SPECIAL PLACES

Cornwall is such a special place for our family. Michael grew up there, his mum still lives there and our first holiday together involved the two of us walking the 30 miles from Fowey to Padstow. It was incredibly romantic trekking across that beautiful landscape, especially as we didn’t encounter another soul.

I love London, but I’m a Mancunian at heart. When I first went to drama school, I was so homesick. There was so much to miss about my old life – the club nights at the Haçienda and the Ritz, a beautiful Art Deco dance hall. We’d dress up, pay a quid to get in, get a free bottle of lager and dance to amazing music, with a fag in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. I felt blessed.

Awful things have happened in both cities recently, but it makes me so proud to see Londoners and Mancunians responding to terror and tragedy with such dignity and love.

I’m as obsessed by music as I am by fashion. It began when I found my parents’ old Dansette record player. I used it to endlessly play their eclectic collection of mono records – including tracks by The Beatles, The Hollies,

The Kinks, Buddy Holly, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. At 11, I discovered David Bowie and bought my first record – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust. I took one look at that image of him looking like a psychedelic alien and he became my No 1 idol.

My children have had no choice but to love him, too! They’ve grown up in a house full of Bowie memorabilia. They view him as the relative they never met – uncle Dave, on the wall, in his glitter suit and big red platform boots!

In the end, it’s all about joy – whether you get it from music, work, family or fashion. It’s about waking up every morning and finding enthusiasm for things, especially when there’s so much sadness in the world. Enjoying clothes and dressing up may seem frivolous, but it taps into humour and playfulness, which gives the world a sense of hope. There’s nothing frivolous about that.