TV presenter Christine Talbot makes her catwalk debut at the Great Yorkshire Show

As Christine Talbot is only too aware, when it comes to fashion dilemmas, there are few quite so challenging as deciding what to wear if you are the presenter of a catwalk show. Actually, 12 live catwalk shows, with a fleet of beautiful female and male models wearing Yorkshire’s finest fashions, in front of hundreds of people.

For this year’s Great Yorkshire Show fashion pavilion, ITV Calendar’s Christine will present the Kuoni Catwalk four times a day during the county’s annual three-day agricultural event, which takes place from July 9 to July 11 this year at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.

“The Great Yorkshire Show is one of my favourite events and when I was offered the chance to present the fashion show I was delighted,” she said.

“My only worry was what to wear so when they said I’d be dressed by a personal stylist, I couldn’t say no.”

John Lewis & Partners, which will be a highlight again of the Great Yorkshire Show catwalk, stepped forward to help, offering Christine a session at the Personal Styling studio at its store at Victoria Gate in Leeds.

In this bright and luxurious purpose-designed suite, Christine met personal stylist Victoria Thewlis who gathered together a selection of clothes and accessories for her to try.

See Anita Rani and last year’s GYS fashion highlights

The idea of the personal styling sessions is to introduce the customer to colours and silhouettes that they might not otherwise have considered, challenging the style rut that so many of us find ourselves in – with the result that they walk out of the store with a fresh perspective and a fabulous and wearable new outfit or key wardrobe pieces.

Christine said: “I tend to buy the same colours and styles, to be honest, and I can’t deny I was nervous about someone else choosing clothes for me but it was terrific. At first I was a little taken aback by some of the items and thought there’s no way on earth I’d wear some of them, but I think what’s interesting about a personal stylist is that they take you out of your comfort zone.”

Some people seek the help of a personal stylist to create their working wardrobe, their weekend wardrobe, or for a special occasion such as a wedding or important party or dinner. Appointments at John Lewis & Partners are up almost 50 per cent on last year with more men making appointments, and the Leeds store has doubled the number of personal stylists to cope with demand.

Victoria said: “It’s interesting to see people’s reactions. The majority are nervous but then seem to love seeing themselves in clothes that are a little different to those they would normally wear.

“With Christine we wanted to see her in some of the fashion trends for the coming year. There’s definitely a move towards strong, vibrant colours and colour blocking to create a daring-to -be-bold look.”

The GYS Fashion Show has been part of the Great Yorkshire Show for more than 20 years and is a major attraction, providing an important platform for the county’s designers, retailers and students.

This year the Kuoni Catwalk is moving to a bigger fashion pavilion in the heart of the showground with more seating allowing around 7,000 visitors to watch the show.Christine will present all the fashion shows, which last just over half an hour, on each day show, showcasing high street fashion, a celebrity designer and new graduates from Leeds Arts University.

*The 161st Great Yorkshire Show is at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, Tuesday July 9 to Thursday July 11 2019. The Kuoni Catwalk will take place each day at 11am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4pm, with a one-off celebrity special on Tuesday July 9 at 2:30pm.

Tickets for the show are on sale at https://greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/ticket-information/

Find out about Yorkshire Races Ladies Days here