Clothes Line

Out of The Closet; Dusty O - Night Club hostess extraordinaire, DJ, singer and actor - opens his designer laden wardrobe big enough for two

"I STILL have Westwood `Pirate' socks and a matching scarf I bought when I was 14. I've about 300 Westwood pieces, 150 of them vintage and last week I bought an original `Pirate' suit from a stall on Portobello Road.

As a "girl" I wear a lot of McQueen, Galliano and Westwood - a nice structured suit, corseted with tight sleeves, theatrical looking but contemporary. I love anything glamourous and luxurious. Tracey Mulligan is another favourite. I'm wearing all her stuff in my press shots. Her black tube dress is wonderful.

As a "boy", I wear Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten and an Austrian designer, Carol Christian Poell. Jeans used to be a no-no, but being a total label victim, I bought a pair of Evisu and matching jacket. I washed them at least 40 times, banged them on the floor and let the dog sleep on them before I put them on. I hate the way new denim looks.

My last fashion disaster was at Brighton Gay Pride. It was boiling and I was corseted in a leather Versace dress. I came off stage, dripping with sweat, looking like Zelda from The Terrahawks.

Most of what I earn ends up on my back, but designers do occasionally lend me stuff. Favourite shops are Westwood, Pellicano and my absolute favourite is The Pineal Eye.

I'm not doing "big wigs" any more. They're much sleeker now, blunt cut, square fringes. It takes me three hours to get ready, from showering and shaving to putting my wig and make up on. As my Mum always said: `I don't like what you do, but you do it properly.'"