One of Ireland's most popular broadcasters, Miriam O' Callaghan is known her unique and sometimes daring sense of style.
Whether she’s glamming it up for a red carpet event or handling a political debate on Prime Time, she always looks impeccably groomed.
Georgina Heffernan caught up with the glamorous presenter to talk about television, trends...and fashion disasters.
GH: You're clearly a fan of fashion. Do you enjoy experimenting with your look?
MOC: Fashion and what we wear should never be taken too seriously. To be frank, there's an awful lot of rubbish written on the subject, usually preying on the insecurities of women. I try not to be a slave to every recent trend and always wear what I like and what I feel good in. It's always important to remain true to yourself, to who you are. By and large, I suit structure and simplicity in clothes. I like trying different looks as well - otherwise you bore yourself and everyone else who's forced to look at you in their living rooms.
I go through 'fads' for a few weeks - I might overdose on shift dresses for a while and then opt for a classic trouser suit look for a while. The amazing thing is how much people notice. I might have just asked a killer question to the Minister for Finance on Prime Time but regularly the calls to the office the following morning are about what I'm wearing - and that can be both good and bad feedback!
GH: Who is your fashion icon or your greatest influence in matters of style?
MOC: I have never had a fashion icon or style guru. I definitely pick up tips by looking at other women and what they wear but there's never been any strong role model. I am a nightmare here in RTE for our Wardrobe department, they have fantastic long-suffering stylists in there like Catherine and Brigitte, who have given me brilliant advice over the years and for that I am eternally grateful. I think I give them their worst headaches, though, and I am known to often run into them just before the show starts saying: "Help, please pull anything off any rail ASAP as I have been too busy to thing about clothes until this minute". They always sort me out.
GH: What is your favourite item of clothing that you've ever purchased?
MOC: A black halter neck dress (I love halter necks) from the sub-couture range in Arnotts. The stylist Lydian Hynes from the Sunday Independent found it out for me when we were doing a LIFE Magazine shoot last summer; I liked it so much I bought it and I have worn it to death. It's really simple but drop dead gorgeous. I joined up on Twitter two weeks ago and selected a picture with me wearing that dress as my frontpage.
GH: How important is fashion in the world of television?
MOC: Television is a visual medium and so fashion and what people wear is of course hugely noticed. Deep down I feel strongly that how we look and what we have on shouldn't matter one iota but I am, by now, a realist and know that's simply fantasy land. All research shows that viewers constantly notice and comment on how people - particularly women - look on television. We do it ourselves: "look at his tie, not sure about that dress or what has she done with her hair"?
Unless it's a straightforward fashion show though, I still feel, particularly on a programme like Prime Time that fashion should be irrelevant or at least incidental to everything else that is going on. I once wore a leather biker jacket on the show and it caused such a furore and attracted so much attention that I never wore it again on TV. I still wear if off air though and still get lots comments about THAT night I wore it.
GH: As a woman in the public eye, how to you deal with so much focus being paid to your appearance?
MOC: By and large people are very kind and complimentary. In my case, because the focus of my work is first and foremost journalistic content, I don't care very much about any focus that there is on my appearance. How I look is incidental to my work. I spent years on the road as a reporter for BBC Newsnight, much of it spent traipsing the roads of Northern Ireland, where fashion was the very last thing on any of our minds. I think a key point about my career is that I never wanted to be a TV presenter. I was never attracted by the 'glamour' of it all. I am a journalist and what matters is the story or the interview. How I look doesn't matter very much at all.
GH: Do you think that women on TV are under increasing pressure to look young?
MOC: No, I don't. Again in life, it's how you approach things and how you see yourself that matters. People will look at you and to a very large extent; see you reflected through the prism of how you see youself. That's why self esteem is so important. Insofar as television shines a mirror on society at large, then of course virtually everyone in life - men and women - want to look as good and stay as healthy looking as they can, for as long as they can. The octogenarian TV presenter Barbara Walters, who is still incredibly busy and doing great work, once said about women, that when a woman reaches the age of 33, she needs to realise that she's in a new faze of her life and that there's no point in trying to forever look eighteen - love every stage of your life she said and that will show in your face and you will continue to look great. Happy people always look well.
GH: Have you ever had any major fashion disaster?
MOC: Yes - many. My worst by far was a luminous blue velvet trouser suit I wore a few years back when presenting 'Test the Nation' with the lovely Ray Darcy. I think one journalist; Liam Fay in the Sunday Times summed it up perfectly when he said I looked like Elmo from Sesame Street! Not my finest sartorial moment - but the comments made me laugh a lot so that's good.
GH: How would you describe your personal style?
MOC: Unconventional, usually high street, a bit eclectic - I love black but my favourite colours are blue and green so I wear a lot of those colours. Great for making you look less tired - less like I feel right now having spent a night with my delightful four year old son who decided to stay awake most of the night and wanted me to read over and over again his favourite Thomas The Tank Engine book.
GH: Who is your favourite designer? And your favourite high street store?
MOC: I usually as I say shop in the high street but every now I then I get treats. About eight years ago Brigitte in RTE got me a black Armani trouser suit which I adore and wear constantly. I always wheel it out for big serious nights on Prime Time and it never lets me down - it always looks good. There are lots of brilliant Irish designers whose clothes I have had the privilege to wear at some stage including Deborah Veale, Peter O' Brien, Paul Costello, Fran & Jane - and now I've probably really upset somebody by leaving them out.
GH: What is the best style advice you have been given?
MOC: Smile and be happy - even if you're wearing a black sack, you'll still manage to look good!
