January 27, 2021 • 30 mins
Norma Kamali has been a fashion designer for over 50 years—and while you've probably seen her famous red bathing suit on Farrah Fawcett and iconic sleeping bag coat, those legendary designs only scratch the surface. Norma is also a wellness expert, an author, the founder of her own skincare line, and so much more. This week, she joins Bobbi to talk about aging with power, finding her soulmate at 65, and how her daily routine works from the inside out to keep her healthy and beautiful.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Beyond the Beauty is a production of I Heart Radio.
I'm your host, Bobby Brown. I'm so excited to talk
to Norma Comali, someone who is a friend, who is
a role model, and it is just one of the
(00:23):
coolest women I have ever met. I'm lucky enough to
have met her professionally, had dinner with her many times,
and honestly, there's not many women I look up to
to get all this energy like. She's just done so
much and what you guys probably don't know about her
she designed the famous Farah Fawcet red bathing suit that
(00:46):
that you know of her running across the beach. She's
done so much I'll never be able to get all
of it in this interview. But the woman is amazing.
You guys have to know her. So here is my
conversation with Norma Molly, Hey, Norma, how are you? I'm good?
First of all, when I was reading my notes on
(01:07):
you and Norman and I are friends. We have a
newer friendship along knowing each other, but a newer friendship.
I didn't know you were engaged. Congratulations it's true. Yeah, finally, Um,
you know I got married at nineteen and divorced at
(01:27):
twenty nine, and I figured I did that. I don't
think I need to get married again, and I really
had no intention, but um, at seventy five, I figured whatever,
why not? So but you have you've been with Marty
for how long? Hen years? Okay? For first of all,
(01:50):
her fiance is one of the most amazing, remarkable men
that I've met, Like, full of energy. You're with someone
pretty amazing too. So we really are women who are
(02:10):
strong and committed. Don't find it easy to find men
who are strong enough to deal with their intensity or
their you know, passion, and we both are super lucky
that we have that we are. But the other thing
you said, which I just don't even understand, when you
(02:31):
say you're seventy five, I mean I'm sixty three and
people always say to me, well, sixty three, you don't
look at you don't act, And I'm like, you are
the only person I know that is my role model, honestly,
because I you know, I don't have that many older
friends that are spectacular. You know you're spectacular. Well that's
(02:53):
very sweet, But Bobby, the idea. First of all, do
you do you think of yourself as six D three
in the number no, I mean, look at you. There's
nobody quite frankly our The generations that came before me
especially are older, and they had different circumstances. I think
(03:18):
it's very important, and I do this all the time.
I ask everybody their age, and I feel entitled to
since I'm seventy five and I just say I'm seventy five.
So the fact that you said sixty three and said
it without hesitation is a really important message to send
(03:38):
to other women. That and and part of my book
is about aging with power and as long as you
feel good about what you're doing and yourself, and that
doesn't mean it doesn't come with challenges. Your age is
really your badge of honor, and living a healthy lifestyle
(04:00):
island doing things that benefit you give you the power
and the strength to wear that badge of honor. So
I'm very proud of being my age and being relevant
and enjoying new challenges. And look at you. I mean
it's like, why not at sixty three be doing all
(04:23):
of these things redoing I mean the makeup you're doing
now I love more than ever. I think it's amazing.
And you're reinventing a product category as you did the
first time around, and it looks great and you're sixty three,
by the way, Yeah right, I don't I right, You're right.
(04:44):
I don't think about it, and I'm not going to
think about it. Honestly, this conversation is not just about aging.
But I have so many questions I want to hear
all about the book. But how did you meet Marty
at sixty five years old? Well? Ian Traeger has has
been a friend of mine forever. Obviously, we dated and
(05:05):
we're together during studio before and remained best friends. And
he never introduced me to anybody all the years. He
thought every guy I went out with was just like
the worst human being, But he never offered any life
great up, great, Where is the great opportunity here if
(05:26):
you think they're so terrible? So one day he said
I had somebody I want you to meet, and I
thought it was for a business opportunity or something, and
I said okay, And then after asking a few questions,
it was actually somebody that he thought I should meet,
and quite frankly, I didn't think he would be capable
(05:48):
was really introducing me to somebody the right person. So, yeah,
at sixty five, go figure, I meet my soul me
And is it true that in a straw Aledger once
said you were going to meet the lovelier life at
that's crazy, but but it's in the context of being.
(06:08):
It was nineteen seventy when this, so I freaked out
and I said, um, I don't think you know, I
don't think this is right. I can't believe it. And
then there it was. I figured, you know, I have
a lot of great friends. I date pretty nice people
(06:29):
that are interesting, fun, but none of them we're in
the soulmate category. And then sixty five I was like,
I called her and I said, okay, and you still
you still see her? Yes, Oh, I might have to.
I might have to get her. I've never ever used
(06:50):
an astrologer or never never know. Never. Well, if they're good,
they're really good. Huh, they're really I am definitely open. Now,
you've been a designer for fifty years, which I hate
even saying that because it just sounds like what I know.
