Marie Helvin Quotes & Sayings

When you've been touched by sadness and grief, it makes you vulnerable. And because I am vulnerable, I try to be positive. And when I say 'try,' I really do mean try, because it's an effort. — Marie Helvin

I don't wear mini-skirts or shorts because I have thread veins on my legs and cellulite, and I won't wear tights. — Marie Helvin

My marriage to David Bailey ended one morning in 1983, while he was away on a photo-shoot. — Marie Helvin

I'm 56 - I don't want to look like I'm 20. — Marie Helvin

There are lots of things I would love to wear but wouldn't because I know they look stupid on me. — Marie Helvin

Surgery is not going to improve your skin - all it's going to do is make you look tighter, like Joan Rivers! — Marie Helvin

I'm spoilt. I like my own space. I don't even own a microwave, and men don't like that. They want to be looked after. — Marie Helvin

My livelihood depends on my surface beauty, but when I wash my face, I see a real person there. — Marie Helvin

If you believe, as I do believe, in reincarnation, they say that every time you come back, it's because you have to finish something. I've a funny feeling that my thing in this life is to have one relationship after another. — Marie Helvin

I always wear the same thing: a tight white shirt - I have about 50 - and tight black trousers. — Marie Helvin

I'm interested only in buying land in my native Hawaii so that one day I can live there and have the space to rescue animals. — Marie Helvin

But I'd made up my mind early on in life that I never wanted to be a mother. — Marie Helvin

If I'm not in work, I don't wear any make-up. — Marie Helvin

For modern fashion designers, bones are beautiful. I don't know why, but so many people are obsessed with the skeletal look. — Marie Helvin

I like living on my own. I'm happy for a man to come over. I'll cook for him; he can spend the night occasionally, but then I want him to leave. I'm too independent. — Marie Helvin

People were endlessly trying to set me up with 'eligible' men, and I enjoyed going on a galaxy of dates. — Marie Helvin

I grew up in neighbouring Hawaii, where Tahiti is regarded as a brother. — Marie Helvin

Fresh seafood reminds me of Hawaii and eating raw ahi fish on the beach with a little soy sauce - instant sashimi. — Marie Helvin

Most English people are horrified that I use soap, but I like it - it works for my skin. I try different soaps all the time, but I use very mild ones. — Marie Helvin

When you get older, your skin tone changes; your hair probably changes colour, whether you dye it or not, and you just can't wear the colours you used to like anymore. — Marie Helvin

I've never met a size zero person. Is Paris Hilton a size zero? I've met her. She looked very thin, but she looked very healthy. She had beautiful skin. — Marie Helvin

I've slipped enough times over the years to know the peril of a too-smooth sole, so every time I buy a new pair, I take a pair of scissors or a piece of sandpaper to the bottoms to roughen them up. In my catwalk days, I even used to spit on the soles of shoes before I ventured down the runway. — Marie Helvin

I think I'm living in the wrong century. I would have made a great courtesan. Not a mistress - I could never be kept - but a courtesan with my own rules. — Marie Helvin

My life has been charmed in the sense that I've met some extraordinary people. But at the end of the day, when you go home and you go to bed, and if you're on your own, you never think of yourself in that way. I'm sure not even people like Angelina Jolie think like that. — Marie Helvin

I don't have any children, but I can leave my land to an animal sanctuary. That is what I dream about, not bags, not shoes. — Marie Helvin

I'm not keen on the English way of eating outside, on the street. I want food that is clean, not impregnated with toxic fumes. — Marie Helvin

I like naughty boys. I was married to David Bailey, who was one of the naughtiest. I like real men, and I like masculinity. — Marie Helvin

Cheating is never to do with how attractive you are. — Marie Helvin

I haven't eaten meat since I was 17, so I take Vitamin C, a B complex, Omegas-3-6-9, glucosamine, and antioxidants to make sure my body stays healthy. — Marie Helvin

I love to lounge, and I particularly love to eat outdoors. It's a throwback to my childhood in Hawaii. I have memories of coming out of the sea and eating corn chips with a strawberry vanilla slush. — Marie Helvin

I lost count of how many times photographers and designers would tell me to lose a bit of weight, especially as I got a little older and my body started to develop. — Marie Helvin

