But Karen looks fine to me. Granted she is not up to the minute fashionable but why should she be? She's not in her twenties. Older women don't have to conform to fashion.

Karen always looks well groomed. Its not as if she looks untidy or unwashed. I guess you are just saying that you don't like her personal style. I don't agree that she needs a makeover.

What a depressing post! Older women don't have to conform to fashion. Actually nobody has to conform to fashion - I'm talking about looking good, never mentioned the word fashionable. And, believe it or not, there is life after forty!

Yes, I thought so.

Why depressing? I don't get where you are coming from. No one has to be a slave to fashion I quite agree, but younger women are more likely to dress fashionably than older women.

As for looking good - she obviously likes the clothes she wears. Her taste is different from yours.

IMO she doesn't look that bad. I don't spend any time when watching the programme thinking about her clothes/image.

We're obviously not going to agree on our perceptions of what Susan and Karren did, so I think it's best we agree to disagree. I'm not anti Susan or pro Karren, just trying to be realistic. Helen was a consistently good performer in the tasks, while Susan was erratic, sometimes brilliant, sometimes hopeless. If Karren favoured Helen it's not surprising. But ultimately the choice is Sugar's.

However re the bit in bold, this isn't what happened in the final at all. Susan's business plan was wildly optimistic and the interviewers reported this back. That ruled Susan out of winning and getting the £250K investment. So LS didn't make her an offer, though he hinted strongly he might in the future. We don't know what improvements she made to her plans subsequently but Sugar clearly liked her approach and wanted to get into the cosmetics business so they eventually did a deal.

Something we agree on. Younger women are more likely to dress 'fashionably' than older women.

Mostly, badly. That's why I have never used the 'f' word. I'm talking stylish, chic, knowing what suits you. Dressed for the job you aspire to do - and the one above.

Although Lord Sugar has fired with regret on occasion he’s not offered more to anyone than he did to Susan at the end of the last series. He could have just wished Susan well in the future but he offered her more than that. He wouldn’t have invested his time or anything more if he didn’t feel Susan weren‘t a talented high achiever and an exceptionally bright, hardworking young business woman.

Lord Sugar and Susan are now forging ahead in an equal partnership which gives credence to Susan’s capabilities. It leaves what happened at the end of the series far behind but what I can agree with you with is there’s nothing to be added except wish them both a flourishing partnership.

But none of them look remotely interesting, stylish or chic in my eyes. They all look 'corporate' (dull suits, jackets, pencil skirts etc). There have been very few candidates who have worn what I would call interesting clothes. They all look very sameish although I remember Lucinda used to dress a bit dfferently.

Karen just looks as dull as all the others, no better and no worse. Margaret looked dull too - not much different from Karen.

Its The Apprentice.

Not Britain's Top Model.

Karen looks fine.

dark ages! So you can only be well dressed if you are entering Britain's Top Model? Oh god!

Oh, and should have added 'fine' doesn't cut it.

Oh look, an intelligent, smart business woman being slagged of because she doesn't look and dress like a Pussy Cat Doll. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Samantha Brick's point in reverse?

This. I'm about the same age as Karren and just think she always looks a bit frumpy (for want of a better word). She doesn't seem to have much natural style or flair and so plays it too safe and ends up looking older than her actual years. It's nothing to do with fashion or looking like mutton, it's about looking good and stylish. Maybe she is just someone who has no real interest in her appearance though.

Glad this thread has been revived as Karren made my original point for me beautifully last week. The not-so-white woollen dress was a disaster from every way you look at it.
1. Didn't suit her and was a ghastly creation
2. Added weight and Karren is sensitive about her weight
3. Off white is a terrible colour for television and Karren should know this by now
4. Roll knecks are a no-no once you're over thirty unless you have an ultra skinny face
...and as if all that wasn't enough, it gave her a nice midriff role as well. Come on Karren, what's hapening to you? You need colour for the television and for your age and for your colouring. Garments need to be neat, smart and precise. Margaret Mountford was hardly a model but she got the basics absolutely spot on with the result that you noticed the woman, not the terrible clothes.

