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The Shift with Sam Baker

Tanya Sarne on losing Ghost, surviving rehab and living life to the full

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sam Baker Ltd

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.8525 Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

I’m pretty sure there isn’t a woman who was alive in the 90s who didn’t own one of this designer's dresses (or at least one heavily inspired by her from the high street). From the moment they hit the shops, the bias cut slip dress became ubiquitous and it still is. And for that we have to thank Tanya Sarne, the founder of Ghost. Personally I still have five of her dresses and I’m neither a dress girl nor a sentimental clothes hoarder. Those frocks are keepers.  Tanya was a single mum of two in her thirties and on benefits when she founded Ghost. Divorced and grieving the death of her mum, she thought she was unemployable, until she took one look at the lack of well-priced, multifunctional, comfortable, feminine clothes which went in the washing machine and didn’t need ironing, and resolved to put that right. She borrowed two thousand pounds and fuelled by fury and, frankly, necessity, the brand that changed a thousand wardrobes was born. Now, 78 and still beyond fabulous, Tanya joined me to talk about her memoir, Free Spirit, the snobbery of the fashion industry and the sexual harassment you “just had to put up with” in the 60s and 70s. We also discussed her alcoholism, the pain of losing her beloved business, the joy of marrying a younger man, her horrific menopause and why she longs to go back on HRT. * You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at The Shift bookshop on Bookshop.org, including Free Spirit by Tanya Sarne and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me. * And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including transcripts of the podcast, please consider joining The Shift community. Find out more at www.theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com • The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Hannah from the Standard Issue podcast. Join us every Wednesday for rated or dated.

0:05.3

Well, we watch a famous or sometimes infamous film to see whether or not it has stood the test of time.

0:11.7

This week, we watched The Birds, Pretty Woman, Flash Dance, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Casablanca, Rosary's Baby.

0:20.5

It's the 18s in a film, isn't it? None of thieves. Casablanca. Rosemary's baby. It's the 18s in a film, isn't it?

0:23.1

None of this makes any sense.

0:26.8

It's like putting on the comfiest pair of pajamas.

0:30.7

She's like, oh, what could that be?

0:32.7

Oh, what do you think it is?

0:33.8

It's loads of birds.

0:35.1

And they naturally live happily ever after.

0:38.0

Do they?

0:39.3

It's quite a feminist parable.

0:41.0

Terribly, terribly dated, but I did have a nice time watching it.

0:43.8

Absolutely 100% dated.

0:46.1

A triumvirate of rated.

0:47.9

A lot of results.

0:49.1

You can listen to standard issues rated or dated wherever it is you listen to your podcast.

0:54.1

And make sure you follow us to find out what we do on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

0:59.7

Spoiler alert, it's a lot.

1:07.7

Hello and welcome to The Shift, the podcast that aims to tell the no-holds barred truth about being a woman post-40, created and hosted by me, writer and broadcaster, Sam Baker.

1:17.4

I'm pretty sure there isn't a woman who was alive in the 90s who didn't own one of this designer's dresses, or at least one heavily inspired by her from the high street.

1:26.6

From the moment they hit the shops,

...

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