-
Even though we look at the past through the lens of distance and think that because people are wearing different clothes or have different technology, their experiences are different, it's all the same, right? Our experience of love and sex and death are the same in any time period.
-
I don't just buy a dress because it's pretty - it has to be evocative of a mood, a character I want to take on.
-
For me, clothing has always been connected to history. That's what draws me in.
-
In general, I'm fascinated by women who exist outside of society's mores and values.
-
I don't label myself a feminist. I love men, but I am all about promoting a better, healthier relationship between the sexes.
-
I think people sometimes have a hard time placing me because I don't fit into a box. When they ask what I do at a cocktail party, I either say I'm a Renaissance woman or I'm a high-level madam. Lately I've been more comfortable saying I'm an artist, because that can cover a lot of different things.
-
Los Angeles is a true postmodern city. Here, we celebrate with equal aplomb the high and the low. I am just as influenced by the punk rock attitude of local skate and surf cultures as I am by old-school glamour and stardust.
-
My new dressing goal is to make little kids and babies smile at all the bright, clashing colours I can wear at once. It makes me laugh when I catch sight of my own reflection - life is too short not have fun!
-
In L.A., retro culture is just part of the thing you do. When we were kids, we didn't have allowances, and it was not cool to wear designer clothes. So it meant that we were into 1920s dresses when we were 13.
-
I feel like there's something interesting to learn from anyone's story, no matter their place in society. I think we've gotten really far away from that - we're in such a celebrity-obsessed culture.
-
What I always loved about vintage clothes is that you let the woman who wore it before you live on in some way.
-
I totally don't believe that things have to be expensive for beauty. In fact, I'm always a little bit wary if they are... because I'm like, 'What kind of chemicals are in there? What's going to happen in ten years, when we find out what the side effects are?'
-
When someone hears that I've written a book about 1897, I'm usually met with blank stares. And the first thing they say is, 'Was there even an L.A. back then?' A lot of people don't even think there was a city before the movies appeared. That concept of Los Angeles is so strong in the popular imagination that celebrity overrides everything.
-
Red lipstick is my armour - I feel it distracts from my hereditary dark circles and gives me an instant psychological lift, no matter what my mood is.
-
Sunscreen is my number one beauty product that goes on even when I am indoors.
-
My favorite thing to do in L.A. is to be in a car with friends listening to music. The perfect time is twilight, when the setting sun is filtering through the palm trees. Back in the day, we'd be listening to the Vandals, X, or Farside. Now it would be L.A.-based bands like Dum Dum Girls, Foxygen, or Ty Segall.
-
Fashion is not interesting unless it has some connection to something outside of that world. It's the same thing with any part of the arts: you can't just take pictures - you have to look at science, to listen to music; you have to be aware of the connections within the world. If you take something in an isolated box, it loses all significance.
-
I mix all different oils - my bathroom at home is littered with oils; I'm really into natural beauty and natural healing. Peppermint is really good if you put it on your stomach for a tummy ache; lavender is kind of all-purpose - I think everyone should carry it.
-
I don't like the sun, but I live in California.
-
If fashion has a political significance, it is probably culturally, as a camouflage.
-
I spend a lot more time on my wardrobe than my makeup routine and usually have to be told to brush my hair!
-
I never had a clique. If I throw a party, the only thing connecting people is me. Maybe I just don't believe in fear. I bulldoze right in.
-
Every winter, I'm a sexy academic deconstructionist. And in the summer, it's normally Brigitte Bardot on holiday in the 1950s.
-
Fashion can often be dictated. It's what people think we should do or wear. Style is totally personal.