There are certain people who hang onto nostalgia and I wish they wouldn't. I wish the young beautiful actresses and other people - I wish they would not hark back to clothes that look more like they've dressed in their mother's clothes.

There are some very creative people out there who are like Steven Meisel, and that is why their work is so extraordinary.

I hate grunge. It was the worst period of my life.

I do think there is a lack of modernity at the moment - and I don't even like that word, modernity, anymore. There aren't enough designers today anyway - there are more stylists.

I think Diana Vreeland recognized the passion and the energy I had. I stayed at Harper's Bazaar for two years, until I met my first husband and moved on to Philadelphia in 1952. But they were incredible years - wonderful, wonderful years. But, anyway, my career sort of took off from there. I was really blessed.

I loved the masculine style of dressing of Katharine Hepburn, who came from the same town that I came from. I was fascinated by the way she wore trousers. So I think the romanticism of the movies also influenced my life and my interest in fashion greatly.

Have you ever held a snake? Well, let me tell you, it is so erotic.