My mother worshipped at the alter of accessories and I got the bug. She always said, if you have a good, little, simple black dress and you have different accessories, you can have 27 different outfits.
I don’t think dressing has anything to do with numbers. I know people of 30 who act like they’re 97, and I have a few old-bag friends who are very hip.
I think that if you have to work very hard at dressing up and it makes you nervous or uptight, then you won’t look very well because you won’t be comfortable. I think it’s much better to be comfortable and happy than well dressed.
You have to know yourself and know what you can carry. If you’re not comfortable, no matter how well dressed you are, you’re not going to look right. I’d rather be happy and feel comfy.
Given the choice, I would spend my money on accessories.
You can’t just say, “I’m gonna have style.” You have to work at it. It’s intuitive; some people have it, and some people can work on it all day long, and it will never happen.
I had a great example with my mother, who was extremely chic.
I’m making a lot of noise as I walk.
I’ve always been attracted to unusual eyewear. I thought glasses were an interesting accessory, depending on the shape of your face. People would always ask me, “Why are your frames so large?” And I would say, “The bigger to see you!” And that shut them up.
You have to observe a few simple rules in dressing, which are really not rules; it’s just being appropriate. If you’re 70 and want to wear miniskirts, 70-year-old knees ain’t pretty!
Technologically I live in the 17th century. I have a very simple cell phone. I say I live through the kindness of strangers, because if they see something on the Net they type it out and send it to me.
I live in the 17th century. I don’t have a computer. I don’t look at the internet. I use a cellphone, and that’s about my only connection to the modern world.
I don’t spend my life getting dressed! I have to put clothes on during the day; I don’t get dressed up at all when I’m working. I’ll wear jeans, or something very simple.
I don’t dress to be stared at. I dress for myself.
When you go to a nice restaurant, you want to be relaxed and have a drink and everything, you want to look at people who look well. You don’t want to look at some slob with an open shirt and a hairy chest. At least I don’t.
You don’t have to be an artist to be a creator, because creativity comes in a lot of forms, like cooking or keeping a house or dressing well. What you need is imagination, to make things up for yourself.
You don’t find out who you are unless you work at it.
The worst fashion faux pas is looking in the mirror and seeing somebody else.
When you try too hard to have style, you look uncomfortable, like you’re wearing a costume, like the clothes are entering the room before you do. If you’re uptight, you won’t be able to carry off even a seemingly perfect outfit. If that’s happening, I say abandon the whole thing. It’s better to be happy than well dressed.
Whatever happened to the cultivation of the inner self? It’s painful and it’s work, but it always pays off.
I never expect anything. I just feel things in my gut and I do them. If something sounds exciting and interesting, I do it – and then I worry about it later. Doing new things takes a lot of energy and strength. It’s very tiring to make things happen, to learn how to master a skill, to push fears aside. Most people would rather just go with the flow; it’s much easier. But it’s not very interesting.