Kim’s favourite perfume, launched by Paco Rabanne in 1969. Eau de Calandre contains notes of bergamot, lemon, germanium, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, iris, ylang-ylang, vetiver, cedar, oak moss, sandalwood, musk and amber.
Kim about Eau de Calandre
I wear Paco Rabanne eau de Calandre. It’s very light and refreshing and suits all occasions so I don’t have to change it when I go out at night. (1)
Paco Rabanne’s Eau de Calandre, which my mother uses, too. It’s very refreshing and I’ve worn it since I was a teenager. Every time I put it on, someone always asks me what it is. Claudia Schiffer (Chanel’s top model) asked me when I met her in Monte Carlo recently. I thought: “I bet she wishes she didn’t have to wear Chanel…” (2)
[My favourite perfume is] still Paco Rabanne, Eau de Calandre. I haven’t got the time really to discover another fragrance. Roxanne is always getting me to smell them at airports. Most of them are too sweet for my taste. Eau de Calandre has a nice androgynous quality to it that I like. I don’t like things that are too sweet. (3)
The December 22 edition of ‘Posh frocks’, a programme about fashion and clothes, featured an interview with Kim Wilde, in which she shows a bit of her wardrobe. The item is filmed in her house, which at the time is still mostly empty. Old wooden structures are clearly visible in the background. Kim shows, amongst other things, a blouse “in a horrible colour” she bought in Japan, the blue suit she wore when she won the BPI Award in 1983 and a “Chanel lookalike” dress bought at Marks & Spencers.
Clothes show
Date
5 February 1989 Channel
BBC (UK)
Kim is interviewed about her clothes. In a series of shots she is also shown in different outfits.
How important is it to be stylish in the music business, Kim?
I don’t know how important it is. I think to me it’s important, but that’s like saying I’m stylish. I have my own style, I have my own taste. You know, it’s up to the individuals out there, if they find it stylish or not it’s a very personal thing.
Were you aware of trying to create a style when you first started singing. I remember that old Kim Wilde, the sort of denim and biker jackets.
Yes, the angry young rebel without a cause. No, I never sat down and thought about it. Things happened very quickly then. The most important thing for me at the time was my music. So I didn’t actually sit down and devise how I was gonna look.
What about things like hair and make-up? Do you pay a lot of attention…
I wish I had. I wish I had at the beginning of my career. What happened was I was at art college and I’d dyed my hair blonde and I still maintain it was the best work of art I did while I was there, because it just caused such a reaction and that’s what art should do. And everyone reacted violently, they either violently loved it or violently hated it.
What do you actually like now and where does your taste lie. Do you spend tons of money on clothes?
When I actually get a chance to go out shopping I’ll spend a load of money very quickly on clothes. I’m a very spontaneous buyer. When I see something and I like it, I buy it.
And what sort of thing would you buy? The image of Kim Wilde that I know particularly from guys is this very sexy Kim Wilde who dresses in, even if it’s old clothes, very sexy ones. Is that your style?
Well you see, whether somebody finds you sexually attractive or not is such an individual thing so I don’t even think about that. I just find what I like and that’s it. I think probably I’m more natural when I’m wearing clothes that I like and maybe that’s what they find attractive, the fact that I’m feeling good. Maybe that’s what’s so infectuous.
Kim Wilde lately seems to be much more confident and is wearing more dashing colours and experimenting a bit more. Are you now more confident with life?
Yeah, I think so. I mean, I’m not so worried about expressing my, I suppose sexuality, expressing my femininity was something I repressed when I as younger. And it’s something I feel very happy to do now when I want to. But at the same time I’m happy to put back on the jeans and the jumpers and do that as well.
So what is the real Kim Wilde?
Oh… I’ve never been really able to define it. I hope that it’s my style and I hope that it’s stylish.