- The Observer, Sunday November 4 2007
I'm a big girl now, finally, at 32. I've got all my old clothes and next year when I have some time off I'll go through them and get rid of things. There's a lot of stuff I wouldn't wear now, but some are so over the top that I have to keep them. Different outfits make me feel different too - it's definitely all about the mood. My emotions have to match with what I'm wearing, otherwise I just can't feel comfortable. If I'm tired I don't want to get fancy, and if I'm doing a red carpet then sometimes I need a designer gown to feel special. I love a red carpet, but there's always a point where you feel really awkward. You feel like you're in a fishbowl. And the funny thing is that, before you take to the carpet, you have to learn how to stand in the dress that you're wearing. Just to stand! I always take a last look at myself before I leave the house because certain dresses aren't easy to wear, and you have to do them justice.
I learned that I had a skill for accessorising at a very young age. I started in show business at about seven years old. Before I started singing with my first group, Wild Orchid, I was a child actor, on the children's TV show Kids Incorporated, so I did a lot of dressing up. I loved bandannas back then - knotted around my head, or around my waist, or around my neck. They're just so great aren't they? I also used to wear a lot of dance-recital outfits, so those were bodysuits mostly, with leg warmers.
When I started touring with the Black Eyed Peas I had no money. All I could afford were Dickies jeans and a pack of wife beaters. But I'm good at accessories. I'm launching a bag line, which I'm so excited about. They really represent me.
Fashion has always been like fancy dress to me, it's always been like playing. I travel so much that I'm always playing with clothes. I spread them all out over the bed in whatever hotel I'm staying in, and spend time separating them into categories. And I pack everything in plastic. I take it quite seriously I suppose - I have to though, because this is my life, wrapped in plastic. My life is on the road.
Though I have a stylist, I have a hand in what I wear. My look now is always changing. My favourite thing is to wear baggy clothes, like, a baggy sweatshirt with a skinny leg? I'm more comfortable if everything's baggy. But it makes a better silhouette if you have a slim element in there somewhere. It's all about the silhouette. And when you're performing it's all about a baggy pant and a little top. I like to mix it up. Sometimes I even put on a dress. A lot of times I've actually made an effort not to dress sexy. Because I don't want it to be all about that, you know? I've been wearing baggier clothes at my shows, just because it's important to me that people know I am an artist, and not just some men's trophy model.
Brigitte Bardot really inspired me through my teens, style-wise, but then, growing up in California, I've also always been inspired by cholo style [Mexican street subculture]. I don't dress for men - I definitely dress for myself. And people should know that I wear more revealing stuff onstage than in real life. Yeah, when I'm performing that's not real life. Photo-shoots and shows - things like that are definitely in a space separate from reality.
I look pretty glamorous, day to day, but first thing in the morning I do look tired. I've been wearing less make-up lately because I saw pictures of myself where I looked too done-up, and I thought I should take it down a level, maybe try something a bit more earthy, a bit more stripped down to match the direction of my music.
I don't think it's possible to use my looks to get what I want, because I don't think that I'm the kind of person who always looks perfect. You know? I can't control it. I hope I'm not over-exposed in the press, but I'm always happy to live with my choices.
I've made fashion mistakes too many times to mention. I can't even pinpoint one main one, there are just so many. But you know what? I put myself out there. I'm a risk-taker. And if I like something I'm going to wear it. Sure, sometimes I regret outfits. I'll look back at photographs and cringe, but even so, I don't want to change the way I am. If I always looked 'safe', that would bore me. It's just not fun.
