You and I met when I chased you down Fifth Avenue—you were all decked out in green and purple on a rainy, gray Seattle day. You struck me as the kind of woman who’s never been afraid to stand out in a crowd. Have you been stylish your whole life? No, I wasn’t interested until the ’60s, when everything started to change. In the ’50s I went to Catholic school with the uniforms and all that. My father was always in gray, blue, and black. I hated gray, blue, and black. In the ’50s everyone had bodies, so to be thin was very bad. But in the ’60s I sort of looked like Twiggy, and I could wear everything.

Who do people tell you you look like these days? Liza Minnelli, and in the ’70s it was Diane Keaton.

Would you say you’ve gotten edgier as you’ve gotten older? Probably, and it’s because I’m just not as concerned with what people think.

Is there any pressure to tone it down at the law firm where you work? When my hair goes from black to red to blonde they do sort of look, but I do good work and I have a good reputation so they don’t complain. And I haven’t showed up with blue hair yet, so…

The world needs more people looking better and feeling better.

How often do you change your hair? Pretty often. I’m getting ready to go back to blonde. I do some of the coloring myself, but I also go to the Gary Manuel Aveda Institute on Capitol Hill. They use really good products, and it’s cheaper because they’re using you to demonstrate to the students.

Color is a huge part of your look—especially the red lipstick. I’m lucky because I can wear the orange-reds and the blue-reds. I like MAC; they’re very innovative and they do a lot with color.

I like the purple dress with your red lips and nails, and the slick rock and roll accessories with what could be considered a hippie, boho fabric—tie-dye and batik are back again. I bought this at the Fremont Market, I was really drawn to the hem and the color. I’ve worn it traveling quite a bit—in fact, when I wore it in China, a man we met told my friend that I was beautiful. I feel really good in it because it’s so comfortable, and I like halter necks. They’re very flattering for women who are small because they soften you.

Do you ever have a hard time reconciling the part of you that practices spiritual healing with the part of you that reads fashion magazines? Whatever you can do to make yourself feel better is going to affect other people in a positive way, and that makes the world a better place. I really believe that. Sometimes you just need a new lipstick, a new jolt of color. The world needs more people looking better, and feeling better.