Date: 14 March 1982
Originally published in: Sunday Mirror (UK)
Written by: Eve Pollard
Kim Wilde would be the first to say that an old-fashioned song like Second Hand Rose wouldn’t be her style of singing. But it would suit her way of dressing.
Most pop stars order hand-made jeans that look as if they’ve just been dragged through the mud. Many of Kim’s outfits have the lived-in look. She buys clothes at Oxfam shops and second-hand boutiques and even from friends.
Local shop
The 21-year-old who had hits with her singles Kids in America and Cambodia, told me: ‘I like mooching around Kensington Market and I get a lot of things from my local Oxfam shop near St. Albans in Hertfordshire.’
Unlike other girl pop stars, who have professional make-up artists and hairdressers creating new images for them, Kim does it all herself. That spikey haircut takes place in front of the bathroom mirror in the house at Welwyn Garden City, Herts, that she shares with her parents and two brothers and a sister. Dad, of course, is Fifties and Sixties pop star Marty Wilde. Mum is one of the old Vernons Girls (remember?). Kim’s songs are written by Marty and Ricky, the brother closest to Kim in age.
Kim, whose wild hair matches her nature, told me: ‘I just lift it and cut it, starting at the front and going back. Mum cuts the back bits. I colour it myself, to. I haven’t the time to spend hours in the hairdressers. Anyway, I’ve always coloured it.’
Tiny bag
The blonde Brigitte Bardot hair is complemented by pale lips and dark ringed eyes – from ancient Max Factor pots Kim has owned for years. Her getting-ready kit fits into a tiny bag. She hardly needs a comb or a brush. The whole hairdo jus tgets teased together.
Kim, who seems very friendly, sane and sensible for someone raised close to the music business, diets to keep her 36-25-36 figure in shape. ‘I have days when I eat all the wrong things, like the potatoes, bread and chocolate I love’, she said. ‘But I can go on starvation diets and forget about food when I have to. I hope to go on my first tour soon. I’d like my parents to come too. People are amazed when I say that Mum and Dad are my closest friends. They give me a lot of moral support and they can see that all the other people on the tour do what they are supposed to.’
Kim’s new record, ‘View from the bridge’, comes out next month. Then her ambition is to take the U.S.A. by storm and get into films. Is there a man in Kim’s life?
‘I don’t have time for anyone special’, she said. ‘I’m too busy working in the studio and promoting my records. At least when I do meet someone I like, I have so little time to see him that I don’t have a chance to get tired of him.’
