My first consciousness of style came from my mother [Anna Lillian Iversen]. She was a model when she was young; quite shy, but she was beautiful, always immaculate, always dressed up, and I loved her clothes. I remember wearing one particularly beautiful dress that belonged to her when I first went to visit Elvis. She always wore dresses, never pants, sometimes skirts and sweaters. I did the same thing – full skirts and little sweaters. I would always dress up when I went to school [in Germany], was always presentable, except for the one day I was sent home by the principal for having a bare midriff. I had my little personalising quirks – a tweak with a scarf, a little piece of jewellery, or something that made me feel good and feel me. I liked dressing up, and back in the day you did dress up. We live in a world now that is unbelievable; I don’t get it. It seems like people have lost pride. I don’t know where the dignity is.