(07:10):
And you still own your own business. You're probably the
only one that never that never did and you're still
joyfully doing it. Correct. I just love it. I don't
have the personality to do one thing, so it's amazing
that I've had the same job for fifty three years,
(07:30):
but the job changes according to the way I approached
things or my interests. I never thought I was a
good businesswoman. I never thought that I was capable. In
the seventies, sixties and seventies, that's not what women did.
But I realized I love it and I actually am
(07:53):
pretty good at it, and and I don't have any partners.
Um pretty much doing okay, and we've gotten through COVID
pretty good too. So my involvement is because I love
living up of passionately creative life. And I still make patterns,
(08:16):
I still do the designing. I love it. So I'm
very lucky. I'm living the life that I wanted to
to have, and that's a creative life. So could you
tell everyone the story of your famous coat? You're sleeping
bag coat. So not everyone who's listening knows you for that,
(08:37):
all right, So what is the story? So? Um, In
the seventies, I used to go camping a lot, you know.
It was hippy, dippy, flower child time, and and one
night I was in my sleeping bag in a tent
and I was having to go to the bathroom and
it was so coldly idea of getting out of my
(09:00):
sleeping bag was just not appealing, and so I just
put it over me. And as I'm walking in the woods,
I'm thinking, I need to go home and put some
sleeves on this thing, and I did. I literally am
still using the same pattern for the classic sleeping bag coat.
(09:20):
And I made the coat every year, every single year
since then, so it's a long time and and it's
a sustainable you know, sustainability is really important, and I
used every piece of fabric in that sleeping bag. There
was no waste, and we're very economical in the way
(09:43):
we lay out the patterns now and a coat can
last twenty five years, thirty years. People tell me that
they have them and they take them out every winter.
So I'm really happy because I never intended it to
be fashion, and then sometimes it seems to be fashioned
and sometimes it's just functioned. And was it Shair, Lady Gaga,
(10:08):
Tina Turner like who also made that code famous, or
all of them. So we were just looking at some
beautiful photographs of Rihanna and the coach she has. Practically
she has a white one, a camel one of King Juan,
a silver one, I mean she really and she's amazing.
The sleeping back coat actually has had these high moments.
(10:32):
So Studio fifty four, everybody wanted to get into studio
and all the doormen at studio or the sleeping back coat.
So I sold so many coats because people thought if
they stood outside in a sleep back coat, they'd be
able to get in. And I was like, oh yeah,
(10:55):
I'm sure on it. That we sold a lot then
and then not in eleven was a very interesting thing,
and a lot of people were stranded in the city
in hotel lobbies at the airport, and we started getting
calls for sleepy back coats and I was just keeping
(11:16):
everybody home, but the phone was ringing off the hug
and we had so many messages saying they wanted the coat.
So I bought everyone back. I got my factory back,
and we just made We made sleeping back coats for months.
People just kept wanting sort of back Cacooney effect. And
(11:37):
it's happening now too. It's very interesting, Bobby. There is
that feeling now of wanting to feel protected. A lot
of people are supporting their neighborhood restaurants, God bless them,
eating outside of course in the sleeping back coats, so
(11:57):
so I saw so many people who were doing that.
So we reduced the price of the coat in half.
And it's great. It really keeps keeps you warm. And
I saw I've seen people wearing a sleeping back coat.
I've lived in the West Village and I've seen my
coat everywhere. So I'm so happy because I'm just so
(12:20):
devastated for our restaurant industry. It's a horrible situation, and
I wish we could rectify that. The powers that be
need to kind of do something fast. Well I think
that I think things will change. I do feel positive
about that. So I also want to know about your
(12:57):
skin care line, because you have a lifestyle brand and
a skincare line. You're also one of the first people
that got into all this health and wellness way before.
And wait, what are you drinking now that these are
the recyclable Starbucks cuffs, but what's in it? Lemon and ginger?
Lemon and ginger. I want all your recipes. I know
(13:18):
you're a health freak. I'm a health freak, but I
fall off my wagon way more than you fall off yours.
So tell me about all the health and wellness things
and your lifestyle brand as far as my skin line goes,
as I got older and when I turned fifty, and
as I got older, and I see you recognize that too.
(13:39):
Everything has to be lighter on your skin. You have
to see the skin. You have to really understand that
covering up is a delicate balance. You're the expert on this,
and so covering up wrinkles, to me is a sign
of insecurity about age. I did a post on Instagram
(14:02):
and this girl said to me, I can tell you
how to get rid of the lines on your lips.
And I was like, Girlfriends, I'm seventy five. If I
didn't have lines on my lips, it would be I
would be a freak and I would look like I
had a big top lip, and I don't. I've never
had a big top lip. So there are certain things
(14:24):
that just are And I think that that's okay as
long as you're healthy and you're taking care of yourself.