My fashion icons are Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner. Their classic looks and clean lines should be the cornerstones of your wardrobe - white cotton shirts, black Capri pants, pencil skirts and ballerina skirts. — Marie Helvin

My favourite scent ... changes every day. I have a cupboard full - so many I can't begin to tell you. — Marie Helvin

I wouldn't mind being in a relationship, but there's no reason to marry. — Marie Helvin

I don't see myself as the next Carmen Dell'Orefice. I'd rather be fat and happy, sitting on a beach in Hawaii eating pizza. — Marie Helvin

I've been lucky: my Japanese genes - from my mother's side - and a lifelong moisturising routine have helped keep me looking good. — Marie Helvin

The average British woman is a size 12 to 14, but in modelling, a size 12 is considered huge, which is ridiculous. — Marie Helvin

Myself and my two younger sisters and brother were paid for any chores, whether it was washing pop's car, sweeping the lawn or picking mangoes. — Marie Helvin

I don't do a lot of looking back; I tend to look ahead. — Marie Helvin

When I do wear heels, I prefer to only wear them to dinner, where I'll be sitting down most of the time. — Marie Helvin

It would be nice to see a fashion range that is geared towards a vibrant, sexual, confident 50-something. — Marie Helvin

Whilst I may look good, I do find it hard to find the right man. — Marie Helvin

I'm not a pretty-boy kind of a girl; the Brad Pitts don't do anything for me. — Marie Helvin

When you live with a photographer, you never have a day off - it was a nightmare. — Marie Helvin

Monogamy is not something that's important to me. I don't think it defines love. — Marie Helvin

I don't particularly like children. That sounds awful, but I have nothing to say to them. — Marie Helvin

I can't stand small babies. I would rather give birth to a kitten or a colt ... a little pony. — Marie Helvin

A secret control slip is a wonderful invention. It sculpts and lifts the bum and smooths the hips. — Marie Helvin

I'm slim for professional reasons, and I work at it. I really want to continue working. There aren't that many models who are still doing it at 60. — Marie Helvin

Men are intimidated by me: I very rarely get asked out. — Marie Helvin

We are constantly driven to believe that women should look a set age or be a certain body size, which is fuelling an obsession with ever more dramatic and invasive steps. — Marie Helvin

I'm not bothered about clothes. Never have been. — Marie Helvin

I think a mother needs to be with mothers. I don't know what they talk about. — Marie Helvin

Since seeing Max Kirsten for insomnia - I'm finally achieving a good night's sleep, its just wonderful. He's my new secret weapon! — Marie Helvin

There are loads of women that don't want children. What does it matter? I'm still a woman. — Marie Helvin

When I began modelling in my late teens, I started to earn a lot of money very, very quickly, but I'd never been shown how to manage it properly. — Marie Helvin

If I'm on holiday, I travel light, but if it is a work trip, I take everything but the kitchen sink. — Marie Helvin

The fact is, after a certain age, high heels can feel as painful as someone sticking hot pins into the soles of your feet. — Marie Helvin

Although I eat healthily, I do enjoy a greasy fry-up, but usually only once a year. I've also got a big Kit-Kat addiction and buy them in bulk. — Marie Helvin

Smiling makes you and others feel better, and it makes you look younger. — Marie Helvin

I'm well trained. The only reason I am this slim is that I have to fit into the clothes. The samples are size 8, and I am naturally a size 10 to 12. I have been on a diet for my entire life. — Marie Helvin

Even in the early Eighties, when I was one of the most successful models in Britain, I didn't really have a voice. Time after time, when I should have spoken up, I simply walked away. — Marie Helvin

I have nothing against cosmetic procedures, but I don't want my face lasered. Also, people are naive about how much you can do with make-up and lighting, and I've learned from the best. — Marie Helvin

For me, my 50s was the decade when my tolerance for heels faded. I'm in good shape and, at 8 st. 3 lb., I'm still the same weight I was in my 30s, but as you get older, the weight of your body shifts somehow. — Marie Helvin

I try to be as positive as I can because I truly believe I am my feelings, and if I'm sad, if I have regrets, they will show up as illnesses, they will show up as cancers ... I don't want that. — Marie Helvin

I definitely think men prefer women more undone and natural than butch and masculine. They prefer a fresher, sexier, more feminine look. — Marie Helvin

