There's something I've been itching to get off my chest. Ever since Cherie Blair stepped off the plane on an official visit to South Africa and was labelled "dowdy."

And that is: "Don't despair, Cherie - I'm dowdy and proud of it."

I'll go so far as to say I LOVE being dowdy, I ADORE looking dowdy, I have dedicated my life to promoting all things dowdy. Now I'm dedicating this column to dowdiness. For years I have asked myself "What is wrong with dowdy? I fumed when the press ridiculed Cherie for looking like "a dowdy apparition" as she stepped off the plane. And I raged last summer when Princess Anne was mocked for looking "dowdy" at the races, in a hat she had worn years before. I seethe every time a celebrity is sneered at for her "dowdy" appearance.

When will the world wake up the fact that it's okay to be dowdy - defined in the Oxford dictionary as "Unattractively dull, unfashionable (of woman) shabbily, badly, or unfashionably dressed"?

Some of us actually want to be dowdy. We want to wear the sort of clothes universally seen as dowdy - dark knee-length skirts with huge, foreboding jumpers, grey/blue shirts, black tights and a long, dark coat in winter. And in summer, unflattering, dark cotton dresses (Cherie), baggy shorts, bottle green or brown trousers and enormous tent-like T-shirts. Oh, and to add to the image that everyone finds so dull, we like flat shoes and wear little make-up.

Such a wardrobe may be "dowdy" but you can bet your life these garments are infinitely more comfortable than a stiff tailored suit or a plunge-neck dress with four-inch high stilettos.

To be honest, "dictionaries should redefine "dowdy" as "comfortable." I mean, look around you. Couldn't most people fit the description? If it wasn't for dowdy clothes, I'd never leave the house. I just wouldn't feel myself in sharp suits in loud colours. I don't feel ashamed of my dowdiness and was secretly pleased when a former boss told me, in jest, that I looked like a librarian.

Female librarians are among those lucky enough to be renowned for their dowdy appearance. Teachers, too, have been awarded the tag, and female solicitors in their court garb. Sadly, it's not commonly associated with the media, but I'm doing my best to fly the flag for dowdy women journalists.

Of course, men can be dowdy too - but, typically, there is no equivalent word to describe them. In fact, more often than not, the dowdiest of men will be the ones to stare across the road at a female librarian walking alongside a heavily made-up blonde in a red patent leather mini-dress and yell: "Don't fancy yours much."

Celebrity women without make-up are often labelled "dowdy," yet we are simply seeing them as they are. I'm sure many men would look a good deal more presentable with a coat of lipstick and a touch of mascara.

I only wish "dowdies" in the public eye - Cherie Blair, Gaynor Cook, Ann Widdicombe to name but a few, would "come out" and declare: "I'm dowdy and proud of it!"

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.