Considering she's been a runway and fashion magazine cover regular for over 12 years, there are few people more qualified to tell you what to wear and how to wear it than model and actor Cara Delevingne.
However, that's not the stance she takes on the subject. The 30-year-old ELLE UK September issue cover star, who made her catwalk debut in Burberry's AW11 show, is of the opinion that everyone should be able to govern their own style.
Playing a game of 'It's A Mood' with the magazine, charting her most iconic looks over the years, she confesses that her 'number one style rule' of all time, is this: 'If you feel good in it, it doesn't matter what anyone else says. Because as long as you feel good in it, that is the point of clothing. Sc**w everyone else, they don't know about fashion, because no-one does.'
Read Next
'Except ELLE UK,' she quickly caveats, a wry smile on her face.
Diving into her archive to look at a picture of Delevingne and Margot Robbie attending Glastonbury music festival in June 2017, she gives us the secret to her relaxed outfit - making her own denim cut-offs out of vintage blue jeans - and reveals a favourite memory from that summer:
'My favourite memory from attending Glastonbury. When we were lining up to use the bathroom - usually at Glastonbury it's a really long line - and when we were lining up, while we were standing there a man in a caterpillar outfit crawled along the floor and went under the door, because they are like stalls... and then out of the stall emerged this same guy as a butterfly. Everyone was screaming and so happy.'
Recalling the 2023 Met Gala in honour of late fashion designer and industry behemoth Karl Lagerfeld, Delevingne insists that the tribute was, 'Beautiful... There was a lot of crazy sprinkled in there, but it was beautiful.'
And thinking back to whose outfit she was most impressed with on the night, she reveals that it was Lil Nas:
'In real life, it was just the bejewelledness. My gosh, that's a lot of effort. I was sitting down for a long time, but that's a lot of effort. His butt always looks so good. Those tight, tight pants.'
On the flavour of androgyny and genderless dressing that she often likes to bring to the table, she thinks back to the tuxedo look she wore to the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank in 2018:
'I wanted to mix the feminine and masculine element. I felt dashing, super cool. I wanted a walking stick... a cane. But that would have been too much, too Fred Astaire.
And thinking more broadly about weddings in general, the Carnival Row star shared:
'I love a small wedding, I love a destination wedding. They're all beautiful, They're all fun. I don't think I've ever not had a good time at a wedding.'
On being shown a picture of herself as a much younger girl, in a canary yellow, pouffy dress, she reminisces about her childhood: 'At that age, and I still do love dancing. Out on the dancefloor, throwing myself around all crazy.
'I think when I was younger I had more fun [with fashion]. Now, I feel more pressure with it. I wish I didn't. I think I didn't care as much, but somehow when I cared less, I seemed to be more stylish. But now, I'm like "this just doesn't go..." But I wear the same thing all the time.'
A lesson to leave us with for sure...
Watch Cara Delevingne play 'Its A Mood' with ELLE UK in the video at the top of this article. Cara's make-up look is by Dior Beauty.
Natasha Bird is the Former Executive Editor (Digital) of ELLE.
