nico ~ the ice queen

 

In 1969 ~ Nico had progressed in looks from

a princess to a peasant. It had been a sluggish journey,

starting with hair tinged a pale strawberry to

please Jim Morrison, to the boots of Spanish

leather she continually wore, then working in from either 

end to effect a seamless mood of rustic grace. 

(She'd smell like a pig farmer sometimes,

she washed so little, grumbled Viva).

Nice was still obsessive about the effect of

her appearance, and when she spoke to

an American magazine in March 1969

she advised others to follow a simple rule:

'Simple means elegant, black means

dramatic, simple and black means elegant

and dramatic - this is a good foundation.

I have even tried perverse combinations,

such as black with brown leather which

I created in my own look.

because it was simple it worked,

and you see it everywhere now.'

'My solution is to underline my Russian-ness. I think

it makes me look as though I am from another world

or another time, which is quite true.'

{about creating The Marble Index)

John Cale was amazed by her preparation: 'She'd written

all the words down. They were clear on paper,

in that spidery gothic script of hers. But

I never saw a manuscript with a lot of 

corrections on it. I only saw - like, if she 

would be sitting down and writing 

something, I'd sneak a look (I think she

would have hated that, had she caught me),

and there was no crossing out. A lot of

thought, and awful lot of thought, had been

given to it before it went down on paper.

That's remarkable, when you think of her

working in an alien language.

And once it was down there, 

it wasn't changed.

She was very confident in her style.

{excerpts from The Life and Lies of an Icon}