Kim Wilde encourages ‘ugly ducklings’: You have to learn to be beautiful

Kim Wilde has always known it. She would be famous at all costs. At home in front of the mirror she imitated her first heroes: Beatles, Stones and Gary Glitter. Later her father lent her his Sinatra LP’s. And in the neighbourhood cinema Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo enthused her. Today Kim Wilde is named in one breath with these stars. She only gets a bit afraid when you ask her how she preserves her own beauty.

I have to say that I forbid myself to worry about this. The rules of the business prevent me from thinking about it. My father and my brother have both had a little taste of what I’m experiencing every day now. They are still famous, but their work is behind the scenes nowI enjoy every second and something inside tells me that I will stick it out.

Why you and so many others not?
Being beautiful is something you have to learn. It’s not just a question of measurements and weight, but especially personality. And you can only reveal your personality step by step and be aware that you keep enough to yourself. What I admired about Marilyn Monroe is the way she let herself be photographed. When you look at her movies you notice how rarely you see the same pose. The shape of her face is unexhaustable. Other people say it’s the same wth me. Whether you see my face from the right or from the left, you always see a different shape, but it’s still one element: Kim Wilde. Another good example is Greta Garbo. When she was almost forgotten she still managed to hang on to that grandeur. I mirror myself in them, I can tell you that.

Have you always been so selfconscious?
In fact I was, but in the beginning I was a bit afraid of it. I felt that I was someone, or would become someone, but I couldn’t express that outwardly. More than that, I can remember I thought of myself as an ‘ugly duckling’. In school I couldn’t cope with it. I was in academy, I didn’t draw so bad but I felt I wasn’t in the right place there. I was disturbed by the fact that people all seemed to like the same things. The same painters, the same punk or other groups. A sort of laziness which I didn’t want to be associated with.

When you look at girls of your own age now, do you think the are too much or too little selfconscious?
Too little. The same laziness I can see in the clothing and the faces of many girls. There no-one really looking for what makes him or her pretty or gives them something special. It used to be different in the old days. Although there was less money for clothing and make-up. That’s why I love nothing better than going to the market and look for great pictures of the fifties. In a way the women were less beautiful than they are now, but they did have a certain glamour that I don’t see very often now. Not for nothing many youngsters are going back to those times. It’s a source of inspiration, and not just for me.