7:00 A.M. I tend to wake up naturally if I've had a reasonable night's sleep, but I'm quite nocturnal when I work. If I've been working very late and have not stirred by 10, my housekeeper will knock on the bedroom door. I don't go for alarms.
7:30 A.M. I have a cup of English tea with milk and two sugars, which brings me back to life. I sometimes forget to have breakfast, but if I'm hungry I'll have crumpets or toast with Marmite. No two days are the same, but generally I go through the papers while I eat breakfast or in the car or on a flight if I'm going to a meeting. I like to read the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times. In London, the Sunday papers with all their supplements are great. I also read The Huffington Post.
8:00 A.M. I try to spend some time on a cross-trainer, but I also love swimming.
8:30 A.M. I'll have a hot bath, never showers. Nothing restores your skin like a bit of olive oil added to the water. I sing or listen to music while I'm in the bath. My favorite musicians are Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and David Bowie. I like makeup—my favorites are Charlotte Tilbury, Tom Ford, M.A.C., and NARS. I layer my scents, and I mix a variation of one combination I particularly like; the perfume I released a few years ago with Comme des Garçon was based on it. Two of my favorite notes are patchouli and tuberose. I love incense too. I don't always smell the same, as each day I make the balance of one note differ from the next. The story of my hair is actually quite boring. The white streak happened by accident with a hairdresser friend, and it just stuck. It's rather become me. I often do it myself, and I keep an emergency stash of peroxide with me when I travel. If I style it myself, it takes five minutes—I couldn't live without Elnett hair spray by L'Oréal. If I'm having it done for a special event, it's rather longer. I use Kérastase shampoo and conditioner.
9:00 A.M. I step out of the bath and decide what to wear while listening to music blaring. It takes much less time than people assume. I dress intuitively, depending on my mood. I think it's important to not take one's self too seriously. I can be quite experimental with my clothes. If in doubt, though, I'll wear a Chanel suit or a gray knee-length McQueen dress; Alexander made me one, and I liked it so much I ordered a few of them. The fit is so beautiful—a celebration of the silhouette. My shoes are mostly by Natacha Marro or Noritaka Tatehana. I might throw on a turban or a veil, and I love jewelry, brooches especially. I scold myself for breaking something, be it a glass or a nail. This happens almost daily.
9:30 A.M. When I leave the house I always carry a handbag, and in it an iPod and headphones. I've yet to wean myself off Nicorette gum, so I have a hefty supply in there too—God knows how much I chew, perhaps 10 pieces a day. I also bring a notepad and a fountain pen. My favorite mode of transportation is the train; you can't beat it. Funnily enough, I own only one car—an old army jeep, which is out of service. I tend to take cabs, and I only really drive in L.A., where I'll hire a Porsche. There's nothing like having the wind in your hair and the California sun on you skin.
10:00 A.M. Most days I check in with my team in London for an update on whatever project we're juggling. The Isabella Blow Foundation, which I founded in her honor, has been up and running for two years now, and is responsible for granting scholarships to students in fashion. The exhibition "Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!" just opened in London. I've also been recording music, which has become something of an obsession, and is where the nocturnal behavior kicks in.
10:30 A.M. I read my first e-mail of the day whenever I remember. I'm not terribly good at checking my e-mails, though I seem to receive an awful lot of them. I wish we could all go back to faxes; I like to have something tangible in front of me. I'm slightly better with phone calls. I have three cell phones—two Blackberries (one U.S. and one U.K.) and an iPhone. Rare is the day that I don't misplace at least two of them. But I try to write to friends by hand as much as possible, and I correspond with my Twitter friends almost daily.
12:00 P.M. My wardrobe assistant, Teresa, is with me a lot when I travel. If I'm doing a shoot, I tend to drink one or two Red Bulls. I prefer the sugar-free one. No day is the same as its predecessor. I might have four or five meetings on one day but none on another. If I feel like procrastinating, I listen to music and draw elaborate doodles.
6:00 P.M. I don't really like the word "eccentricity," but my assistant finds it amusing when I put my credit card in a bowl of water inside the freezer. I do it when I've been overspending. In New York I like to shop at Barneys. I wear a lot of Rick Owens—his leather coats and jackets are the best. In London I wander around Selfridges, and I try to get over as much as I can to Gareth Pugh's studio and to Virginia Bates for vintage. My favorite bookstore is Heywood Hill in Mayfair. My great-aunt, Nancy Mitford, worked there during the war, and it's thought that many of her books were influenced by that time.
"I don't really like the word "eccentricity" but my assistant finds it amusing when I put my credit card in a bowl of water inside the freezer."
7:00 P.M. I don't do schedules, particularly when it comes to food. I eat a lot of sushi. Ikeda is my go-to place in London, but I generally eat at home. I also like comforting British food: roast chicken and soups, and rice pudding for dessert. My indulgences are popcorn and Popsicles. And I drink Patrón tequila—neat.
8:00 P.M. I don't go out that often, but going out with my children is always enlightening.
11:30 P.M. When I get home I try to figure out Pro Tools on my computer, or I order something off Amazon. I have a bit of an Amazon problem. And Net-a-Porter is a killer; I go on there late at night when I'm left to my own devices. To relax, I listen to music, meditate, and have the occasional massage. I couldn't live without music, perfume, and books. I read whenever I have the opportunity. Anna Karenina is my favorite, and I never tire of Nabokov. I also like to read magazines like The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, AnOther Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. My favorite movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I love to watch Game of Thrones on HBO. I collect books, art, jewelry, vintage music equipment (Telefunken microphones are a weakness), and taxidermied butterflies—I have a wall filled with them. I don't have any pets. I kept a baby snake in Mexico when I was there for a month some years ago, but nothing since.
12:00 A.M. My bedtime depends on the day. If I'm working I'll often stay up until the early hours and hit my bed around 5 a.m., or it could be as early as midnight if I'm not. There are no huge surprises in my bedroom—pictures on the wall, pillows on the bed. I like white bed linens, no patterns. My sheets are from Porthault. I go to sleep the old-fashioned way: lie down and shut my eyes.
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