself – I can’t choose what I want to wear without the make-up to go with it. It sounds odd, but it makes me feel better.

Nia: I think its part of the whole outfit – like the icing on the cake. A cake that’s decorated with icing looks a lot nicer than a plain one, and it’s the same with an outfit. I’m not comfortable going out without make-up, unless I’m just around the house. I’m sure the postman has seen me without make-up, but I would never go to the high street or the shops without it – I’d feel naked!

Do you think your passion for clothes is in the blood somehow?

Nia: Yes, probably. Both my grandmothers were milliners. My paternal grandparents came to Groeslon to open a clothes shop. So I’m sure that love of fashion has been passed through the generations.

I remember going shopping with Mum and Dad to London. We used to go every autumn. It was different then - I got my clothes for the winter and I wore them until I’d grown out of them really! One of my first memories is turning up in London at nine years old – my father always used to drive – and seeing all these big streets like Carnaby Street and amazing shops like Mary Quant, which was very fashionable then.

The clothes take me through the different times in my life – I like looking at them, and get a bit sentimental! I appreciate them so much, I could never get rid of them! My mother kept a lot of clothes too, they used to go every year to dinner dances to do with my father’s work, and she used to dress really nicely. There’s one dress from the sixties than Lisa says she would wear now.

Lisa: I’ve tried it and it fits! They’re lovely and totally different to the things you see in the shops nowadays. I went to Nain’s house and just sat down in the dress. She asked me if I’d got a new dress, she was just staring at it and then she said ‘That’s my dress!’ – she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, she was so shocked! I like the idea of keeping clothes too. I don’t see any reason to throw them away – it’s like throwing away memories.

Do you have any memories of your mother looking very glam when you were small?

Lisa: I remember them going to some dinner once, they’d left the house but after about an hour I remember them coming back and I couldn’t understand why. My mother was mortified because someone was wearing the same dress as her and she had to come back to change!

Nia: It was less than an hour, Lisa! I didn’t even take off my coat – I saw this woman at the far end of the room in the dress and I said to my husband, ‘C’mon Pugh, you’re taking me home now, I have to get changed!’ We went back afterwards and luckily they hadn’t started on the food!

Looking at your wardrobe today, the colours look a bit softer...

Nia: I like to wear a lot of black and white with maybe just a splash of colour. My colours have changed, definitely – they aren’t so flamboyant, they’ve got softer as I’ve got older and I like more conservative things these days.

What about your favourite outfit?

These days it’s this black sequined top. I’ve had it for years, but it’s still fashionable. I wear it with black trousers. We were invited to the Sir Alex Ferguson Testimonial Dinner. My husband was in his element because all the Manchester United team were there, and I was delighted because Mick Hucknall was on the table next door to us, and I love his music so I went to meet him.

Lisa, would you be happy to look like your mother when you’re her age?

Lisa: God yes! Every time I meet someone and they meet my mother, they always say she’s really pretty. They ask how old she is and when I tell them they’re surprised. She looks really good doesn’t she?