But let's not call them wrinkles, let's call them lines
lines ever. But but the ho anti wrinkle concept and
and anti aging concept is not a positive one. So
(14:44):
you want to enhance what you have. You want to
enhance what you feel good about, and I think less
is more, and so healthy lifestyle, what you're putting in
your body and what you're putting on your body. A
big part of it has to be sleep, diet, exercise,
and as you get older, exercise becomes more important. Sleep
(15:07):
as you're when you're younger is more important. And the
health of your body and the health of the cells
in your body, or what creates beauty and the ability
to feel good about your skin and not having to worry.
And then if you want to put lip color on
your eye, color, eyebrow, whatever, which you are the master at,
(15:32):
then it works. It looks good. But if you know
you're doing this airbrushed kind of thing and then putting
makeup on, it doesn't have a feeling of confidence. So
if you want to use lipstick, you can. If you
don't want to, it's okay too. If you want to
do stuff on your eyes, it's because you want to
(15:52):
have fun, not because it's gonna make you look younger.
So what do you eat like? Do you drink call fee? No? No,
you don't drink coffee. Do you drink alcohol? No? All right,
well those are two of my favorite things. Okay, but
I do very healthy versions of boats. Okay, So do
you eat meat? No? I love steak, tartar okay three? Three?
(16:16):
All right, normal? What do you want? But that doesn't
mean their no knows it's for me. For me, coffee
makes me very nervous, and I don't feel good when
I drink coffee, and I don't feel good when I
eat meat. So being in touch with how your body
reacts to different things is important. Also, you know, drinking
(16:39):
alcohol is being investigated and understood a little bit more
than it has been in the past. How much water
you have in your body and how much your body
weight can handle is a really big part of how
you deal with alcohol and how much you can drink.
When you start drinking, you want to have a handle
(16:59):
on how how much you're able to drink. And then
as you get older, it's harder when you're going through
hormonal changes because some types of alcohol affect your hormones
and affect how you feel through hormonal changes. So there
(17:19):
are sometimes where I've interviewed a series of doctors on
aging and they recommend either chilling for a while or
cutting down tremendously. But after sixty, Bobby, you can drink again. Well,
I never stopped, so at least I'm ahead of my time.
(17:42):
And I don't, you know, I have a drink, you know.
I mean I'm not you know, because one one feels fine,
two feels not great, three feels awful, So I you know,
and yes, you have to listen to yourself. But then
normal what do what did you eat today? Like what
to do each time? So I had for breakfast. This
(18:05):
is not a typical day for me that this is
just happens to be what I had today for breakfast.
I had an avocado and green tea and I had
some walnuts. I know it's a little crazy, but that's
what I felt like eating. I get up very early,
(18:25):
so I had my breakfast around seven, but I got
up at four thirty. So I've worked out and did
my meditation and early just going over notes and things.
But then I had a smoothie with a lot of
good nutritious powders that I really love a lot. That
(18:48):
helped my bones because my bones are weak and I
do a lot of exercise for them and I do
different protocol but I found great results with this smooth
be I invented for my bones and so I'm I
have a smoothie every day, and is the recipe in
the book? I think? So? I think so? Yeah, And
(19:12):
what's the powder? I use? Nutritional powders. I think that
they're super helpful and the good thing about them is
when you put them in a smoothie or a drink,
it makes it really very easy to make it a
part of your life. I think vitamins taking. You know,
you have take so many vitamins, taking all those pills,
(19:34):
it's just like not happening. But other than D three
and right now zinc obviously because of COVID, I think
everybody should be taking D three and zinc and vitamin C.
And I've also been told um that PEPs it is
good to take, even prophylactically, so I do. But other
(19:56):
than those things, I think getting nutrition from food and
and these nutritional powders is really the best way to
absorb them into your system. And you know what, We're
all different, and the trick is seeing what works for you. Yeah,
that's so it. And you know what, I really believe
you eat the diet that your body wants you to eat.
(20:19):
And I don't mean like chips and cheek you know,
bad diet, but your body is telling you what it
wants to eat and what it's able to eat. My
body or it's telling me to move. I think my
body is telling me to move now, Norma, tell me
(20:43):
about your book that's coming out next week. Your book
is called I Am Invincible, And how long you've been
working on it? And tell me about the book. A
couple of years ago, a friend of mine was turning
fifty at the beach and a group of women in
her age group, we're having a party for her, and
(21:05):
the theme was anything about fifty. So I had, you
know those little leather modle books. I illustrated fifty tips
on turning fifty in the book. And as you know,
fifty is a very big marker in a woman's life.
It's meant to be different, and how you manage your
(21:28):
way through that is really very talentful what the rest
of your life will be like. And so I did
the tips and then I got so many calls from
the fifty women that were turning fifty. And I was
working with a publisher at the time, and I said,
we think you need to make it a book, not
(21:50):
a little thing, And so it turned into a book
much broader and much deeper than just turning fifty. Obviously
I cannot wait to read it. I cannot wait to
read it. Is it autobiographical or is it more tips?
Is it both? There's two parts of it. The core
of the book is about the decades and what happens
(22:14):
in each decade from your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies,
and and the transitions that women go through during those decades.
