EACH OF them turns heads as she pushes open the door of the hotel foyer. And why wouldn't they? For these are more than chic chicks - they are Sophisticated Ladies.

It is not yet the cocktail hour... but they come dressed to kill.

Slender and elegant, each with her very different style... they are Glasgow's very own Swingcats.

In action, they are sensational, there's no other word for it and really deserve to be better known.

"We just need that lucky break," says Nicola Auld. "Not a lot of people are doing three-part harmony, but a lot are doing jazz swing. A lot of people are after the same sort of gigs."

"We usually go with some kind of theme," says Alyson Orr. "Maybe a show will be about the movies and songs from the Hollywood films. We did a wartime show with lots of songs from World War Two."

They have built up quite a following of all ages. There is the nostalgia factor for older people but they find a lot of younger people are really interested in jazz and swing.

The Swingcats are now on tour - with dates coming up in Cumbernauld, Kilmarnock and Glasgow - with their show.

Appropriately enough, it's the Sophisticated Ladies Tour 2008', a tribute to the female vocalists of the jazz and swing era.

Those were the days of high-maintenance glamour and elegance, of big frocks and gloves and high heels and big band singers like the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee.

The girls - well, ladies really because the three of them are around the 40 mark though they look years younger - sing in purr-fect three-part harmony.

In the past, they have appeared alongside jazz greats such as Annie Ross, Martin Taylor and Carol Kidd and have performed at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall and The Glasgow Jazz Festival as well in Monte Carlo, Dubai and Marrakech.

"The 40s style music is something we are all really passionate about," says Alyson Orr, founder of the group and its the business manager/artistic director.

"That was the era when the songs were magical, written really well and nice to perform. It is a classic era.

"And you get to dress up in ballgowns or slinky dresses and wear lots of make-up and glamorous hairdos and that suits us."

Nicola chuckled. "You see those old films and how groomed they were all the time. They didn't have a bad hair day when they were walking about with their tracky bottoms on and trainers."

They call Laura Ellis Top Cat', not because she's top dog in the group but because she's the one who does those high harmonies and jazzy doo-waahs.

"Sometimes, we have to rein her in a bit," says Alyson ruefully.

Nicola Auld is Cheshire Cat. She's the blonde, bubbly one, the one with the permanent mega-watt smile and a high alto with a low register.

Alyson, another blonde, is Aly Cat. She is the reserved one with the rich, deep-voiced alto and the one who stays calm when everything is falling apart.

All three women are multi-talented actresses and musicians as well as singers and rely on Karen MacIver, for the musical arrangements and accompany them on the piano.

"She is really talented. She gives a wee twist to the old standards," says Alyson.

Alyson and Nicola were the first to get together in the group and recall how they found Laura.

"We advertised in the List. Be careful what you ask for," they giggled.

Laura says: "The three voices harmonised straight away - and I just thought this is happening."

Till now, they have bought stage clothes from high street stores, but leading theatre costume designer Anya Glinsk has designed new costumes for them.

Nicola is practically drooling. "They look fabulous. Satin dresses, halter necklines, corsets. pencil skirts, little hats - you know exactly the era when you see them."

Nicola, a trained Shakespearean actress, who has also played various TV nurses, is probably best known for her work with The Happy Gang.

She spent years touring with the children's theatre group and presenting the BBC educational programme called What, Where, When, Why?'.

Alyson is co-founder of Take Two Productions which she set up with writer Stuart Thomas in 1991, appearing in many of their shows.

She has appeared in films, television and commercials, starring in the BAFTA award winning film One Life Stand, and with Dougray Scott in One Last Chance.

She played Kate Fulton in Rikki And Me, alongside Tony Roper and Gerard Kelly.

Laura has acted in musical and educational theatre, commercials, films and corporate work and has sung with many bands.

She says: "My father taught me songs and harmonies when we went on long car journeys.

"I listened to my brother's jazz collection as a teenager and that influenced me too."

All are single and inexplicably, fresh out of boyfriends.

Alyson and Laura live in Glasgow's South Side, while Nicola lives in Finnieston, and, though none has children, they all have dogs.

They were pictured at the launch of the Evening Times Pet Idol contest posing in evening gowns with their pooches, Alyson's Angus, a King Charles, Laura's Bruce, a giant Collie, and Nicola's Collie Springer Cross, Sebastian.

"We thought it was going to be fun," laughs Laura, "but the dogs were spoiling for a fight."

Although successful separately and together, they make no secret of the fact that it can be hard.

"When we go for auditions for acting work, it's competitive," says Laura. "A lot of times what you look like works for you or against you."

They are all good friends, says Laura. "We enrich each others lives. We have got to know each other so much better over the years, through the good times and bad times."

"If anything goes wrong out there, we're all there for each other," Nicola nods. And all three break into the Friends theme tune, I'll be there for you...'