Music is a big part of your life. To what extent has your style been influenced by different types of music?

A lot, I think. The lifestyle I have at one particular time influences the type of music I write, so the two go hand in hand and are part of the way I express myself. After I finished at university, I was really into clubbing and clothes and music were a big part of that. Later on I discovered music I really enjoyed, drum and base, hip-hop and reggae. I experimented a lot with whatever was in fashion at the time. Clothes from the 70s, clothes from Biba. They were my clubbing clothes, for dressing up and going out.

What if we start with the oldest thing you’ve got in your wardrobe...

This is a dress I bought years ago in a shop called ‘Frock-brokers’ in Spitalfields. It was a really interesting shop in London because they got samples from up-and-coming designers and you got to buy them for much less than usual. This dress is totally unique. The only problem is that it’s not very easy to wear underwear with it, so I have to be feeling really brave to wear this!

Tell me about your time with the band Mao...

When I left university, I was keen to write music. It was quite a noisy and avant garde sound. It was a really fun time in my life, and I was in the band for four years.

Was what you wore an important part of the whole performance?

Yes, it helped me to create a persona and some kind of character. When I was in university, I used to faint all the time during performances and I was really nervous. So I went to loads of gigs and looked at the main characters on the stage and thought to myself ‘right, what do I want to see as someone in the audience?’ I wanted to see someone totally free - as if they were just freaking out in their bedroom - much more than they would usually in a public place. Then I created the character I wanted to be, and the clothes were all part of the whole thing I was trying to create. I think this was probably my golden age – so far anyway – I hope there’s more to come of course!

What’s this – it’s such an unusual shape...

This is one of the most experimental items I’ve ever bought, and it was designer by someone called Shelley Long, who used to be a lecturer at Central St. Martin’s in London.

What about this suit?

It was made in the early 60s by the famous designer Ossie Clarke. There are pictures of Twiggy wearing it. The print on it is by his wife, Celia Birtwell, who’s been designing for TopShop lately. They worked together a lot – because the prints went so well with Ossie Clarke’s fantastic cut.

Has your life changed a lot – because I don’t really see you as that traditional clubbing, drum-and-base chick, not any more anyway...

I like the idea that life moves on and I didn’t want to stay the same forever. In about 2000, I left the clubbing lifestyle and started to live a more holistic life. I started to do yoga and learnt a lot about food and health and I’ve studied ‘sound healing’. The music I write nowadays is totally different. When I was younger I liked to dress to impress, to say ‘here I am, I’m a creative person’, but now I’m more likely to wear something that makes me feel comfortable in my own skin.

So you’ve got more self-confidence?

A friend once told me that women tend to wear red when they’ve reached a point in their lives where they feel very powerful, and when they’re doing what they want to do. I’ve noticed some women wearing red and they do wear it like they know what they want. I want to be one of those women who dresses up right until the end!