Q: Who are some of your favorite designers? Ryder: “Of course, I love Chanel, but I also like the Lebanese designers Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad. Their designs are so romantic, very overthe-top romantic. I also like some of the Japanese designers because they are very structural.” Q: Trends you love? Ryder: “Never follow trends. You should set them.” Q: Trends you don’t love at all? Ryder: “It’s all relative to the time and the age of who’s wearing it. A lot of stuff I wore back in the ’70s and ’80s, someone should have shot me! Anything bloody goes nowadays. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. One of my hats that was my daughter’s favorite started out as one that wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do. I finally just let it go the way it would go. My daughter said, ‘That’s my favorite so far,’ so I said, ‘Well, then I give up.’” Q: Best thing to do for your wardrobe with $50? Ryder: “Don’t poo poo Goodwill. I pick up designer stuff at Goodwill, some with the tags still on. You’ll see me put it all on a dress form and say this all cost less than $25. I love old pea coats. I’d make a bodice out of really expensive material but the skirt out of something less expensive. Then just set it off with a good handbag and shoes.” Q: Thoughts on your British side? Ryder: “What is it about us British? We won’t ask for help. We won’t go to the doctor. We’re raised to be that way. In England, you get up and dust yourself off and you move on. That part of me has given me the fortitude to cope with this. I’ve been given a short life expectancy, but if I’m going to go, I have no intention of going without a fight.” Q: Any first and/or longstanding opinions of life in America? Ryder: “Avoid election time.”