Miriam Clegg has condemned the "silly" notion that women who care about fashion and beauty are "stupid and brainless".
The wife of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg spoke out when asked about Justine Miliband’s plea to be seen as more than “just a dress”.
Giving candid advice to girls and young women, she retorted: “I think we shouldn’t make a big deal about it. If you really ask me about the issue generally, as to whether women should care about what they wear, girls need to understand that labels don’t work.
“Looking at women who are brainy as ugly — and looking at women who care about fashion and are beautiful as stupid and brainless — is simplistic, silly and frankly it’s wrong.
“There is no reason why somebody who is very clever and determined can’t care about fashion.”
Mrs Clegg, a lawyer who uses her maiden name Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, added: “You can dress however you wish, because if you do not behave like a dress, nobody will think you are a dress.”
She spoke out in an interview for Grazia magazine ahead of a “speed-mentoring” event she has organised next week when top businesswomen, including Mumsnet co-founder Carrie Longton and Nails Inc CEO Thea Green, will give career advice to young women from London state schools.
Spanish-born Mrs Clegg has three children with the Lib-Dem leader, Antonio, 11, Alberto, nine, and four-year-old Miguel. Asked if she ever felt guilty as a parent, she said: “I’m Catholic, we are really good at guilt!
“Listen, I’m torn like anybody else, and you have good moments and bad moments, but I like what I do.”
Mrs Clegg said her husband supported her: “I just couldn’t have done that if he hadn’t been there saying, ‘You can do it, don’t limit yourself!’”
She had never had to ask him to help with childcare, she said, adding: “It’s never been an issue, because that’s how it was; that’s who Nick is. He’ll put the children first.”
Her advice to young women was not to accept one definition of success.
“Girls need to feel free to make their own choices,” she said.
“There are no strict formulas — you can decide to work or not to work; you can work in a certain profession; you can decide to do it for a while.”
The full feature appears in this week’s Grazia magazine, on sale now.