And then not only do I use my own life
experience to talk about what I went through at the
time and how that affected my choices in the next decade,
(22:37):
but I also added tips on lifestyle. And obviously you know,
I've been studying healthy lifestyle for the last thirty five
years and I've been intensely into it, and so from that,
I used how I incorporated healthy lifestyle at the different
(22:59):
depth EIDs. So, as you know, our bodies are hormones,
are physical, um needs, our bones, all of that. At
different times in different decades, we have different needs. Um
if you want to get pregnant, it's a much different
set of tips and exercises and health and sort of information.
(23:21):
Then if you're going through menopause or you're experiencing hormonal changes,
and it's really meant Bobby to be to be read
by the twenty year old. You know, the younger you
are in having your experience with the book, the more
you get out of it. So even though I say
(23:44):
aging with power at twenty, I remember my mother said
to me, happy birthday, Norma, it's all downhill from here,
and I was crying because I really felt when you're
not a teenager anymore, you're starting to deteriorate and get old.
But I had the psychological concept of aging meaning the
(24:08):
end instead of the building of power and experience. So
a lot of twenty year olds and a lot of
people in their twenties think of aging in uh in
a negative way, not just when you're in your fifties.
So that's a big part of it is being able
(24:30):
to get the tips, get the information and the insight
so that you can manage your way through the decades.
So it's sort of a handbook. So norm I have
a speed round now. One of the speed round questions
is always what's your favorite cocktail? But I'm gonna I'm
gonna change it. I'm gonna change it. What do you
(24:52):
drink when your friends are having a cocktail, sparkly water
and lemon. Nobody no, I mean, oh no, no one cares.
No one cares. And what's the last thing you read? Now?
I'm listening to a lot of books and podcasts because
I can sketch and do other things. But I read
(25:13):
Packing Darwin by Jamie Metzel, who somebody you should meet.
He's a futurist. He's very interesting. I heard him on
a podcast and I thought he was fantastic, so I
hunted him down to to learn and know him. Um
and his book is great and I love futurist thinking
(25:37):
and ideas, so that was very appealing for me. Well, good,
what is what is the what are you looking forward to?
In so much? You know? At seventy your purpose becomes
incredibly important, and my purpose is all coming together. It
(25:59):
started it with clothing to help women feel good, and
then healthy lifestyle, but I think bringing together everything that
I can do to offer to women, not just as
a mentor, but also just to to to be supportive,
present ideas, solutions is really a very big part of
(26:23):
my purpose. So this year I want to start to
find ways to express it and to really communicate more
and more about aging with power. And I look at
a hundred and twenty as my goal. And I think,
if you tell yourself something, if you put the thought
(26:46):
in your head, whatever that is, it could be any goal.
But I tell myself a hundred and twenty because even
if I don't get there, I am forced to be
more conscientious about what I'm doing, how I'm living life
just carmically, how I'm living too well. We talked a
(27:08):
lot about what you do on the inside, but what
do you do on the outside. What's your skincare routine?
Very very very simple. So my mother used Ponds cole
cream her whole life, nothing else. She never washed her face, Bobby,
She never puts boat on her face. Her skin was gorgeous.
(27:32):
She never went in the sun, and then she would
put on red lipstick or whatever, you know when she
was younger and looked fantastic. And I learned from that
that less is more. Olive oil is such a big
part of my life, as you know, And so I
use olive oil and my products and aloe and charcoal
(27:56):
and very timeless ingredients, and so I cleanse my skin,
I exfoliate, moisturized done that's it. I don't spend a
lot of time. I use Actually, I have one of
your little pots and I love doing that and that,
and I put it everywhere. I put it on my cheeks,
but I don't know it's okay to put it. You
(28:18):
look beautiful. That was my next question is are you
wearing makeup because you look so beautiful. I'm not. I'm
just a little But the idea is that I have
to show my skin. And I work out so much
and I'm sweating every day. And your your exercise videos
are so good on Instagram. I love when you post those.
(28:40):
The leg it keeps going up and down and up
and down. I'm like, oh my god, it's like I
want to take the class. But you work out, you
work out. I do, Yeah, I do, I'm I'm I'm
almost over. And an injury. I don't know if it's
my groin or my tush. I got a pain in
the butt. I don't know. But luckily I live with,
you know, a physical therapist, my future daughter in law,
(29:02):
so she's yeah, so she's helping me. And the last
question is before before you answer me the question when
can I see you in Marty? But the last question
for the podcast is, actually, what does beauty mean to you?
I ask all my guests. Well, beauty is clearly the
(29:22):
sum total of the kind of human being you are.
It's it's lastly the idea of how you look, because
you've done all these things to look beautiful. But beauty
comes immediately through a smile or the sparkle in your eye. Energy.
