Legwarmers with dresses for Xanadu were naff
Interview by Carolyn Asome
Olivia Newton-John, 56, was born in Cambridge and moved to Australia with her family when she was 5. She has released 32 albums and 54 singles in a 34-year career. After surviving breast cancer in the Nineties she is involved in the “Liv Kit” - a self-examination kit that helps to detect early breast cancer. Her new CD Indigo: Women of Song is out now. She lives in California and on her ranch in Australia.
What’s in your make-up bag?
I love make-up - I have two bags of it and I always do my own for shoots. I like Chanel eye shadows and base, YSL Complexion Enhancer and Touche Éclat and Chantecaille concealer.
Name your desert-island essentials.
My family, moisturiser, paper so that I could draw or write, and a piano or guitar to create music.
Do you have a beauty secret?
The usual commonsense approach and staying interested in life.
What do you wear on a fat day?
A Juicy Couture tracksuit.
How would friends describe your style?
Casual and funky.
What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe and why?
A beautiful opal and diamond ring that my mother left me.
What do you never leave home without?
My passport and lipstick.
Hot date. What do you wear?
Jeans, cowboy boots, a leather jacket and a smart top.
And when you’re home alone?
Ugg boots.
What do you wear to bed?
Pyjamas and a T-shirt.
Which designers do you admire?
I hate logos and I tend to dress in separates. I love Dolce & Gabbana for one-off special pieces, Escada and then Marc Jacobs and Kurt Geiger for accessories.
You’re the fashion police for the day. What do you ban?
Black socks with white tennis shoes are naff.
Has your outfit ever embarrassed you?
Yes - legwarmers worn with dresses for performing Xanadu.
How old is too old for a micro-mini?
It’s not the age, it’s more to do with the individual’s attitude and style.
What is your most recent purchase?
A Diane von Furstenberg chiffon dress for my tour.
What do you like about British style?
The eclectic way that women put clothes together is different here. They mix old with new, designer with high-street, and it works.
What quality do you most admire in a person?
Reliability.
Can you judge a book by its cover?
Not always.
Your greatest extravagance?
Filling my house with lilies and orchids.
And a guilty pleasure?
Dark chocolate caramels.
Name a cheap thrill.
Speeding through the dip on my farm lane.
What’s the best advice that you’ve ever been given?
A schoolteacher advised me to “follow my singing passion” when I wanted to leave school early.
Your favourite smell?
Blooming jasmine.
What are you most and least proud of?
Most proud of my daughter and my new CD! Least proud of having hurt anyone.
As whom or what would you like to return in your next life?
As a tree in a beautiful forest.
Yes or no to a nip’n’tuck?
Never say never. Not yet, though.
What part of your body would you change?
Nothing. I’m happy being me.
What would you like to achieve before you die?
Total peace.
How good-looking are you on a scale of 1 to 10?
That changes on a daily basis.