´óÏó´«Ã½

I know a dog's breakfast when I see one. I have a dog. I make him breakfast. It doesn't look appealing, but he likes it.

Kate Silverton came to work on Thursday morning looking, at first glance, like she'd been in collision with a Carnaby Street hedge. It was bold and bright and, err, certainly striking.

But I liked it - and it certainly bore no resemblance to a dog's breakfast. Initial reaction from the viewers was hostile. So much so that Kate began to wonder if she'd made a mistake.

Kate being Kate, she was big enough to ponder it on air: "My blouse has divided opinion - I apologise if it's made you turn down the contrast on your set". Suddenly, we had a flood of e-mails and texts - evenly split over whether or not it looked like a dog's breakfast.

Sadly, there are some people who won't accept a female newsreader unless she's wearing an 80s' trouser suit complete with padded shoulders that make her look like an extra from LA Law. Kate isn't like that. She's funkier and she's willing to take a risk.

Thursday was a reasonable news day, so why was the bulk of our interactivity centred on a blouse? And why did we have 17 press enquiries about it? I'm not really sure. But it does underline the importance of the way our presenters look and it also highlights the kind of impact we can have.

Kate remains sanguine - albeit somewhat baffled. But she was big enough to lend us the blouse this morning to be modelled by a mannequin, while we discussed the fallout.

Will she wear it again? I think she should. Should we be bothered about all the fuss? Probably not.