(29:44):
It's it's really an energetic thing more than a tangible
thing that comes from doing things to yourself. Well, I
cannot wait to read your book. Congratulations. That's wait for
you to to Oh my god, and I hope it's
the first of many. I miss you, I love you,
and I hope to see you guys as soon. Yeah, yeah,
(30:11):
we're close. Thank you so much, thank you, Thank you, Bobby,
bye bye. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit
the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Beyond the Beauty is a production of I Heart Radio.
I'm your host, Bobby Brown. I'm so excited to talk
to Norma Comali, someone who is a friend, who is
a role model, and it is just one of the
(00:23):
coolest women I have ever met. I'm lucky enough to
have met her professionally, had dinner with her many times,
and honestly, there's not many women I look up to
to get all this energy like. She's just done so
much and what you guys probably don't know about her
she designed the famous Farah Fawcet red bathing suit that
(00:46):
that you know of her running across the beach. She's
done so much I'll never be able to get all
of it in this interview. But the woman is amazing.
You guys have to know her. So here is my
conversation with Norma Molly, Hey, Norma, how are you? I'm good?
First of all, when I was reading my notes on
(01:07):
you and Norman and I are friends. We have a
newer friendship along knowing each other, but a newer friendship.
I didn't know you were engaged. Congratulations it's true. Yeah, finally, Um,
you know I got married at nineteen and divorced at
(01:27):
twenty nine, and I figured I did that. I don't
think I need to get married again, and I really
had no intention, but um, at seventy five, I figured whatever,
why not? So but you have you've been with Marty
for how long? Hen years? Okay? For first of all,
(01:50):
her fiance is one of the most amazing, remarkable men
that I've met, Like, full of energy. You're with someone
pretty amazing too. So we really are women who are
(02:10):
strong and committed. Don't find it easy to find men
who are strong enough to deal with their intensity or
their you know, passion, and we both are super lucky
that we have that we are. But the other thing
you said, which I just don't even understand, when you
(02:31):
say you're seventy five, I mean I'm sixty three and
people always say to me, well, sixty three, you don't
look at you don't act, And I'm like, you are
the only person I know that is my role model, honestly,
because I you know, I don't have that many older
friends that are spectacular. You know you're spectacular. Well that's
(02:53):
very sweet, But Bobby, the idea. First of all, do
you do you think of yourself as six D three
in the number no, I mean, look at you. There's
nobody quite frankly our The generations that came before me
especially are older, and they had different circumstances. I think
(03:18):
it's very important, and I do this all the time.
I ask everybody their age, and I feel entitled to
since I'm seventy five and I just say I'm seventy five.
So the fact that you said sixty three and said
it without hesitation is a really important message to send
(03:38):
to other women. That and and part of my book
is about aging with power and as long as you
feel good about what you're doing and yourself, and that
doesn't mean it doesn't come with challenges. Your age is
really your badge of honor, and living a healthy lifestyle
(04:00):
island doing things that benefit you give you the power
and the strength to wear that badge of honor. So
I'm very proud of being my age and being relevant
and enjoying new challenges. And look at you. I mean
it's like, why not at sixty three be doing all
(04:23):
of these things redoing I mean the makeup you're doing
now I love more than ever. I think it's amazing.
And you're reinventing a product category as you did the
first time around, and it looks great and you're sixty three,
by the way, Yeah right, I don't I right, You're right.
(04:44):
I don't think about it, and I'm not going to
think about it. Honestly, this conversation is not just about aging.
But I have so many questions I want to hear
all about the book. But how did you meet Marty
at sixty five years old? Well? Ian Traeger has has
been a friend of mine forever. Obviously, we dated and
(05:05):
we're together during studio before and remained best friends. And
he never introduced me to anybody all the years. He
thought every guy I went out with was just like
the worst human being, But he never offered any life
great up, great, Where is the great opportunity here if
(05:26):
you think they're so terrible? So one day he said
I had somebody I want you to meet, and I
thought it was for a business opportunity or something, and
I said okay, And then after asking a few questions,
it was actually somebody that he thought I should meet,
and quite frankly, I didn't think he would be capable
(05:48):
was really introducing me to somebody the right person. So, yeah,
at sixty five, go figure, I meet my soul me
And is it true that in a straw Aledger once
said you were going to meet the lovelier life at
that's crazy, but but it's in the context of being.
(06:08):
It was nineteen seventy when this, so I freaked out
and I said, um, I don't think you know, I
don't think this is right. I can't believe it. And
then there it was. I figured, you know, I have
a lot of great friends. I date pretty nice people
(06:29):
that are interesting, fun, but none of them we're in
the soulmate category. And then sixty five I was like,
I called her and I said, okay, and you still
you still see her? Yes, Oh, I might have to.
I might have to get her. I've never ever used
(06:50):
an astrologer or never never know. Never. Well, if they're good,
they're really good. Huh, they're really I am definitely open. Now,
you've been a designer for fifty years, which I hate
even saying that because it just sounds like what I know.
