I borrowed this Vivienne Westwood dress to wear to the opening of the V&A’s retrospective of the designer in 2004. I wore it with gold Miu Miu shoes and a Versace chain bag. Afterwards, I was asked if I wanted to buy the dress and I remember thinking: “I really, really want to but I can’t afford it!” I think it was about £800 – and that was probably with a discount. I wasn’t earning much at the time and I thought: “There’s no way, I just can’t.” But I know that if I had bought it, I would have kept it for ever – so it was one that got away, basically.
My daughters think I haven’t changed my style since the 90s [when Lowe was the vocalist of the indie bands Powder and Lodger and part of the “Primrose Hill set”, alongside Kate Moss, Jude Law and Sadie Frost]. If I was going on stage, I always felt I should make an effort. I wore a lot of sequin dresses and high heels. My peers were into short hair, jeans, bomber jackets and I remember one saying to me: “I think you’d get more fans if you didn’t dress as glamorously – girls won’t like you.” But that was what I loved, that old-school glamour. Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Hutton – they all dressed up and looked fantastic.
I’ve always been very much my own person. Everyone I knew in the 90s was so thin and I’m not. Skinny jeans don’t suit me because I’ve got hips and a bum. Attitudes to body image weren’t so accepting when I was younger but I love voluptuous girls. When I’m casting models for my range I’m like: “Hang on, I don’t want a size four – have you got any … 12s?” My daughter Daisy models a lot of my clothes. When I’m designing interiors, I love things that have a story to tell. I adore anything steeped in history. The same with fashion: I’m forever going to flea markets and antiques shops looking for the perfect vintage dress.
There are six of us in my family and we are very strong characters, so I was worried about arguments during the lockdown, but we have not had one yet! We have just embraced this time: cooked meals, done dance classes, made candles, loads of quizzes on Zoom. I’ve also been making Liberty-print facemasks, which everyone went nuts for on Instagram, so that has kept me busy.
Pearl Lowe’s latest collection is available at pearllowe.co.uk
