My personal style signifier is lovely jewellery. Some junk, a Tiffany heart pendant. At home, I just wear the most comfortable clothes – trousers nearly always, which is a bit sad because I like skirts. I’ve had some very nice clothes in my time but I don’t look good in colour. And I don’t wear my prints. I like to see them on other people; my granddaughters look really cute in them. David Hockney [the late painter depicted Birtwell more than 80 times] was always very critical about how you looked – you could judge how he felt about you on that day by the way he looked at you. I think he liked teasing me – in a very affectionate, mean way. When I was in America quite a long time ago I had a lot of black clothes, and David said, “Why are you always wearing black?” I was taken out shopping to get something and I bought a jacket with black and purple stripes.
The last thing I bought and loved was a Brora blouse. I’ve never bought anything from the brand before but I love its fine cotton. I’ve decided to wear more white blouses. I’ve got a favourite Uniqlo one that is looking a bit sad. It’s very old and lovely. It does all the things I need.
This Brora blouse was a recent buy © Ina Levy
