Who's that girl?

Published on Monday 28 January 2008 20:41

THERE can't be many books with kisses – the text message "X" kind – in the title. But then there aren't many books written by 21-year-olds from Croxteth in Liverpool.

Coleen McLoughlin's Welcome to My World XX is a modern publishing phenomenon. A sort of autobiography-cum-style guide, it spent six weeks at the top of the Sunday Times bestseller list when it hit the shelves last March, and hung around the top ten for three months. Next week it will be published in paperback, another glittery rung in the stepladder of success being ascended by a ponytailed Liverpudlian barely out of her teens with no discernible job.

It's very easy to be snotty about McLoughlin. After all she's a WAG (the catch-all term used to describe the wives and girlfriends of footballers, in McLoughin's case, of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney), and some might say the ber-WAG, a pretty young girl with too much free time and a wallet full of credit cards who has become a celebrity and a media darling merely because her boyfriend is good at kicking a ball around a football pitch.

But there's somehow more to McLoughlin than that. WAGs, don't forget, are ten a penny these days. You have to be special to stand out. Yet, McLoughlin's appeal – as publishers, magazine editors and Asda, who signed her up as the face of its advertising campaign for its George clothing line, have all discovered – is the very fact that she's just a normal girl. Yes, she's a working-class girl who isn't a size zero, doesn't have an unnervingly good-looking boyfriend (in fact some would suggest quite the reverse) and talks in a language that others of her age understand.

As a result she has joined the hallowed ranks of women – including Madonna, Kylie and Cher – who are known their first names alone. Even fellow WAG Victoria Beckham, who is known either by her (somewhat derogatory) old Spice Girls moniker Posh, or by her full married name, can't make the same claim.

Colleen's book makes full use of this phenomenon. She might be writing about having a cleaner come five days a week, but she will then follow it with an anecdote about how Rooney dumps all his clothes on the floor at night. She writes honestly about her diet (Sugar Puffs for breakfast, apparently), and her weakness for a butty or a McDonald's on Saturdays after a hard day's shopping at designer boutiques. While some of it is undoubtedly teenage inanity, there is a certain charm and a disarming honesty in her writing.

Jane Johnson, a former editor of weekly glossy Closer, who hired McLoughlin to write a column for the magazine in 2004, agrees that she has an appeal.

Johnson says: "I find her a real breath of fresh air in a quite cynical celebrity world. She lives in a big house but spends a lot of time round her mum's having tea and taking care of her younger sister, who has Rett syndrome. I don't think she sees herself as a celebrity in any way, just a young girl caught up in all this excitement and enjoying it to the full."

The book is peppered with chapter titles such as 'We're not all called Chardonnay or Cristal' and 'Pulling into a Garage for Petrol and an Engagement Ring'. There are pictures of McLoughlin with no make-up, as a child, and as a pre-fame chav-tastic teenager in a dangerously flammable-looking white tracksuit. These are intercut with shots of her looking impossibly chic on the red carpet – the message blatantly screaming: "If I can do it, so can you."

Two years ago British Vogue did a photo shoot with McLoughlin, dressing her up in a variety of sophisticated outfits and revelling in her unique style, a move which the magazine's editor, Alexandra Shulman later defended after the magazine came under fire for its actions.

"For many publications, an interview and photo shoot with an unemployed 18-year-old with an outrageous shopping habit might not seem to be that riveting, but I felt it had a relevancy for us," Shulman said at the time.

"Girls such as Coleen are a relatively recent fashion phenomenon. Twenty years ago, they simply didn't exist, but more awareness of fashion, an increasing interest in designer brands and the massive growth of the 'must-have' item have changed the shopping landscape. The Coleens of this world, with their obsessive interest in the new handbag, or that pair of boots, are an essential part of the fashion industry."

Asda tapped into this knowledge in May 2006 when it signed up McLoughlin to be the face of its new George Must Have clothing range. The campaign featured McLoughlin wearing a 10 shirt dress, 45,000 of which sold in several hours, making it one of George's fastest selling items in the brand's 16-year history.

"Coleen has a great affinity with our customers," remarked Sue Swannie, global brand director of George at Asda, at the time. No kidding.

Johnson adds: "A lot of young girls identify with her because she doesn't have any airs and graces and they love her style. If Coleen's wearing it, it will fly out of the shops next week. She's not a supermodel, but young girls these days don't want to look like a supermodel, they want to look like a real person. Coleen is a style icon."

Coleen Mary McLoughlin is the daughter of Tony, a bricklayer who ran a boxing club, and Colette, a nursery nurse. Born into a boisterous family and the eldest of four children, she was brought up in a council house in Croxteth, a working-class suburb of Liverpool.

Her parents spend a lot of their time fostering disabled children and looking after their youngest daughter, Rosie, who was born with Rett syndrome, a debilitating genetic disorder. McLoughlin has campaigned to promote awareness of the syndrome, even appearing on Tonight With Trevor McDonald to talk about it, and raising money for her local hospice.

Fluffy as she may seem, McLoughlin is not an idiot. She got four As at GCSE and was expected to go on to university to do media studies, before fame burst on to the scene.

Her intelligence comes through in the book too. What could have been a list of impractical page-fillers comes across as a genuinely sensible style guide, whether its advice on where to go for a decent pair of black pants (Warehouse, apparently) or how to make your own exfoliator (oats and a little water works a treat). All that time at the shops has clearly paid off.

The book is, one suspects, an attempt at seeing off her critics. For such a young woman she's endured a huge amount of abuse, from witnessing her parents' home daubed in offensive graffiti (one legend screamed "Die Rooney Die") to being called the Queen of Chav.

But if McLoughlin started out as "just a WAG" or indeed, "just a chav", she has, at least, capitalised on that notoriety. Now, thanks to a best-selling book; her own highly successful perfume; a magazine column and various advertising campaigns, she is independently wealthy, with her own high media profile and the respect of some of the hardest to please fashion mavens in the land.

That's not too bad for a 21-year-old from Croxteth.

&#149 IT'S A GIRL THING Go shopping alone or with your mates. Boyfriends just get bored after one store.

&#149 IF THE SHOE FITS… When out shopping for a special outfit, eg for Christmas or a birthday, take the shoes you'll be wearing with you.

&#149 THINK SMALLS Buy underwear that can be worn with different looks. For example, with a camisole, go for a bra with pretty straps, or with a hugging jersey dress wear a seamless bra.

&#149 INDECISIONS ARE FINAL If you're uncertain about a purchase, don't buy it if you prefer the outfit you're already wearing. That's your benchmark.

&#149 SHOP FOR TODAY Don't buy clothes in the hope they'll one day be in. Buy for here and now.

&#149 DON'T HANG AROUND Get on the waiting list now. You can always change your mind nearer the time.

&#149 BEST FOOT FORWARD Try shoes on early in the day. After lots of walking, feet tend to swell and you'll end up with the wrong size.

&#149 THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE BARGAINS Pick up the best of the new stock by shopping early in the season, ie, January for spring, and July for winter.

&#149 MAKE FRIENDS Pal up with the managers at your favourite stores. They'll get to know your style and will call you before new designs hit the shop floor.

&#149 DON'T BE A SLAVE TO FASHION Forget trends that don't suit you.

&#149 Extracted from Coleen: Welcome To My World by Coleen McLoughlin published in paperback on 4 February by Harper priced 7.99