(07:10):
And you still own your own business. You're probably the
only one that never that never did and you're still
joyfully doing it. Correct. I just love it. I don't
have the personality to do one thing, so it's amazing
that I've had the same job for fifty three years,
(07:30):
but the job changes according to the way I approached
things or my interests. I never thought I was a
good businesswoman. I never thought that I was capable. In
the seventies, sixties and seventies, that's not what women did.
But I realized I love it and I actually am
(07:53):
pretty good at it, and and I don't have any partners.
Um pretty much doing okay, and we've gotten through COVID
pretty good too. So my involvement is because I love
living up of passionately creative life. And I still make patterns,
(08:16):
I still do the designing. I love it. So I'm
very lucky. I'm living the life that I wanted to
to have, and that's a creative life. So could you
tell everyone the story of your famous coat? You're sleeping
bag coat. So not everyone who's listening knows you for that,
(08:37):
all right, So what is the story? So? Um, In
the seventies, I used to go camping a lot, you know.
It was hippy, dippy, flower child time, and and one
night I was in my sleeping bag in a tent
and I was having to go to the bathroom and
it was so coldly idea of getting out of my
(09:00):
sleeping bag was just not appealing, and so I just
put it over me. And as I'm walking in the woods,
I'm thinking, I need to go home and put some
sleeves on this thing, and I did. I literally am
still using the same pattern for the classic sleeping bag coat.
(09:20):
And I made the coat every year, every single year
since then, so it's a long time and and it's
a sustainable you know, sustainability is really important, and I
used every piece of fabric in that sleeping bag. There
was no waste, and we're very economical in the way
(09:43):
we lay out the patterns now and a coat can
last twenty five years, thirty years. People tell me that
they have them and they take them out every winter.
So I'm really happy because I never intended it to
be fashion, and then sometimes it seems to be fashioned
and sometimes it's just functioned. And was it Shair, Lady Gaga,
(10:08):
Tina Turner like who also made that code famous, or
all of them. So we were just looking at some
beautiful photographs of Rihanna and the coach she has. Practically
she has a white one, a camel one of King Juan,
a silver one, I mean she really and she's amazing.
The sleeping back coat actually has had these high moments.
(10:32):
So Studio fifty four, everybody wanted to get into studio
and all the doormen at studio or the sleeping back coat.
So I sold so many coats because people thought if
they stood outside in a sleep back coat, they'd be
able to get in. And I was like, oh yeah,
(10:55):
I'm sure on it. That we sold a lot then
and then not in eleven was a very interesting thing,
and a lot of people were stranded in the city
in hotel lobbies at the airport, and we started getting
calls for sleepy back coats and I was just keeping
(11:16):
everybody home, but the phone was ringing off the hug
and we had so many messages saying they wanted the coat.
So I bought everyone back. I got my factory back,
and we just made We made sleeping back coats for months.
People just kept wanting sort of back Cacooney effect. And
(11:37):
it's happening now too. It's very interesting, Bobby. There is
that feeling now of wanting to feel protected. A lot
of people are supporting their neighborhood restaurants, God bless them,
eating outside of course in the sleeping back coats, so
(11:57):
so I saw so many people who were doing that.
So we reduced the price of the coat in half.
And it's great. It really keeps keeps you warm. And
I saw I've seen people wearing a sleeping back coat.
I've lived in the West Village and I've seen my
coat everywhere. So I'm so happy because I'm just so
(12:20):
devastated for our restaurant industry. It's a horrible situation, and
I wish we could rectify that. The powers that be
need to kind of do something fast. Well I think
that I think things will change. I do feel positive
about that. So I also want to know about your
(12:57):
skin care line, because you have a lifestyle brand and
a skincare line. You're also one of the first people
that got into all this health and wellness way before.
And wait, what are you drinking now that these are
the recyclable Starbucks cuffs, but what's in it? Lemon and ginger?
Lemon and ginger. I want all your recipes. I know
(13:18):
you're a health freak. I'm a health freak, but I
fall off my wagon way more than you fall off yours.
So tell me about all the health and wellness things
and your lifestyle brand as far as my skin line goes,
as I got older and when I turned fifty, and
as I got older, and I see you recognize that too.
(13:39):
Everything has to be lighter on your skin. You have
to see the skin. You have to really understand that
covering up is a delicate balance. You're the expert on this,
and so covering up wrinkles, to me is a sign
of insecurity about age. I did a post on Instagram
(14:02):
and this girl said to me, I can tell you
how to get rid of the lines on your lips.
And I was like, Girlfriends, I'm seventy five. If I
didn't have lines on my lips, it would be I
would be a freak and I would look like I
had a big top lip, and I don't. I've never
had a big top lip. So there are certain things
(14:24):
that just are And I think that that's okay as
long as you're healthy and you're taking care of yourself.
But let's not call them wrinkles, let's call them lines
lines ever. But but the ho anti wrinkle concept and
and anti aging concept is not a positive one. So
(14:44):
you want to enhance what you have. You want to
enhance what you feel good about, and I think less
is more, and so healthy lifestyle, what you're putting in
your body and what you're putting on your body. A
big part of it has to be sleep, diet, exercise,
and as you get older, exercise becomes more important. Sleep
(15:07):
as you're when you're younger is more important. And the
health of your body and the health of the cells
in your body, or what creates beauty and the ability
to feel good about your skin and not having to worry.
