I enjoy travelling the world, but nowhere beats Walsall.
— Erin O'Connor
I knew I'd made it when my face appeared on a stamp.
I'm bad at rationalisation - very bad.
There are great slender models, great tall models, Amazonian models, great busty models - my point is models of all shapes and sizes, age, ethnic background should be embraced and celebrated.
My perfect bag would be practical but also have the stylish element to it; it would be bold and colourful. I would actually be able to open and close it. That would be a first.
Winter is my favourite season.
I have a regular cleansing, toning and moisturising routine.
Starting my career in London was no accident because the city and the industry here are all about theatre and drama, and I respond well to that.
I think there is some resistance when people talk about ethical fashion, and a tendency to panic that if you're bringing a moral agenda and highlighting the origins of the garments, you can't incorporate style. But there's no reason why style and conscience can't co-exist.
I'm interested in looking for solutions because it's become the case that in fashion you're either a villain or a victim. Look at the industry's very limited remit in terms of body size, for example.
As I began to get a deeper understanding of the vital life-saving work Save the Children does, I felt compelled to help in any way I could. This is about safe-keeping, inspiring and empowering a future generation - to facilitate them to make their own lives a little bit better.
I'm too diplomatic. I tend to edit my mind before I speak - it can be incredibly draining.
In the early days of my modelling career, I think the industry was uncomfortable with how strikingly different I was.
I am the world's laziest shopper, but very rarely have I had to take anything back.
I think most of my career has been built on conviction and the personality to carry that image or stride confidently on the catwalk. That was my beginning and, hopefully, my legacy.
How awful to be a perfect beauty! How confusing! God. Can you imagine?
My job is to sell clothes to very rich women.
I'm often mistaken for a man.
At school I was very shy and coincidentally inherited the title 'little miss worry guts,' and that was just among the staff. I learned early on that I could make people laugh, and as my small neat body betrayed me by growing to dizzying heights, I used it as a tool that translated into complete slap-stick comedy.
I can play the flute. Music was my favourite A-level, and I used to love composing my and stylising my voice to sound like 90's singing sensation Tori Amos.
Conformism is a potent statement, and as much as we do talk about individuality in fashion, there's a sense that people are fearful of not conforming and not being part of action.
My style has been nurtured over time. It's more about knowing what doesn't suit you. I love suits and anything sharp, and I know that shape suits me. I don't feel feminine in floaty dresses with spaghetti straps - I feel more like Freddie Mercury in drag.
Clothes are like a suit of armour when you're young. I was quite a shy teen, so I wanted to make aggressive statements with the way I looked. I'd say my goth/indie stage was the worst: there was a lot of experimentation involving pink food dye in my fringe.
Water - I drink gallons of it! You can use the most luxurious skincare products in the world, but they won't work as well if you do not hydrate from inside.
Rejection is, of course, part of any successful model's career, as ironic as that sounds. It's how you pick yourself up and get on with the job.
I do like shopping high street, but I do consider the long-term value of a specific piece and, also, one day giving it up for somebody else to love and enjoy.
I am aware it's easy and may be fashionable to pose with a slum child, and the irony of getting the media along means that it can come across as disingenuous. But you take these things on board, and you hope you mean it whenever you get stuck into something.
It's a very intimate thing to invite someone into your home; there's a lot of trust involved.
I worry about how accessible cosmetic surgery has become. Of course, if it has genuinely helped people, and their confidence has grown as a result; who am I to form an opinion?
It makes me cross when I hear people say, 'It's so last season.' I always say, 'It's vintage.'
I have two curiosity cabinets at home filled with finds from jumble sales, markets and my travels. My favourite piece is a voodoo mask from just outside Cape Town.
My story wasn't one of those cliched stories of being an ugly duckling, I had a pretty good time at school. But then I think being six foot by the age of 15 meant that I couldn't help but be noticed, and that was when my physical being felt quite painful - I could not any longer walk into a room without being noticed.
I would say I live half in New York and half in Claridge's. How decadent! How hysterical!
In my work, I'm called to a job at the drop of a hat, so I like a sense of order to my holidays, and holding a map makes me happy.
I see myself as the female John Cleese.
As a child I wanted to be a ballerina, ice-cream van owner, wife of George Michael, a nun, and a music conductor.
It's not about hiding your imperfections on a shoot; it's about embracing them and being unapologetic about them.
I had one particular handbag disaster when I couldn't get into it, and when I finally did, it flew over the red carpet and was caught by 200 lenses. Not a great moment.
I love vintage clothes. But they don't love me very much. It is difficult to find anything that fits me because of my height, but if I do fall in love with something, I'll buy it and display it like a work of art at home.
I lead a very busy life and don't have a lot of time, so my skincare needs to be easy and portable.
It's like recycling: selling old clothes to help make new ones.
I'm utterly androgynous, and I truly love it. It's been part of my identity for so long. I've never been that pretty girl, and I wouldn't want to be.
I have previously been a very enthusiastic consumer, and I didn't think about the origins of garments enough.
It's a big shame that when you have a platform to write about Save the Children, the media interest lies with my moral alignment.
Growing up, I had an insane crush on Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys.
I am concerned about ageism and the loss of beauty - the perception that as you grow older, you 'lose your looks,' which I think is diabolical.
I am selective. If I do splash out, it's an investment, and I wear things for years.
I think most models fear growing old, but from a tender age I had always chosen to play someone grown up. I am slowly but surely catching up with the people that I have spent the last decade and a half trying to portray.
When I first began modeling, I was very conventional looking. I had hair down to my waist in a side parting - almost church-like. But beneath the sheath of hair lay this Amazonian, strong-looking frame.
When you're physically growing up, you develop emotionally with that.
