00:00Hi, I'm Arlene Class. Welcome to my cover shoot with Hello, and I'm going to be looking back
00:04at some of my fashion choices through the world of classical music.
00:21Oh, wow. Is that my first day?
00:26That's wild. Do you know what? That would make sense because it's the old studio.
00:30I remember those shoes. Okay, this is a big day. I remember those shoes, the Dolce & Gabbana.
00:37That's a Dolce & Gabbana dress as well. This is a big deal. This is the old studios. I don't
00:43even
00:43have this photo. Where did you find this? The internet. I should just dig a little bit.
00:49This is amazing. So I can't believe that it's been 20 years when I look at this picture.
00:55I mean, the hair's not really changed that much. She's gone full circle. This is wild because
01:00if I'd have known then that I was embarking on 20 years in one place, you never think that you're
01:07going to stay anywhere that long. But it's just testament to how quickly it's gone, how much
01:12I've loved it, how much it's grown. Were you nervous that day?
01:17I was really nervous. I was really nervous this day because when they talk about finding
01:22your voice, what does that really mean? But how do you sound? What does it you say to
01:27your listeners? How do you come across? What stories do you communicate? Which pieces do
01:32you play? There was just so much to take on board. And this was Haloed Ground because I remember
01:3910 years prior, I remember when Classic FM first started. I remember them playing Zadok
01:43the priest, Handel. That's the very first piece they ever played. This is a really big deal
01:47for a girl growing up in Norfolk who didn't have access to this kind of music other than
01:52what my dad had in his library. To then be able to access music and a community that was
01:59my own. This was a really exciting moment. And then to actually join and head up that community
02:05was just unthinkable. And yet, here I am. And obviously, it was obviously a moment because
02:10I dressed up for it. Yes, exactly.
02:16Oh, this. This dress. Fabulous. This is at VE Day. And the dress was made by two incredible
02:29women at Desire Avenue. They made me this dress with big red flowers to represent the poppies
02:35for VE Day. We're at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a spectacular event. The Royal Albert Hall
02:42actually has played a huge part in my life because it was one of the first big venue that I
02:49queued
02:49up for when I was a music student at the Guild Hall. This is before the Royal Academy. So I'm
02:54talking
02:54like 16, 15, 16 years old. And I queued up for the ticket so that I could stand and get
03:01to the front
03:01at the Royal Albert Hall. And now I get to stand on that stage. So I think that every time
03:06I stand
03:06on that stage, I always have a little look as to where music student me would be standing for what
03:13were then the cheap seats and are now the really expensive seats. It's just, yeah, that was an
03:20amazing night. There'll be a lot of Royal Albert Hall on here. Good, good.
03:29Walking into the Classic FM studios, it's like a little catwalk of its own. I make that walk two,
03:35three, four times a week. It's just really fun because I think the way that radio is represented
03:42now, it's really changed over the past 20 years. So before it used to be a slur, you know, to
03:47have a face
03:47for radio. You could literally show up in your pyjamas and now you cannot show up in your pyjamas unless
03:52it
03:52is curated because there's so much from just a footage perspective, from photographers on the
04:00way in and out to when you're filming in the studio. Even when you're on the radio, there's cameras
04:07everywhere and people can patch in. So you're always on camera and this was never the case 20 years ago
04:13and it's certainly something that's developed, but I love it. It's like its own catwalk. It's a fashion
04:18show. It's a way to communicate through your clothes and I think that the classical world used to have
04:25this image where everyone just had to look like a geography teacher. Nothing against geography
04:32teachers, but you know, it had to be tweeds and it was people of a certain age and it was
04:37just the way
04:38that classical music has been sold in. It's been a huge disservice to people like myself who wanted to
04:43join that world and just couldn't find anyone else that looked like them. So you can love classical
04:50music and you can love fashion and you can have all the worlds collide and it can still be popularist
04:55and it can be cultural and up to date. It's all of those things and all the things that I
04:59love.
05:03Oh, she's fabulous. I remember this dress. I just cut the lining out of it because I couldn't walk.
05:10It was quite a fitted dress, this number. I loved the shoulder pads. I think this is a new arrivals
05:16dress and I mean the hair, the extensions, it was a very, very quick turnaround. I love that I'm back
05:26at the Royal Albert Hall. It's not my second home. Oh, I know the story of this dress because this
05:34dress
05:34only got photographed outside the Albert Hall because when I got onto the stage, those lights,
05:40it was very see-through. So this dress is, I was going to say never seen the light of day,
05:44it's only seen this particular light of day and not much else. It never got to perform.
05:47Got a good tan there. You can, this is, this is just duration of my holidays as well.
05:55Oh, this is VE Day as well. This is one of the initial VE Days. This is early May 2015,
06:03May 2015.
06:04I think I got into an army Jeep after this and drove it off the campus as it were.
06:09Royal Albert Hall, but a different angle. Cute outfit. Actually, what was nice about that one
06:15is VE Day, because it's VE Day, you know that the people that you're working with and that you
06:20share the stage with, as the time goes by, it gets more and more precious because those people,
06:26obviously, they're not around anymore. But that was spectacular because it was Churchill's grandson
06:33that gave the speech just before the performances. And so, I think every time I get to perform at
06:38another VE Day and just see those soldiers and their families, it feels really precious because
06:44you know you're not always going to have those moments forever now, or those people.
06:51Oh, oh, this is it. This is the Albert Hall again. However, this event is very different. So,
06:57the classic Brits were launched like the standard Brits, the pop Brits, but to represent classical music.
07:06And when I recorded my very first album coming out of the pop band and then it got its first
07:14nomination, it was a really, really big deal. But it was my very first nomination for a classic Brits.
07:21And then I then got to have a nomination and then I got to host it. So, that was a
07:28really big deal.
07:29I think I'm just leaving after hosting.
07:33So, this is a great, this is a great story because I'm here with Paul McCartney. I'm also, as you
07:37can
07:37see, pregnant with my first daughter, Ava. It's the classic Brits Awards and it was just before I
07:44started hosting, hosting the event. But I love this photo because he said, you must be really tired.
07:51Just go home. He put me in a taxi, which I thought was really kind of him because I was
07:55really tired.
07:55At the end of the show, by the way, not at the beginning. He didn't send me home before.
08:02Well, this is an absolute standard that I think people are trying to replicate now.
08:07So, we were the OGs, year 2K and it's jeans and a nice top. In this case, it's a nice
08:13corset.
08:15And I think I was probably at this time really going out of my way just to show that classical
08:19artists
08:19don't have to dress a certain way. Well, thank you for looking at my outfits. I think hello,
08:24actually, were very kind to me. I'm sure there were some other surprises hidden amongst the archives.
08:31But I hope you've enjoyed looking at my outfits. Now go and turn on the radio and listen to classics.
08:35We're wonderful.
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