With The Traitors’ final coming up tonight, it begs the question: what am I going to watch after it’s over? At least I know what I’m going to wear; the series has given us a whole wardrobe of outfits to recreate until summer arrives.
Claudia Winkleman’s impeccably styled looks have drawn almost as much attention as the on-screen drama, and it’s easy to see why; heritage-core (as the presenter’s show style has been dubbed) is chic yet comfortable, and involves pieces you may well already have in your wardrobe. See: cosy knits, stompy boots, oversized coats and an abundance of tartan. And then there are the statement pieces – that Kapital jumper with the smiley face elbows (which sold out instantly) and Wednesday’s fringed, floor-length Saint Laurent coat. "Can we just have a show for Claudia’s outfits?" one Instagram commenter suggests.
The person behind the viral-making outfits is Winkleman’s long-time stylist, Sinead McKeefry. A Central Saint Martins MA graduate, McKeefry has spent 20 years working in fashion, first assisting Charlotte Stockdale before joining The Face magazine, and going on to become a hugely successful celebrity stylist. One sunny afternoon, I gave McKeefry a call to chew the fat about heritage-core, Claudia Winkleman’s country-punk aesthetic, and her own formative style inspiration. Read on for our conversation – and to find out McKeefry’s top tip on finding a dupe of that smiley-face knit.
Congratulations on The Traitors. The styling is as talked about as what happens on the show – that must be really exciting.
Yeah, it's really a lovely moment. And it's from across the board. My cousin is a teacher and she says, "Oh, Sinead, one of the teachers at my school was saying in the staff room that you were name checked on Lorraine Kelly this morning." And then I'll have Charlotte Moore [Chief Content Officer at the BBC], who is one of the most important people at the BBC come up to me and say, "Really, I can't thank you enough. It's amazing. It's just outstanding and it's creating so much press as well."
I did the MA at [Central] Saint Martins under Louise Wilson and I got a bursary to study womenswear, specialising in knitwear. None of my family knew what I did until I was on Strictly [Come Dancing] and I got a credit at the end of the show. That was the holy grail of my career for them. And I was like, but guys, it was blood, sweat and tears at Saint Martins for two years doing the MA!
What inspired Claudia’s look for The Traitors?
It’s a bit Ronnie Corbett, it's a bit Princess Anne, and it's a bit Madonna – the Guy Ritchie days. We wanted heritage pieces mixed in with a bit of menswear. We did a lot of layering in the first series. We did a lot of slim silhouettes and we did a few chunky knits. The fingerless gloves were a big thing. But we only had four weeks to get the whole thing together for the first season.
This season, I could sit down the good old-fashioned way, have everything up on the walls. I have endless pictures of Amanda Harlech. And I've always loved that Bruce Weber story that he did of her at home with all the kids. It's black and white. They're all out in their country attire mixed in with a little bit of military and a little bit of costume. I was like, "Let's do something a bit like that." [Like Claudia] Amanda Harlech does that heavy eye, she's got that dark hair. They both bring that punkier element to the clothing. It stops it from being too twee.
There’s definitely a rock ‘n’ roll element to many of Claudia’s looks.
What I really like actually about the structure of the show is that in the evenings, because of the round table, we can do a much more mod-like silhouette and we can use velvet and lace and Saint Laurent – but still with the £60 Spanx leggings. If I buy anything from Saint Laurent, it tends to be black. I mean, we've used that Saint Laurent velvet jacket across a number of shows, actually. It’s the same with the Saint Laurent boots as well, they're the same ones that she wore last series.
I know we've thrown a few little curveballs in there, and I mean, I love the Kapital jumper. But anything like that Saint Laurent boot, that's a boot that was around 10 years ago and will probably be around in 10 years time. Using those staples, we can start building the outfits and then go, "Right, okay, let's look for some little moments." For example, the beautiful Mr. Mittens knit, which is stunning.
Talk to me about that incredible Kapital jumper, the one with the smiley-face elbows. It’s now sold out everywhere from being on the show.
I bought that from Mr Porter. I was actually using it for a private menswear client that I was working with. I brought it back to the office. When I put all the looks [for The Traitors] together, I need to do it on my own in silence – I'll edit everything down and then I'll lay it all flat on the floor and polaroid it. I put [the Kapital jumper] down with the bra and skirt, the little kilt from Brora. And I was like, "This is [the direction] we can go this year."
Jumper 1234 did [a jumper like the Kapital one] quite a while ago, much less dramatic. It's not the aran knit, but it's just a really nice navy cashmere knit with two smiley faces on the elbow [similar available here and here]. And I think they'll probably re-release that again.
People are constantly commenting on your Instagram, asking where everything is from. What would you say is the most popular piece?
People love those Dr. Martens boots. The Kapital jumper probably has had the most impact and press. There is also a grey Johnstons jumper that she wore. It’s an expensive piece, it's £895. But Johnstons has already had 50 orders, so they're putting it back into production in the mill in Scotland. I think it's a four-week wait. But again, that's a jumper that you'll wear forever.
What are the key elements of Claudia's traitor look, would you say?
We normally start most looks with some kind of skinny trouser, from somewhere like Holland Cooper. They have this really good biker jean. It's got this sort of rigid knee detail on it. I love the texture and it's a fantastic shape. The fabric has stretch, but enough structure at the same time.
So that and a pointed boot, a fingerless glove – that's not just something that I invented last year. I mean, obviously I'm a huge Madonna fan. I've also been a long-time fan of the Fagin look from Oliver Twist and Claudia's always worn, not fingerless gloves, but wrist warmers and over the years has bought us them as presents. At the end of Strictly, we will all buy each other gifts after the series is finished. And one year bought the whole team fingerless gloves. So that's kind of been her thing.
It’s such a collaboration with the two of us because we've got such a similar aesthetic. We've worked together for so long now. She throws a lot of wild cards in. [The Saint Laurent fringed maxi coat] was amazing. And it was an expensive piece, so we decided to auction it afterwards for Comic Relief.
What is your favourite outfit so far?
[The Saint Laurent coat look] is probably my favourite outfit, just as a standout moment. But one of the outfits that I love that we put together was actually the Burberry coat with The Row cardigan, the ME+EM shirt, the Dubarry cords, and the Church's shoes. That's a look you can easily put together. It doesn't have to be all exactly the same tones or the same brands. I love the way it was put together and I loved that it's something that's translatable.
You don't have to go and spend 800 pounds on a pair of Church's shoes. If you can, you are really lucky and you'll have them for life. But just that idea. I found the brown Dubarry cords at midnight one night, on some country casuals website based out of Norfolk. They were £39 and came in four different colous and they were in the sale. I love having those lovely textures against the backdrop of the rugged, gorgeous Inverness and the castle.
Any tips for finding designer pieces on sale?
I always go on The Outnet. The green Officine Générale coat – I paid a quarter of the price for that on The Outnet.
Claudia’s Traitors wardrobe features many Scottish-made pieces from the likes of Brora, Johnstons of Elgin and Le Kilt.
It was intentional. I have always gravitated towards that kind of look anyway, in my day-to-day life. My family are Irish, so I grew up going to Donegal every summer. I had five cousins who were quite a bit older than us, and we stayed with them. I was a young teenager and I thought they were just the coolest people ever. They were in battered 501 jeans and tweed blazers, and had very nonchalant kind of attitude. They were in a band. [My cousin] Pádraig still lives in Donegal. He’s got to be 60 something. He'll still be in that same look, I know it.
It’s just a very natural aesthetic for me to gravitate towards. All of those lovely tweeds and herringbones. It's a bit nostalgic. It doesn't have to be perfect. It can be a bit undone.
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