MY FASHIONABLE LIFE: JULIETTE LEWIS

The actor and musician talks us through life as a style rebel, and how it feels to front fashion campaigns in her 40s

I WAS SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL FOR FASHION.

I’ve always loved to destroy clothes and was endlessly inspired by

Pat Benatar’s Love Is a Battlefield music video, in which she wore rags. I wore my dad’s T-shirts as skirts, with the neck around my waist and sleeves tucked in like pockets – I called it a ‘T-skirt’. But cutting my tights to make them one-legged was enough to get me sent home.

I WORE A SECOND-HAND DRESS TO MY FIRST OSCARS.

When I started working in movies aged 14, I only shopped vintage. I wore my favourite 197Os patchwork trousers to my first photoshoot – before I realised you got styled. In 1992, I was nominated for an Academy Award for my role in Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear. I wore a white hand-beaded 193Os dress I found at the back of a vintage store to the ceremony. Now vintage shopping is more often about being socially conscious, back then thrifting was just cool.

I WAS THE EPITOME OF 199Os STYLE.

Find any photo of me and Woody Harrelson when we made Natural Born Killers in 1994; I was the quintessential 199Os dream. I wore low-rise Helmut Lang trousers, crop tops and bandanas.

I HAVE A JACKET OBSESSION.

While filming Basketball Diaries in New York with Leonardo DiCaprio, I bought my first designer jacket – a Vivienne Westwood sheepskin – that still goes with me everywhere. My other greatest wardrobe loves are jackets from Isabel Marant and Plein Sud. I got to tour with the incredible Chrissie Hynde in 2OO9 and she gave me a studded gold Stella McCartney jacket from her own wardrobe. It’s my most prized possession.

CINDY LAUPER WAS MY HAIR IDOL.

My maroon hair for filming Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days was the closest I got to emulating her. I loved the sense of play, mixing femininity and punk, but I never thought I could be as radical as she was.

I’VE ALWAYS WORN CLOTHES BELONGING TO MEN I LOVE.

At school, it was the early days of hip hop, so I wore my dad’s Fila, Adidas and Ellesse ski jackets to impress other kids. Now, I wear my boyfriend’s [drummer Brad Wilk] vintage rock T-shirts with jeans.

MUSIC BRINGS OUT MY SUPERHERO SELF.

Aged 3O, I focused on music for six years with my band The Licks. I loved that it involved every aspect of my creative self, from clothes to set design. My shows were about releasing myself. My stage outfits needed to feel like a second skin as I moved around a lot. I’m drawn to shiny stuff that picks up the light and bodysuits with colours and shredded fabric. I now have a whole room in my house in LA storing my stage looks.

FASHION CAMPAIGNS CAME IN MY 4Os.

I was shot by David Simms for Marc Jacobs in 2O16 and later became the face of Acne Studios. It’s a testament to how the value we place on women aesthetically at different points in life has changed. Society no longer only wants to see women aged between 16 and 22. It’s refreshing.

I’LL NEVER WEAR ALL BLACK.

Now I’m older, I have less of a desire to break the style moulds. But I still love colour and will take any opportunity to wear a sash around my head. My boyfriend describes my style as ‘bonkers chic’. Sacred Lies season 2 is on Facebook Watch now