Top 55 Quotes & Sayings by Karen Elson

I had a diary full of lyrics and whatnot and a little voice recorder of guitar riffs.

I would go home and be this insular girl who listened to music and brooded in her bedroom.

Research on the Internet, research what people say about the vintage stores, look online to see if customer service is good because that's really important. Also to see online what other customers say.

The interesting thing with fashion is that it's really a massive daydream.

If I wasn't a model, I would never have been around interesting musicians, even had the financial capabilities to say, 'I don't have to work right now. I can sit and make my record.'

I've been in a New York City-based cabaret for the past seven years called The Citizens Band. It's possibly one of the most brilliant things I've ever been involved with.

If a model is going to make some shoes, she's going to make them comfortable.

I feel like somehow I'm living my life mentally in reverse. It's taken me to my 30s to feel relaxed and comfortable in my skin. I think I'm going to be dancing on tables when I'm 50. I really hope I am.

You don't just wake up one morning and decide to become a singer-songwriter.

It's time to give back; you know, I've lived in this beautiful world of fashion for so long, and it's time to really get my hands dirty and get in the trenches and see the world for what it really is.

Even though I have lived in the States since I was 18, in my head I am still very British, and I do have this romance for towns in Middle America that nobody gets to see.

I constantly have a devil on my shoulder telling me that what I'm doing is really horrible, and then somehow the lightning strike happens, and everything comes together.

Ultimately, I've learned to pride myself on being quirky. I very much adore people who are outcasts, and I've always loved to be around interesting, circus-type people.

I like those stories that capture the brutality of life, but there's still some kind of melancholy romance.

I love Jen Meyer - she's a dear friend, and Tabitha Simmons as well.

There was this moment, particularly after I had my first child, where I felt like, 'I don't know if I'll ever make a record, or if this is always going to be something just floating around in my head.'

I just love vintage. I have far too many vintage dresses.

I was always the weirdo at school.

I was always singing as a kid. That's honestly all I've ever wanted to do.

As a model, I am at the mercy of everybody else. It's much more of a situation where I go to work, put the clothes on, get in front of the camera, and then go home. But in that process, I never really have control over any of it.

I think Jennifer Lawrence is a brilliant role model for young girls, not some of the models that I see on the runway.

It's just this huge sense of relief I have with myself right now... It took me to be 31 to go, 'Wow, I'm really happy being a model.'

At some hotels, I feel like I have to be dressed to the nines - perfectly eccentric - to walk out the door.

Think about your menu, and if you're not a skilled chef - which I'm not - follow a recipe. You can't go wrong if you don't cut the fine print.

I knew I had more in me than just standing up and having my picture taken... Being in the studio, I have to have an opinion.

Being a model, you're always the product of somebody else's vision.

I'm a fan of creating the mood and vibe with flowers, candles, and music. I love making my guests feel like it's not formal and they can relax in my home.

As scary as it is, I like making real, direct eye contact with people from the stage. In a sense, it's like modeling: that feeling of locking in and projecting some kind of emotion to try to captivate people.

I don't want my children to ever think that food is taboo.

Trends come and go, and style evolves. It's important to have pieces of jewelry that are timeless and look chic despite ever-changing fashions.

I am a woman. I go on set, and I'll be who I am, and I'll represent who I am. I think it comes with age.

I am obsessed with the Great Depression and with former showgirls - and the Victorians - the idea of wistful, dark romance.

I've been writing songs since I was at least 20. That's what I wanted to do before I became a model.

I tend to sort of over-accessorize, but to feel empowered, I strip it all down and become minimal so that it's almost counterintuitive.

I feel Dress for Success is basically about empowering women who were in a disadvantaged situation. The act of wearing a suit when she's walking in the door, it's so powerful - it's about gaining control of their lives and situations.

I constantly have a devil on my shoulder telling me that what I'm doing is really horrible, and then somehow the lightning strike happens and everything comes together. I've just realized I have to live with that devil on my shoulder a little bit more.

As a model I had a lot of success when I was 17 and 18 years old. It was before social media, before the world was what the world is, but even then it was terrifying, to be 18 years old and people knowing who you are, and I was this personality who was completely devoid of who I actually was. It was almost like being a manufactured boy band. You're sort of like a wind up doll; they wind you up and put you on the runway or something like that.

I'm surrounded by freaks. Am I weirder than the rest of them? Ultimately I've learned to pride myself on being quirky.

As a model, I am at the mercy of everybody else. It's much more of a situation where I go to work, put the clothes on, get in front of the camera, and then go home. But in that process, I never really have control over any of it. So, putting out a record, it's such a brilliant opportunity to be in control of things. It's my world, my music, and I can put it out there in a way that is meaningful to me.

I like feeling a bit of an outcast where I am. I've always been that way. Somehow, I fit in by not fitting in.

There comes a point where certain things are becoming my Achilles heel; you know when you start repeating yourself and saying the same anecdotes over and over again you start slowly hating yourself.

I was always the weirdo at school. When I became a model [at 16], I didn't tell anybody. I was terrified that the kids would rip me to pieces.

I very much adore people who are outcasts, and I've always loved to be around interesting, circus-type people.

A movie's a movie - you know I'm a massive old film buff - but it's still something to me, music: I can still close my eyes like I was when I was a teenager, and it can still make me weep or make me angry or make me, even if it's bad music, crack up.

Obviously there are going to be a lot of skeptics. I only hope I can prove them wrong and give the idea of model-slash-anything a genuine chance.

I'm dedicating my time to going on tour and basically juggling music, modeling, and being a mother. Being a mother is obviously the most important.

I was afraid of being judged too harshly. But I'd let those fears overwhelm me for far too long.

I really don't like conference calls to be honest. It's always something that bloody happens with a conference call - universally never works out.

One girl came up to me - I remember it so vividly - she said, "You're not fit to model socks." It crushed me. But at the same time, it made me unbelievably determined to prove everybody wrong and prove to myself that I could live an incredible life.

At school I got harassed so badly for being too tall, too thin, too pale - too everything that has gotten me where I am now, which is quite ironic.

I've been such a gypsy in my life because I was born in northern England and grew up there until I was 16. But I'm 31 now, so I've lived almost half my life in so many other countries that I don't really know what nationality I am. I mean, I've got a British passport and an American green card, but I don't know where I'm from anymore.

I've not met one person, even if they are not creative, who isn't dysfunctional. I guess artists are just a bit more aware of their dysfunction because it serves a purpose.

Not to get too depressing, I've always been a slight whirling dervish in my life. I've always been at once a very spritely and energetic hilarious lady, but at the same time there is an equal dark side that's as comparable to the jovial - constantly walking on the high wire trying to figure out who to be each day.

We all know people who are ridiculously famous, and it's a scary thing because all of the sudden people - even the people you are close to - stop being honest with you, stop telling you the truth.

Having children, you have so much more structure in your life. The open-endedness of being a single woman is gone, you know? It's sort of like, from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. the kids are going to take a nap, so now I have time to sit down and write the lyrics, or once they're put to bed, I have a few hours to focus on those things. I need that. It's a very strange process, really - I can never predict what's going to happen. It always feels uncomfortable and awkward.