And then if you want to put lip color on
your eye, color, eyebrow, whatever, which you are the master at,
(15:32):
then it works. It looks good. But if you know
you're doing this airbrushed kind of thing and then putting
makeup on, it doesn't have a feeling of confidence. So
if you want to use lipstick, you can. If you
don't want to, it's okay too. If you want to
do stuff on your eyes, it's because you want to
(15:52):
have fun, not because it's gonna make you look younger.
So what do you eat like? Do you drink call fee? No? No,
you don't drink coffee. Do you drink alcohol? No? All right,
well those are two of my favorite things. Okay, but
I do very healthy versions of boats. Okay, So do
you eat meat? No? I love steak, tartar okay three? Three?
(16:16):
All right, normal? What do you want? But that doesn't
mean their no knows it's for me. For me, coffee
makes me very nervous, and I don't feel good when
I drink coffee, and I don't feel good when I
eat meat. So being in touch with how your body
reacts to different things is important. Also, you know, drinking
(16:39):
alcohol is being investigated and understood a little bit more
than it has been in the past. How much water
you have in your body and how much your body
weight can handle is a really big part of how
you deal with alcohol and how much you can drink.
When you start drinking, you want to have a handle
(16:59):
on how how much you're able to drink. And then
as you get older, it's harder when you're going through
hormonal changes because some types of alcohol affect your hormones
and affect how you feel through hormonal changes. So there
(17:19):
are sometimes where I've interviewed a series of doctors on
aging and they recommend either chilling for a while or
cutting down tremendously. But after sixty, Bobby, you can drink again. Well,
I never stopped, so at least I'm ahead of my time.
(17:42):
And I don't, you know, I have a drink, you know.
I mean I'm not you know, because one one feels fine,
two feels not great, three feels awful, So I you know,
and yes, you have to listen to yourself. But then
normal what do what did you eat today? Like what
to do each time? So I had for breakfast. This
(18:05):
is not a typical day for me that this is
just happens to be what I had today for breakfast.
I had an avocado and green tea and I had
some walnuts. I know it's a little crazy, but that's
what I felt like eating. I get up very early,
(18:25):
so I had my breakfast around seven, but I got
up at four thirty. So I've worked out and did
my meditation and early just going over notes and things.
But then I had a smoothie with a lot of
good nutritious powders that I really love a lot. That
(18:48):
helped my bones because my bones are weak and I
do a lot of exercise for them and I do
different protocol but I found great results with this smooth
be I invented for my bones and so I'm I
have a smoothie every day, and is the recipe in
the book? I think? So? I think so? Yeah, And
(19:12):
what's the powder? I use? Nutritional powders. I think that
they're super helpful and the good thing about them is
when you put them in a smoothie or a drink,
it makes it really very easy to make it a
part of your life. I think vitamins taking. You know,
you have take so many vitamins, taking all those pills,
(19:34):
it's just like not happening. But other than D three
and right now zinc obviously because of COVID, I think
everybody should be taking D three and zinc and vitamin C.
And I've also been told um that PEPs it is
good to take, even prophylactically, so I do. But other
(19:56):
than those things, I think getting nutrition from food and
and these nutritional powders is really the best way to
absorb them into your system. And you know what, We're
all different, and the trick is seeing what works for you. Yeah,
that's so it. And you know what, I really believe
you eat the diet that your body wants you to eat.
(20:19):
And I don't mean like chips and cheek you know,
bad diet, but your body is telling you what it
wants to eat and what it's able to eat. My
body or it's telling me to move. I think my
body is telling me to move now, Norma, tell me
(20:43):
about your book that's coming out next week. Your book
is called I Am Invincible, And how long you've been
working on it? And tell me about the book. A
couple of years ago, a friend of mine was turning
fifty at the beach and a group of women in
her age group, we're having a party for her, and
(21:05):
the theme was anything about fifty. So I had, you
know those little leather modle books. I illustrated fifty tips
on turning fifty in the book. And as you know,
fifty is a very big marker in a woman's life.
It's meant to be different, and how you manage your
(21:28):
way through that is really very talentful what the rest
of your life will be like. And so I did
the tips and then I got so many calls from
the fifty women that were turning fifty. And I was
working with a publisher at the time, and I said,
we think you need to make it a book, not
(21:50):
a little thing, And so it turned into a book
much broader and much deeper than just turning fifty. Obviously
I cannot wait to read it. I cannot wait to
read it. Is it autobiographical or is it more tips?
Is it both? There's two parts of it. The core
of the book is about the decades and what happens
(22:14):
in each decade from your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies,
and and the transitions that women go through during those decades.