Here we go again. There must be some odd dictionaries in circulation where businesslike, stylish and attractive somehow come out as slave-to-fashion and pussycat dolls. Where is it people live that they form this impression? We are talking smart sophisticated. Got it?

But she does! If you read her column in Woman and Home she absolutely agonises over her weight and what she wears. This is a mystery.

Listen you bunch of jealous wannabes. Karren Brady is one of the world's sexiest women and don't you forget it. I don't want to have to come back on this thread and tell you again. Comprendez ?

Nah she looks good I think.

Gotcha!

Actually she looked better this week. The maroon dress gave her some colour although the peplum was a bit dolly-in-the-boardroom. The beige dress with sleeves was much better - you noticed the woman and not the outfit.

She looks great at the age of what? 43?

Unusually, I think she looks a lot older than her age.

Who was the woman who wore the apsolutely bonkers outfits a few series ago? Now that I wish we could have had a thread for!

Oh wow.... I very very rarely post on here, but this is just an awful, hateful post. Your final sentence by the way is just a thinly disguised sexist comment. You should notice the woman regardless of what she's wearing. She's not asking to be noticed in a 'fashion' context, she's asking to be noticed in a business context.

Basically what you are saying is: 'I can't look past a woman who dresses badly to decide whether she is capable of doing her job'. But i'm sure you can when a man is dressed badly?!


Karren is a business person. In her business capacity, she never talks about her weight, her image, or her clothes choices. The Apprentice is Karren in her business capacity. Why is it then, that people INSIST on remarking on her figure or how 'frumpy' she looks? Why do people link this with how well she carries out her role on the Apprentice?

I have never heard anyone comment on a suit that Alan Sugar is wearing, or his complexion, or how Nick dresses during a task. People complaining she wears 'boring clothes' that have 'no colour' - do you see Nick or Alan or any of the contestants wearing garish dresses, ties, suits etc....?! So why should she have to wear colourful dresses just because she's on the TV?!

She is clearly an extremely able businesswoman. She carries herself across with grace, she knows precisely how to handle herself and communicate with others - she does not raise her voice when in a confrontation. She has spent the best part of her career managing large groups of people in a business situation - she CLEARLY knows what she's talking about. People should respect her opinion on that basis and certainly should not prejudge her ability based on what she's wearing!



As an aside, I think Karren dresses well for her age - fashionable, smart, corporate - she doesn't want to stand out and dominate the screen - she's there, in the background, observing. With respect, you do not know what Karren wears in a personal capacity - and the little I have seen of pictures of her at award ceremonies, she usually looks very glamourous and well turned out. I also think she dresses a hell of a lot better than most of the contestants on the show, but it's always Karren that gets picked on - I wonder why?!

Lucinda!

'awful?' 'hateful?' 'sexist?' I despair at comments like these even in this PC world.

I have gone out of my way to say how much I admire Karen - and I do. I also feel, woman to woman, that she lacks confidence in her personal appearance. This is a discoursive thread about a television programme and I am commmenting on an area of interest to me - the way women in business present themselves. There is nothing remotely hateful, awful or sexist and as a regular reader of Karen's magazine and newspaper columns, I am pretty sure that Karen herself would appreciate this. If you were a reader of hers you would know that she does 'regularly comment' about her appearance,her weight, her family and many other things. In her articles she demonstrates a sensitivity and emotional intelligence that we don't always see on television. So much for your 'I can't look past a woman' comment. The woman and the appearance are part of a whole, not separate. And, yes, that does go for men too - look at people's reaction to the boy-band bloke with the silly hair - it's just that women's clothes are so much more interesting than men's!

Karen doesn't get picked on, indeed it is a compliment that her clothes get noticed. The other contestants usually wear such a load of old trash that there's simply nothing to say. Karen is the important and noticeable personality - even if Maria did try hard with the purple eye shadow! The only one of this crop who has any idea how to make the best of herself is Miriam who dresses for her personality and looks good.

As for the old chestnut about comenting on men's suits - yawn. This is life. I'm genuinely sorry my post caused such a strong reaction with you but, equally, it is hurtful to bandy such contentious words about when they clearly are not justified.

I love clothes and particularly the whole aspect of dressing for business and will continue to comment.