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.

You have to want to dare being a model. You have to dare or you don't go that step further. You have to be willing to stretch - and to not only be willing to stretch, but to want to stretch.

How many times have people said to me, "I think those pants are incredible, but I could never wear them." Well, why not? What's so different about these pants? I wear very classic things, but maybe with a little change here or there.

When I graduated from school, World War II was still going on. At the time, my eldest sister, Nancy, was working in New York City at Lord & Taylor, and she had a great friend named Sally Kirkland who she worked with there and who later went to work as an editor at Vogue. I always told them, "I want to work in fashion like you do," and finally, in the late '40s, I got a job at Lord & Taylor, too.

I thought Fred Astaire was the most chic man. I loved the way he dressed. Never mind his dancing, which was beyond - he was just so elegant and had this freedom of body.

It's great advice - to open your eyes, have a little humility, and let go of ego. I think that instills in you a sense of responsibility. I also think you have to feel like you want to enrich your life, and you want to keep your eyes open, and you want to listen and be a good listener.

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