And then not only do I use my own life
experience to talk about what I went through at the
time and how that affected my choices in the next decade,
(22:37):
but I also added tips on lifestyle. And obviously you know,
I've been studying healthy lifestyle for the last thirty five
years and I've been intensely into it, and so from that,
I used how I incorporated healthy lifestyle at the different
(22:59):
depth EIDs. So, as you know, our bodies are hormones,
are physical, um needs, our bones, all of that. At
different times in different decades, we have different needs. Um
if you want to get pregnant, it's a much different
set of tips and exercises and health and sort of information.
(23:21):
Then if you're going through menopause or you're experiencing hormonal changes,
and it's really meant Bobby to be to be read
by the twenty year old. You know, the younger you
are in having your experience with the book, the more
you get out of it. So even though I say
(23:44):
aging with power at twenty, I remember my mother said
to me, happy birthday, Norma, it's all downhill from here,
and I was crying because I really felt when you're
not a teenager anymore, you're starting to deteriorate and get old.
But I had the psychological concept of aging meaning the
(24:08):
end instead of the building of power and experience. So
a lot of twenty year olds and a lot of
people in their twenties think of aging in uh in
a negative way, not just when you're in your fifties.
So that's a big part of it is being able
(24:30):
to get the tips, get the information and the insight
so that you can manage your way through the decades.
So it's sort of a handbook. So norm I have
a speed round now. One of the speed round questions
is always what's your favorite cocktail? But I'm gonna I'm
gonna change it. I'm gonna change it. What do you
(24:52):
drink when your friends are having a cocktail, sparkly water
and lemon. Nobody no, I mean, oh no, no one cares.
No one cares. And what's the last thing you read? Now?
I'm listening to a lot of books and podcasts because
I can sketch and do other things. But I read
(25:13):
Packing Darwin by Jamie Metzel, who somebody you should meet.
He's a futurist. He's very interesting. I heard him on
a podcast and I thought he was fantastic, so I
hunted him down to to learn and know him. Um
and his book is great and I love futurist thinking
(25:37):
and ideas, so that was very appealing for me. Well, good,
what is what is the what are you looking forward to?
In so much? You know? At seventy your purpose becomes
incredibly important, and my purpose is all coming together. It
(25:59):
started it with clothing to help women feel good, and
then healthy lifestyle, but I think bringing together everything that
I can do to offer to women, not just as
a mentor, but also just to to to be supportive,
present ideas, solutions is really a very big part of
(26:23):
my purpose. So this year I want to start to
find ways to express it and to really communicate more
and more about aging with power. And I look at
a hundred and twenty as my goal. And I think,
if you tell yourself something, if you put the thought
(26:46):
in your head, whatever that is, it could be any goal.
But I tell myself a hundred and twenty because even
if I don't get there, I am forced to be
more conscientious about what I'm doing, how I'm living life
just carmically, how I'm living too well. We talked a
(27:08):
lot about what you do on the inside, but what
do you do on the outside. What's your skincare routine?
Very very very simple. So my mother used Ponds cole
cream her whole life, nothing else. She never washed her face, Bobby,
She never puts boat on her face. Her skin was gorgeous.
(27:32):
She never went in the sun, and then she would
put on red lipstick or whatever, you know when she
was younger and looked fantastic. And I learned from that
that less is more. Olive oil is such a big
part of my life, as you know, And so I
use olive oil and my products and aloe and charcoal
(27:56):
and very timeless ingredients, and so I cleanse my skin,
I exfoliate, moisturized done that's it. I don't spend a
lot of time. I use Actually, I have one of
your little pots and I love doing that and that,
and I put it everywhere. I put it on my cheeks,
but I don't know it's okay to put it. You
(28:18):
look beautiful. That was my next question is are you
wearing makeup because you look so beautiful. I'm not. I'm
just a little But the idea is that I have
to show my skin. And I work out so much
and I'm sweating every day. And your your exercise videos
are so good on Instagram. I love when you post those.
(28:40):
The leg it keeps going up and down and up
and down. I'm like, oh my god, it's like I
want to take the class. But you work out, you
work out. I do, Yeah, I do, I'm I'm I'm
almost over. And an injury. I don't know if it's
my groin or my tush. I got a pain in
the butt. I don't know. But luckily I live with,
you know, a physical therapist, my future daughter in law,
(29:02):
so she's yeah, so she's helping me. And the last
question is before before you answer me the question when
can I see you in Marty? But the last question
for the podcast is, actually, what does beauty mean to you?
I ask all my guests. Well, beauty is clearly the
(29:22):
sum total of the kind of human being you are.
It's it's lastly the idea of how you look, because
you've done all these things to look beautiful. But beauty
comes immediately through a smile or the sparkle in your eye. Energy.
(29:44):
It's it's really an energetic thing more than a tangible
thing that comes from doing things to yourself. Well, I
cannot wait to read your book. Congratulations. That's wait for
you to to Oh my god, and I hope it's
the first of many. I miss you, I love you,
and I hope to see you guys as soon. Yeah, yeah,
(30:11):
we're close. Thank you so much, thank you, Thank you, Bobby,
bye bye. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit
the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
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