I love fashion, but I don't really do shopping. — Marie Helvin

I'm known for my big hair and curls. — Marie Helvin

I lost all my investments after everything crashed in 2001. Prior to that, I'd been living off the interest on my investments, which was very healthy because it allowed frequent travel, and I had a lovely apartment. — Marie Helvin

I go to the gym four times a week for 45 minutes to an hour without fail; I like using weights for muscle tone and the bike and rower for my heart rate. I do quite a lot of floor exercises. — Marie Helvin

I am a vegetarian. I don't want to have anything injected into me that I can't eat. I am a real health nut. I look after myself well. — Marie Helvin

For most of us, no matter how slim, middle-aged spread really does set in, and your waist thickens, irrespective of whether you've had children or if you exercise regularly. — Marie Helvin

Sixties models knew nothing about skin care. — Marie Helvin

I sometimes overeat or drink too much, but I don't eat chocolate, and I gave up smoking when I was 39. — Marie Helvin

When you're a model, you learn how to make the most of your assets - in my case, the smallish behind that is the legacy of my half-Japanese heritage. — Marie Helvin

A lot of women lose definition around their waist as they get older, which can mean their bottom half can look shapeless. — Marie Helvin

I am thrilled to be modelling the debut collection of Always Aliza. Janet Reger was such an iconic brand throughout my modelling career, and it feels great to now be modelling her daughter's range for JD Williams almost forty years on. — Marie Helvin

I'm good at many, many things, but the one thing I've never been good at is relationships. — Marie Helvin

I was brought up by parents who embraced the 1960s and taught me that being faithful isn't the be-all and end-all. — Marie Helvin

I had a very spoilt childhood. Not that my family were incredibly wealthy, but we lived on the beautiful island of Hawaii where everything was lush and in abundance. — Marie Helvin

I don't have children, and I'm not in a relationship, so I have the time to devote to myself. — Marie Helvin

I lead a very disciplined life. — Marie Helvin

I never get asked out by men my own age, as they all want to go out with 20-year-olds, and the men that do ask me out are too young. — Marie Helvin

We don't do funerals in my family. — Marie Helvin

The only thing I can't change is the elasticity of my skin. — Marie Helvin

To be honest, the reason I have my cats is to force myself to think about something other than myself. — Marie Helvin

I genuinely have to work - I don't have enough money not to. But the last thing I would want is to be looked after. — Marie Helvin

My sister Naomi and I always wanted to go to Tahiti. We planned a fantastic holiday to visit several islands, but at the last moment, Naomi cancelled. It was the first time I'd holidayed alone, and it was absolutely the best. — Marie Helvin

I have sun damage. I cover it up with make-up. — Marie Helvin

When I see images of a girl who is obviously far too thin, I am just as shocked as anyone else. — Marie Helvin

As a girl, I lived in jeans, and my love-affair with them continues. Since I turned 50, jeans have become something of a uniform, whether it's a slouchy boyfriend fit for daytime or a leaner, fitted jean in a darker denim for evening. — Marie Helvin

I was addicted to 'The Monkees' TV programme - not so much because of the music but because of the commercials in between. The programme was sponsored by Yardley, and in the commercial breaks, there would be these English girls on roller skates, wearing hot pants, and I just thought, 'God! How neat!' — Marie Helvin

The two times I have cut my hair shorter, I've ended up out of work - so short hair is not an option. — Marie Helvin

I hate Botox, but a fabulous-looking friend of mine told me her secret was this gadget that uses electrical impulses to tone your facial muscles. It works! — Marie Helvin

I loved Le Taha'a private resort in Tahiti. It's accessible only by private boat or helicopter, and it sits on a tiny strip of land just big enough for one hotel. It's extraordinary and faces the Vanilla Island where Tahitians grow vanilla. — Marie Helvin

There are lots of things I won't eat but would like to, such as croissants or ice cream - if I started, I'd scoff the whole tub. — Marie Helvin

Not having alcohol has kept the weight off around my waist; my skin feels so much better, and I am sleeping really well. — Marie Helvin

I wasn't interested in having children of my own. I know what would have happened - I'd have been left at home to look after the kids, and my career would have been over while my husband travelled the world. — Marie Helvin

As the years go by, you get to know yourself better and learn what works for you. — Marie Helvin